Tobaccos Solani - 656: Aged Burley Flake

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3046)	2013-03-04		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It has a deep cocoa taste, a bit of nuttiness, earth and wood, and is slightly bready and floral with a light brown sugar and molasses. The white burley adds mild sharp, sour, acidic notes in the background, and some strength. It's responsible for the slight bitter note at the finish. They say there's no cocoa or chocolate added. That isn't true. These toppings moderately sublimate the tobaccos. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. It burns clean, cool and slow, requires some relights, and the deep, rich semi-sweet, slightly savory flavor remains consistent to the finish with very little moisture left in the bowl. It has a pleasant after taste that slightly lingers, and the room note won’t offend a normal human being. Has no dull or harsh notes, and it will not bite. It does have a few small rough edges. Can be an all day smoke for the experienced smoker, and repeatable for anyone else. Four stars.

UPDATE 7-5-2022 . The blend has been changed. The deep cocoa topping was replaced by an almost medium strength, mildly sweet licorice which tones down the burleys a little more than before. I do notice cocoa far in the background. Overall, the blend is less sweet by two steps now. The burleys are different, too. The white burley has a similar ruggedness to the new Wessex Burley Flake: moderately rougher, earthier, woodier, breadier, and nuttier with a savory note new to this manufacture of ABF. Those aspects are a little less obvious here due to the licorice, but it’s still a different presence than it originally had been. The strength, nic-hit and taste levels have not changed, and all other non-updated aspects still apply. Three stars is my current rating at TR for this current production.

-JimInks

111 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2008-01-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

Yes, Solani has come out with an elegant Burley Flake. I have smoked this regularly over the last several months and will continue to do so.

The flakes are not large and rub out easily as the moisture content is not too heavy. The leaf burns cool, dry and slowly - which, I believe, contributes to the cool smoke. Unlike the cheaper Burley blends, this one does not get bitter near the bottom, and you'll be glad because each puff is a true delight.

You don't need to think too much about this blend as you smoke it. What you get with your first puff is what you'll get with the last; a smooth, semi-sweet Burley taste that is not heavy on the palate and leaves you wanting another bowl.

110 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-08-10		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Update: Still "Heaven on Earth.", the very best of the bunch for me.

Here are my cased and not so cased comparators (ranked):

-- Classic Samsun Grand Oriental (McClelland)

-- Balkan Sasieni or Balkan Supreme

-- Full Virginia Flake

-- Frog Morton, OT Town

-- Frog Morton, AT Pond

-- Butternut Barley

-- Westwinster (Pease)

-- Sunday Picnic

-- Golden Extra

-- Opening Night (C&D)

-- Balkan Flake

-- Vanilla Black Cavendish

-- Odyssey (Pease)

-- Galway Treasures of Ireland

-- Mixture 79

-- Black Velvet

On a scale of 10 being the bset, and 1 the least, only Black Velvet plunges beneath a 5

_____

I reviewed this a few days ago, but it never got posted. Here goes again.

This is my first review here. Thank you all for this satisfying resource.

My review of this Solani, a sensational smoke, should be taken in the context of my history (1.) Who would of thought that my appreciation of pipe tobacco could elevate to the stature of that of the gourmand? It is true. Wine, music and food: make way for something as wonderful.

Solani first and foremost engages the tongue. There is a broad swath of mild sweetness that bathes the side of the tongue. It is so wonderful, that one wishes it could be swallowed, to be completely savored.(2) Next, one realizes that it otherwise smokes as pretty uncoated/unflavored/uncased. Some might consider this boring. I obviously do not. I am getting a nice amount of smoke, which well  tastes like a full smoke with maybe a hint of a nuts (as in granola?). Those who say this is a boring smoke, must have developed a high threshold to subtlety, or have a greater scale upon which to opine. To me, the smoke dances and swirls within the palate, revealing a dynamic vitality: dark, then lightly smoked nuts and sweets, but never bitter.

I already know bite  tongue, palate, and cheek. I do not like bite; I now do not see any reason to smoke a tobacco that bites. (3) I am not yet knowledgeable enough to classify Burleys vs. other contents, However, as this is a Burley  I love this Burley.(4)

To me this Solani is like impressionistic music (Debussy, Sati); not Beethoven; not Bach, nor Mozart; certainly not heavy metal! This is smooth, serene, but full, friendly and well  comforting? Now if someone could make this at half the price . . .

All my best, Pipetype

NOTES: 1) I was a cigarette smoker for 50 years (now completely abstinent for 6 years), who only early-on occasionally smoked a pipe. My pipe tobacco at that time was limited to drug store brands. Of these I favored Balkan Sobranie, Mixture 79, and sometimes Half and half; never had been to a tobacconist. Recently, after watching a Sherlock Holmes episode (w/ Jeremy Brett) it occurred to me that I might be able to smoke a pipe with little risk of re-addiction to cigarettes. My current over-the-top enthusiasm for my New World of pipe tobacco is tempered by modest concerns about the health implications of pipe tobacco. To get this far, Ive had to endure emotionally loaded humiliations by fanatical anti-smoking kin and friends; must smoke in my own cave or outdoors. Ive looked at available very good epidemiological data on the health risks of pipe tobacco on those around me, and myself. Of all the risks, I am somewhat concerned about oral (and distantly: esophogeal, liver, and bladder cancers) due to tars which are powerfully delivered by side stream pipe smoke, saliva etc. I wish there could be a place where we could share information on this unemotionally. There must be a way to rinse away oral tar after smoking. I cannot find any scientific data on the efficacy of Medico and other filter systems in removing tar. However, what is that really awful smelly gunk in the filter, if not tar? So purely empirically and with speculation, I started using Medico filters, and if inserted correctly (i.e. to the bowel end) do not seem to mar the heavenly experience of a great tobacco. Suffice it to say, at this time for me the pleasures of pipe tobacco smoking outweigh any risks, fool that I am in the minds of those around me.

2) Indeed, I had the terrible tendency while smoking this brand to swallow as much wonderful tobacco tinged saliva as I could produce. This is probably the reason (passage of large amount of tar directly into the upper esophagus) why the risk of upper esophageal carcinoma is more frequent in pipe smokers than normals or cig smokers. So, Ive stopped doing it as much as possible.

3) I have a suspicion that an unpleasant bite of a tobacco (as differentiated from a wall of flavor) signals a health risk. I get bite form some tobaccos, no matter how I smoke them. (4) In order to understand whether I like other Burleys or just this one. Maybe because I was a cigarette smoker, Burley is just familiar to me. Perhaps the air curing increases the nicotine level. But that does not explain the sugary first taste which must be added. I can say I am also in love with Butternut Burley. My investigations continue.

46 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrumsAndBeer (217)	2012-03-21		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

It's not like Solani ABF really needs another rave review but I can't help myself. This is truly some sublime burley leaf. The flakes are roughly the size of a stick of gum, and are right away at perfect smoking moisture. The tin aroma is a weighty dark dried fruit scent, reminiscent of currants or sultanas. As for preparing ABF, I have had great results using the fold and stuff method but I prefer to rub them out one at a time with each smoke. I typically place larger pieces in the pipe first and then top off each bowl with smaller bits to aid combustion.

It took me a little while to appreciate this tobacco and to find my preferred method for enjoying it, but once I did - WOW what a smoke. And this tobacco only gets better when removed from the tin and jarred up for a spell.

What amazes me the most about this tobacco is that when smoked in the right pipe (I prefer a small pipe with this one), there is slight underlying honey like sweetness that really starts to come through just after the initial light. Sweet smoke flavor from a burley!??? Yes. And the more time I have spent with ABF, the more this subtlety has become apparent to me. Perhaps there is an added topping? Whether it's just some magical leaf al-natural or one hell of an amazing topping, I really don't care because ABF burns cool, even, and flavorful regardless of my cadence. As the bowl progresses, the faint sweetness disappears giving way to a rich deep and somewhat piquant tobacco flavor with a side stream aroma reminiscent of fruit wood smoke.

Also I should mention that I am officially among the ranks of the nicotine impaired and usually a strong dose will have me reeling. That said, I have experienced no adverse effects from smoking ABF, even on days where I have indulged two or more times. Excellent stuff. 4 stars all the way.

41 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Motoyoshi (68)	2014-03-06		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It is with great smoking pleasure that I write this review.

Now, this tobacco won't be for everyone. If you are looking for a dazzlying symphony of flavors that have pizazz, you're barking up the wrong (tobacco) tree.

What I will say is that Solani has probably written Burley history with this blend. I have never smoked a Burley that has such a high quality and enjoyable taste. And it's a flake! (I love almost ANY flake tobacco, almost)

When you open this tin up you'll be greeted with a nice clean cut flake that is dark for the most part but has smatterings of light leaf. The flakes are nice and orderly compared to those of Samuel Gawith flake tobaccos (which look like a form of beef jerkey sometimes). It would be a good idea to let this dry for at least 10 minutes as it's pretty moist out of the tin.

This tobacco has a decent dose of Vitamin N and has a full medium to strong taste (I rated it as just medium but it's definetly full and best after a nice meal). I wouldn't smoke this on an empty stomach. The room note is what you should expect out of a burley, somewhat like a fine cigar but not as stringent. You can get whisps of cocoa and a nice nut, almost like a Brazil nut. I imagine this is what burley tobaccos of yester year tasted like.

What's interesting about this tobacco is that it doesn't give that burley mule kick to the back of my throat that I usually get when smoking them. If you've smoked a burley (especially Kentucky) you know what I'm talking about. Matches860 on youtube said it best and I'll paraphrase, "You're not going to get those English blend flavor pops, but you know what you're going to get with each puff". And that my friends, is a wonderfully full taste of high quality burley tobacco.

Age When Smoked: 5 years

Similar Blends: John Middleton, Inc - Carter Hall.

