Dan Tobacco The Mallard Flake Plus Perique

The gold and brown Virginias provide a fair amount of tart and tangy citrus, grass, bread, sugar, some floralness, vegetation, mild tart lemon, wood, earth, smoke, peat, spice, and a touch of honey. They are the lead components. The perique offers some pepper, earth, wood, plums, light raisins and figs. It’s almost a supporting player, and gets slightly more obvious after the half way point. The honey casing very lightly tones down the tobaccos. The strength, nic-hit and taste are step shy of medium. The taste barely reaches that mark. Won’t bite or get harsh. Has a few minute rough notes. The easily broken apart flakes are mildly moist, and need no dry time. Burns cool, clean, and slow with a mostly consistent fruity, sugary, moderately peppery, lightly floral flavor that extends to mildly lingering, pleasant after taste. The room note is a notch stronger. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Three and a half stars out of four.

-JimInks

The Mallard without Perique is too one-dimensional for me, but I like this somewhat "tuned" tobacco very much. The cold smell reminds me of fresh baker's bread.

When smoking, you clearly notice the Perique, the fine tingle. The Virginias are not really sweet, rather spicy, which in my opinion complements the Perique very well. The tobacco starts quite light, but this changes in the course, so that it goes at the end of the pipe bowl already in the direction of medium strong, if not even a little above.

For me, a successful enrichment in the Dan Tobacco assortment.

Tin note of grassy tart plums. Tobacco is a yellowish brown and tan marbled flake. Moisture content is great. Flakes rub out with a little effort. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and consistent, with notes of hay, tart plum, leather, wood, spices, bread, lemon grass, rich earth, floral, spicy, citrus peel/zest, dry, mildly bitter, peaty fermented sour, a tangy and mildly sweet savory background note, and a peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Perique supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Dan Tobacco - The Mallard Flake Plus Perique.

There's a single stack of flakes in the tin, unlike a lot of the time when there's a few rows of slim ones. I get a smell of hay, with a touch of fruit. This tin had a perfect amount of moisture, I smoked a bowl the moment I opened it.

It lights easily, and the most flavour comes from the Virginias; bread/dough, sweet dark fruit, and a very tart lemon flavour. The Va flavour is top shelf!! Although the Va leads, the Perique adds a definite flavour, once the blend has settled into a good burn. Don't expect a cold/harsh spiciness, it leans a lot more toward being plummy and opulent. For the first quarter it doesn't give that much taste, but at the quarter mark it has its 'volume' turned up and transforms the smoke from being good, to VERY good. I've smoked about 6 bowls in a row, each has performed perfectly: mid-temperature smoke, no bite, reliable burn.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not too bad.

The Mallard Plus Perique? Four stars:

Highly recommended.

Presentation: In classic Dan Tobacco fashion, the flakes are stuck on top each other, making it nearly impossible to pick a single one up. Brown to golden in colour, with a few darker specs. The tin note is primarily of sour, fermented perique, tingling the nose along with some dates. There is also some hay and citrus from the virginias.

Flavour: The perique is moderately spicy, with a little fermentation and far less dates and prune. The virginias offer a fair amount of honey, hay, some citrus sweetness and minor earth and wood notes. They also have a tangy aspect, but it is rather constrained. I also get some sort of herb, probably thyme. Overall the taste is consistent and mild to medium in strength. The perique is in the background, always noticeable, playing off the virginia sweetness. It is not complex, but it has no dull moments and it doesn't get boring.

Burn: The flakes come in good humidity and their brittle nature makes them easy to fold or rub out. No need for drying time. They light up fairly easily and it requires minimal relights. There is no tongue bite, even if pushed, but you will feel a tingle while doing so. It burns slowly and rather cool to a white ash, with very little moisture left behind. It is just a hair above mild in nicotine. Can be an all day smoke, certainly repeatable.

A perfect Va/per on the lighter side.

The Mallard is not too strong, yet it has a great body. The Virginia leaf is mellow, sweet, and smooth. The addition of a little perique turns this flake into something delectable with its subtle dried fruit undertone.

Dan Tobacco-The Mallard Flake Plus Perique - Tangy citrus and hay and bread with some floral notes . Then the Perique kicks in with plummy dark fruit and spice . A good amount of Perique is present to satisfy and to counter the brightness of the Virginias . A perfect smoke for a 90 degree day on my front porch . Sweet , tangy and spicy with perfect moisture from the tin and no bite . A little honey and caramel come into play after the halfway point . I imagine this would age nicely . 4

I had heard great things about this blend and it didn't quite live up to the expectations. In any case, it remains a very enjoyable VaPer, with an emphasis on the Va part. Presentation could be better, as all the flakes are stuck together.

In general, the European Virginia-Perique are much more gentle and nuanced than most of the U.S. ones, where the Perique tends to be far bolder. I tend to be much more attracted to the European ones. Mallard Flake Plus Perique stands in the same line as Orlik Golden Sliced and Solani's Virginia Flake (633) and if you like those two and others like them - you're sure to like this one as well.

From the tin note I get some berries, grass, hay, and brown sugar. Smells very sweet.

Smoking notes bring out the usual grass, bread, and hay with a bit of vegetation or herbal. The Perique is far in the background and brings out just a pinch of black pepper, as well as some body and strength. Not sure what the casing is. It's more sweet than the citrus I get in Golden Sliced, but it is very dim.

Midway through the bowl, you get just a slight push of body and strength while overall it still leans on the milder side.

The flake breaks up very easily into fairly thin ribbon. Easy to pack and draw. My tin came in fairly dry, perfect for me. But still some bowls required a couple of relights. Smokes cool with medium pace. Can be an easy-going all-day smoke. No tongue bite.

Mechanics (cut, packing, draw, flavor change throughout smoking?, relights, moisture level, smoking pace, all day? Tongue bite?)

Mild-medium in body and strength, although more strength coming out halfway-point in smaller bowls. Not a complex blend, feels pretty much like a straight bright Virginia.

I've never had the original Mallard Flake, but this version is excellent. If not for the price, I would've stocked up on it. In terms of price, I would just go with Golden Sliced, but in terms of quality - perfect score.

Tim note Plum and Apricots.
Lovely Smoke ... Virginia's are bright sweet and fresh.I like the cut and one Flake fits perfectly in bowl
.. highly recommended