J. F. Germain & Son Germain's Brown Flake

(3.24)
Brown Flake is a molasses colored Virginia leaf. pressed into broad flakes that are resinous and delectable. The naturally bright lemon Virginia is first air cured to draw out the simpler, nuttier flavor, then pressed to ferment in its own vital juices.

Details

Brand J. F. Germain & Son
Blended By J.F. Germain & Son
Manufactured By J.F. Germain & Son
Blend Type Virginia/Burley
Contents Kentucky, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Flake
Packaging 50 grams tin, 50 grams pouch
Country United Kingdom
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.24 / 4
39

30

11

4

Reviews

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Displaying 11 - 20 of 39 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 20, 2013 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
My first reaction to this was "Yeah, it's nice, but I don't see what's so special about it, other than it's hard to find in the US." A little hint of dark fruit, pleasant dark tobaccos, and the flakes really peel off in tin-length strands making it an easy-to-pack smoke. It burns on the slow side.

Over the time I've been smoking it, however (several months), either the flavors have deepened even more, with more complexities creeping in, or I've learned to enjoy this more. I still find nothing that makes me go 'wow' or 'this is a great example of whatever.' This is a dark, satisfying, moderately complex mixture as it matures. If it is ever again available, I will certainly cellar it for a while to hope the beginning of that tin is as satisfying as the end of this one.
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 23, 2016 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
Germain’s Brown Flake is a “sleeper” that (apparently) has none the less been discovered, and the price for a tin of has gone out of bounds, IMO. Price aside, this is as natural a VA flake as I know of, muted and still deep in the tin, and rich and deep when smoked, likely owing to the smidgen of first quality KY, which also adds some "fat" and a little buttery tannin, along with a very slight "smoky" quality. Back to the prominent VAs, they seem to be mostly (top quality) brown and orange VA with various cures, and the lot is pressed and well-fermented before it’s sliced. The flakes are thin and supple, easy to fold, spindle and stuff, and it lights and burns well. There is “enough” smoke, and the aroma is very nice, indeed, for the VA lover who likes it "rich". This might be the only tobacco I have reviewed here upon which I have detected no casing or topping; not that it doesn’t have it, rather I just can’t smell or taste it. Strength is close to medium. Taste is closer to full. Room note is pleasant. Aftertaste is all 1st Class VA, exceptional and long lasting.

Back to the price, this is the only thing keeping GBF out of my rotation. Though it is among the finest VA flakes/VA/Burs available, and I enjoyed my most recent tin immensely, I’m OK with Fribourg and Treyer’s Vintage as a substitute. I hasten to add, smoking F&TV back to back with GBF puts the former in its place. Both are worthy, but there IS a reason why GBF is hard to find, IF you can get hold of it.
Pipe Used: dedicated briars
Age When Smoked: to 18 mos.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 20, 2011 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
very oddly pleasing!! it is malty and sweet.. but there is also a strange hint of sea salt/brine.. almost like an islay scotch but subtley so.. i like it very satisfying
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 11, 2010 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
A superlative Virginia flake. The taste buds are satisfied with the malty, slightly sweet taste. It has a cigarlike, rounded quality when smoked. Well done J. F. Germain& Son.

