Wessex Campaign Dark Flake

This is a very well prepared Virginia flake with a sweet, tobacco flavor. Tin odor is a good Virginia aroma. The flakes were slightly sticky from the molasses or honey topping but rubbed out easily. It is biteless and smokes mild but delivers favorable nicotine content.

A slight harshness initially...characteristic of Virginias. After a relight (employing the DGT method) & a few more puffs, no more bite & this stuff provided pure, sweet Virginia flavor with a mild accent while still providing a pretty good nicotine boost. Packs easily & burns nicely & doesn't bite. An excellent Dark Virginia and much better than most. I thought it was better than Astley's No. 44 which I will avoid unless they change their recipe to reduce bite & find a way to produce a better, sweeter, flavor in their dark VA version.

If you like straight, dark Virginia, give Wessex Campaign Dark Flake, Brigade Series a try. I promise, you won't be disappointed if you like dark VA tobacco. WB Campaign is more pricy than similar blends but worth the extra $$. It provided a nice, sweet flavored smoke. A great blend with extras in my modest cellar.

The tin note smells of stewed fruit. It smelled so good I had to taste it, where I found a molasses casing, which adds a little sweetness and richness to the dark Virginias. The tobacco is quite complex for a Virginia flake and the flavors build the farther down the bowl you smoke. There is little chance of bite, though there are some harsh edges to the smoke. The nicotine is a tab higher than medium. All in all, this is one of the best dark Virginia flakes currently on the market.

I sat down, lit up and got a pleasant fruity taste. I thought for a second in the retrohale I could taste something a little spicy. After the first minute that spice never returned. There's a fruit flavour is much richer than I had experienced in any blend before. Some subtle taste of the earth from which this wonderful leaf sprouted. Together creating a nice balance. My favorite virginia blend by far. 9.5/10

This is my first tin of Wessex, and I bought it based on the great reviews and recommendations on this site. It seems extremely mild to me, but perhaps I was expecting something more or I'm used to stronger Virginias...but I think it is excellent. I was eager to try it right out of the tin and in my haste I rubbed enough of the flake for a bowl without allowing any time to dry. It lit and stayed lit with no effort, and only a single relight. I definitely notice the taste of dried hay (who knew I liked hay so much?!) and grains, with a little sweetness that stayed on the lips. I haven't noticed the taste of any fruits or molasses like few others have, but this is my first bowl. I'll see after some more bowls...which are a guarantee. Looking forward to see any changes as it ages a bit.

In my opinion this is a great tobacco for someone looking to try what I perceive as a mild Virginia, or anyone who hasn't tried Wessex. I do recommend it to others and I will be looking at reviews of some other Wessex tins that are reviewed as a little more complex, and with more flavor. You can't go wrong with this as an easy, cool, smooth smoke with zero tongue bite.

When I cracked open my new tin, I smelt an aroma that was deep and pungent and a bit different than what I'm used to from a fresh tin. Not sure how to describe it and now that my tin's been open awhile the tin aroma has changed. The top disc was stained so my sample may have set on the shelf for awhile before I got it.

This is perhaps where all the bottom end went that the Red Flake was missing. I didn't find much high end here. What I did find was a predominating chocolatey - cocoa sort of taste with the typical virginia hay taste to the background. A lot of depth to this blend. The flakes separated easily but were moist and did not dry out as quickly as I anticipated. I got a tiny bit of bite from this one but it was the "delayed reaction" sort of bite, it took me a couple hours to feel it.

This is a damn good virginia flake IMHO. Easily a rating of at least three stars , I just happened to like their Red Virginia Flake a little bit better overall.

The tin opens to a dense bundle of folded flakes. The aroma of a dusty hay loft and fig cookies wafts out, announcing the presence of good Virginia leaf - well chosen and well aged. Sweet grains, hot cereal, granola with raisins. Spicy notes, dry hay, dried fruit with a hint of unsweetened chocolate.

Folding the flake when packing works very well, burns beautifully.

A really nice medium Virginia flake. Sweet, toasted grains, grassy, malty - gets better and better as the bowl burns down. Sweetness gets more pronounced, develops flavors like baked bread, pancake batter, saddle soap, and even semi-sweet chocolate. This stuff is excellent - subtle, sweet and quite enjoyable.

I usually like a fuller Virginia flake, but this stuff gets no complaints from me. Added this blend to the favorites list, and I just ordered a couple more tins.

This is a very well prepared Virginia flake with a sweet, tobacco flavor. Tin odor is a good tobacco aroma. The flakes were slightly sticky but rubbed out easily. It is biteless and smokes mild but delivers favorable nicotine content.

A slight harshness initially...characteristic of Virginias. After a relight & a few more puffs, this stuff provided pure, mild, sweet Virginia flavor. Packs easily & burns nicely.

An excellent Virginia and much better than most. If you like Virginia, give this one a try. This is more pricy than similar blends but worth the extra $$. This tobacco provided a nice, unadulterated, straight tobacco flavored smoke. Therefore, IMHO, Brigade Campaign Dark Flake merits four stars.

A medium bodied, brown Virginia flake. A long, wide (as flakes go) strip rolled around itself like a rolled and flattened belt with exquisite taste and character. Easy to peel, fold into the pipe and light (no re-lights required). Natural tasting tobacco with a lingering sweet after taste. Burns moderately hot as Virginias go, but without bite, just a pleasant Virginia spiciness and not over the top. In the same ball park as Wessex Brown Virginia Flake, but with more spice over sweet. Campaign is a nice, comfortable smoke, consistent from first puff to last. So far, I seem to be the only reviewer to not rate the flavoring as "None Detected." With careful puffing, I definitely notice the presence of molasses.

A very tasty Virginia flake, good for those venturing into Virginia territory for the first time and well worth the price. A smooth, nice tasting Virginia. One is rewarded with a natural, spicy sweetness that only good quality Virginia can provide. Just exquisite with slow puffing. A solid recommendation. Gets better with some age on it as well. All things considered, I find Wessex Brigade CDF different than their Brown Virginia Flake. Between the two, where BVF is deliciously sweet, CDF takes the lead in that spicy sweetness I previously mentioned. Along with their BVF, a good smoke, but for me, edged out by BVF overall.

Pipestud, NEWMAN, and Tantric have said it all. Brigade Campaign Dark Flake is clearly the best (of all I've sampled thus far) from Wessex.