24 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-03-26		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Update 7/29/09

This, along with G&H's Kendal Kentucky, is the finest burley tobacco I've ever smoked. Very flavorful and well behaved. If you love burley, definitely give this a try. It gets better and better the more I smoke it and is in my permanent rotation. Upgraded to a solid 4 stars!

Original 3/26/09

I should start off by stating that I'm not (yet) a huge burley aficionado. I generally prefer virginias and vaper blends and if they have some burley mixed in a la Reiners Long Golden and it works, that's fine. I find straight burley a little too one-dimensional and lacking in complexity. But I agree with Beaupipe's review - complexity isn't supposed to be here.

That said, I very much enjoyed this tobacco. It's a no-frills beautiful burley flake with a top note of licorice and perhaps a few other things as well, although I don't taste some of the potentials mentioned by the other reviewers, which I attribute to my rookie status as a burleyphile. This is just a great straight forward smoke for when I'm in the mood to "go natchel". I found it performed best in a meerschaum or double walled clay pipe, both of which tamed the Burley Beast and reduced the potential for tongue bite while allowing for a bit more rigorous puffing. Aged Burley Flake is definitely something I'll return to, although it'll probably be a once a week or so thing.

If you love straight burley and you haven't tried this yet, wait no longer. This is a winner.

24 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DenizBeck (323)	2017-02-06		Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

At first: This flake ISN'T unflavoured NOR UNSUGARED! - K&K states on their website "Chocolate Flavouring", and only mentions White Burley as ingridient.

And the additive list reveals it has ~5mg of flavouring and ~168mg of added sugar on 1000mg of tobacco: https://service.bmel.de/tabakerzeugnisse/index2.php?detail_id=104712&site_key=153&stichw_suche=solani&zeilenzahl_zaehler=14 I just hate this kind of false advertisment and wonder why it's allowed "oh, an oh so natural blend, no sugar added." . . . 168mg of sugar added... as well as PG!

I also wouldn't argue that there's some Kentucky and maybe Brazilian Burley in it. Especially when looking at the flakes it gets obvious that several leafs were used as the colours range from medium-brown, brighter speckles to straight up black sparkles. So the description is a straight up lie from A to Z...

Condition out of the fresh tin is quite moist, but somehow it can be lit and smoked easily right out of the fresh tin. The flake slices stick to eachother and one can have a hard time separating them. Drying it out will enhance the spicy notes and the flavour profile changes a bit. I feel the flavouring fades from airing out. To me it seems the drier tobacco is, the more (natural) taste it has. The chocolate becomes more natural, Burley-ish cocoa and dark chocolate instead of the added choco-flavoring thats present when smoking a freshly cracked tin. All in all the smoke is more smooth and more natural to me when dried out.

The tin smell is that of deep, dark toned cocoa, it is nutty, offers rich bread and a whiff of raisins I perceive as well. When dried out the bready scent intensifies, gets less chocolaty, yet the cocoa-note is still there.

The taste is just a genius as it's simple imho. The main thing I'm getting when smoking from a freshly opened tin is a good and intense nutty and bready flavour with lots of tobacco qualities. Cocoa can be found, but the bready-nuttiness prevails to me. The raisins I had smelled from the tin isn't to be found in the taste. The decent bready aroma is reminiscent of whole-rye bread, like that of a good Virginia blend.

When smoking it dried out and matured for several months in a tin/jar the added chocolate flavouring also fades in the taste and becomes more natural. Either way (moist- or dried-out), this tobacco has a tangy and bitter tone to it, like that of pure cocoa-beans, or 80-90%+ cocoa chocolate, which I find pleasing. Decent spice throughout the whole bowl, as well as a "toasted" (like toasted bread) feel to it in the flavour and mouthfeel.

Nothing fancy but a honest Burley Blend (with an dishonest description) that's a treat to anyone who likes Burleys.

Similar Blends: Magne Falkum - Tullagreme House 12 (Tullagreme House).

21 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	zulujerk (146)	2011-04-03		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

They're not kidding about the sweetness. In a blind test I'd be likely to mistake the leaf for Red Virginias. What a wonderful smoke, completely contradicts my original perceptions of Burley as a component.

Like many pipe smokers, I switched over from cigarettes, my abandoned affection for Camel Wide Lights. Cigarettes are primarily made from Burley, yet I developed an early distaste for the leaf in my pipe. I found the nutty taste harsh, and had a single pouch of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed hidden in my desk drawer going on three years. It never seemed to go away. I had given up on the stuff until recently, when I was given a blind sample of a blend I had come to love. I found myself shocked to learn that it contained Burley, which I mistook for Turkish leaf, because it had a pronounced spicy note that I associated with the leaf.

It became my immediate and perhaps flawed conviction that Turkish varieties are nothing more than Burley seeds grown upon another soil, lacking the nitrogen that would make them robust as their more diverse counterpart. Immediately I opened up that old pouch of Edgeworth and had what I can only describe as a revelatory smoke. Spice filled my nose and for days straight I could only smoke the remaining contents of my fast dwindling pouch. Where I once shrugged the demise of the blend, I now mourned its absence, and took it upon myself to restock my desk drawer with a capable supply of exceptional Burley blends that I could further sample the leaf.

Aged Burley Flake hit my chart immediately, as I figured it might be a worthy alternative to Edgeworth Slices, of which I had only encountered praise. Having never smoked a Burley flake, I found the novelty exciting, as I've said the blend delivers a smooth, almost Virginia like experience. Sweet, mellow in strength, this is a contemplative smoke, delivered in a beautiful tin, packaged in subtle brown shades.

The tin, square and metal in nature, exhibits a flaw plaguing others of its sort, namely Peterson's University Flake and Samuel Gawith's offerings, including Squadron Leader and Full Virginia Flake. They fail to adequately contain moisture, leading the contents to dry quickly. I found it necessary to transfer the already dried contents to an old McClelland tin, complete with a dampened cloth to rehydrate the blend. My enjoyment was not hampered in any way by the actions, though I find the process an annoying and avoidable step should these blenders modify their designs. These things should be built for their practicality, rather than aesthetic sensibilities, however attractive they may be.

My senses still muddled by a recent cold, I've found the similarities with my more familiar Virginia flakes greater than they likely are, and I apologize for speaking out of line. I was reminded of the disparate nature when a passerby entered my den in despair. "Are you smoking something different," I heard. "It smells terrible." Indeed, my affection for this hobby has compromised my sense perceptions--a tradeoff I wouldn't exchange for all the riches in the world.

I wondered then why I had disliked Burley so much in my smoking, and came upon a theory that it was an aversion to the cigarettes themselves, which had only really served as a nicotine delivery system, the tobacco itself irrelevant. The chocolate undertones now enveloping the remainder of this dwindling bowl, the spicy note engulfing my nasal passage, I look back upon this transition with amusement. I smoke a pipe, bitches.

16 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2080)	2017-04-29		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Solani - 656: Aged Burley Flake.

This was the first Burley flake I reviewed, but since I've smoked lots of tins over about five years after the initial review I thought I'd re-post.

It's an absolutely perfect Burley smoke! Nutty, rustic, a tiny note of cocoa, steady burning, and no bite. It's simply a wonderful flake. I can't think of much more that needs to be said!

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: pleasant.

Easy to rate, four stars:

Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: All

Age When Smoked: Mostly new

Purchased From: Various

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Perique (163)	2015-08-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm going to say right now that to my palette, this is the best straight burley on the market today, on the stout end of the flavor spectrum. There are a few blends on the lighter, sweeter side of the genre that are of equal quality (Uhle's 00 comes to mind), but none that carry Aged Burley Flakes robust flavor profile.

Presentation is dark brown, uniform but loosely pressed flakes that rub out (or stuff) easily. The tin note is of fine chocolate.  True, unadulterated, top-notch burley taste: deep, rich cocoa flavors dominate, with a background of parchment, macadamia nuts, and just a hint of white chocolate on the tip of the tongue. The flavors are consistent from true light through the end of the bowl.  Even a good burley can get a bit ashy and monochromatic towards the end of the bowl, but there is none of that here. 

Aged Burley Flake is ready to smoke right out of the tin, takes a march well, and burns cool, slow, and dry. This is an exceptionally cool smoke for such a deep, rich burley blend. There is no heat here, and no bite. 

This is a blend that's been on my hit list for a long time. But only when my beloved Burley London Blend was discontinued and increasingly harder to find did I finally pull the trigger. Wow am I glad I did. I've searched and searched through other burley blends, many of them very good, but this is my new favorite. 

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Michael Kindt (18)	2014-08-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Even though everything superlative said about a tobacco has been said about Solani Aged Burley Flake, I'm going to say some more superlative stuff about it because it is, without question, very superlative.

This was the first tobacco early in my pipe smoking hobby that I fell in love with. Back in those days, I was playing around, like many pipe smokers do when they're just starting out, trying different things. I liked some aromatics, some over the counter burleys, some crossovers, but no tobacco truly wowed me....until Solani ABF.

"Great God Almighty!" I cried out during my first bowl, scaring the crap out of my dogs.

That was long ago, in the mists of time. I am a different man now. There is a patch of gray in my beard and Alanis Morissette, whom I used to be a fan of, now sounds like a cat being tortured.

I still love ABF, though. I always will. Nostalgia is a big part of it....coming home late at night after busting my ass in the kitchen (I worked as chef in those days) and having a few beers and a bowl of ABF. It was the perfect decompression and probably why the patch of gray in my beard isn't bigger than it is.

It is a simple tobacco, really, all burley, from three terroirs, blended and aged and prepared with such skill that it is elevated beyond its components. Musty, nutty, rich, smooth...it's simply fabulous.

I wad and stuff it, like a big ol' chaw. I wad and stuff all my flakes. Rubbing out flakes makes them taste somewhat muted or, perhaps, muddled. Might be just me, though. Drying a flake a few hours before you devour it also improves things.

