Paul Olsen No. 111

This is Paul Olsen's answer to Stokkebeye's Luxury Navy Flake. The appearance of the flake is almost, if not, identical. The aroma in the tin is slightly different, but definitely Danish. It rubs out and packs beautifully. The tobacco is very high quality, and burns evenly all the way to the dottle with very little tending. The Virginia and Kentucky components are there to offer a base for the main attraction: Beautiful, tangy, mouth-watering Perique. Here the Perique is slightly less intense than in Luxury Navy, but it is there aplenty. The Virginia and Kentucky have been enhanced with a light sweetener which offers no taste additive. This is a gorgeous smoke. For those who love Va./Perique flakes, but find Luxury Navy a bit too daunting, this could be just the ticket. I will be smoking a lot of this, both to enjoy its uniqueness and to offer a subtle contrast to one of my favorites, Luxury Navy Flake. Highly recommended for the Perique lover. Paddy.

Exquisite, spicy, yet mellow and toasty, this is a very good flake, faintly flavored, fresh and definitely appetizing. It belongs to those quality Danish almost-all-natural-Virginias (like Orlik Golden Sliced, Stokkebye?s Luxury Navy Flake or the Caledonian range) which, personally, I very much enjoy. They seemed to be processed in such a way that most of the Virginias natural sugars are muted and transformed into something whose flavor is closer to that of toasted oats or wheat grain than to dried raisins. It has an enticing, subtle and elegant aroma, and a wonderful taste.

Due to the Kentucky content in PO MOB 111, one would think this tobacco is akin to Golden Sliced, and indeed there are certain moments in which there is a strong resemblance (Orlik would still be milder and not as intense in depth). However, the presence of Pèrique?again, treated in such a way that it is not excessively piquant nor overwhelming?makes it closer to Stokkebye?s Luxury Navy Cut. This in fact could be described as a richer and creamier version of the said Navy Cut.

This a tobacco one can safely smoke indoors or outdoors, rich in flavor yet very predictable and easy to smoke. There is not much need of thinking things over with this type of blends. Easy to fill in and light up, they come with the right amount of moisture and they truly are a joy to smoke. Recommended as a regular Virginia smoke.

Olsen's MY OWN BLEND series should stay just that: HIS own blend. The line has consistently produced overly flavored, unsophisticated trash for pipe tobacco.

That said, 111 is an exquisite VA flake and those of you who doubt Olsen because of the inferiority of this line should at least try 111. Unfortunately, it only comes in 100g tins and the 10-13 bucks might be excessive for a brand this unreliable. Ask your tobacconist if there's any in the back to try.

Anyone accustomed to Gawith Medium Virginia but want something stronger should enjoy 111. The addition of perique (and a good amount there is) mellows and sweetens the taste while adding a noticeable kick in strength.

And what's so astounding about it? NO BITE. Yes, unlike FORMER'S personal blend, 111 is biteless virginia which is a glorious feat unto itself.

This one's a winner. A delicate, decently balanced VA. Recommended for English lovers too.

ngandhi

One of the most popular of Olson's blends. And with good reason. It reminds me of a better version of Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake. The virginias are richer and less grassy, and not so youthful....and there is probably more dark Va in here too. And there is a tad more perique. The Kentucky is a soft kentucky with only a very slight smokey woody taste. The moisture level is perfect (as is the case with all olson blends). It is sold out of the danish pipe shop. At least mostly. The nic hit is a slight bit above mild. It burns cool and has a rich somewhat complex flavor. Deserves more recognition to be sure.

Here we're talking a flake that has it all. Have smoked quite some of this, especially in the beginning of the 2000s. A very complex flavour that can satisfy any VaPer friend. Needs a little airing, maybe 30min to 1 hour and then burns nice and cool to the end. Thick contemplative smoke. I rate it a bit on the strong side, because at the last third it packs quite a punch. The room note is ok, with the occasional wife murderous look across the room. For the reviewer before me, don't worry, they still make it;-). 3 stars from me, 4 stars belong to 499 in my agenda.

While I still prefer my VA/P blends to be a bit on the "natural" and "rough" side ala C+D and GLP - this *is* an excellent rendition of the ingredients. It is actually far more natural and "straight" tasting than even the Esoterica VA/P line. I don't think I'd smoke it all the time, but it carries a combination of sweet and spice (with just the right nuances of each) that could keep me coming back to it on occasion.

I decided to give this blend a try after hearing people in chat rooms talk about it and reading the positive reviews here. I was not dissapointed! I was so impressed with this blend that I emailed Peter stokkebye and let them know how impressed I was. I am normally not a fan of Stokkebye tobaccos as I have had many that are over flavored and very bitey. This flake was very smooth and round and was hard to get it to bite. The flavors ran deep and ranged from a nutty barleyish flavor to sweet and delicate. I did not detect any added flavoring although there may be as Stokkebye tobaccos are notorious for this. Although this tobacco has a fair nicotine content I did not consider it overwhelming. I highly recommend this to virginia flake lovers as well as to those who like burley and would like to try a good virginia flake.

Darn right this has taste! This is REAL GENUINE FLAKE TOBACCO!!!!! I'm tired of hearing that the Danish tobacco house's don't do it right. They have done it damn right with this blend I'll tell you here and now. Spicey blend with the Virginia and Perique teter-totering and balanced with great Kentucky Burley. Hardly any sweetner noticed. Good tobaco taste! I'll be purchasing a lot more of this. A wonderful tobacco that you really need to try. AAAAA

---

I'm not a fan of Perique which makes me the bad guy already. I found the taste to be rather spicy and felt it overwhelmed the tobacco itself to the point I could not finish the GBD Natural Brandy Bowl and had to set it down.