Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Erinmore Flake

The Virginias are a little grassy, hay-like, and tart and tangy citrusy with a hint of tangy dark fruit, wood and earth as the lead component. The burleys offer a lot of nuts, earth and wood. They fight for attention, and are quite muted by the very fruity topping, and Lord knows how many different fruits were used to make it. I did get some plum, orange, lemon, and apricot, but the rest is guess work. It kind of reminded me of toned down Juicy Fruit gum. In fact, I found the toppings have less strength than the rubbed out Mixture version. They sublimate the tobaccos quite a lot. The black cavendish has a slight sugary vanilla note in a minor role. The nic-hit just past the center of mild to medium. The strength and taste levels are medium. Won’t bite or get harsh. May need a light dry time. Burns cool, clean and slow with a very consistent flavor from top to bottom. Requires some relights, and only leaves a little moisture in the bowl. The after taste and room notes pleasantly linger a little. Not an all day smoke. Will ghost a briar.

-JimInks

An old codger at the club offered me some of this. He had seen me put down my pipe things on the bar, and order an Old Bushmill's, neat. Since I had a small corncob with me, (I often smoke corncobs at the club: my own little statement against arrivistes with huge, enormous freehands) I accepted.

The first thing I remarked is that all Murray Sons & Co, Ltd flakes look alike: whether it be their proprietary Erinmore, or the farmed-out Dunhill "Light" Flake, or Peterson's University Flake, the size, look, and disposition of the 50 g étui is exactly the same; in fact, the smell, colour and cut of the flakes are all alike. I could hardly smell the Erinmore smell; either I am getting old, or they have moderated their topping, or the old codger had put this tin under an electric fan. Peterson University Flake's very light cherry topping smelt much more noticeable to me than this. (Then again, U.F. has in it Burley, the slut of the tobacco bar; it sucks everything in sight sans peur et sans chagrin!)

At first light, I immediately remarked, once again, how wonderful a Virginia flake this is: strong, round, with the big Virginia flavour filling my mouth: this is how it is supposed to be!

I was then shocked into realising that I didn't really taste The Taste hardly at all: a very occasional sweet tartness bringing to mind, perhaps, mint; no more. The dominant flavour here is the fine, superb Virginia.

Unlike Burley and Burley-based non-English Cavendish leaf, Virginia cannot be heavily cased. The tobacco simply does not suck up the casing sauce the way Burley does. That is why the traditional Anglo-Irish way with pressed Virginia is to TOP it, i.e., to spray a light flavouring over the TOP of the uncut cake. The inside is not sprayed at all. The result is a very much subtler redolence than the baths in casing sauce that American-type Cavendish concoctions receive. (Dutch and Danish blenders do the last as well, but much more restrainedly, and on better-quality leaf.) This distinction applies much more emphatically to Erinmore: the Plug and Flake, fine, strong tobacco lightly topped, are very different from the cased, ready-rubbed mixtures, where the flavouring is, well, repulsive. (Though not any more repulsive than a multitude of savagely cased cheap Burley than millions of people in this country smoke, day-in, day-out, without batting an eyelash.)

This delicious flake puts me in mind of smoking Murray's legendary VELVAN PLUG again. It is supposedly the Erinmore mix MINUS the Erinmore topping. Last smoked it in Bermuda...20 years ago? Can it be? Then again, when was the last time you saw it at an American tobacconist?

I find myself reaching for this tobacco more and more. I appreciate its balance, the fact that it isn't very much of any one thing: If you're looking for a nutty burley, this isn't going to do it; if you're looking for a sweet and tangy VA, then you'll be put off by the topping; if you're looking for an aromatic, then the flavoring will seem bland and unsatisfying. Erinmore Flake is all of these things, but none of them takes the fore, and this makes it a very pleasantly balanced smoke. Add a satisfying nicotine hit, and the package is a complete one for a go-to blend.

The dominant flavor, for me, is that of the interplay between Virginia and Burley tobaccos. But omnipresent is the topping that several reviewers have characterized as "tooty fruity" and I completely concur. But the topping, while impossible to ignore, doesn't overwhelm. It is a seasoning for the tobacco's flavor, not the main flavor in the set. The flakes are always neat and nicely arrayed in the tin (until one starts pulling them out) and I find that packing a small-bowled pipe requires merely a "fold and stuff" of between one and two flakes. Little preparation is needed and I never rub this blend out--the burn quality of the flakes is just right.

Smoking Erinmore Flake isn't a life-changing experience. But it's a very nice way to spend 45 minutes of one's day. I like it with a mild-flavored beverage--tea or not-too-heavy beer. And, for me, it works best in warm weather.

