Dan Tobacco St. Bernard Flake

The tin note is sweet sourish a bit more yeasty, fermented (almost like leaven) and reminds me more of honey than fruits.

When lit there's an instant perique kick unlike other VA/PER ones where you get usually virginias first and then the perique raises.

The taste is deep sweet with slight sourness and just a hint of light pleasant bitterness like in a dry wine. There is slight mellow creamy vanilla/honey taste that I think comes from topping (or is there a cavendish in it?). The perique peppery spicyness is strong and present through whole bowl. Aftertaste is plesantly sweet with a little tingle. Theres a pleasant nic-hit but I need to inhale to get some (I have very high N tolerance). I found it better to smoke this as a flake since the rubbed version was a little rougher.

It lies right in the middle of three and four stars but I think there are more outstanding VA/PERs so lets do it a three star one.

Smoke and drive: Doable but this one is better enjoyed in a chair.

This Va/per differs from the typical taste other similar blends offer and you realize it once you open the tin.a strong sour and sweet smell comes out preparing you for a nice experience.the bright and brown flakes are dry making the rubbing easy.they also break easy if you prefer smoking a broken flake.either way the blend lights easy with a few relights needed.while smoking the flavours are natural and strong.virginias are sour,citrusy,earthy with some grassy notes.perique adds lots of sour and plumy notes accompanied from spices.a sweet topping softens the experience preventing it to be harsh.generally the flavours are married natural giving an almost full flavoured result.burns at medium speed,medium hot to ash with some unburned parts.the nicotine level is medium and the aftertaste sour.no tongue bite present if treated gentle with a strong room note.depending from your smoking mood it can be an all day smoke.generally this blend differs from the typical va/pers you mostly find in the market by giving a full flavour experience.

I ordered a sample of this, just to satisfy my curiosity why this is a blend a lot of german pipe smokers like and love. As a big Va/Per fan, and having made mostly good experiences with Va/Pers from Dan Pipe, I thought I'd give it a try.

From the first smell of the sample baggie I knew I chose right! A sour-fruity note is gushing out of the baggie, with a hint of fruity sweetness to it. I find it noticeable, that the smell is very acidic, but in a pleasing and refreshing, lemon-sour way. Reminds me a bit of "Black & Gold Crumble" by Motzek, which also has this pungent sourness to it.

The flakes appearance and quality is top-notch. Medium- to darker-brown, with golden/yellow inclusions. Pretty dark coloured, inviting a joy to handle. Comes a tad too moist and for my taste it needs 15-45 minutes of drying for a optimum smoke.

St. Bernard Flakes taste is very refined and rich. Pretty powerful for a Va/Per blend. On first light I perceive a slightly bitter and acrid flavour, which vanishes pretty fast and makes room for the deep fruity notes of the Perique, which are reminiscent of plums, figs and raisins. The Virginias contribute a fresh and pleasing citrusy, slightly sour and sweetish dimensions to this flake. There's a gentle, and never overpowering honey-like sweetness, as well as a toasty note. By times I perceive bready notes too, which harmonize well with the fruity flavours and remind of fruit-bread. This flake offers a lot of spice and tanginess. Peppery spice, slightly bitter-ish, pleasingly tart. The rich and creamy smoke it offers will also satisfy the smoker who prefers a full-bodied smoke.

I'm not quite sure if there's a casing or topping. If there's one I'd guess it's just honey, or sugar-water, something from that alley. I can't imagine there to be an artificial/chemical topping of some sort, as the taste is very natural and true to the unspoiled, pure tobacco taste.

To be honest, I diddn't expect that much of this blend, as I find a lot of Dan Pipes Virginia+Perique blends taste very similar and are rather mild to medium. St. Bernard is full of flavours, rather medium to strong in taste, upper half of the medium scale nicotine-wise. Gains a bit of spice in the 2nd half of the bowl. Not overwhelmingly strong, yet enough power to keep me satisfied.

