Solani 633: Virginia Flake with Perique

The smell of honey from the tin misled me into thinking this would be a mild generic danish style Va/Per. I was pleasantly surprised by how full flavoured it was. I get notes of bread, dried fruit and pepper with a very satisfying crescendo of flavour as you progress down the bowl. I smoked the flake folded after drying it out for a few hours and it burned beautifully. This may very well replace Escudo as the king of Va/pers. Highly recommended.

Rather hard to get hold of in the UK, I got a few tins of this when it was available and I'm not disappointed, nice stuff and looks like it should age well.

The tin aroma is of black tea, with citrus from the bright Virginia and just a hint of spice and fruit. Its clear that the Perique has been added with more restraint than in the Sam Gawith St James that I was smoking previously. The fairly thin light brown flakes in the 100g tin are long, folded, in an unsealed bag, and the tin is not airtight, so I'm glad my other tins are vacuum sealed 50g ones.

It rubs out fully without any difficulty, and take a good light with a single match, as expected with a tobacco that is almost entirely Virginia. Likewise the burning characteristics remain favourable throughout, it burns evenly and stays lit without much input. One word of warning - don't pack it too tight (a bad habit of mine, greedy guts), it needs room to breathe and if you cram it in you'll not enjoy the end of the smoke and be left with a big wad of greasy dottle.

The taste is from the start astringent like black tea, with a biscuity, bready character from the Virginias and some woody flavours in the background. It should be smoked slowly for best effect, treat it like a straight Virginia. The sweetness plays on the back of the tongue, like liquorice root, and there's a hint of saltiness too. The Perique is initially almost undetectable, but contributes a subtle sourness and progressive spice throughout the bowl. By the end the pepperines is quite punchy with the Virginia base being so mild. I'd estimate that it's a similar Perique content to Navy Rolls, but more noticeable in this bright Virginia flake than in the rich Navy Rolls. By comparison to Orlik Golden Sliced, it obviously has a higher Perique content as the latter has the barest smidgeon.

The aroma is OK, it burns well with little need to relight, and leaves just a bit of dottle. It doesn't have enough Perique to entirely offset the risk of alkaline Virginia tongue bite, and given the spice from the Perique, you may not notice this until it's too late, so it is best to smoke it very gently as you would a straight bright Virginia. It has adequate vitamin N but it's not strong.

I'm summary, this is a fairly mild Virginia Flake that segues into a light Virginia/Perique with emphasis on the peppery character of the condiment leaf. I think I'd appreciate it better in the summer, and would go for the heavier Virginia/Perique offerings from Samuel Gawith at this time of year (December and January). It is very nice and I'm glad I've got a few tins laid down to mature.

*******Update 2023*****

I've opened one of my sealed tins. It's different than I remember the smokes I had from the big tin I smoked when I first had this. For a start, there's obviously a volatile topping applied, to my nose apricot and alcohol but I could be sold on the idea it has apple or rum. I don't remember this at all from before, so I guess the volatile components had evaporated in the loose sealed tin, but are trapped in the vacuum sealed tin. Perhaps I preferred it without this topping? It doesn't much come through in the smoke though.

The second thing I'd note is that the Perique is very restrained. Perhaps more than Orlik Golden Sliced, but barely. Both are essentially a Virginia Flake which happens to contain a little Perique, rather than a heady Perique blend.

This flake is beautiful in every way. Gorgeous presentation in the tin, and a tin note which is nothing short of fantastic. Loads of stewed dark fruits, figs and raisins, with a complex sweetness and a fully integrated spiciness. Mouthwatering!

The taste is just as fantastic, though somewhat diferrent than the tin aroma. More grass and hay and even a little citrus on top of the deep fruit base, with subtle tanginess underneath. The Perique is perfectly integrated, never sharp or overpowering, but greatly supporting and enhancing the complexity of the Virginias.

Rather moist out of the tin, and a few relights may be necessary. Will not bite the experienced. Burns cleanly and leaves little other than light-grey ashes.

I got the best results smoking this in cobs and clays. Briars seem to subdue the lighter aromas very slightly.

This is without a shred of doubt the best Va/Per I've had, and pretty close to the overall best pipe tobacco. Yes, it really is that good.

