Solani 660: Silver Flake

I just finished a deep satisfying bowl of Solani Silver Flake as the westering sun completed its course on a fine October evening. I prefer to rub the flake out before loading it into my pipe. It's the perfect smoke at the close of day. This tobacco has recently risen to the very top of my rotation. It begins cool with a flavorful, dark-fired burley taste mixed with red virginia and lasts me about forty-five blissful minutes, staying lit and cool, growing all the more satisfying as the bowl gradually diminishes. I savor every slow sip and find myself wishing the experience had lasted even longer. You must give this blend a try. The tin, once opened, will not preserve the tobacco's deserved freshness, so I transfer mine to mason jars. Highly recommended.

This is my first review and I am still new to pipe smoking. I have recently quit smoking cigarettes, and ventured into the pipe world to help placate the occasional outbursts of intermittent explosive disorder as a result of my recent reprieve from nicotine and an oral fixation. Be it scotch, cigars, wine, etc. I have never pretended to be a connoisseur. I don't pick up hints of this or images of that. I like what I like, and I can't always justify why. I like Silver Flake. I have smoked about a dozen or so mid to higher end blends (my dad has been gracious enough to provide many excellent samples to save me from the pitfalls of the uninitiated) and Solani Silver Flake is the one that keeps my attention the best. Silver Flake is strong enough to remind me that I pee standing up, but not too much to make the experience at all unpleasant. If you are new to pipe smoking I would strongly encourage you to get a tin of this.

Taste: Great! No whiskey found, just pure tobacco taste

Packaging: Only 100 gr tin available in Holland, beautifull but hopelessly impractical...

All in all I would have preferred Silver Flake to come in a Reiner Long Golden Flake tin, then it would be up there in my 'Favourites' list.

update 12-2010 I just don't come around this flake anymore since I tasted Best Brown Flake and Holker Twist so I knock off one star

Silver flake is high quality tobacco im sure that...However its too spicy for me...The tin also awful, its not close !!!

Broken and some standart flake waiting for you...The moisture is perfect...I like smoke at the night, after dinner...There is no whisky taste but some fruits and pepper...Nicotine is good for me...

I like this stuff but not too much...Its not in my five...

Solani Silver Flake; I have had four bowls of this tobacco in the past few days in a Radice TB Oiled Bark Rhodesians, Bulldog, Prince and Bjarne Straight Grain Brandy. When first opening the 100 gram tin The aroma was Red Virginia in a flake about 2" wide two stacks side by side, the flakes were rather long but easily to shred apart. I did not rub the flakes out just folded and packed in the bowls. The color is a rich brown with streaks of light golden tobaccos. The first light of the bowl was more than I first expected as the taste was a full rich Red Virginia with a spicy taste of darkened Kentucky and to my surprise this lasted throughout the bowl as it just got better towards the end of the bowl. This is not recommended on an empty stomach as it does have a full Virginia strength, I will keep this is my rotation as a great tobacco, although this is not the same as Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky it does have a taste of its own. The Silver Flake will leave you with a great satisfaction of well rounded Red Virginia

Solani Silver Flake has a great true tobacco taste with a nice, subtle pure Virginia sweetness. The spicy note of the smoke is light and adds an excellent pleasure.

The colorful flakes pack and light easily. Offers a cool and long lasting smoke. The only disadvantage of the 100 gr tin is that it isn't vacuum sealed. So the aging of the this tobacco might be a problem.

Do not miss this fine blend. I will regularly keep a tin on the top shelf.

This tobacco comes in a folded, plastic bag inside a hinge-top, non-vacuum sealed tin. The tin is a silver color and not the green depicted. If you elect to purchase some & don't plan on smoking it right away, be sure and make use of a zip-lock bag right away. Why? I'm glad you asked. It's because the plastic bag is only folded to form the freshness seal. The tin aroma is that of tobacco only. Imagine that! I dried it to proper smoking moisture and rubbed it out to an almost shag-like consistancy. I stoked it into a Peterson #309 that I have consigned to VA blends...lit up and immediately recognized the sweet taste of Virginia tobacco...named after the state which was named in honor of the "Virgin" Queen, Elizabeth I...a quick lesson in 16th century tobacco history, for all loyal subjects of interest to the "leaf," as it were.

OK, moving on! Puffed a few times & let it sit a few minutes...I always use this DGT method on VA blends. Didn't take long to get a nicotine jolt. It is very mild but a tad harsh and has a tendency to bite a little. I wouldn't want to smoke this consistently because I like variety and a change of pace. I judge SF to be of good quality but not exceptional. SF is a very smooth, VA/Kentucky blend which I believe may have a very slight whiskey topping that is almost unnoticeable. The reason I say this is because it feels a wee bit sticky when rubbing out and the smoke DOES NOT emit a VA/Kentucky, cigarette like odor, but rather, smells a little sweet. If your preference is a very good VA/Kentucky blend, well, here you go. Therefore, IMHO, Solani's Silver Flake merits three ***s!

I really really wanted to like this one, and I did...sort of. Nice medium strength, some licorice-y notes, some citrus, very little grass. Even when straight out of the tin, it was pretty good. Maybe it was best that way. Easy to rub out, burned nice and even. And that tin is cool, aesthetically speaking.

But: I always noticed some unpleasant edge to this one, sharp and bitey, no matter how wet or dry it was, or how long I let it mellow in the tin (up to 6 weeks or so). That really kind of ruined the experience for me. Understanding that this is an anomaly, particular perhaps to me, and given its obvious good qualities, I'll still give it 3 stars.

I smoked it straight after Golden Sliced Orlik Tobacco and I will probably be unjust to it.

It contains pure RED Virginia and Kentucky. The Virginia in this blend provides a natural sweetness and honestly a nice and discreet scent in the room. This scent is due to the whiskey which unnoticeably perfumes this smoke. The broken flakes are vividly colored.

The humidity content is perfect. To feel any tongue biting you will have to smoke very nervously. The mix comes in a non-vacuum packaging.