Virginia lover
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 18, 2018 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Tolerable
Germain has a process that is unparalleled in the tobacco blending world. They seem to have a time machine that puts age on all of their blends. They somehow use production methods and casings that make the finished product taste and look as if it has several years on it right out of the tin, Brown Flake is no exception. The tin note has something in it in addition to the VA's and Burley's, I think it is whiskey, but cannot be sure. It is sweet and has a vanilla like aroma to boost the sweet and grassy VA's and toasty and slightly sour Burley. The VA/Bur flavor is among the best their is. I have never had Stonehaven but I am told they are very similar. This blend is very wet out of the tin and needs some significant dry time. I find it best in a meer but is fantastic in any pipe. The Burley is toasty and nutty and is a strong second to the miriad of Virginia's in this blend. It is sweet but not too sweet, the VA's are grassy and have a hint of citrus to them in (grapefruit and tangerine come to mind). There is also a rotting hay quality (and that is meant to be a GOOD thing). I also get toasted rye bread in the flavors. This may be from the blending of the Burley which is nutty (hazlenuts and Brazil nuts). I also detect a woody flavor similar to that of Orientals but that is not on the list of leaves provided by Germain. This is a cool slow burning smoke, and I would have bet that this one would bite...but it did not and I pushed this blend a few times trying to get as much out of it as I could. I kept wanting more of the straight forward flavors and had to force myself to slow down each and every bowl. I do not know how Germain does it but they have a way of making biteless tobacco blends, even when moist. Germain's Brown Flake ( and Bridge) blends are first class tobacco's that make you feel like you are smoking in the high era of pipe smoking and blending. Bridge is a different blend (will review later) but it is so close I have a hard time telling them apart. They are both world class. If you are a VA/Bur lover I would try and pick these up.
Pipe Used: briar's, cob's and meerschaum
Age When Smoked: 1 YEAR
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 15, 2009 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
Well, at least the image sticked in the back of this small rectangular tin is not as scary as the ones I found on other English products. Just a couple of hands showing their aged skin.

Let's start with first impressions upon opening: 1) wax paper 2) the blind smell talks of unscented virginia, not sweet 3) beautiful contrasted large flakes, very supple. Encouraging announcements !

One whole flake, if you are able to get it straight from the tin since it easily fall apart, is enough to fill a group 4 bowl, a BBB canadian.

BF lights easily and smokes cool and steadily. The first combination coming to my mind is Virginia/Kentucky, the cigarish note is quite evident. Dry/earthy/woody/musty/salty are my words, with just a wee-bit of sweetness in the far background. Of the good British companions being my December pipe-meal, the only possible comparison I can offer is with Walnut Flake. But WF is way much smoother, and again - as I happened in the past - I do agree with Hagen that BF is a bit hard on the throat, and is not something to leave and relight, it turns bitter.

My stomach says that BF is just better to smoke as an after dinner. As a matter of fact we are well above the medium side.

I don't see any reason to believe there is any artificial casing, to me BF is something in the pure-tobacco territory, perfectly burning and leaving extra-dry-light-gray ashes.

A very nice product, indeed. It deserves some cellaring.

*** UPDATE 2010/03/23 Well some half tin of this was left aging into a small sealed glass jar. I did hope that some more Dark Flake coming from UK, but still waiting… Oh My ! Time has improved this flake by large. What at the first time was the roughness of a dark Virginia seasoned by some dark fired leaf, has become a soft, winey, and again: cigarish smoke. A delicious smoke, seems to me it's bit milder, burns like heaven till the very bottom. I would like the bowl never ending. I frankly hope to put my hands on a good number of tins, before it's too late. It goes straight to my heart, four full stars!
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 20, 2003 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant
This is another tobacco I recently sampled from a tobacco box pass generated by a member of my private pipe board. One of the great ones, IMO, with a wonderful depth of flavor to the flakes that have been specially prepared in that incomparable Germain way.

The taste is sweet rather than sour or hay like. So, I suspect a very, very light topping is involved here.

An all day and night smoke for sure. Will not bite even with aggressive puffing.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 21, 2021 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
In my eyes Germain's Brown Flake is one of a kind. It is one of those tobaccos you couldn't replace with anything else that is on the market today. Logically that means that one cannot really compare it to other "Brown Flakes" such as the extraordinary Samuel Gawith one that has long been a staple with me. Germain's Best Brown Flake's limited availability coupled with my own reluctance to spend a whole lot of money on import taxes have led me to consider it a Sunday treat.

The taste is very remarkable. The smoke is dry and creamy and in this respect indeed comparable to that of a fine cigar. Overall I do not think of the blend as very "cigarish" tough. The taste is predominantly that of earth (in the positive sense). For varieties sake, there is blood oranges or grapefruit but only ever so slightly. Especially at the beginning of the bowl there are also nuances of hazelnut very akin to those in Rattray's Old Gowrie (a blend which is way sweeter than Germain's BF). Not to turn you off but sometimes I am also reminded of musty books when I think of Brown Flake. As others have commented, you can really push this tobacco and it just never bites. Ultimately, this kind of thing may or may not be your cup of tea but if it is there is really nothing quite like it.
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 16, 2018 Medium None Detected Full Pleasant to Tolerable
A truly magical smoke this is... I took me a year for finally finding a shop that had it in stock here in germany. I instantly stocked up a few tins, as I got ahold of a 50g tin with 8-10years of age to it in forehand. I'll split this in "new" and "aged".

