Wessex Campaign Dark Flake

Wessex is my lattest stop on my trip down the Virginia hiway....and a fine hiway it is. Wessex is the blender of many of my favorite blends...ie. O.G, H.O.T.W. This one holds its own with the best of them.

Upon opening the tin you find, as expected, a dark fragrant flake. By preference I let this flake air for a short time, then rub out fully. This makes packing, light, and burn exceptional. The flavor is "musty", and semi-sweet. To me this is a high quality, pleasureable smoke. I wont say this is THE BEST Va. that I have had the pleasure of trying, but it is amoung them. I give this one * * * *

Tin note of mild stewed fruit, toasted dark bread and coffee?. Tobacco is a dark brown flake. Moisture content is great, flakes rub out with a little effort. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and very consistent, with notes of bread, wood, spice, fermented, earth, floral, hay, orange peel/zest, tangy citrus, acidic/spicy, mildly bitter, mildly vinegary, lemon grass, savory, a rich tart stewed dark fruit background note, and a peppery retro. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Overall, a somewhat generic dark VA flake -- which to me is nothing bad, just nothing outstanding. No dark fired, just the dark tones of VA, with vague hints of dark fruit (which may be just a touch of topping). If that small set of notes appeal to you give it a try; if you're looking for more or more complexity, skip.

Dark virginia with some power to it, dark note to it, think fig/dates. Full in taste medium to full in nic/stength. Not their best offering in my opinion but hyped. Not a complex smoke but fulfilling, burns well with minimum hydration, no bite that i felt and smooth on the tongue and throat. Not for those who seek the bright side of virginia. Reminds me of dunhill dark flake. Price and availability prevents it from hitting 4 stars.

Presentation is decent. Standard European flakes, which are even and uniform, mostly.

The smell is little like Wessex Brown Flake, to some degree, but there is something extra in a perceived topping. Maybe cocoa, or something like an overripe grape. There is a maltiness to the smell as well. The smell comes through in the taste.

Parts of the flakes rub out into chunks, which I do not like. The flakes are pretty moist and could use a little drying. The dark streaks fall into chunkier pieces. I think the dark streaks are a flavored black Cavendish which really subtracts from the Virginias. The flakes are very moist much like Wessex Burley Slice. After rubbing the flakes out there is a stickiness on your fingers. Not too much drying time is needed. Leaving the tobacco in the tin for a few weeks helped between the initial smokes and subsequent ones.

There is no bright end to the taste of this blend. No citrus notes, no grass, no bright peaks. They are all lower end notes of bread, oats, some stewed fruit notes, some tanginess.

The strength is maybe medium. Nicotine strength is mild. I don't find too many flavors in this blend that I enjoy. There are straight Virginia flakes out there with more rounded flavor profiles. I would reach for every other straight Virginia I have ever tried before I would reach for this blend. However, there are not many dark straight Virginias on the market, so this offers something different from the norm. I would recommend this to any lover of straight Virginias. I would not buy it again.

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.

Rich dark flake, sweet VA tin note. The flakes are pretty wet and need dry time. You can smoke them out of the tin and a loose fold and stuff seemed to work best with no dry time, but will require some relights. Dried for 30 minutes or so seemed to be the sweet spot. The smoke is rich, earthy and sweet. Dark fruits, molasses and brown sugar come to mind. It is not super sweet but I found it to be perfect. This reminds me of Dunhill dark flake, but a bit more consistent and richer in flavor. There are some lemony/citrus notes to go with the sweetness and there is a bready flavor that develops about a quarter of a way through the bowl. Not very complex but there is some complexity to this blend. Top notch VA flake and highly recommended.

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

This was a marvelous flake with perfect moisture coming out of the tin. The flake rubbed out well and burned cleanly.I found the lingering presence of molasses to be very complimentary to the entire blend The full flavored flake was very satisfying and satisfied me completely. I found the nicotine to be stronger than expected, but not overbearing