By this point in my hobby, I have found many wow factor tobaccos, some of which I like better than ABF, but as the first, it will always have a place in both my heart and cellar.

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-07-05		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

After years of reading the reviews, I am adding my two cents worth. This is my second review. To offer a perspective, My regular, most smoked blends are: SG's Best Brown Flake, 1792, Luxury Twist Flake, Old Joe Krantz, Old Crooner, Christmas Cheer, Manhattan Afternoon, and others that are similar.

Aged Burley Flake: upon opening the tin for the first time, what immediately came to mind was the memory of lunches I had with fellow University of Miami professor Gil Johnson(deceased), trumpet teacher famed for his being lead player with the Philadelphia SO. We would have lunch at a great Cuban restaurant on 8th St in Little Havana and then go next door to Nick's Cigar shop for an after-lunch cigar. There was a selection of hand made cigars called the "Cabinet Series" that although not flavored, had a kind of chocolate/coffee aroma. ABF has that scent: deep and rich, cigar-like with a subtle chocolate/coffee flavor.

Smoking ABF, the flavors give way to an earthy, sometimes gravel-like flavor. I would not call this a Burley blend like Revelation and Peretti's blends which I smoked years ago. It is more cigar-like. I really enjoy it when sitting on my back porch around 2AM after I have played a gig-I am a jazz pianist. We live near the beach in Dania, Fl on the wetlands. The sight swampy smell of the wetlands on a steamy evening goes very well with ABF. Add a sip of rum and the experience is tropical.

In a word: excellent! This is one of my regulars.

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-08-16		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Unnoticeable

This is cased wet shit. How any of you shit's get through a bowl is amazing. Stick your aged burley up your ass. And I like burley. Never ever again will I buy this over priced junk.

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darby (15)	2014-04-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Blender R.L. Will has achieved a minor masterpiece in this truly elegant blend of burleys. This is the first (and thus far only) pipe tobacco that was so wonderfully rich, restrained and well balanced in its dark grandeur that it prompted me to pinch a small strip into a tiny plug, and pop it between my cheek and gums, just to slowly savor the flavor from a different angle. More on that later**.

The flakes here are a moist and lovely chocolate brown (the Kentucky dark), with some highlights of lighter brown (the Brazilian light) and beige (the Malawi white). The tin note has a restrained nutty aroma with hints of ground coffee, and only a modest hint of dark sweet malt. Some drying time is a must here, but your patience is richly rewarded.

There’s so much going on here that I’ll skip ahead to mid bowl, by which time the flavors have fully settled and come into focus. Now, most of us pipers are familiar to some degree with the gentle nuttiness that a good burley brings to the table, but the triple dose of perfectly matched top quality burleys here takes things to a WHOLE new level. Here, a rich complex nuttiness takes center stage ... picture a large mortar holding a palmful of freshly roasted brazil nuts and filberts (with shells & bitters intact), add some toasted carob pods, roast chicory and cocoa nibs, some medium roast coffee beans, some dark malt extract, a small curl of Saigon Cassia, and perhaps a chip of black licorice candy, then crush it all up with a lightly charred wooden pestle straight from the fireplace. Try to picture the combined aroma, and that’s as close as I can get you.

In addition to all that, there’s an equally wonderful lack of major flaws or balance issues. The sweetness is restrained - neither dominant, nor submissive. The Kentucky dark also brings a subtle nuance of smoke. The natural alkalinity of the burleys is present but not onerous, and the gentle bite actually compliments the slightly tannic and peppery finish. It’s a very impressive multi-layered balancing act that somehow all works, despite (apparently) a complete lack of added flavors, sweeteners or aromatics. Color me impressed. The only minor crime here is that this brand currently only comes in tiny 50 gram tins (nothing larger) that are not vintage dated, nor fully airtight once opened (tip: repackage in glass, if you plan to consume slowly).

This is a rare find, and highly recommended, both for straight up smoking, and for blending some tasty complexity into lesser fare. A perfect four stars from me.

---------- ** Taste: Smoking definitely brings out more of the complexity than mere saliva, but for the record, a tiny pinch exudes some of the same notes of coffee beans, carob and chicory I mentioned earlier, along with a pleasing astringency.

Pipe Used: Grabow Royalton

Age When Smoked: Unknown

Purchased From: PipesandCigars.com

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jacinto Cupboard (209)	2014-04-04		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

In appearance these are dark chocolate flakes with a generous measure of of light tobacco spread throughout. The layers of leaf are on the loose side and rub out easily.

The tin note gives off generous cocoa aromas with woody undertones and the sort of caramelisation one finds with well cooked roast beef. I apologise for the bizarreness of that comparison, but it took me awhile to locate where I had smelt that aroma before and that really is what it reminds me of. There is also a soft malty sweetness.

This is a very slow burning tobacco but will require some attention. Rubbed out, a single flake lasts me well over an hour. One would be hard pressed to find a tobacco that delivers better value.

In terms of its flavour while smoking, this is not a tobacco that has been processed into something different to its burley nature, in the way virginian tobaccos are transformed by being pressed into flakes. Rather, this is a burley that has been tamed. Aside from its slow burning qualities, it has no bitterness at all and is exceedingly smooth. I did not detect any particular flavour profile beyond a creaminess and a malty, but not especially sweet, taste.

Of special note is how the ph of this tobacco has been balanced, at least to my palate. I did not need a drink to accompany this tobacco and did not find myself with any excess saliva at all. Nor does it seem to have much of a kick nicotine wise. Of course YMMV.

This is a very good all day smoke, surprisingly gentle, that would go well with a real ale and good friends. Honest tobacco, made well.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	quantumboy (130)	2009-10-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm not a big burley fan but this is a great tobacco. I've been enjoying this blend for quite a while, but had not had any in a few months. I found the open tin in my stash and it's totally dried out, and I mean crispy. Loaded it in a little Herter's Angler's pipe, which holds just enough for about a 20 minute smoke. Obviously there was no problem lighting it.

People talk about "nutty" flavors, and I agree, but to me it's the earthy kind of nuts like brazil nuts and a hint of filberts. The first half of the bowl was pure earth, like fresh garden dirt. It warmed up to a combination of nuttiness and earthiness and was just plain good all the way down. To be honest I've forgotten what it tastes like fresh, but I can vouch that it's good even when crispy dry.

I have more tins, and hopefully I'll be trying some soon that's fresher. Regardless, this is a really good, tasty blend. For me it's meant for sipping. It is not overly complex, but it has enough variation and nuance to keep it interesting to the bottom if you slow down and enjoy it. Easily a four star burley.

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2014-06-22		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Wish I didn't have to write this. Opened a tin of this about 3 weeks ago. Been trying since then to dry some out the way I like it. It's not possible. Laid a bowls worth on a paper towel like I always do. Usually have several blends drying at the same time. Dozens of blends dried over the next seven days, most in just an hour or two, except for one, That would be this one. Seven days and it was still as wet as it was when I put it out. How wet? Very wet. You can use dozens of matches to get through a bowl. This is unacceptable. I tried the microwave method next. 8 seconds, fluff it till it felt dry. 8 more seconds, fluff until it felt dry. Still takes dozens of matches to get through a bowl. I don't know how you folks managed this stuff. There must be a secret that I'm not privy to. Never got a good enough taste of it to properly comment on that. Also, you shouldn't pay any attention to the ratings of strength or such. I have no real idea of what they should be. I'm through trying. They should have named this Aged Humectant Flake.

Pipe Used: MM General, MM Country Gentleman

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (248)	2018-06-06		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

First a commentary: I notice that there are often debates of the manufacturers claims on tobacco's; it is essentially, "Are they lying about the ingredients or not?". What I find funny is that the tin says what it says and then you read 10 reviews and 6 say there is and 4 say there isn't... so to me this shows that it is not clear and then I ask why question the manufacturer. We taste what we taste and it is there or it isn't. If it is to you, then it is there. Perception is reality.

This tobacco is a finicky one in my experience. In the right pipe it is very good, in the wrong pipe it is like a mouth full of soot. The problem I have is that it is not easy to tell so once I found the one briar I liked it in, that is where it is going to stay. In a meer or a cob this is consistently good but different in each. The tin note is like nestle's quick and some straw, a very nice smell. Simple and light. The smoke, as others have said is very straight forward and uni dimensional, but that is good in this case. It is a light grassiness to it, lightly sweet and slightly bready. This is where I break from the crowd. I smell the chocolate in the tin but get no such flavor in the smoke, which is unusual for me since most Burley blends have a chocolate note to them. This is lauded as THE Burley and I don't get it at all. There is a slightly woody/light honey/vaguely floral like taste to it that is very pleasant but also, for me was hard to pinpoint. I have often felt like using "nutty" as a descriptor, but I cannot tell you what nut it tastes like. The best I get is like acorn, but I have never eaten an acorn...nor do I know if that is actually categorized as a nut. The mind is a terrible thing. Light finish and crisp aftertaste. Burns well and clean.

Pipe Used: meerschuam, cob and briar

Age When Smoked: new tin

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Andya27 (9)	2014-11-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

Until this tobacco I would have considered myself a Virginia and Latakia enthusiast. The Burleys that I had smoked previously had mostly been dark fired Kentuckys, and I find these tobaccos a bit too spicy for my palate. The one Burley exception - Semois (which I guess you could say really isn't a Burley but another plant altogether) is one of my favorites. So I wanted to try a Burley that wouldn't irritate my mouth. I enjoy stronger taste tobaccos, but not a tobacco that is spicy. And so my experiences with Burleys had been not as good as my experiences with Virginias. However, I have been enjoying Solani Silver Flake - even though it contains dark fired Kentucky - and is just a bit rough on my mouth. It's a tobacco that I can recognize as top notch, even if a bit spicy for every day smoking for me. So I decided to look for another Solani that I could try.

