Wessex Campaign Dark Flake

I debated on whether I should write a review on this one. It is a bunch of reviews like this that caused the disappearance of blends like stonehaven, penzance, and Full Virginia Flake. If word of this stuff gets out too much, you can kiss finding it goodbye. This is the logic that causes me to suffer greatly from DCD or deep cellar disorder. Like a doomsday prepper I have this stuff stockpiled for years in advance waiting for the cat to come out of the bag and everyone to swarm the shelves of tobacconists and the sites of online stores. This stuff really is that good. Magicians never tell you how they do their tricks, hunters and fishermen never give away their prime spots, and a a true pipe smoker never gives away his sleeper blend. That's what this is for me, my sleeper blend. While the rest of the pipe world is staring at computer screens all night with bloodshot eyes waiting for Full Virginia Flake to come back in stock, I am sipping on a bowl full of campaign dark flake and loving life.

You don't hear about this blend much, which is purely ridiculous. This stuff is fantastic. I have yet to enjoy a bowl of this that has not kept me smiling from packing to dottle. It never lets you down. As you know from my name here on tobacco reviews I am a musician, and so to explain this blend I will use a music analogy. If Orlik Golden Sliced is the trumpet of the tobacco world, then campaign dark flake is the bass trombone. It is a little more powerful, a little deeper, a little more complex, but every bit as enjoyable.

There aren't many Virginia blends like this out there, definitely try some and you will see. Very highly recommended. Also, just to let you know, If I begin to see this sold out everywhere I plan to edit this review to say this stuff is horrid, and I suggest all the other reviewers who have lauded the virtues of this tobacco do the same.

This is the only Wessex-branded tabac I've had, and possibly the best Virginia I've had to date. A very fruity nose in the tin, almost like pineapple. It's a medium-colored flake, so I'm not sure why it's called Dark Flake. The strips are folded over and stuffed in the can but they come apart and rub out easily. Mine burned perfectly right out of the tin.

Quintessential VA flavoring as you "sip-n-ahhh." Or is that "sip-n-awe"? It really is delicious through the first 80% of the bowl. The last 20% is too, but it requires some TLC in my experience, to keep it cool and keep those sweet VA flavors rolling. Too hot at this point and it tastes like a cigar. A good cigar though. But maybe you'll like that! I would love to stash away 50 tins of this for a few years.

Oh ya. The taste here is quite complex and deep for a viriginia flake. I can pick out tangy Virginias, grassy Virginias and sugary, darker Virginias throughout the progression of the bowl. Syrupy notes, fruits, sharp pangs of bitter...all there. A very good smoke. The jury is out whether this takes me to the same place as Full Virginia Flake, but it at least would be a solid replacement. Darn good. If it was available in bulk I would have it on hand frequently but alas, the secret is out and it goes quicker than presents at Christmas. Stock up if you can get your hands on some. My tin was three years old so I'd say it ages like a Virginia should. It deserves four stars.

Wessex - Campaign Dark Flake (Brigade).

I ordered this without reading any reviews, and very often that can blow up in my face, but not with this beauty!

After ordering I skipped through the reviews and noted a few complaints/pointers regarding the moisture, but although the paper wrapping inside the tin was oil stained, the baccy was perfectly smokeable. It comes as no shock that the flakes are dark in colour, albeit, dark brown, not black.

My first bowl wasn't aired any, and gave a good burn, of a medium speed. The smoke doesn't bite, is cool in temperature, and has a lovely flavour. Deep, rich, satisfying, Virginia: there's enough of a molasses sweetness (as others note) to augment the flavour, without seeming cased. And then there's the rich Virginia side: not so grassy/hay-like, but full of deep, dark, tasty, fruity flavours.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not its greatest feature.

Campaign Dark Flake? Four stars, easily:

Highly recommended.

This blend is from the German house of Kohlhase & Kopp and is blended and packed by hand which may partially drive the high price. However the overall high quality tobacco must also be considered. This is the same Co. that gives us many Astleys and Rattrays selections and this blend could be included with #44 or Hal O' the Wynd with respect to overall enjoyment. I've tried other Wessex VAs: Brown, Gold, Red and enjoyed this one the best. However, this flake is darker and stronger and not recommended to new VA flake smokers. The room note of DF was also more intense than these other Wessex flakes.

The 6" + long flakes are nicely coiled into the screw top tin and are quite pliable and therefore easily packed even if not rubbed out. The natural oils partially stained the paper liner. The initial moisture content was higher than I prefer and I obtained bettter smokes after some drying. Without any rubout, this one burned evenly, coolly and without any hint of bite in pipes with various bowl sizes. The great, rich but yet smooth natural VA taste was consistent throughout the bowls and left a slightly spicey aftertaste. This blend is most enjoyable by me after meals. Experienced VA flake lovers should give this a try.