3/4 stars, as it doesn't stand out between the countless excellent Va/Pers available. Recommended for anyone, who likes Perique and isn't scared of a Va/Per that has a bit of punch and power to it. It won't be a revelation, but it's a solid Va/Per blend.

The tin note is rather reminiscent of a light English mixture with a slight hint of dried figs. The flakes are chocolate-brown with some lighter golden brown striation. Out of the tin, this tobacco is too moist for my taste. I would recommend rubbing out a flake and letting it sit out of the tin for a day. Otherwise you may risk the tobacco packing too tightly to get a decent draw. I also find it hard to keep lit due to the moisture content.

Once dried a bit, it packs well and lights up just fine. This tobacco offers you a cool, dry smoke. I did not detect the Perique as much as I would have liked to, so I would not call it a classic VaPer. It is a good smoke, not sweet, but full, with a pronounced nicotine-kick. It smokes down to a fine gray ash, leaving no dottle.

As with all flakes, I would not recommend this to a novice smoker. But for the experienced pipe smoker it is a pleasant change of fare, definitely worth trying. If, however, it's a nice Vaper you're looking for, stick to Dunhill's Navy Rolls.

-It has kind of grassy and hay like virginia and to be honest in 2023 version there is very low amount of perique tobacco there, you have to focus and have few puffs to feel the perique .

-If you like more mild VaPer this might be a good option.

-The quality of virginia is perfect -If you use it as flake or do not rub it out well you might need to relight it few times

This tobacco needs a little drying, it came at what I thought was the perfect humidity and promptly lit up my pipe, I was eager to try this much vaunted vaper. I imediately fried my tongue. I put this down to the water content, which is minimal, plus the peppery perique. However, once dried a little, the perique slinks off into the background and quality Virginia's come to the fore making this a very pleasant all day smoke.

Judging by the previous reviews, it would seem that this blend tends to be a little inconsistent. I suppose this is normal, because tobacco crops are subject to weather conditions just like grapes. Some harvests are better than others. Based on my batch purchased in 2022, I can report that this is good Va/Per, but not as great as some of Dan Tobacco's other offers like Ascanian No 2.

St. Bernard Flake has strong spicy and peppery notes that are prominent at first, then grassy Virginias reveal themselves towards the middle of the bowl. The Virginias are above average in quality. Two problems I notice are that the flake is difficult to rub out leading to frequent relights. It also feels a bit low on vitamin N compared to other Va/Pers in this category. These factors define my primary disappointment with the blend.

I am enjoying the tin while it lasts, but I don't think I'll purchase it again. However, this is still a good blend that deserves a 3/4.

A really nice blend of Virginia and Perique, I haven't tried up to now. When its turn came and opened the tin, light aromas came out, thought this blend is not an aromatic at all.

I cut flakes in cubes, as I don't like folding and packing straight as is. I found tobacco nearly dry and I didn't let dry anymore; packed in pipe easily and got first and second flame promtly, started some puffing, to get a good taste of it. Maybe a bit strage as for its odour/taste, but gave back many aromas: figs, dried fruits, pepper, a little hay and fresh baked bread. Some of the time, I detected a strange odour and taste, that was somekind of dung left behind of sheep, strange thing, but it was'nt unpleasened at all.

Tobacco burns well up to half a bowl, pure after throwing away ash and naturally relighting, it needs several fires to go on, up to the end, that manages to burn out totally without leaving behind dottle and humidity.

The nicotine play is satisfactory the taste is full, natural aromas are beautiful. Doesn't give any bit on the tongue of smoker, though it's not that easy to make burn, for it's tendency to fade out, needing energical drows. Anyway its full taste gets somehow the problem resolved.

Its a fine Virginia tobacco, though not rich of Perique, that overwhelms in flavours, the first. Furthermore, has some difficulties to finish the bowl, as it needs various relightings, specially during the second half of the bowl.