I read many of the reviews of ABF. It sounded like it was worth a go. And I'm glad I did. In comparison with all the other Burleys that bite or burn my mouth, ABF smokes very smooth. Plenty of flavor, and I must say that I find the room note to be very pleasant - just a warm, rich tobacco aroma.

This is a tobacco that comes ready to light right out of the tin. The flakes themselves are are wonderful to look at, hold, and smell - thick enough to hold together but not too thick - wonderful ranges of colors. Not overly moist. Superb tin note. On first opening the tin I was amazed that Burley could smell this nice. And the first smoke didn't disappoint either.

I cannot compare this with any other Burley, as I'm not a Burley guy. But I am a Solani ABF guy. I just purchased a second tin, and I'm going to lay in a fairly large stock to age for a year or two - not that it really needs it.

And so for the Virginia smoker who hasn't had much joy with Burleys - this is a great way to find out if you can possibly like Burley - or at least Solani's take on Burley. Yes, it's a bit more expensive than other tobaccos, but I have found both this and Silver Flake worth any premium that I pay. Just top tier tobacco.

Pipe Used: Peterson Killarney. Savinelli. Butz-Choquin

Age When Smoked: New from tin

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Knightsmoker (218)	2014-08-23		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

First, the notes are interesting, no additives at all but the home page for Kohlhase & Kopp states that there is a hint of chocolate. I do think that chocolate is present. I know that good burley often has notes of cocoa in it anyway and it is present. It is smooth and creamy not sweet and when chocolate is added as a topping to straight burley it is often unnoticeable so I lean toward what the current producer says about the blend here. Now for the blend itself: First, it starts off as a Med. strength blend but the strength will build throughout that bowl until the last half will tickle the nose on the retro-hale which is one indicator that it is moving quickly toward the med. full range. At the match I get earthy flavors, dust, good rich soil, nuts, roasted grain, coffee notes too. There is a heavy alkalinity here elements of dark chocolate, and a slight floral essence picked up in the last half of the bowl primarily and only on the retro-hale that reminds me of red clover that has been cut, turned, properly dried, and ready for bailing. This is one of the best straight burley blends I have tried to date. I will always keep a couple of tins on hand.

Age When Smoked: 18 months

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fr_tom (393)	2013-12-16		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a quality burley smoke. There is good, solid tobacco flavor and none of the bitterness you get sometimes. This smokes like a slightly fuller version of Uhle's Blend 00, and I do not detect any topping. I think there is a little in Blend 00. I have enjoyed this a lot. Even if you think you don't like burley, you should bum a few flakes from a friend and give this a try.

This and Uhle's Blend 00 are about as good as burley gets for me.

Pipe Used: various briars

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-07-29		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

An absolutely elegant burley blend. Quite possibly the best this tounge has ever tasted. I have cut the flakes into 1/8 inch cubes and rubbed this one out prior to packing. Very pleasurable smoke either way. Wonderful fruit and honey essences match with nutty textures common to burley blends. No bite, cool smoke. Absolute perfection. Fruit-like textures are like that of spiced peaches and dried apricots. These fruit essences are the natural release of natural tobaccos. They are not a result of artificial toppings or additives. Beautiful. four stars all the way. I have a large peterson xl315 dedicated to it now. If you have not tried it you must.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Calamiti (86)	2017-10-22		Very Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Tolerable

I like wild burleys. In the wild, the burley is quite a rogue beast. It can severely bite an unsuspecting smoker or choke him by the throat. Burleys are born naturally bitter and harsh and are very hard to tame. Quite a few blenders are skillful enough to take a firm grip of them, which is why most tobacco producers would just soak wild burleys in aromatic humectants and then sell us not the living thing but just its heavily perfumed dead pelt.

Rudiger L. Will is an experienced and renowned burley-tamer. Tonight on the ring he presents us three live creatures of this kind: one from Africa, one from Kentucky and one from Brazil, all together on a single leash. It's beyond imagination how much skilled effort it took him to force these vicious predators to jump obediently through the ring of fire. They are the tamest of the tame, as much tame as it's ever possible to subdue a wild beast by beating the hell out of it, by castrating it and by pulling out its teeth and claws. It's still alive and even plays tricks on command but it's just a shadow of its real self.

That's why one star. No fraud complaints, I got exactly what I wastefully paid for: three rare live burleys. Three well-aged non-perfumed burleys. Three well-tamed burleys. Tamed to the point of complete blandness and dullness.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JJ Sir Emmitt (40)	2017-04-29		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Aged Burley flake is simply superb. The flake feels a bit too moist out of the tin, however it burns fantastic. I have found rubbing it out and giving it a couple minutes of dry time is perfect. It burns nice and cool in the bowl, down to a fine ash. This blend presents the best of Burley based blends. With sweet flavors of carmel and coco, and molasses, along with a toasted nuttiness, earth, leather, and a a sharp pepper on the back of the palate and through the nose. There is a lot of complexity and flavor to this blend with out being overwhelmed by strength. This is a must try for fans of Burley.

Pipe Used: MM Freehand

Age When Smoked: New Tin

Purchased From: Tobaccopipes.com

Similar Blends: Haunted Bookshop, Old Joe Krantz.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SeoulSister (37)	2014-02-11		Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Solani Aged Burley Flake is the first and only Burley flake I have smoked to this point in the two and a half years I have been smoking a pipe. I found some of this in a jar in my husband’s pipe room and thought I would give it a try. I smoke this by breaking the flakes into small pieces and rub a little out to get the pipe going. At first light, I get a sweet, almost honey-like flavor, although not from a casing. ABF quickly turned earthy and nutty. There is also a light cocoa undertone to it too. ABF never burned hot and I find it to be a little on the strong side. If I am not careful it makes me a little dizzy. This is a very smooth smoke though. ABF has made me want to try out more Burley flakes and I would recommend this flake. BTW, I don’t think he will miss the jar!

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-09-09		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

These unbroken flakes have an aroma which evokes a lusciously tart melange of humus and root vegetables.

The initial flavor is mildly nutty and unprepossessing. The aroma is pointed, though light. There is the barest hint of toasty sweetness without any evidence of either VAs or added sugars. Aged Burley Flake exhibits no grassiness, sourness, or harshness but revels only in an ever-deepening richness. As the bowl progresses, the profile develops into a staid and austere crescendo of black walnut, leather, and coffee. The aftertaste is clean and fleeting.

A tightly focused study in richness sans nuance, Aged Burley Flake achieves a profound depth. It is a definitive icon for the serious burley aesthete.

Chamber Gauge: Narrow to Medium

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jamey S (9)	2018-02-06		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

The first thing that took me is the sweetness on this one. This is, hands down, the sweetest non-aromatic I ever smoked. It took some getting used to: I set down with a strong, bitter coffee on a cloudy afternoon, expecting a heavy burley (Like 4th Generation 1931), and got a well-rounded, easy going Burley at first. This one came rather moist out the tin, and for some reason I didn't want to wait for it to dry a little. I folded the flake and packed my pipe It took me 3 matches to get it going, but it did, but the fact that it was moist influenced something else. As I sat there, trying to understand the blend, I got a tingling at the corners of my mouth. I shifted my attention there and realize I feel sweetness – actual sugars, at the sides of my tongue. The presence of the smoke in my mouth was incredible. Although sweet in my mouth, at the nose I could feel a bit of smoky smell, like the one you get from a very mild presence of Latakia (although this blend is exclusively Burley, or so it says). This smell goes away after the flake settled in my bowl. After 20 minutes, this blend gets heavy. I needed to go very slowly with it to not overwhelm my mouth (and I'm a slow smoker as it is). This blend won't change much down the bowl, which is nice. It remains nutty and sweet with a touch of cocoa flavor. It won't heat and will smoke very slowly. It will also require a few relights (although – I smoked it rather moist). It won't bite and will remain balanced.

This is truly a great blend and I think all pipers should try it.

Pipe Used: Savinelli 320

Age When Smoked: 1 year

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2018-01-28		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

When it comes to high Burley content blends, I'm generally not a fan. My chemistry says "bite" and a "Metallic" taste ? It's not the strength that I have a problem with. This one is somewhat different, strong-yes, but more of a Cigar note blend with slight hidden sweetness and some slight dark chocolate notes. I don't get the usual "bite or "Metallic" taste, a good thing. This leans more towards McC Dominican Glory than say Petersons Irish Flake. All in all, a quality strong dark smoke that should get 4 stars IF I was a Burley fan.

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: 4 years

Similar Blends: McC Dominican Glory.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tpatriarche (43)	2017-05-28		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I love Burley, so I'm prejudiced, but I really enjoyed this blend. Complex notes like chocolate (but NOT chocolate flavour), floral, even incense (the best sandalwood). There are surprisingly few straight aged burleys around (this is the only one listed here); most of the burleys available locally are rather light. Leaf Only has an aged burley (which I can't review here as they are not a "blend" manufacturer) with an even more complex aroma, but this will have to do for now -- and it does, it does!

Comes as cut flake, which means you must rub it before packing your pipe. That to me is a plus: Cut or broken flake is generally stronger than other cuts, simply because it is denser, and I like the additional ceremony of rubbing.

Delicious, and particularly recommended for the experienced smoker who has grown tired of flavoured Cavendish and "English" blends with too much Latakia.

Pipe Used: Carey System, briar churchwarden

Age When Smoked: Fresh in tin

Purchased From: Goodfellas, Victoria BC, http://www.goodfellascigarshop.com/

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	moniker (220)	2016-02-22		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Solani 656, Aged Burley Flake is a Burley lover’s dream, thick and rich yet still soft and mellow enough to really relax with. The tin comes sealed (unlike Silver Flake), and there are two rows of nicely formed flakes inside that are wrapped in white paper, with a “tobacco leaf” seal. The flakes are mottled medium brown. Though they are moist, they smoke fine straight from the tin. I fold then roll a flake between my thumbs and fore fingers, then I stuff the loose plug that results into my pipe. It lights easily and burns down fine. Back to the tin note, it’s wonderful: deep cocoa, apricots, and buttered oatmeal over the rich, fermented Burly tobaccos, and this holds through the match and the smoke, except the apricots fade quickly, and the tannins rise slowly, sharpening the blend somewhat over the course of a bowl, but it's never bitter. There is ample tobacco taste here, for sure, top to bottom. If there is KY here, I don’t taste its typical “smoke” or spices. At the end, there are faint traces of anise. ABF produces plenty of smoke, and I love to just roll my eyes back in my head and take it easy. The strength is more strong than medium. The tastes are more medium than strong. Room note is terrific. Aftertaste is best-of-the-smoke, and it lingers.

