A Lemon and Bronze Virginia flake previously known as "Dark Flake" or Mixture 179. The flake is gently rubbed out to give the smoker cool burning qualities. Mild to medium strength.
The various Virginias offer a bit of earth and fermented dark fruit as well as a little grass, some citrus and wood. Has a slight spice hit. One of the Virginias sports a slight floral note that seems a little more obvious in the first half than the second, but the difference isn’t that much. The strength and taste level are dead center between mild and medium.The nic-hit is a step past the mild level. Won’t bite and has no harsh moments even when pushed. Not very complex nor very sweet, but it burns at a moderate pace, cool and clean with a fairly smooth, very consistent flavor from start to finish. Requires an average number of relights, and leaves little dampness in the bowl as it easily burns to ash. The after taste is pleasant, though short lived. An all day smoke. Three and a half stars.
I cheated a little bit with this one and had Dunhill Master Blender make me up a few tins of 36166 with Perique. I had heard this was a mild straight Virginia and wanted a little something extra. I enjoyed all of the tins I ordered (back in the late 1990's) and the compilation was very similar to Elizabethan but less strong and much slow burn rate as this one is a broken flake.
This is, or was, known as Dark Flake. I was lucky enough to discover a tin; lucky as I don't think this has been available for a good 20 years. Definitely a decent amount of Virginia in it...it has a leathery scent with a slight citrus edge. Smokes cool, mereist hint of tongue bite if you puff too hard. Difficult to compare this venerable specimen to modern tobaccos for obvious reasons, but i would hazard a guess that Sam Gawiths FVF aged as long as this would still have an edge. I can see why this was discontinued....it's average in every way.
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