Robert McConnell Folded Flake

Folded Flake is very similar to McConnell's Scottish Flake with the same components but in different proportions. Spicy Flake composed of Virginia, Fired Kentucky and Perique, but in this one, the Virginia is lighter, there is less dark fired Kentucky while the Perique presence (light), remains about the same.

The mild raisiny, plumy, spicy perique is light, but more would unbalance the blend. There are the hay/apricot/fig notes in play, with a light natural Virginia citrus and some grass. The Kentucky is also light, but noticeable, and adds slight wood, earth, floral, nutty, spice notes. The nic-hit is mild. The strength is a step past the mild mark, and the taste is just past the center of mild to medium. Won't bite. Burns at a moderate pace, cool and clean with a smooth consistent, well balanced flavor. Requires a few relights, and leaves just a little moisture in the bowl. Has a pleasant, short lived after taste. An all day smoke.

-JimInks

I found this to be one of those enjoyable while you have it but no real intention to repeat tobaccos. My only real complaint about it is that it performed well at one moisture level only - ONE! If it was too moist, it tasted strange and if too dry, it bit. It had to be the perfect moisture to smoke well, and for me that level was on the very dry but not too dry side. It was not easy to get it right.

At this level, the virginia sweetness was toned down and the spiciness of the dark-fired Kentucky took over with just a whisper of perique showing through. In some blends lightly spotted with perique, this leaf shows through here and there and disappears. With this blend, I tasted a smidge of perique in every puff. Nice! It burned well and needed few if any relights.

Folded Flake is a decent VaBurPer and is recommended but it's also one of those that is so mondimensional (surprising, considering the ingredients) that it doesn't rise up and demand to be in my regular rotation. There just isn't enough happening. Still, it's a good tasting smoke.

McConnell's Folded Flake reminds me of Reiner's Long Golden Flake and Stonehaven although it doesn't taste exactly like them. When I first opened the tin the fragrance was slightly sour but the Virginia leaf give the mixture a naturally sweet taste. Actually, I couldn't detect any type of leaf other than Virginia. The flavor is extremely rich but not strong.

McConnell’s Folded Flake has been a very nice surprise for me, ultimately stacking up, IMO, between the likes of Triple Play and Old Gowrie. In the tin, the moist, folded flake is comprised of medium to dark brown strands, along with some lighter bits. The lot smells like cold pressed, lightly fermented, air cured brown with some stoved red VAs over slightly yeasty, brown bread, way over smoky, stewed prunes, brown sugar/molasses, dark cocoa, and coffee, with a faint trace of vanilla. I prefer to tear off some “broken flake”, which I dry in the sun for a few minutes before stuffing it lightly into a pipe. I can tailor FFs character by focusing on the VA with a narrower bowl, or I can ramp up the KY and the Perique for a deeper, bolder smoke with a wider bowl. It lights OK and it burns steadily with a thoughtful cadence and some prodding, and there is lots of smoke. I like to take it easy with this one, though it goes out if I take it too easy. Re-lights and DGT are OK. As I write this, I prefer to make this blend mostly about VA, with condimental KY and Perique always present but well back. In a typical, group 4 bowl FF’s VAs are earthy, sweet, and naturally rich, along the lines of F&Ts Vintage or Germain’s Brown Flake, with added depth from the KY and some “sparkle” over the top from the Perique spices. The KY is rich, buttery, and only slightly smokey, also tannic and astringent, with a bracing bitterness. The Perique lends faint, sour, stewed prunes, and the sparkle mentioned makes the lot semi-effervescent at times; very nice. In a larger, wider bowl, like my JackKnife Plug pipe, FF is deeper, rounder and slightly rougher, with more KY and stewed, dark fruit, along with deeper, more melded spices. Smoked this way there is no effervescence, and it reminds me a little of Triple Play. In a narrower bowl, FF burns slowly, or it will burn slowly, for a long lasting smoke. FF leaves dark, dirty ash that is best gotten rid of as I go. And funny, given the dirty ash, FF leaves my pipes smelling sweet.