Solani’s Aged Burley Flake is a great smoke, complex but not busy, in no way demanding. It’s an easy 4 stars. Try some if you can find it.

Pipe Used: various briars

Age When Smoked: fresh to several months

Purchased From: 4noggins.com

Similar Blends: To be continued....

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	GabrielCRT (115)	2016-01-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Solani ABF is a very tasty Burley flake with dark semi-sweet chocolate notes and some grassy flavor. I get a lot of woody/cedar notes from the Malawi Burley. The tin note is great with chocolate and some fruit. It also gets my approval for moisture content and combustibility. I sometimes find that I get bored during the smoke because it never changes but I can't fault it for that as I think that was the manufacturers intent. A straightforward, unadulterated Burley flake with a natural and robust sweetness.

Pipe Used: Briars, Cobs, Meerschaums

Age When Smoked: Fresh

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	St.P3t3r (2)	2015-07-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is my first Burley Tobacco. I'm a fairly new pipe smoker and has only smoked blends like mac barens scottish mix, borkum riff bourbon, and Peterson, sweet killarney. And I found this very nice. Smokes very cool, and that comes from a newb, I'm a fairly hot pipesmoker, I puff fairly often, which usually makes the smoke a little hot sometimes. This tobacco doest bite AT ALL. it's very smooth, and has a lot more taste than all the other tobaccos I've smoked. It has no chemical undertone at all.

The taste probably tastes like burley, but I wouldn't know because this is my first tobacco with burley in. It was smooth, kind of sweet and relaxing. After smoking it for a little while you're left with a nutty, coco taste. almost like a hint of dark chocolate, and nuts. As I've only smoked tobaccos with fairly small amounts of nicotine this was a little stronger, but not overwhelming. Not too strong, but enough to get relaxed.

To any pipesmoker this would probably have a very nice roomnote. The aroma it leaves in the room is extremely nice. but to most people i'd think it would be about pleasant to tolerable.

Pipe Used: Small apple-shaped briar pipe

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: SolCigar Oslo Norway

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Scupbucket (10)	2015-07-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Solani 656 is so good that I believe it actually contains some sort of cosmic nutrient that heightens my senses and gives me super human strength. My hair grows faster and thicker. I have a beard growing from my chest and vascular biceps that gets bigger with each puff of this gift from a higher power. It burns strong and cool and the smoke is so thick it can be chewed, swallowed, and digested. I would gladly give up my ability to taste KFC (original recipe) to have this delicious flavor linger in my whiskered maw for eternity. I'm being serious here... this tobacco is amazing! Take my money Solani!

Pipe Used: Dagner P3, Machelli Poker

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dryseason91 (6)	2014-05-07		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Somehow both rustic and refined in equal measure. Cube cut, it begins with a slightly flat mustiness that soon rounds out and deepens into coffee and dry cocoa. Typical cheap-cigar notes of some burleys are happily absent, giving way instead to dark malt and pleasantly bitter nut. A little earthiness waxes and wanes. Never grows harsh or sour. A classic, completely unique stroke of blending genius.

Pipe Used: Bent meerschaum

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: 4noggins.com

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	A Northern Breed (16)	2012-02-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This stuff is just... perfect. There, I've said it, and I never thought that I would. And I am about to go say the exact same thing about Solani's 660 Silver Flake. R.L. Will must be one hell of a tobacco blender, because this tobacco (along with 660) is absolutely unbelievable. The beauty is in the simplicity, and as a great someone once said, "It is what it isn't." And yet, it is what it is, as well. It's just perfectly simple, and the simplicity is complex. Strange contradictions abound.

It comes in a beautiful tin, wrapped in beautiful paper inside, and the flakes are gorgeous, uniform little brown chewing gum sticks. They behave absolutely perfectly, whether you're rubbing or folding and stuffing. I must say, the flakes are a little thick for me to be folding and stuffing (and I don't fool with that often anyway, as I don't believe there is much benefit to be had by doing so), so I smoke it rubbed, and it's great. Lights easily, burns beautifully, never bites and is cool as a cucumber. Moisture level is also literally perfect. It is exactly how it should be. Is this blender even human?

The taste is really, really hard to describe for me. It is certainly not Carter Hall or Prince Albert, good god no. In fact, this is the PERFECT tobacco to give someone if you want to instantly make them rethink all those times they said they hated burley. It is nuanced, gentle, soft, yet creamy, bold, and nutty. It is the absolute, unchallenged heavyweight champion of the world of burley tobaccos, the Holy Grail of burley tobaccos.

BUY THIS STUFF. I hesitate to rant and rave like this, because for one, I hate to sound like a frivolous goof, and for another, I don't want all of you buying up all my 656 ABF! But really and truly, if you enjoy natural, straight tobacco, and you have not had this, you are missing out, big time.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tom Servo (58)	2011-03-29		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Opening the tin, I found subtle aged grains, Oats & molasses, sweet bran muffins, nuts, dates, cinnamon and cocoa. The whole mélange comes out fruit, chocolate and scorched granola. This stuff was grown and aged by masters, all scents married completely but you're still able to pick out dozens of aromas if you take the time.

Rub, pack and light.

Very interesting. Toasted pure tobacco. Subtle roasted nut and coffee flavors. Simple, but tastes great. Aging doesn't seems to have changed the burley much, except it's softer and very well balanced. Because burley has virtually no sugar in the leaf, it can't ferment like Virginia or a few other tobaccos. But it's lack of sugar also means it's not as likely to burn your tongue. Remember: Burley also has the most nicotine of any pipe leaf. This stuff has a nice kick to it. Eat something first. And don't smoke it before attempting sleep.

I've never had burley presented this way. I'm very impressed. The blend of vastly different burleys, has mingled and married deliciously. The toasting makes the whole thing more interesting. Rustic but with style, begs to be smoked outside, but wherever you smoke it - this stuff is great. Room note is quite light and tolerable.

Goes onto my favorite list as a “Something Different” selection.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	doc'spipe (242)	2009-10-13		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I was anxious to try this blend as I have been smoking and thoroughly enjoying Wessex Burley Slice. Both of these tobaccos are manufactured and tinned by Kolhase & Kopp in Germany. The tins, sans cover label, are the same. The inside paper package - tobacco leaf artwork - is also the same. The flakes, however, are arranged differently. ABF are stacked lengthwise in 3 rows, whereas BS are are packaged on their sides, lengthwise, as bacon would be packaged (overlapping-style). The tin aroma is more sour (in a good way) and tangy with ABF. Burley Sliced had more of a sweeter, molasses tin aroma mixed in with the aroma of high grade Burley. The BS has a slightly darker appearance in the tin and ABF has some lighter leaf in the mix. I believe the description of ABF listed above after the tin description heading to be in error. According to the K & K website and the description of ABF in the Dan Tobacco Catalog, there is the addition of chocolate in the blend as a seasoning before the pressing. If you think about it while smoking, and puff slowly, you can detect these chocolate notes.

As far as the smoking experience, they both were smoke-able right out of the tin. No problem with packing or lighting for me. In both cases re-lights were minimal for flakes that were so fresh. What I did find after several smokes of each is that the BS has more in the way of molasses flavoring, not at all cloying, whereas ABF was more sour/bittersweet. There was no detectable molasses flavoring with ABF and it had more body. Its nicotine content I judged higher than BS as it tended to produce a fullness in my throat. The sour/bittersweet flavor was apparent with ABF and not with BS. Neither produced any moisture in the heel of my pipe. I conclude after many bowls of each that ABF and WBS are definitively different from one another, but both provided an excellent smoking experience. They both use high quality Burley leaf. I am glad the two are different as switching from one to the other adds variety to the smoking experience. ABF is a solid smoking experience for those who favor high quality Burley. Compared to the legendary Edgeworth Sliced, I find ABF far superior and one of the best Burley tobaccos that I have ever smoked. 5+ stars and one of my favorites.

UPDATE 10-1-10: For those interested in such things, my last 4 ABF were arranged differently in the tin. My first half dozen tins had the tobacco slices stacked atop one another in 3 rows, side by side. My last 4 tins have the slices lying side by side as bacon in a package - identical to the way K&H packages their Wessex Burley Slice.

I would also add that ABF improves even more so with aging as it brings out a very nice champagne-like taste to the smoke. Best smoked when dried out totally to the touch.

UPDATE 9-26-14: I'm into my 51st tin of ABF. After having smoked 30 tins of Wessex Burley Slice and into my last tin of Edgeworth Sliced (according to the tin produced in Holland), I would have to conclude that ABF, hands down, is the better of the three. I am primarily a Burley smoker and I have never had another Burley satisfy me as much as ABF. Along with Irish Flake, my two absolute favorite pipe tobaccos.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Clarkus (36)	2020-07-22		Medium	None Detected	Full	Unnoticeable

I did not like this one at all. Most of what I smoke is Burley or Burley forward. I found this to be too bold, bitter and lacking of any offsetting sweetness. I followed later in the day with Lane Ready Rubbed, a favorite Burley, and found my ability to taste sweetness completely shot. I later had a bowl of Half and Half, another favorite, and still could not detect any sweetness. In short, ABF spoiled my entire smoking day except for my final bowl of the day of Match Walnut which doesn’t have any sweetness to spoil. It could be my lack of smoking experience as I have only smoked a pipe for 50 years.

