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

I bought this at a tobacco shop in Hamilton Ontario Canada in 2010. As is to be expected in Canada it was a frightingly expensive $22.00 cdn (before 13% sales tax)for a 50 gram tin. I had been told it was close to St. Bruno flake but even better. It was indeed close and yet better. Packaged in a tin instead of a foil sealed plastic tray in a plastic pouch like St. Bruno it cellared well without loss of flavour or drying out. This was the greatest fault with this blend, even after four years in the cellar it was wet to the point that even the waxy paper wrapping was still damp to the touch. So I decided to leave the tin open over night. Actually I had to leave this for three days before it was dry enough that it could be smoked. The fact that it did dry convinced me that it was not wet from some form of humicant. However, since it took so long to dry up I decided to weigh it before I sampled a bowl. It was sold as 50 grams for $22.00 cdn(making it $0.44/gm) but after three days air time it was still moist but now weighed in at only 43 grams (raising the price to $0.51/gm). For those of you who measure in ounces this takes it from $12.50 cdn per ounce to $14.28 cdn per ounce. That means I paid $3.13 for 7 grams of water. So despite the fact it tasted better than St. Bruno I'm not prepared to pay for that much water. If you don't care then by all means it is a fine tasting smoke and go ahead and get some. If, however, you prefer to pay for something you can smoke then this was packaged deceptively as the stated weight of the tin I purchased consisted of 14% water. I cannot recommend it for this reason.

Germain?s Brown Flake started as a nice surprise, but by mid bowl it became a big disappointment and it ended the same way. When I opened the tin I noticed a nice flake, tightly pressed but rather moist, of a rich brown colour, very appetising. Tin aroma was inviting: spicy, beefy, with a faint resemblance to Astley?s 109, and to a lesser extent to some McClelland Vas. Rubbing out the flakes was quite simple and there was no problem packing them in. However, due to the high moisture content, I found the tobacco difficult to light and keep lit.

The first few puffs were excellent. I was greeted by a mellow but substantial flavour, very refined and tasty. It is that type of Va. processed in such a way it faintly (the stress is on faintly) evokes a Lea & Perrin?s sauce or Bovril undertone. When well done, such as in Astley?s 109 or Gallaher?s Rich Dark Honeydew, the tobacco?s overall structure and flavour are mouth watering and scrumptious. A rich, hearty smoke, enticing and uplifting. IMO, and unlike my esteemed fellow reviewers, I don't feel this is the case.

As I said, first few puffs were very good and tasty. Hmmm, I thought this could be a very good morning to mid day smoke! But as I progressed slowly down the bowl, the flavour gradually seemed to fade away, until it virtually dissipated into?hot air! I let the pipe cool down, waited for some time, allowing for some DGT, but to no avail. Some of the original flavour did reappear towards the end of the bowl, but the whole experience, IMO, was frustrating enough not to give it another try. Maybe if someone out there is just picking up a pipe, this tobacco may serve as a nice introduction to straight, non sweetened Vas. In my case, I am afraid it just didn?t work.

Nice, yet very ordinary flake from Germain's.

The little brother of Rich Dark Flake, without the dark and without the rich. There isn't much left after you take these away.

You end up with a very generic looking flake which has virtually no smell, no taste and even less character. With so many virginia flakes on the market, including the plethora of German blends this doesn't stand out.

Admittedly I had a 20g semi-sample from the tobacconist not the tin, but this could have been any of a dozen of flakes I could name.

It's not a bad flake by any means, just average. Very disappointing.