I have been doing my annual year end cleaning of my pipe room and stumbled on this little gem. In looking at all the great reviews, I somehow missed this one. Big mistake! For what it’s worth, this review is based on a five or six year old tin. Campaign greets the nose with deep figs, raisons and molasses. The flakes are very long and need to be cut to fit into a pipe. I mainly use the fold and stuff method, most often in a medium bowl. The nose scent was so strong, it led me to believe that there is likely a very light topping. At first light, there is a touch of hay, but quickly settles into dark, rich sweet molasses like flavor that can be expected from a darker flake. It is a simply delicious medium body flake. I now wish I had socked a lot more away now that it is difficult to get. Great stuff!

This has the very best tin note in recent memory. Maybe raisin? Not exactly sure, but fruit and, well, tobacco smelling in the very best way. I rubbed this out pretty fine and packed loosely. Easy packing, single light burned for almost half the bowl until I had to set it down and do a thing. Moisture was a little wet, but a loose pack had me fine without drying it any further. No gurgle.

I'm slowly coming around to straight Virginias after years of VaPer love, blends like this make it a tremendous ride. I've been buying and trying a lot in the Virginia family for the last year or so after few really great Va smokes, this being the new favorite. It's my first time with Wessex and I lucked upon this for a great price in a smoke shop that sells a lot of cigarettes . I'm saying its new, because I didn't age it, though I imagine the seller has had this for some time.

There may be a flavor, I said mild because I don't trust my tongue enough, but it's definitely a sweet smoke. Fruity, but not in a way I would immediately think of as cased. Dark, like a fig or a fruit infused chocolate. There are definite hay notes, but very little of the citrus I think of with some Virginias. It's a not very complex, malty sweetness. Molasses has been a descriptor before and I won't argue it. Hard to say this, but very clean tasting giving a brightness to it, though I'm repeatedly saying it's a darker flavor. I hope that made sense.

Room note raised no complaints, though no compliments either. Grey/white ash and it was fairly even through the bowl, only muting somewhat in the middle half, and by muting I mean it lost a hair of the cleanliness I already poorly described. The flavors went perhaps mono-chromatic for a few minutes. In the first three bowls I smoked I had a similar experience. The last two it stayed clear throughout, perhaps even a little brighter, Apple sweet, toward the bottom.

No tremendous nicotine hit, no tongue bite. Again, I packed it looser than I thought I should and it seems to have payed off.

Very highly recommended and I'll buy this when I can find it.

Im surprised this doesnt get straight 4 stars. I mean if there are better straight Virginia flakes out there I'd like to see them. It is simply sublime. That is, if you are a Virginia flake smoker. Sam Gawith's Full Virginia Flake has always been sort of the gold standard, rightly or not (though its very very good, no question) but this might be better. Reminds me, too, of Butera's stoved Virginia. Its a very complex smoke for a straight Va. A lot of deep buried sweetness, fruity at times, and the flavors come in layers. If there is a casing (and many confuse fermentation for casing) it is very very very mild. One could accuse every Va flake of having some casing (as Greg Pease pointed out)...but this , if it is there, is extremely mild. I dont think there is one...I think its the natural pressing and ferment. McClelland's Blackwoods is similar, too. This is stoved, and hence there is a quality of fermented sweetness but I detected no casing. The nic hit is about the same as Blackwoods and a bit more than FVF. doesnt ever lose flavor. Just a great Virginia flake.

The pantheon of Virginia flakes: Gawith's FVF, Pease's Union Square, McClelland's 1776 and Blackwoods Flake, and Astley #44...and probably Butera's dark. Maybe half of McClelland's flakes inf act. This is as good as those. Id say 1776 might actually be best tasting, while Union Square is the strongest....but smooth all the same.But Wessex...a darker flake, like Astley's...is the equal. Not as strong as the Pease...but more so than FVF I think. I might add JF Germains medium flake, too. These are the best out there IMHO.

Scrumptious. In structure, this is similar to Marlin Flake: a long strand of flake coiled up inside the silver Brigade Series tin, darker in color, with bits and pieces of an almost black hue. It is supple and easy to break up and light. Not as tasty as Marlin Flake, and a tad stronger, it nevertheless delivers a wonderful Virginia flavor that hovers somewhere in between Astley?s 109 (with a lot more body) and Gawith?s Full Virginia Flake (smoother, deeper).

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The quality of this tobacco is unimpeachable. It burns evenly, without a bite. The flavor remains consistent throughout most of the bowl, but it is not a boring smoke; every now and then there are notes of roasted chestnuts and a slightly bitter sweetness, that provide a greater density without making it overwhelming. Personally I am fonder of Astley?s 44 or Rattray?s Hal O? the Wynd, but this comes as a close second.

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Dark Flake is a very rewarding medium to full bodied smoke. If inclined to straight Virginias, I am sure you will find this tobacco delectable. Highly recommended.