Pipe Used: 1930’s vintage Kaywoody Rhodesian

Age When Smoked: Few months

Purchased From: Gift sample

Similar Blends: Nothing I know of.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (221)	2020-04-29		Medium	Mild	Medium	Unnoticeable

This blend gives burley the treatment it deserves! A light barely sweetened cocoa note the most obvious. Earthy and nutty with a slight bitterness like a good coffee .It pairs great with a cup as a morning smoke . Has a smooth mouth-feel that is quite pleasant . No real obvious cigar notes . No real spice enough to mention. 3 burley leafs blended to perfection ! I enjoy it a lot ! I will be sad when this tin is empty. Must get more .

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Aleksander Szyszkowski (6)	2019-11-16		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Extra Full	Pleasant

I picked up a can of Aged Burley Flake a few months ago on the last day of work at a local tobacconist as a souvenir of sorts. This was, and in some sense still is, a new experience to me - it was the first flake tobacco I ever bought, as well as my first burley blend. It was probably one of my best choices since I started smoking a pipe.

First off, the aroma is amazing. One can clearly distinguish the cocoa and the chocolate. It packs pretty well. It is, however, a little bit too wet for my liking most of the time, so I usually give it a few minutes to dry before packing. After smoking my way through about ten flakes I found out that the flavour of this blend gets significantly stronger the more agressively it is being smoked. It starts of with a light and sweet cocoa, then goes down into chocolate territory, but if pushed harder the taste becomes very similar to dark bread. Becouse of this, I find it very fitting to pair with a glass of good slavic kvass.

I truly adore this one. This is currently my go-to "autumn melancholy" tobacco. It has helped me on a few gloomy days already. Fully recommended.

Pipe Used: B&B 212

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smoke; Wroclaw, Poland

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	oldermanpipe (25)	2019-03-26		Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

In what now seems my callow youth, when I was merely oldmanpipe, I pronounced Aged Burley Flake's nicotine punch capable of inducing a cardiac event. Now, far more at risk for such day-spoiling things, I'd like to say that it ain't that bad. That is not to say that either it or I have changed all that much, just that one takes things more slowly with the passage of time. And that is the key to enjoying all this flake has to offer. Puff fast, and it tastes like cheap Burley, and the room goes a'spinning; take your time, and you'll be amazed at all the nuance fine Burley can offer. The earth is there, the dark cocoa, and what I call the "Ohio Riverbank on a summer evening." THAT is what I look for in a Burley. And it's all here, brothers and sisters.

The negatives? Cost and unavailability. Period. Alternatives? MacBaren's HH Burley Flake. Not nearly as sublime, but completely serviceable.

Outstanding stuff.

Pipe Used: MM Washington

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smokingpipes

Similar Blends: MacBaren HH Burley Flake. Edgeworth Slices.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ian K (30)	2017-01-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

My first smoke of this flake left me wondering what the fuss was about? Why so many rave reviews? So I decanted the tin into a jar and forgot about it...6 months later I was looking for something different from my cellar and decided to give it another chance, Now I have been rewarded with a very pleasant surprise...the blend has mellowed and dried nicely into a very pleasing smoke. I'm not repeating all the comments previously left with regards to burn and flavour but what I will add is if at first like me you found it not to your tastes then give it some time out of the tin and you may find yourself rewarded

Pipe Used: Savinelli delux 123

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Bricks and mortar

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DeathMetal.org (231)	2016-04-04		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Summary: a sweet Burley brownie with a berry topping.

"Aged Burley Flake" combines three Burleys and then presses or stoves them to bring out their inner sweetness and decrease the nutty, vegetative and sometimes bitter taste that Burley can have. This mixture seems to be topped with a humectant and a berry flavoring similar to Peterson "University Flake." It smokes well and is gentle, but loses a lot of the Burley taste and strength, making this an unconvincing smoke.

Similar Blends: Peterson - University Flake.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tripjoker (65)	2009-11-22		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Original review 11/2009- Four ounces into this tobacco, and I think I am in love. That says alot for someone who really does not, as a rule, like burleys. But, this is really starting to change my mind.

The body is very nice. The smoke is silky and smooth, not harsh and hot like most other burleys that I have experienced in the past. The maker here is clearly a very skilled and careful craftsman. There is truly a nut-like quality that has eluded me with earlier burley attempts. And a level of sweetness that is light but tasty. There are NO rough edges here.

This one pairs nicely with a strong cup of coffee in the morning, or whenever you need a refreshing break. Easily an all day tobacco, except for the price. But I am not one to mark a great tobacco down for the price. No matter what my pocketbook says, this is great stuff.

Update 09/2011- The stock of tins I have are smoking perfectly after the 2 year mark. This is the one Burley that I truly enjoy everytime I smoke it. Air time is needed with this one. I think the latest reviews are from people trying this without properly airing it. Two weeks of jar time with the occasional opening is the ticket. 15 more tins in storage, will try again at 3 years. Cheers!

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Laudante (29)	2008-07-19		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Opening the tin, it took me a while to convince myself I really bought tobacco and not chocolate. For the smell and appearance said the contrary. Not that it is artificially flavored with chocolate, of course, for this high grade flake is 100% natural.

The flavor is very good, although one ought not to confuse heaviness with fullness of taste. This tobacco is more the first than the second. But the flavor is not bad at all. A little whisper of licorice, perhaps, or nuts. It never goes bitter properly, but the heaviness can also be confused with bitterness.

I did like it, more than Wessex Burley Slice, for example, but I will still prefer to soften it a little with a 30% of premium virginia or cavendish. A sacrilege? For many, yes, but for me there are no taboos if I will enjoy more. Isn´t milk added to chocolate?

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	oldmanpipe (62)	2008-05-12		Overwhelming	Extremely Mild	Very Full	Pleasant

Being a Burley lover, I was intrigued to find this addition to the Solani product line. I looked forward to a great smoke.

Boy, was I ever disappointed! There is no question that this is a tobacco of exceptional quality, but it made me ill everytime I put a match to it. The nicotine content of this stuff is off the charts! Even on a full stomach, this weed made my head spin.

All those who gave this four stars must be made of sterner stuff than I. Being a pipesmoker for 35+years, there have been only two blends (before this) that I could not handle because of harshness or UMMPH. This is the third. It is smooth as can be...but the strength made me reel for hours afterward.

All the comparisons to other Burley flakes on today's market seem, to me, illusory. Edgeworth and Kingfisher are wimpish compared to this stuff.

Solani offers some outstanding tobaccos and, for some, perhaps this is one. Speaking only for myself...glad I smoked only a sample; I'd sue if I'd paid for this noxious, vile intoxicant.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stan (179)	2007-03-13		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is the newest in a series of burley flakes, this time by the incomparable Mr. Wills.

This is a true flake, mostly brown and darkish with some lighter strands, that only needs a little breaking or rubbing to get the full benefit of its rich, burley flavor. Overworked terms, but earthy and nutty are the plain truth, but a notch on the richer side. Never bitter. Cool. About 15 flakes in three stacks in the tin. One flake plugged in fills a size 3 or small 4 bowl. I think the toasting (a la McClelland?) improves the natural flavors immensly. Some spicy flavors from the Kentucky migrate but no bite detected.

A comparish with other flakes of the gentry:

Solani Long Golden Flake -- lighter with only some white burley and sweeter with bright virginias and a little perique. Smooth. Not intended as a straight burley flake but good for comparison's sake. (Milder than Solani 633, their full virginia/perique flake.)

Wessex Burley Slices -- elegant and sweeter with both burley and some virginia, with a note of brown sugar and/or licorice. Not as heavy as Edgeworth or Age Burley Flake.

C&D Safe Harbor Flake -- lighter and milder yet with a faint top note (licorice?). Not a true flake but a broken flake. Cool. Favor fades near the bottom but nice. Seems all burley and nutty.

Edgeworth Slices (England variety, no longer made but stashed by many). A thicker flake with a slight molasses or licorice top note. Cool and elegant but a tad heavier than Wessex or C&D's. An old veteran. Good body. Must be smoked up in the opened tin or preserved in a few weeks (some 35 plus flakes), as the flavors fade leaving a dry tasting, uninspiring tobacco as the time passes. A long, slow burning smoke. Now expensive if you can even find it.

Aged Burley Flake is a bit bolder and heavier than most of these (about as full as Edgeworth), with both heady brown Kentucky burley and mild white burley. May be a touch of virginia but no scenting is picked up. A good alternative to the heavier English-type brown flakes with burley, such as Peterson's new Irish Flake (bold and scented a little), G&H's Brown Flake (unscented version; mostly virginia but quite good), and Ogden's Walnut Flake (also with virginia but hard to obtain in U.S.). ABF is more forgiving IMO.

I found the taste as satisfying as the best rich burleys blends from the past, such as Edward's Sebring or Colonial, but in a new toasted, flake form. This is not a weak or bitter burley, but real good burleys, perhaps the highest class in a combo yet.

For the bigger flavor and burley fans. (Cetainly not as heavy as a full English or true Balkan blend.)

Slow burning and tasty. With this cool blend at your side you won't have to flake out over global warming.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rafael S. (2)	2020-07-09		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Flavor Profile: 60% wild damp/airy/spicy mushrooms (earthy note), 15% woody, 15% Nuts, 7% cocoa, 3% molasses

Nicotine strength: 3/10

Mechanics: Bad, it expands while you smoke and blocks the airflow and you find yourself using the pick on the tritool a lot. Heat also caramelizes the flame and makes it really hard to tamp.

Bottom line: I find it hard to be in the mood to smoke this flavor, and adding to that the complicated mechanics will make this blend a sleeper in my rotation.

