J. F. Germain & Son Germain's Special Latakia Flake

YEOWZA.....I have only one word for Germain's Special Latakia Flake........Delicious......absolutely the best smoke I've ever had. Predominately high quality Virginia, with the perfect marriage of Latakia. I could smoke this flake....exclusively. Heady, tasty, no bite.

Well, what can I say, I'd rather have Penzance. Upon opening the tin I found that the flakes were quite moist. So much so that they were all stuck together like a plug of tobacco. At first I tried loading it like a regular flake, which was hard to keep lit. However, on the second smoke I decided to rub it out almost completely. This yielded a better smoke...

Tin aroma reminds me of extremely ripe raisins; again, not as pleasing as Penzance. This latakia flake is better before the half way point of the smoke. I love the intriguing flavors and spice before the nicotine becomes more pronounced. I've had no tongue bite with this weed, but it becomes stronger towards the middle of the bowl; turns into a pretty damn strong tobacco where the flavor falls to pure nicotine.

Terribly moist, dense and sticky flake, with a sickly smell just after opening. It's a medium english tobacco, and the flavor when smoking is not heavy at all, and it burns quite well, too! It's a sort of King Charles but richer and slightly sweeter. Not memorable anyway.

2008 Update: I have opened another tin, cellared for 4 years. Opinion remains unchanged: very smooth and creamy, but also weak in taste, watery and slightly cardboardy. Not as nutty, fragrant, spicy or complex as it would be fair to expect from such a product. OK, but very unexciting.

I have not much to add to most of the glowing reviews here under, except that in this flake, the Latakia is more or less all in a lump somewhere in that flake, so not evenly distributed. This would be no real problem except that the slices themselves are almost impossible to seperate! But don't let this deter you in smoking this high-quality English style tobacco, real creamy and with a real Latakia flavour that is not overwhelming.

What a solid Enlish mixture! First, I love the small tin. I wish all tinned baccys would come like this one so I could carry around a lot more through the day. Inside, a nice looking flake covered with crystalized sugar and a perfect moist level. I feel really confortable with Germain's "shaggy flake", so loading the bowl is a breeze. After that, it's all pleasure from top to bottom. It's a symphony: you can focus on latakia, virginias, or orientals, or you can let them come together. That is up to your mind: the great music is there for you to enjoy. It burns so well that it hardly needs tamping, so there's no distractions either.

This baccy has entered my Top 5 list of six tobaccos (I know, I either need to rule one out or make it a Top 6 list).

Germain's Special Latakia Flake arrived remarkably with bloom. It is rare indeed to find bloom on pipe tobacco--a well-aged cigar, yes, but on pipe tobacco, no. I found this understandably curious (reason mostly for two stars rather than one) and thought that I was about to enjoy quite an extraordinary treat. Special Latakia Flake demanded to be dried and rubbed (against my desires). In smoking this weed, I encountered nothing unusual yet alone extraordinary. It is a rather dull offering and, apart from the bloom, without any distinguishing characteristics beyond its dose of nicotine. As I noted with Blakeney's Best Latakia Flake, if you are looking for Latakia in flake form, stick with C.A.O.'s Old Ironsides. In comparison with the latter, this stuff is less a battleship and more a dinghy.

This one is a treat! Do not expect a lighter version of Penzance for it is not!This is a wonderful amped up version of Germain's King Charles.The backbone of the blend is Virginia ,with orientals for sweetness, and a very mild dose of Latakia that remains in the background.It produces a very mild and natural nutty flavor.The Latakia is subdued and provides just the right amt of depth for this blend.It has the signature Germain casing and burns very cool.Those around you will not even notice you are smoking at all,the room note is very subdued.This comes in the same form as Penzance and needs to be rubbed out.It lights well and does not bite.If you have tried 1820 or King Charles,this is a heavier version of those. 3 of 4 stars fo a great light English!

Let me preface this by stating that I do not prefer my latakia dosed from a front-end loader. I prefer it as a condiment the same way I prefer my perique. That said...this blend is right up my alley. Lighter on the latakia with orientals and virginias aplenty. The combination here creates a reasonably complex blend. While lightly pressed , I do dig the flake presentation as Va. and va./p flakes are my mainstay. It smokes smooth and cool when partially rubbed out. It will not satisfy those who like their latakia shot from a cannon but should satisfy those looking for a milder english blend. A pleasant surprise.

I got this one evening when the tobacconist was fresh out of my favorite latakia slice, Old Ironsides. I found it somewhat similar, although not as smokey or full, but with a good solid body and taste. It's really all about the latakia taste, which dominates, which makes it a good choice if you like that dimension of blend. Given a choice, I would get Old Ironsides, but if you can't, this will do, and do more than well.