I smoke Erinmore by breaking up the small flakes into small pieces. It smells fruity. When first lit the taste was mild and pleasant. There is a sweet note that comes out as I smoke it. The berry flavor lingers in my mouth which is something I like. I find it to be mild in strength but builds somewhat as the bowl progresses. Although I like it, it wouldn’t be in my list of regular blends, but just as a nice change of pace.

This is a very nice sipping tobacco. The added flavorings seem to, for the most part, match and enhance the natural flavors of the Virginias making them richer. The Burley is mostly silent until the second half of the bowl where I can only faintly pick it up at random times. It's role seems to be to add a little backbone body-wise. This smokes al lot like a somewhat rich straight Virginia to me. With the flake rubbed out about 75% it makes for a long burning smoke. The flavors seem to come out best when sipped. Burns a little cooler that way also. Medium in body and flavor. A nice tasting flake.

Disclaimer: I'm still pretty new to pipe smoking, and this is my first review.

Opened a brand new tin that had been given to me. Rubbed one flake out about five minutes before packing, instead of doing the fold/stuff. One char light, and one re-light after, and smoked it to ash.

I'm no expert, but I found it crisp, and medium bodied, with a little hint of fruitiness for the first third of the bowl or so. It stiffened up part way through the bowl, and lost some of the fruitiness, but tasted great right through. Not too light, not too strong. I'm still inexperienced enough that I'm not easily able to identify the flavour profile of each tobacco, but I liked this stuff. Will definitely re-visit.

Edit 11-9-2018

I just finished another tin of this and I am taking a star off. This is still a good blend, but it is in the same ball park as Irish flake and I feel it falls a little short of that flake to my tastes anyway. One thing I did pick up this time around was a touch of floral that I hadn't really noticed as strongly before. It is far from an Ennerdale or Grasmere flake as the floral essence was very slight. Otherwise it is fruity and the nicotine is sufficient. Not as strong as Irish Flake.

Original Review 11-21-2013

I don't know why I have been dodging the tin in my local B & M for so long, but I finally decided to buy it and I found it incredible. Perhaps it was the reviews that set me up for a let down as many bemoan the aromatic qualities of the blend. I found them quite subdued. I will note that my tin had been sitting there for awhile as it was clearly the Murray Tin.

I found it to be even less aromatic than the supposedly non aromatic Best Brown #2 and it just may bump that one from my rotation.

As to the room note, I smoked this at an outing and, not only did I fail to receive a single compliment, a guy who smokes cigars was repulsed by the smell, so that is all I have to go by. In addition to this, my four year old son told me it stunk and he can stand and have a conversation with me when I am in the can. It is certainly not a crowd pleaser, but it is a palette pleaser.

Oh Erinmore Flake, where have you been my smoking life? Glad I tried this! What a great smoke. It's what I've been looking for. A great VA Burley flake that has flavor. Its more on the med side than mild. I love the fruity flavoring that stays with you, so you get the great va burley tobacco combo with a fruity topping that doesn't overwhelm the blend. This blend is favorable and you don't have to work hard. I did a fold and stuff in my Peterson 308 (which Im thinking about retiring as I just found out how rare it is) and enjoyed great smoke to the end. Decent Nic kick. Try it!

This is basically the same blend as Erinmore Mixture pressed and cut into flakes.

The rather wide slices are stacked neatly in the tin. The golden, light as well as dark brown mottled flakes effuse a fruity aroma, reminding me indeed, in spite of all disclaimers, slightly of pineapples, with a distinct tobacco scent underneath.

Weather you use the fold and stuff method or rub out the flakes, it's really important to fill your pipe neither too loosely nor too tightly. The tobacco tends to expand quite a lot upon lighting. After a thorough charring light you need to level out the ashes with your tamper before setting an equally thorough true light.

This pipe tobacco needs to be smoked deliberately slowly and preferably indoors. Otherwise it'll tend to burn too hot and develope quite some moisture, which both impairs taste and will cause tongue bite. Enjoyed with leisure, it will reward you with a dense and creamy smoke that delivers a pleasant, fruity sweetness, the aroma of citrus fruits and maybe even the famed pineapples (a bit like Juicy Fruit gum) as well as a nutty aftertaste. However, the flavoring is much less obtrusive than in the Mixture, but will last throughout the bowl. An occasional re-light might be required. Nicotine content is pretty high, which is why I like to smoke Erinmore Flake after dinner. Beware! This one will also ghost your pipe, so you ought to keep a special pipe for it.

The room note has a sweetish tobacco scent, which makes it rather pleasant.

Personally, I prefer the Erinmore Flake over the Mixture.