Folded Flake is one of those “deceptively simple” blends that I enjoy most as a contemplative smoke, which allows me to tap and savor its closely knit complexities. Its overall strength rises slowly to somewhere between medium and strong, though the nic effect falls back fairly soon. Tastes are toward full from medium. Room note is pleasant to me, but perhaps too “tobacco-y” for bystanders. Aftertaste is lingering, extra-rich VA, sweet and deep, with traces of molasses and anise, along with some fat and astringency from the KY, and it has the very pleasant effect of tasting better and better as it fades, over a long stretch.

I highly recommend McConnell’s Folded Flake to anyone who fancies deep, rich, natural VAs and would like to try a VA/KY/Per. It is less intense than Triple Play and more full than Old Gowrie, and, again, IMO, it holds its own with these stalwarts. I’m betting it will age very well. 4 stars.

This is a pretty nice smoke. Flavors of raisins, figs, and earth. Mildly sweet with a spice that gets stronger as the bowl progresses. By the end it's fairly spicy. Doesn't have to be dried first, but seems to have a little more flavor if you give it an hour or so. It's very enjoyable and it satisfies. Doesn't reach four star level, but it's a shade better than three.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in flavor. Burns well.

This is one of those tobaccos that would appear to have undergone change, given the difficulty I have reconciling earlier reviews with what I have in my pipe.

Not a folded flake now. Just an ordinary 3x6cm or so standard Euro flake. Mid brown with a sprinkle of light leaf. The tin note gives off a quite strong fruit additive, plum or blueberry possibly. My tin label says Virginia, Fired Kentucky and Perique. The latter two must be microscopic inclusions.

I suspect this is basically University Flake rebadged.

(I am a newer and irregular pipe smoker. My reviews are subject to my preferences and tastes and pipe smoking habits) Smells wonderful in the tin (rich Virginia and dark fruit, some BBQ/smoke) and looks interesting (one giant flake folded over repeatedly). I fully rubbed the entire tin of flake and stored in a mason jar. Came at a decent moisture content. Lit easily, smoked with minimum relights (even outdoors in the fall weather) and had no... noticeable bite. The flavours were earthy and 'meaty', but not very strong. Some sweetness from the Virginia and kept reminding me of grilled steak, that sweetness from the crispy caramelized bits. No real Perique until the bottom of the bowl, where the flavours dropped to a very mild and the pepper tingle came forward. I kept getting a smooth cigar aroma in the room note (wife does not approve) which was pleasant. Overall a nice experience that one could enjoy everyday and worth a try (Flavors aren't too strong and in your face, but nice and mellowed).

Folded Flake comes at just the right moisture in the tin for me . This is a very balanced blend as I taste the Virginias, Kentucky and Perique in every puff . The taste stays the same from beginning to end of bowl also. It is like a Scottish Flake light IMO ! Good hot weather smoke . Not as tasty as Scottish Flake . It is true tobacco taste though with very little casings I would think . The Virginias are more grassy and citrus and not really fruity per se . It’s a good blend but I like SF , OG , and Brown Clunee better . 3 star blend for me .

This blend would be near impossible to identify blindfolded! When i first smelled it in the tin it seemed like a typical va/per with a minor Kentucky element.. maybe a sort of flake version of Scottish cake.. and the first few puffs supported that vision.. it wasn't long before the Kentucky took over very abruptly.. very Nice! Some coffee/cream, nuts, leather.. not much campfire.. but it's like a burley.. at times almost a rich man's Carter hall.. at other times the Virginia wonders back in with an earthy breadyness.. the perique which is very present when you light it up almost completely disappears.. Never had anything quite like it.. and yet it's not all that outlandish.. tastes like good tobacco.. smokes dry.. a very slight soapy sensation on the tongue but no soap taste.. 3 ingredients common to many blends.. but this is an interesting and unique spin.. another homerun for Robert McConnell.. in a headscratching sort of way though.. 3 or 4 stars depending on my mood.