Solani 633: Virginia Flake with Perique

This is one of the best VA-Per flakes on the market. Presentation is lovely and the tin note is to die for -- delicate, ripe and fruity in the way that only pure, natural Virginias can be.

The smoke is smooth and complex. The ripe, fruity tin note actually comes through in the smoke and predominates the flavor. Compared to Escudo, for instance, Solani 633 is fresher, sweeter, a little zesty and more fruit-forward. Solani 633 has some of the cedar and wood-like notes of Escudo, but these are more subdued, adding a bit of complexity to the ripe taste of the Virginia. These notes grow stronger toward the end of the bowl.

Out of the tin the flakes are supple, but not too damp and rub out easily. Well behaved, burns nicely.

A little spendy, but any Virginia lover will enjoy this flake.

Because this blend has received so many favorable reviews, I decided to give it a try and am sure glad that I did. I find the Louisiana leaf (which has to be molested almost beyond belief before it is considered smokeable) to add greatly to this blend.

Having said the above, 633 really is interesting. It is spicy, strong and very flavorful. Each puff gives you an added feature. Just plain delightful!

Fantastic VaPer. After about halfway through my first tin of this, I immediately declared it to be my favorite VaPer. It is similar in tastes to Escudo, but I found the vas to be sweeter.

It is a high-quality product from beginning to end; the Virginias are bold and refined, the perique is light but is definitely there. This combination gives this a flavor that, to me, rivals all others in the genre.

This was my first of many future tins. My only knock on this is the price, which is like all Solani blends, steep. If they would ever offer a promotion where I can score a lot on the relatively cheap side, my cellar would probably be mostly made up with Solani blends. Solani makes great tobacco and this one will not disappoint any Vaper Lover. It is definitely worth the purchase price.

Presentation is lightly pressed flake with a mix of dark through light browns. The nose brings a bit more pronounced plum note than with other VaPer flakes, backed by the expected fig, date, and subdued Virginia hay- not green, and by no means fermented. Somewhere in the middle: a season aged. For my palette, that's just right and suggests subtle sweetness without heat or bite. 

Deep, rich plum on the charring light with a just hint of spice, and an excellent burn after just a short, 10-15 minute air dry. The Virginias here are velvety smooth and, as I'm fond of saying, you just can't make a world-class VaPer without smooth, kind Virginias. 633 delivers an impressive depth of flavor without ever being sharp or biting. There is a significant, stewed fruit sweetness to this blend that is never artificial or cloying. Don't get me wrong: this isn't a candy-smoker's blend. Rather, the sweetness here manifests naturally, as a testament to the blender's art. 

Like many delicious VaPer flakes, I find myself inadvertently increasing my cadence with this blend to get more and more of that unique, plummy flavor. Self-defeating, I know... But with 633 there is simply no bite and no heat to be found. 633 is very consistently flavored throughout the bowl and deep, rich, plummy to the end. Very easy smoking. 

Dry and remarkably cool smoking, it's difficult to imagine a VaPer flake much better than this. Interestingly, I found this a bit lighter on the nicotine than most VaPer flakes, so that might be a positive for new smokers or those who try to minimize their intake.  The relatively lower nicotine content, the smooth, biteless Virginias, and the balance of sweetness and depth make this my number one recommendation for a new VaPer smoker. But don't misunderstand that comment: there's enough body and flavor here to place this at or near the top of any VaPer aficionado's list.  

Quite simply, a masterpiece of the Virginia/Perique style. 

"Nectar of the gods"..."God, I love Périque!"...I can fully echo these sentiments, and cherish this V & P flake accordingly. Sweet, spicy, heady...SOLANI 633 is almost pornographically good! (And like many violent pleasures, it can do things to you, if you really overindulge.)

Taste it slowly and deeply, like a good boy.

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Note: I have been smoking this consistently and concomitantly with REINER LONG GOLDEN FLAKE, another memorable creation by Herr Will. Excellent as this is, LONG GOLDEN has a subtle richness and roundness that mark it as the choice between the two. This one has, NOT coincidentally...MORE PERIQUE. Lovelay.

This would be my 4th tin since trying this excellent blend a year ago. What can I say? It is one of the best Va flake available in the market today. Now I know a lot of the nay sayers are going to go bonkers with my claim, but hear or read me out first.

According to the tin description, this is a Va/Per blend and after researching this tobacco I have come to learn that it has been cased in honey. Now for the die-hard Perique fans, the piquant taste that Perique is well known for is somewhat subdued in this blend. On my palette, I can tell that there is Perique added, but in miniscule amounts. Not the type to please fans of SG St James Flake.