Pipe Used: Savinelli 311 KS

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: SmokingPipes

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cm1648 (108)	2020-05-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I don't care for Burley blends. I like it as an addition but alone or in heavy quantities, it simply doesnt suit me. However, this blend breaks that mold. First off... Tin note: Molasses, Hay, Alfalfa, Prepping: Wasn’t wet but it does have an interesting sticky texture.

The smoke begins with a your expected nutty, woody, earthy, characters that burley blends are known for but the natural molasses note begins to appear quickly. Thought his tobacco that will not satisfy a sweet tooth, it does off an excellent interplay between sweet/savory, molasses/ nutty.

The sweet molasses character has become more pronounced. If you aren’t used to Buley’s, give it time. This blend is becoming quite a wonderful smoke. It really combines well with a cup of coffee or tea with a bit of milk, as the creaminess goes well with the molasses. Nic: Slightly above medium, though I did have it with coffee in the morning without much issue. Slight headache.

It is quickly becoming a top blend for me and will probably be switched out time to time with the Va/Bur blend University Flake in my rotation. A wonderful burley blend that lives up to its hype! 7.5/10

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Aurorasofautumn (38)	2020-04-17		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This review is based on smoking through a whole tin of ABF.

First things first - this tobacco is not downright horrible even though I give it only one star. My reason for the low rating is that out of the many many tobaccos I have smoked so far, this one really is one of the very few blends I just cannot warm up to at all.

If you are into burley and do not mind the (light) chocolate flavoring, by all means try ABF. As you can tell from the high aggregated rating of this tobacco, ABF seems to be quite a pleaser to most people so do not be turned off by my review. I just thought it would be a good idea to add my 2 cents as well.

So what's wrong for me with this tobacco: 1) in the morning, when my taste buds are still fresh - this tobacco just knocks me off my feet (vitamin n), which seriously hampers my enjoyment of this baccy. 2) in the afternoon and evening, I just don't seem to get much taste out of this.

And to round things off, one good thing about ABF: 1) the flakes are beautifully manufactured

Happy smoking to y'all.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (401)	2019-11-20		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Unnoticeable

The other day must have been day of the Burley for I got to try this and for some reason bought C&D Burley Flake #5. With over two hundred reviews there is probably not much I can add about this one. A fellow pipe club member (friend) brought this unopened tin in with about 3 years of age on it. Talk about smooth, mellow with no bite. Not a Burley expert so I will leave it at that. The web page on this one says it is flavored with cocoa and chocolate but it must be a mild topping as this did not taste like it had any flavoring, at least from what my aged taste buds could detect. In honesty I only had one maybe two bowls of this but I could definitely see myself buying this sometime down the road, if I can remember. Ha. Whether you are a big Burley fan or not this one you should try.

Pipe Used: Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: 3 years

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	rattdogg99 (53)	2019-07-27		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Bland and boring. I know others love this but it did not do anything for me. I won't be buying anymore. The first time Solani has disappointed me. Update 08-09-19. I'm going to change up my review a bit because I've made a discovery. 656 is the most pipe style sensitive blend I have ever encountered. First smokes were done in a variety of pipe shapes. I was unimpressed with 656 to say the least. I decided to give it another try in a medium sized bowl long shank Canadian. BANG! Totally different results. I now really enjoy this tobacco. In 40yrs of pipe smoking I have never experienced this phenomenon in such a dramatic fashion. I'm bumping 656 up to three stars.

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: Fresh

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Steerpike (156)	2019-06-12		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Tolerable

What's all the fuss about? It's a nice baccy, but not one I'll be writing home about, so I'm a little puzzled by all the rave reviews!

Appearance: medium brown, somewhat moist, regularly cut flakes.

Tin aroma: mild to none! Very faint tobacco aroma. According to the manufacturer's website this is flavored, but I don't detect any added scent.

It takes a light easily enough, but seems to need a few relights through the bowl. The flavour is very mild, nutty and more bitter than any other tobacco I've smoked and as such, fairly unique among tobaccos I've tried. I enjoy a hint of nutty bitterness from some of the Irish burley/Virginia plugs, I suppose the burley must be the source of it. I'm not averse to bitter flavours, enjoy well hopped beer, bitter chocolate and so on, so it isn't to my tastes detrimental, but rather enhances the nutty flavour, like wet walnuts. It has minimal sweetness until the last half of the bowl, and never tastes very sweet. I don't detect any chocolate flavours here, despite the power of suggestion from others reviews. What I do notice is that this tobacco is a bit of a ghost finder, and I've picked up resiny latakia while smoking it, having previously smoked Samuel Gawiths Commonwealth Mixture in this pipe.

After a few relights it becomes impossible to burn the greasy dottle left in the bowl, and we're done. Aftertaste is bland. Nicotine is low, so a large bowl may be advised if you are seeking satisfaction.

All in all, this tobacco has no great defects, and the bitter nutty taste is quite unique among tobaccos I've smoked. That said, it's not exciting, so I'll probably stick with pure Virginia flakes when I want fairly plain tobacco without condiments.

Pipe Used: Chacom lazur 297 Canadian

Age When Smoked: 1 year ish

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pip (80)	2019-02-09		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

If you don’t like burley I promise this will convert you. Wow this is some good stuff and I was not a big burley fan…until now. The tin note is sweet and pleasant. Grassy, earthy with a light chocolate pound cake aroma. Really nice. The flakes are a bit moist. I rub them all out at once and jar it all up to dry out a bit.

The smoke is very silky and smooth. Creamy tobacco flavors with sweet overtones. Consistent flavor from the top to the bottom of the bowl. Great with a cup of coffee. The room note is nice as well. No bite. A real winner.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WolfmanSam (37)	2018-07-08		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This review is based on a sample from a generous friend. The dark brown flakes can be smoked as is, but I recommend setting them aside for about an hour.

Upon lighting, I sense nuts, wood, a light amount of smokiness, molasses and some cocoa. While the pleasant sweet molasses is present throughout the bowl, it takes a backseat to the nutty taste. It’s also mildly spicy.

ABF burns slow, so set aside at least an hour plus. Its never harsh, even with quick puffing. It smokes well in cobs and briars, though a wide bowl works best to bring out its flavour.

It’s almost full in body, but can be smoked anytime of day. The nicotine level is between medium and strong. Pay attention to your puffing. If the bowl gets warm, put the pipe down, unless you enjoy an all out nicotine assault.

Some say Aged Burley Flake is the benchmark by which all burleys are measured against. While I disagree, I can say with certainty it’s one of the best burleys currently available, maybe the best.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	3pipeproblem (28)	2018-04-28		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

The best Burley I've tried to date. Have some in the cellar just in case, the current tobacco climate makes me panicky ! Great, refined flavor, very high quality leaf. It's been a number of years so details are a bit fuzzy, but if you love Burley this is a must try/ addition to the rotation. Without reservation : 4 stars.

Pipe Used: Briars, corncob

Age When Smoked: Fresh out of tin

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	OhioTony76 (59)	2018-04-09		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Wet from tin. I dried and smoked a Flake right away. Meh. Left in a mason jar for about a month. Tried again. Rubbed out the Flake. Dried it a touch from being crispy. Bam. Incredible smoke. Reminds me of coco puffs cereal in a way but light and subtle with a only a hint of sweetness. Does build in flavor as the bowl burns down. One of my favorites.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cakeanddottle (105)	2017-04-07		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

The only reason I don't have 20 pounds of this is price. There are Burleys almost this good that sell for less that are easier to cellar. That said, you'll find no better tasting, easier smoking Burley than this. Nutty smooth with a chocolate sweetness. It's a delight and pairs fabulously with a cup of coffee.

America has a tradition of great Burleys. Every American pipe smoker should make the rounds IMO. Or you could just start and stop right here. Burley doesn't get much better than this.

update 12Nov2019: I've smoked a lot of Burley since this review. My review doesn't stand. This is good, but it's a 3 star blend. There are a lot of 3 and 4 star Burleys that are a lot easier on the wallet than ABF.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Doctor Max (29)	2017-01-15		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

As is customary with Solani, presentation is very classy. Nice tin and very neat slices of flake. Tin notes are mainly on the dried fruits side: figs, dates, ..., and is very pleasant. The tobacco smokes best wit the fold/stuff/twist metod for me. It tastes beautiful on light up, with initially notes of dry fruits, fully in line with the tin aroma, developing into licorice, tar and pine sap. Overall very dry, with hardly any sweetness detected. Burns well, but was a tad too moist on opening the tin, giving a bit of the hot steam effect, but after a few months of drying out the flakes burned solidly from tip to heel. Room note is woody, with a strong note of burned biscuits, as is characteristic of good Burleys. I found the flavour a bit flat. Nice, but nothing special. I can see that some people would love this, but there are better pure Burleys out there in my book.

Pipe Used: Corn cob

Age When Smoked: 0-2 years

Purchased From: Dan Tobacco

Similar Blends: Mac Baren - Golden Blend, Brobergs Tobakshandel AB - Brobergs Burley.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stefanos (222)	2016-10-13		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Now that I am writing I have almost finished my tin and the flakes left in the tin are a bit drier but when opened where rather moist and a bit sticky but so delicate to the touch as I have never encountered before. Still easy to fold, crumble or peel and pack.

The tin note is spectacular: ground cocoa, maple syrup, molasses, honey… It makes want to chew it! Ok, we know that almost all tobaccos are slightly topped, but especially Solani markets its non-aromatics as containing as little additives as possible. However it’s difficult to believe that this delectable aroma comes all from the tobacco itself… - Yep, I went to the Kohlhase & Kopp website where it states that this tobacco is aromatized with chocolate, for heaven's sake: http://kohlhase-kopp.com/ceemes/tabak/solani/aged-burley-flake-blend-656-853.html

Despite being moist it lights easily and stays lit needing only a few relights and smokes to the end. Let me get this straight, this burns so evenly, smoothly and slow as no other tobacco I’ve ever smoked. It does not produce much smoke and it forces you to rather sip than puff, especially at the moisture level at which it comes. It burns so exquisitely slow that it makes an experienced smoker out of a newbie like myself. Obviously a premium quality tobacco as Solani advertises itself.

