Robert McConnell Folded Flake

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.

Folded Flake is an example of one of my favorite genres: Virginia/ dark-fired Kentucky/perique.

As a previous reviewer, DK mentioned, it performed best at a very narrow moisture range, slightly drier than normal. Once I got that right everything fell together and I've really enjoyed it.

After aging for two years in the tin all the components are discernible, but it plays more like a 3 piece rock band when everybody's jamming together rather than featuring one particular flavor. It's spicier and has more body than you would get from a typical flake with only Virginia and perique. I attribute both qualities to the Kentucky. The closest blend I would compare it to in flavor and cut would be Solani 660 Silver Flake sans the perique. The perique (and the far superior tin) gives the edge to Folded Flake for my money.

Update (06/12/2010): Once it's dried properly it performs so well it deserves a 4 star rating. A real sleeper...highly recommended!

I will make no secret of the fact that I love a good va. flake. Add the right amount of good perique, just the right amount, and it really does it for me. Often, blenders just overdo it on the perique, at least in my opinion. Yes, the flavor is good, but it is just to overpowering for me.

Along comes Folded Flake; a va/per with a bit of kentucky thrown in. The kentucky seems to really smooth out the perique, allowing it to come through in full flavor without its characteristic whang. And the va. is nice and naturally sweet.

The presentation in the tin looks a bit of a mess, as these are long flakes folded over, then stuffed into the tin. I've yet to figure out how to actually get a flake from the tin, so just prefer to grab a big pinch direct and stuff it in my pipe. And this stuff is not picky about how you load it. Gravity feed it; stuff it; hell, use a ramrod even. It is a very forgiving tobacco. It also exhibits only minor tendency to bite, but the pepperiness of the perique may fool some into thinking it's a bitey blend.

Folded flake behaves every bit as well as Scottish Cake and Flake. It lights fairly easily, stays lit, and burns well all the way to the bottom of the bowl. You will be dumping gray ashes out of your bowl without ever having to relight but maybe once. Okay, twice if you smoke it in a tall stack or chimney.

These are nicely prepared flakes ~ 2" wide that have been folded over in order to fit in the rectangular tin. Brown and yellow VAs dominate but there are some darker browns included. The moisture content was OK for me and little condensation developed during the smoke. The tin aroma seemed all natural and inviting. Packing without rubout, lighting and smoking were effortless and resulted in an enjoyable, relaxing smoke. There was also consistency from bowl to bowl regardless of pipe maker or size. I felt the Perique was toned way down and I tasted sweet VAs until near the bottom of the bowls. However, I'll smoke this blend often.

Folded Flake: it offers a mild-in-strength and pleasant experience of high quality blend. Here, from start to end you smoke real tobacco. It is Virginia-forward and I perceive the perique and Kentucky to be only on the background offering a supporting role. It is grassy, mildly woody and earthy with hay and sweet notes, lightly-to-mildly spicy. It can be an all-day smoke. I can smoke it directly from the jar or with very minimum drying time. I break the flakes in rough pieces and after the charring light and 2 first real lights, it stays fairly lit with perhaps some minimum number of relights. It burns very cool with no chance of bite. This is a great blend. 4 out of 4 stars.

This one lives in the shadows of it sister blend (Scottish Flake) but I actually prefer this one. The Virginia’s are sweet and the sugars caramelize as you smoke down the bowl the Perique and Dark Fired are just slightly present and add interesting nuances that weave in and out of the smoke that make you stop and go “Mmmmmm”. It’s got just the right amout strength (Medium) for all day puffing. It’s more on the malty, bready spectrum than it is grassy and it’s just a delightful sweet and savory smoke. I’m glad this one goes under the radar as it’s pretty easy to obtain but I always like to play it safe and stash a few away in my cellar and I imagine that age will be kind to this one too. This fits up there into the essential category for me. This one and Latakia Flake are staples in the Robert McConnell lineup for me.