Former Bird's Eye Flake

I found the tobacco to be a little dry, but once hydrated, produced a lot of natural sweet flavor with a very, very slight pepper and raisins from the perique. I detect a very light honey, and light lemon and citrus from the bright Virginia, which is the predominant ingredient. There's a slight dark Virginia in the midst of the light ones that gives this a mild bass note of earth and dried fruit in a support role. Has little nicotine. It's an all day smoke with no bite, even burn, and the taste is fairly consistent, cool and smooth to the very last ember. Requires few relights and leaves little moisture in the bowl.

-JimInks

This is delicious. Along with a note of hay is a flavor akin to Juicy Fruit gum. The Virginias make up the high and some of the mid-range notes. The Perique some of the mid-range and the low notes. The Perique also provides a moderate amount of spice. The flavor gets just a little deeper and darker as the bowl progresses. 4 easy stars for me. Love this one.

Body starts mild and increases to mild to medium. Can't detect any added flavoring. Taste is mild to medium. Burns very well. Same in briar or cob.

Impeccably manicured flakes required some effort to separate because their moisture was just a tad more than necessary -- not a deal breaker by any means. The taste is wheat-like and racy, with a piquancy that leaves a slight pinch on the tongue. Tasty, and on the sweet side (I'm thinking dark honey or bright molasses). Somewhat of a "Plain Jane" Va Flake for me; and if there is Perique in the blend, it certainly isn't the star of the show.

This is a light Virginia flake composed of mostly yellow Virginias, with a little dark Virginia and a touch of perique. A very satisfying quality blend that hits the right notes with me. Burns cool and dry from start to finish, with a hint of perique in every puff. An excellent all day blend that burns beautifully to a white ash, for those who appreciate a softer taste. Not a fan of Vapers that dispense their perique with a heavy hand, this is a real find.

Hey, where's the birdseye? I was expecting a flake with lots of birdseye but all I saw were layers of gray and golden leaf with black dots of Perique. A nice combination that produced a cool smoke, but nothing truly exceptional. It did not take long to go through the tin as Former's Birdseye Flake does not bite and is forgiving to those who puff at the cadence of a freight train.

Pipestud

Rumored to be like Capstan mild, it seems to be a lighter version of Former's Cross Grain Flake. It has more bright leaf, probably less perique and critus flavoring, but more of an edge than Cross Grain Flake. Still a sweet smoke and not bad if puffed slowly in a medium bowl.

Not completely bright leaf. Some red virginia. Comes in flakes easily broken into a thick shag. I try to break it up little (but more so in a smaller pipe). Fairly dry and steady burning to me. No additional aging is necessary in my opinion (though all flakes will improve some with time); it smokes well right off the shelf.

Dunhill's Light Flake is smoother and more tasty to me. This one has more of a straight virginia tang to accompany the sweetness. Cross Grain Flake has more rich flavor. Neither of Former's Cross Grain or Bird's Eye flakes are quite as robust as Solani's 633 flake in my opinion. Reiner's Long Golden Flake is also smoother (due to burley added). Orlik's Golden Slices is sweeter.

So if you don't savor the Dunhill flake's flavor or the Cross Grain extra flavor, and find Solani's or Cross Grain too rich at times, or Orlik's too sweet, this is a step down in strength but still a contender in the bright flake field. But again it must be smoked slowly. Two to three bowls in a day were too much for me even though the blend remained tasty. Maybe you can consume it easier.

Germain's Medium flake is also a comparison that can be made.

I would reservedly recommend this for a spin if you are a bright, sweet flake fancier. You may like it better than the other ones I noted, but I did not. Maybe a bowl a day is o.k.

Well, I continue on puffing with Former's Straight Grain Flake.

Former - Bird's Eye Flake.

Why the name Bird's Eye?!

The flakes appear a little dishevelled in the tin, not for want of a better description, as if they've been 'lobbed' into it! Some are broken, some stacked, and there's a few ribbons. The flakes that are still intact are quite wide, very thin, light brown, and perfectly moist.

The burn from Bird's Eye could only be equalled, not beaten. The temperature of the smoke's about medium, it's quite light in weight, and there's no bite from it. The flavour? There's just enough Perique to add some piquancy, but it's not a spice/pepper bomb, by any means. The prominent flavour comes from the Virginia: notes of hay, and a little bready.

I rate the nicotine as medium, and the room-note's nice.

Bird's Eye Flake? Not my favourite blend but easily worth full marks:

Highly recommended.

Bird's eye met my eye with every promise of being an outstanding Va. flake . The tin note was undistinguished but pleasant . This flake is a little more grassy than other folded flakes but the taste comes through if one is patient .I bought a few cans about 4 years ago and wrote this review based on only one smoked . Recently I found the other 3 cans and opened one . WOW . What a difference a few years make . Properly aged this stuff is deep and tasty with a real nice after taste . Some tobaccos , especially Virginias improve with aging . This is clearly one of those . For the less patient , it's really not a bad smoke when delivered . Bird's eye can be a good mixer , especially good for toning down the rain forest that rests inside every Samuel Gawith can .Good things come to those who wait .

I largely agree with the first part of portasio's review -- a v good soft VA with hints from the Perique to keep it interesting. I find this a solid, very pleasant, all-around good smoke. From the earlier reviews, not everyone is a huge fan of this flavor profile as I am.

I enjoy puffing this tobacco while doing other things. Actually, it's become my video-game blend. I tend to take a few puff, put it down, play for a while, then come back to it.

The tin note smells a little like hay and has a hint of honey in it.

Packs very easily and lights well.

The taste is simple in a good way, though the perique is not noticeable to my taste.

Not a bad blend; certainly not fantastic, but I will keep it around.