Reiner Blend 71: Long Golden Flake

I guess I'm going to have to be the lone dissenter here. I really thought I would like this beautiful flake, but so far I really don't care for it. It seems to be topped with something I can't put my finger on and its flavor is cloying. It actually makes me slightly nauseous.

Of course, LGF has many good qualities. It lights easily, burns slow and cool, and is easy on the tongue. Moreover, the flakes are absolutely beautiful.

I guess I'll have to revisit this again in the future. Mr. Will is a great blender and I enjoy Solani 633 very much. I love bright Virginias, burley, and perique, so I'm really disappointed that I dislike this blend so much.

Update: I tried it again which causes me to downgrade my rating. I won't give this one another chance.

These are my notes from 2009... immediately after popping the lid the very first thing I noted was a Licorice aroma. Maybe flavoring has changed by now. The licorice essence carried over into the flavor & subsided somewhat after a few puffs but continued to remain in the background... like a bacteria that couldn't be destroyed. It turned me off & I've never tried a Reiner blend again & couldn't finish the tin. It sat on the shelf for years until it dried out & was eventually trashed. Lesson learned: Just because the majority liked it & gave rave reviews, doesn't mean that it'll be favorable to you. I felt like my $$ went down the drain which is the only reason I persevered & tried to finish it off... but alas, it was no use.

Here's something I don't understand! JimInks, the Guru of Tobacco Reviews can taste the wood, earth, hay, grass, tangy sweetness of Red VAs, Cyprian or Syrian Latakia, nuttiness of Burley, lemony citrus from light VAs, Grandma's biscuits, toast, jelly, fruit... figs, raisins, prunes from Perique, Chocolate, Vanilla, Amaretto, Cognac, etc., pepper, barbecue, Rum, Whiskey, Wine, grapes, strawberries, plums, mango, apples, apricots & anything else you can think of but fails to notice the foul taste of Licorice in Reiner's Long Golden Flake makes me think there's something rotten in Denmark! My suspicions have become aroused. I will pay him no mind henceforth & reach my own conclusions & write my own, honest and reliable, unbiased review. That, you can rely on! To hell with these individuals who consider themselves experts & connoisseurs of blended tobaccos. Let's keep it simple from here on out... overall, it's either good or unworthy, plain and simple!

This blend smoked mildly with a "little" sweetness. I was expecting & prefer a stronger mixture but it appeared that the Burley played "second fiddle" in this blend. However the apportionment of the varietals melded OK after a few puffs & things turned out pretty good & gained a little more strength toward the end of the bowl... too late! Anyway, it was a VA/Bur/Per blend that didn't bite, was easy to prepare, good burn rate & burned down to a gray ash with little condensation. This didn't make it in my rotation, nor will it ever but I pinched off some of this flake belt and smoked it occasionally.

RLGF produced by R. L. Will is the only Reiner Mixture I've tried. R. L. Will also blends Silver Flake #660 which is one of my favorites which turned out to be a real treat for me & holds a General's rank in my top ten rotation. RLGF... maybe a Private. Because of the overabundance of Licorice flavor in this blend, I'll never seek out or try any other Reiner blend. I extremely dislike licorice in a tobacco blend. Hence the reason I've never attempted Bengal Slices... Licorice is not a bad candy or breath freshener but not good for mixing in tobacco. Thunderbird Wine or Naphtha would have been a better alternative for flavoring. Alas... one small mistake outweighs much wisdom & reduced what could have been something special into a below average offering.

Who the hell is Reiner & why did anyone allow him to produce such an awful mixture... a regular, Drug Store blend with an overabundance of an Ouzo, or a God-awful, Licorice addition. Shame on him and all those who rate this crap highly... this stuff is at best, no better than Bull Durham in a cloth bag that was sold for 7 cents a pouch when I was a child. Reiner should be banned from the tobacco blending industry. Everything with the Reiner name is foul or worse. C'mon people... wise up and see the writing on the wall!!! This is garbage & should be as plain as the nose on your face... but then again, there are those who try to explain away their wasteful expenditure. I've seen this many times on TRs... honesty is the best policy! Let's put a stop to this overrating, starting now! On the plus side, the empty tin is good for storing & retaining trinkets.

Things are never so bad they can't be made worse.

This tobacco, otherwise quite attractive, is ruined by the European habit of dousing their tobaccos in liquorice, a sweet herb that is toxic in high doses.

Some sources say that the purpose of liquorice is to dilate the bronchial tubes and increase the amount of smoke that gets into the lungs, increasing the nicotine dose and thus the addiction to nicotine.

But it is also one of the sweetest substances in nature, and a very popular way of sweetening tobacco and increasing the appeal of otherwise inferior leaf. It is especially popular at Kohlhase & Kopp, where this stuff is made.

Do yourself a favor and choose a blend without the liquorice. If you want to pickle your liver, why waste it on this stuff? A pipefull of Escudo and a tall glass of Scotch: that's the ticket!

Almost perfect.

Reiner's Long Golden Flake has the perfect packaging and the perfect presentation. The air-tight tin, the extra-long flakes packed in a spiral, the beautiful brown color and perfect texture make for an almost perfect experience, even before getting the tobacco into your pipe. The moisture content is almost perfect, requiring little or no drying out of the tin.

The flavor of the Virginias is super. It is almost a perfect tobacco. But it will not make my favorites list, or even my regular rotation.

The only strike against this is the casing/topping. More than one flavor is present, putting this tobacco in the aromatic or light aromatic category for me. The anise or licorice flavor, which imparts a strong medicinal odor to the tin, can be tasted throughout the bowl. The medicinal flavor does not dissipate, and it dominates the flavor of the pipe from beginning to end. It is just as strong nine months after opening. It makes me ask if the blender is trying to cover up some shortcoming in the tobacco. But it is probably intentional. I suppose some folks prefer this flavor.

I long for a Long Golden Flake that is more 'natural,' without the licorice or other added flavors.

Update: 2 August 2010 After spending a few more months with this tobacco, I am marking it down to two stars. It is monotonous, dull, and dominated by the anise or licorice casing. There are so many Virginias out there that are so much better than LGF. It's not bad stuff really, but I always finish wishing I had chosen a different Virginia for my pipe, like a Rattray's or Solani VaPer, made in the same factory.

Update: 5 September 2010 I took LGF on a camping trip, smoking it daily for a while. The medicinal licorice flavoring drove me nuts. I've given up on this tobacco. This emperor has no clothes! One star only!

Update: 14 December 2010 Finally threw out the remainder of my LGF. There are too many good tobaccos out there to waste any more pipes on this one.

This blend doesn't agree with me. LGF leaves my pipe very hot and burns my tongue no matter how lightly I puff. The taste reminds me of cigarettes.

All I Say is This Is A Good Pipe Tobacco ~BUT~ TOTALLY~TOTALLY Way Over Priced

The Reiner Long Golden Flake (Blend No. 71) For 100g is $18.34

This Was A Gift ~ I Would Have Never Paid That Kind of Money For ONLY 100g of Pipe Tobacco ~N~ I'm Not Cheap Either

BUT ~ Its Your Money Thier Taking ~N~ ONLY Given U A 100g of Pipe Tobacco

Stay Away From Purchasing ~ Reiner Long Golden Flake (Blend No. 71) 100g For $18.34 ~ Until They Come Too A Reasonable Price For Only 100g of Pipe Tobacco

Thx U In Advance For Taking The Time Too Read This Report