Solani 633: Virginia Flake with Perique

The tin opening on Solani Virginia Flake with Perique was completely normal with a tight seal and a beautiful presentation of doubled rows of yellow dappled brown flakes. The tin aroma said VaPer, but, in a perplexingly timid way. I roughed out two flakes and aired them out for about an hour and a half. The blend's aroma softened some more and I wondered what kind of smoke this would be. So, on the advice of some of our reviewers, I loaded a big pipe and lit up. Most new blend's initial puffs are somewhat confusing, but, this blend stayed confusing for a while longer than normal. Eventually the blend began to take form as a soft and somewhat bland VaPer. This persisted on through to the middle third. Here the blend showed some signs that it might get stronger, but, no. Strength didn't come until we were well into the bottom third; a pattern I have observed over the years with weak blends - they smoke best in the bottom thirds. I found this blend so thin and weak that I began to be concerned that my tin was from an inferior batch. Then I studied the other two star reviews more closely and found a couple of reviewers that I have learned to trust over the years who felt similarly to my sentiments: Dr. Scott 2010-01-12 and Mr. Big 2017-06-09. I agree exactly with their opinions. These two plus the other reviewers who felt this blend was bland and weak show, clearly, that my tin was not a freak accident. I tried micro blending with Virginia Flake but to no great success; it weakened every blend I used it in - two stars.

Adstringent, bitter and lacking flavor. Like smoking extra dry hay sprinkled with cracked black pepper.

Update on 6/5/2008

I just have to bump this a star since it was noticeably better (sweeter and less hay-like) after I let it sit on the shelf for a couple of months. I'll pick up another tin sometime and let it age about 6 months before I open it and I suspect this will get even better.

Original Review on 3/11/2008 Follows

A low grade Virginia that I only managed to smoke due to the nice shot of Perique. A real disappointment from the company that makes one of the best blends ever - Luxury English Mixture (779). Go try Full Virginia Flake, Rattray's Old Gowrie or even McClelland's 2015 to move up a few stars.

A sweet mild aromatic consisting of virginia with just a touch of perique. It is cased/topped with sugar, PG, apple juice, rum, and unknown flavoring as per the German BMEL website: https://service.bmel.de/tabakerzeugnisse/index2.php?detail_id=104721&site_key=153&stichw_suche=solani&zeilenzahl_zaehler=14

The flavor is pleasant and mild. Just enough perique to add some spice. Mild nicotine. The casing/topping muddle the tobacco flavor too much for me to purchase again, but still a good tasting smoke.

I can see where others might appreciate this. I think Escudo is a better rounded combo of these tobacco types. I never found a groove that might lead to a craving. But, perique is not really my cup of tea in most circumstances, so take that into consideration with my rating.

Not a miracle but at least an honest tobacco. The casing, if any, just sweetens up the virginias, while the perique is there in little quantity, just to spice it up a little bit. If you leave it dry for a while it will smoke enough cool and won't be too wet. Good tobacco, but nothing to remember.

I tried a couple of bowls of this from a tin that someone happened by with. This is the second VA-Perique blend that I've tried, the first being Esoterica's Dorchester.

This Solani 633 isn't bad, but for me it just seems to lack any special character. It tastes about like what I expected, just more boring than I expected. In the tin it has sort of a tangy lemon sort of smell, a bit of which comes out when smoked. Mostly it just tastes like VA with a touch of Perique.

Like I say, not bad... but it's just uninspiring and lacking in complexity. It's like someone found some decent quality tobacco and blended something which is essentially just the sum of its parts and no more than that.

Buon Virginia con - dichiarato - Perique che risulta pressoché inavvertibile. Buona combustibilità ma tende un po' a scaldare. Tabacco di buona qualità ma non decisamente superiore ai concorrenti come lo è - invece - il Burley flake di Solani. Difficile capire la fascia di mercato. Chi ama il Perique troverà certamente più attraenti altri tabacchi in cui il contributo del Perique è più evidente ( Black Parrot, Scottish flake, Elizabethan). Gli amanti dello straight Virginia difficilmente lo preferiranno ad alternative di cui alcune anche più economiche ( Pure Virginia hh, Capstan, Golden Glow, FVF).

.Easy rubbing out,optimal point of dryness to smoke inmediately after opening.It,s strong,tangy,sweetI,m Latakia addict but here is an amazing breaking point.The only question is where can you find Perique,in fact I,ll not give the third star because the name seems to me a little kind of scam.Last but not least,premium class at premium price.Very high suspiction of artificial humectant,just like the rest of the brand.