I am smoking a 10 year old tin of this, and I find it to be my current favorite VaPer. It has a slight tendency to bite me, but not to the degree that Silver Flake exhibited. For whatever reason my 10 year aged tin of Silver didn't agree with me, and I get along with most of the Mac Baren blends which tend to bite many. It has just the right amount of spice from the Perique and the VA is quite smooth. Very tasty! The thing is, I am not normally a VaPer smoker; or wasn't until now. This is one of my favorite year round morning smokes.

The VA's have more of a bright flavor up front, hay, a little dusty note, and very citrus. There is a sweet note here as well. This seems to have some added sweetness, that is consistent with honey. The red VA's are slightly tangy and sweet and more in the background. The perique has a nice peppery note and some plumb and fig notes as well. The finish is quite long and the taste will remain with you for a while. Smokes slow and does not bite. Should be on every VA/Per lovers wish list it is a marvelous smoke.

My current favorite VaPer, certainly now that Bayou Slice is a blend of History. This is a sweeter VaPer that takes on a very nice dark, sweet fruit note in the jar after a few days. The application of the honey to the mix is the pièce de résistance from Solani 633, pulling it all together and bridging the gap between the Va and the Per. Very monochromatic and uncomplex, it is simply delicious. The Old Belt Red Virginia brings with it hints of bread that fills in the body of the flavor profile nicely with the tangy fruit aspects of the supporting lighter Virginias. Noticeable in every puff, the Perique shows up predominately in the plum flavor range, with a hint of raisins just poking through now and again.

Fruity, bready, and kissed with a golden drop of honey sums this blend up. Delicious sums it up even more concisely.

This is a sipper. I cover the full range of cadence in my smoking, depending upon the tobacco and my mood. With 633, however, a slower cadence is needed. Puffing too fast, even a little bit, will heat up the bowl and the flavor profile descends into a biting bitterness, completely falling apart. Fully rubbed provides a richer, fuller, and more consistent flavor than does smoking it as a flake. Combined with a slow cadence, this is a long lasting smoke.

A very nice VaPer. Tangy citrus and a hint of dark fruit with ample sweetness and spice. Just a bit too grassy for my taste. Would like a little more dark fruit. Still a very tasty smoke.

Medium in body. I think a small amount of the sweetness may be added. Taste is medium. Burns very well. Pretty good stuff.

My first look at Solani 633 occurred yesterday when my partner picked up a tin for me while in town, I had mentioned to her previously how I wanted to try Solani 633 so it came as a pleasant surprise to me.

First impressions were good, I like the small size tin as it fits comfortably in my pocket. Upon cracking it open I see white paper encasing the flakes sealed with a gold coloured adhesive tab, these sticky tabs usually loose their purpose fairly quickly when the glue dries out.

Anyway, on to the prize, mostly light brown coloured, thinly cut flake, quite loose so they rub out very easily, moisture level straight from the tin is spot on I think too.

First sniff of the tin produced the, somewhat expected, fresh hay/grass, almost citrus/lemon or maybe I should call it 'zesty' but there is a very definite fig and raisins or plum thing going on too, is this partly from the perique?. As others have wrote, the perique contingent is slight I agree but it works so well. This tobacco could be smoked all day without any problem whatsoever, in fact I have had a wee bit trouble leaving the tin alone since I got it!.

This is one of the easiest prepared flakes I've had the pleasure of smoking, so far I've only smoked it after it's been rubbed out but am curious as to how it will smoke if I were to fold & stuff a flake instead?.

After the initial charring light it stays lit well with only need to tamp now & again. I like to smoke it slowly and experience every taste it gives me, it's been said it's been cased with honey, I haven't read this officially from Solani but I can taste a very honey like sweetness from this tobacco. To be honest, it makes no odds to me whether it's really been topped with honey or not other than how I taste it and that's been good so far.

I opened a 2-year-old tin few months back, and now I began to appreciate it before it's gone. Nice clean citrus, bread-like sweetness of virginia with good amount of peppery perique. It reminds me of Escudo but with more peppery spiciness. The thing is it keeps changing in flavor for all these months and sometimes it gets too dry and spicy on my palate. It is certainly a flavorful Vaper, just not for this piper.