**New/Fresh:** A wonderful tin note awaits you in the tin. Very reminiscent of a horse-stable with rich cigar-ish and earth notes, and a hint of floweriness. Bright-, dark- and red-brown in colors this is an intriguing looking flake and albeit being a bit mist out of the tin you can smoke it right away. Yet I recommend drying it out to be "crisp" as it's more spicy then. In the pipe it spoils you with rich earthiness and hay, very reminiscent of a horse-stable. Decent cigar-ish notes are everpresent and accompanied by a slight floweriness. There's only a very mild sweetness, this is a hearty smoke! It's like being on a farm! Horse-stable aroma, well dried hay and a farmer puffing some fine farmers tobacco in his pipe - this blend packs it all into a flake slice and makes you dream of long lost days.

**Aged (8-10years)::** The tobaccos age exceptionally well! The flakes are sticking to eachother and have fermented a lot. The flakes are now quite dark, with a significant amount of pitch-black leaf. The juices of the tobaccos have come out and are coating not only the cover sheet - which now is dark brown instead of white - but also quite a few of the flakes. The tin note is rich. Cigar-ish, horse-stable, earth and hay. Most pleasant tin note I got to sniff and I'd rate it as my favorite tin note. Still a bit moist, I prefer drying it out for at least 30mins up to a few hours. In the pipe the "horse-stable" aroma is also present, which I find very, very pleasant. Rich earthiness, decent cigar-ish notes, with a flowery touch to it and a decent amount of hay. Again: The taste-profile is a lot like being at a farm. Horse stable, hay, cigar-notes from the farmer puffing some neat Kentucky leaf. Perfection in a word!

**Verdict:** Aged of frehs...this is my most favorite Burley/Kentucky blend ever! The aged version was heavenly, with its deep fermented qualities and the tobacco juices sticking all over the flakes. Yet a fresh tin is just as enjoyable and has the very same taste-characteristics, expect for the rich fermented character the aged one has. I'm stocking this up for ever day smoke and a few tins for aging! My Go-To-Blend when I want some sweet Burley goodness. Some shops describe this as a Virginia blend, yet I contradict... to me the Kentucky dominates with its intense characteristics and is accompanied by the richly earthy an hay-ish Virginias, which only hold a little of the stereotypical "citrus", but are rather hearty and spicy.
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 05, 2018 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Upon opening the tin one can smell fermentation. It reminded me of the smell of a walk in humidor. Great smell and wonderful presentation. The paper surrounding the dark brown was all stained for aging and fermentation. These flakes look like and are as easy to work with as the Medium Flake. Probably the softest and easiest flake to rub out.

Loads easy into the bowl and lights well enough. The moisture content for me was perfect, but there are many who may want to have some dry time prior to loading the bowl. Lights easy with the two match style and stays light with attentive, but light tamping.

This is a great tobacco. Lots of flavors that are similar to the Medium flake but I find this flake to be bolder, deeper, and richer than it's brother. Less citrus, though hints of it come through. There is some molasses flavors and sweet VA mixed in with earth and hay. It does remind me of a cigar here and there, but not completely, the smoke is more gentle than that. I noted hints of a spice, not pepper, but more like cumin, but that doesn't completely describe it. Another reviewer mentioned peat...it may be somewhere between those two flavors. That may sound a like a detractor to some, but it's quite pleasant and tasty. Very enjoyable flavor that is bold but not overpowering and soft at the same time. Difficult to describe. The nic is just at the right level I would say, medium. Glad I was able to sample this and I have another tin aging in my cellar.
Pipe Used: Briar Billard, Briar Bones, Cob
PurchasedFrom: Morgan Hill Cigar and Wine
Age When Smoked: New from store - 1-3 months
3 people found this review helpful.
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