Now that i have got the Perique issue out of the way, this blend smokes extremely well. it has the sweetness of the Va amplified by the honey casing. Upon cracking the tin open I am able to detect raisins, figs and off course the honey aroma. Whilst strong contenders like the SG FVF and BBF holds the reigns when it comes to Va sweetness, this blend definitely gives the other two a run for their money.

The plus factor that Solani has nailed on this blend in comparison to the afforementioned SG's is the packaging part. The Flakes are uniformly cut and presented to you at a excellent moisture level. Drying out is optional with this blend, unlike the FVF and BBF.

Within my rotation, opened tins usually last for 2-3 months. By the end of that period, the tobacco smokes perfectly leaving me wanting to stock up on more.

Solani-633: Virginia with Perique. People often talk about "love at first sight", well for me this is love at first light!

I adore Va-Pers and when I stumbled across this on My Smoking Shops site I just had to buy some. I'm so glad I did!

From the moment I cracked open the sealed tin I was enthralled. The aroma is more than enticing. It's smells of plums, raisins, figs and hay. Absolutely divine.

The flakes are slightly moist. Not overly so, a short airing will suffice but the slight dampness has caused them to become partially stuck together in the tin. This causes me no issues as I always rub my flakes but if you were to fold and stuff this may cause an issue as some of the flakes can tare and crumble as they're pulled from the other flake that holds them in the tin.

As I said, love at first light. This has an amazing flavour.

It's not anywhere near as spicy as most Va-Pers, the Perique gives a delicate amount of zing but the majority of the flavour space is occupied by a raisin/hay like taste. The dried fruit like part seems to become stronger about half way through the smoke.

I don't find the nicotine particularly strong in this one. Mild to medium is a fair label from my point of view.

This burns superbly. It doesn't want hardly any re lights and just the occasional tamp is quite adequate.

I think this would be a good blend to enter into the world of Va-Pers with, there's just enough spice to wet your whistle but it could be too tame for a true/hard-core Perique lover.

For me though it's highly recommended.

Throughout my perils in search of the perfect mixture (meaning the one blend that I must always have on stock) I have encountered this fine tobacco, and so, I must say this is The One. When it comes to exciting my taste and smell I am a spice addict. I've tried to Irish Oak and thought "good, but there must be something better", I've made my own perique blends, but without great success. Conclusion: this tobacco is excellent, tobaccoey taste with just enough spice to make it perfect. Burns great, no tongue bite, white ashes for long lasting smoking pleasure.

NOTE: goes great with coffee (I'll try it also with black tea and I will let you know)

Let me start off by saying that this review is more than two years in the making.

I love VaPer blends. I'd always heard about this blend, but living where I am, it's really hard to find. Two years ago, I was amazed to see that my local tobacconist had several tins of this - I think it was eight in total. I bought all of them.

After reading some of the reviews here, the consensus was to let this age for a bit. So I put four tins aside for aging, and smoked the other four. After I was finished with my original four tins, trust me, it was VERY hard to forget about the other four tins I had put aside.

Without aging, this tobacco is simply superb. It's everything I've ever wanted in a VaPer. Smooth, great flavor, burns easy, and is just delightful. Just the right amount of Perique, and the quality of the Virginia's is obviously apparent. Incredible tin note. Incredible flavor.

After two years of aging, I can easily say that this is probably the best VaPer in the world, bar none. Davidoff's Flake Medallions is a very close second, but this is just absolutely sublime. With two years of aging, everything is just amplified for this blend. The Perique kicks more, the Virginia's are sweeter. It is just superb. It still remains easy to handle, easy to light, and easy to clean. Leaves a fine black and white ash.

My suggestion would be to sip this slowly to extract the most flavor out of it. Not that you will be having any problems in the flavor department, because this blend is just bursting with it.

I would be happy only smoking this for the rest of my life. It really is that good. If you're a VaPer lover, you owe it to yourself to try this blend.

Edit : I recently opened a six year old tin of this, and I must say that I just want to live inside this tin of tobacco. The perique has almost completely mellowed out to the point where it smells floral. Not too much spice with this much age on it, but the sweetness is out of this world, as is the tin note. Pro tip - do not rub this flake out. Just take a flake, fold it, fold it again the other way, rub it just a little between your palms so a small amount breaks off and loosens up a little, then just stuff it in. Use the rubbed out pieces for kindling. Every bowl of this has been a nirvana smoke. Goes all the way down to the very very end, and tastes superb all the way though. I wish I had more! I could smoke this every day for the rest of my life and never complain about it. I am in love.