The problem is that it does not produce much flavor when smoked. I tried to enjoy in good will, I folded it, I crumbled it but not much was happening flavourwise. I tried it moist and then I dried it and found that it enhances its strength and flavor a bit but at the cost of becoming a little harsher and at the loss of its remarkable slow burning qualities…without me ever finding the golden mean.

Still, I got some hints of cocoa and a taste of natural tobacco and being a Burley it possess a slight nuttiness, but it’s very mild for my taste when moist…How I wish a little more from that wonderful tin aroma translated to the smoke! Some reviewers have mentioned that it’s fairly monochromatic. Well that is to be expected somewhat, being a straight Burley and I mostly agree, although I found that while up until the middle of the bowl it is extremely mild, then on things get slightly more interesting, a honeyed sweetness is accompanied by a toasted aroma and progressively the smoke gets more robust without however losing any refinement. All this in a small degree though.

Room note is almost innocuous and nicotine strength is medium, an early morning rather than evening smoke I’d say.

Overall I have to say that this tobacco leaves me ambivalent and slightly unsatisfied. It’s like it promises something that it fails by a small margin to deliver. I will state again that it is the tobacco with the best burning qualities I have ever had and the tin note is stunning. And although I am in the process of ever trying new tobaccos I think will buy 656 again hoping that I will get a better tin or find the elusive golden mean. I’ll give it four stars, but for me it’s a 3.5…

Pipe Used: Corn cobs, Stanwel

Age When Smoked: fresh

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2010-10-22		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

No I really don't smoke burley either... This is the non burley smokers's burley and a terrific flake to boot. Me, like many pipe smokers, I am not a big fan of burley. If I'm going to smoke a flake tobacco, its going to be a Vaper. I am so glad I was open minded enough to try this flake. This had alway been a 4 star reviewed blend on this site and most of all the older posts have this rated as a 4 star blend. Could the more recent reviews reflect a change in Solani's quality? Maybe? Like all Solani flakes, this comes in neat strips. It is a bit moist, but be very careful not to over dry it. The idea of other reviews to jar this is a good one. I strongly disagree that this tastes of cigarettes, however it could be a result of over drying. I generally like tobacco dry, but this flake seems to have its best flavor when just a tad moist. Aged Burley Flake is nutty and slightly sweet. I find it smokes best for me in a smaller bowl, like a group 3. Although Solani claims no topping, I am convinced that there is a very light one that gives this flake a very distinct taste. Solani makes no reference to chocolate and I don't think that is the taste I am unable to determine. I don't find that ABF grows bitter like many other burley's. A great change of pace from my rotation of English and Vaper blends. Highly Recommended.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-10-18		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Bland. Little flavor. Medium strong in nicotine. Relatively expensive. Overall, this flake misses the mark. A less than stellar attempt by Mr. Will.

Like the other Solani offerings, it is a beautiful tobacco. The flakes have just the right moisture content. It loads, packs, and lights easily. Burns cool. But there just isn't anything to get excited about.

If it is nicotine you are after, there are stronger tobaccos that actually offer some flavor. If it is burley you crave, there are better burleys out there.

This stuff is just boring and bland and not worth the money. Not even worth the time. I should never have switched from scotch to martinis.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-05-05		Medium	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable

I have been smoking a great deal of burley lately and was very excited about this flake from the reviews here. One person had commented on how it reminded him of Peterson's UF and I happen to like that flake very much. Well it smelled like UF without the fruit topiing, but that's where the comparison ends.

The amount of smoke was poor after I finally got it lit well.

The flavor was non-existent...this seems to have been pressed, steamed, processed or whatever so thoroughly that it tasted like..well....nothing.

I even had a hard time detecting the typical nutty aroma of Burley. This is by far the worst pure/mixed burely flake I have ever experienced.

If I could give this Zero stars, I would....so one will suffice. And with taxes and money tight, I was exponentially disappointed. I threw away the rest of the tin without blinking an eye!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beaupipe (102)	2009-01-24		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Solani's Aged Burley Flake has managed to attract superlatives like a naked Alaskan attracts frostbite. And that's a testament to the wisdom and taste of the reviewers on this site.

Taken in the right context, this is a remarkably pure, truly outstanding tobacco. It's beautiful to look at, redolent of cocoa and dried fruit in the tin, and it smokes as cleanly as any top quality flake available today. My occasional forays into the world of straight Burley are lifted by this lovely stuff.

What this delicious stuff lacks (and most 4 star tobaccos have) is complexity. Then again, looking for complexity in a straight Burley--even a mature one--is kind of like searching a pot-hole puddle for a nice juicy salmon. It just ain't there. And it's not supposed to be.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-11-16		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

We have here a beautiful flake broken down in what seems to be equal proportion of dark, medium and light-golden brown. The flakes are thicker than most and require a bit more effort to properly rub out to the smoker's preferences.

The tin aroma is nutty and somewhat impregnated with a sweet-molasses like-aroma. The first impression is delectable! The moisture level is higher than usual but becomes dryier after less than a week, making the leaf more manageable.

Easy to light and smoke, it has a tendency to be slow burning, even when rubbed out. The taste range varies from sweet to pure tobacco with occasional bitter episodes. The bitterness frequencies seem to increase when, for some reason, I will finish the pipeful over a couple days period. When smoked the same day, it seldom happens.

Aged Burley flake is definitively interesting the first week, when the nutty-sweet flavours dominate, but it eventually becomes a unidimensional smoke with only pure tobacco taste. Which is a pity! I give it 2.75 for complexity but 3 for the perfect level of nicotine.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-05-03		Strong	Mild	Full	Pleasant

It is really nice to see all of the great Burleys that are now being blended. This great leaf is no longer associated just with junky drugstore blends. Now you have wonderful Burleys like Uhle's 255, Pease's Barbary Coast, Wilke's Nut Brown Burley and Wessex' Burley Flake. All being wonderful tobaccos in their own right, although my personal favorites are the tobacs from Uhles and the Wessex flake.

Solani's entry is very, very similar to Wessex' Burley Flake, which itself reminds me of Edgeworth Slices. Solani's entry, however, is quite a bit stronger. This tobacco comes in flake form and is relatively dry. Break it up a bit and pack - but don't worry too much about it. Easy to light and keep lit irrespective of the preparation. Burns very dry. A bit of dottle but not too much. Full burley taste (perhaps toasted), gently sweet (in a natural burley manner - not cased), good aroma. Healthy kick of nicotine.

A worthy entry and something you should try if you are a Burley fan - particularly if you are a fan of Edgeworth. But it is stronger to me.

High marks all around although a bit too full for all-day consumption.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	renwardhoop (177)	2020-11-27		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

I suppose Burley isn't every smokers cup of tea. I had been curious I have to admit having had very little exposure to purely burley blends, and so I took a chance on this one.

The tin bouquet gives little doubt as to the contents therein. Four lines of regimented flake giving off a rather strong deep almond-like roasted aroma. Boy, was it sticky or what? It was so gooey I had to wash my hands afterwards. It stuck under my nails and left really bad stains on fabric, much to the chagrin of my wife.

I expected numerous relights after this discovery but it wasn't as heavy on the butane as I expected it to be. The smoke follows the tin aroma and then dies down to a very pleasant and very smooth nutty tasting smoke. Most appropriate for an Autumn evening. One bowl per day was suffient, before I went off in search of something else with more complex properties.

Recommended for those that know and like burley and is more than worthy to have in your rotation and especially if you are getting bored with virginias. It's a taste to be acquired I think in the same way that you 'acquire the taste' of Gentle Giant in progrock, although I doubt many will get that analogy.

Good blend then but beware : despite it's somewhat adhesive properties this blend goes very dry and brittle very quickly so it needs finishing earlier than some blends or careful decanting.

Pipe Used: Briars

Age When Smoked: New oot

Purchased From: Dan Pipe Germany

Similar Blends: McBaren burley flake, Amphora's burley..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe Wizard (18)	2019-10-05		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Solani Aged Burley Flake and coffee go together like eggs & bacon! I don't usually worry too much about pairing drinks with tobaccos but this stuff goes so well with a cup of coffee I'd swear that's how it was meant to be smoked! Consistent and not overly complex but delicious, cool burning and very satisfying from start to finish.

Purchased From: GQ Tobaccos

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lingo (39)	2019-06-23		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Bought this after falling in love with 660. I was looking for a straight, honest and no-flavoured burley blend. Is there chocolate? Well, you should be aware that NO blend is cased without some additional essence or flavour. Apart from those heavily scented and topped, all blends are complemented with some aroma. Thus, chocolate or not, 656 gives you a sweet, constant and honest burley taste. The flake is almost pre-rubbed and with a perfect humidity so you can just rub it a bit and throw it in. Don’t pack it too tight though. Surprisingly, you need to push it quite a lot to get the full taste, otherwise it might remain flat and anonymous. And when you go for it, a wonderful creamy sensation gets over, old mama’s cookies, toasted bread, nuts. More surprisingly, no leather, very little wood... this might disappoint those who love fire cured and strong burley/kentuckies. Definitely a must for those who wonder what can a Burley say when you let it express itself. To my knowledge, Malawi brings the sweetness here, while White gives the ground floor. Many say that aging burley is just nonsense: I must admit that the difference is hard to tell, and yes this is a monotone blend, same from start to end. But seldom this is what we look for, ain’t it? Won’t bite, no harsh, no bitter tones. Just creamy and steady smoke.

Pipe Used: Ser Jacopo, Dunhill

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Falliver (42)	2019-04-14		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin aroma is that of dried dark fruits and berries: my yet untrained nose is getting raisins, sultanas, and... is it blackberries? Also a bit of dried cocoa.

The flakes stick close, and though hard to separate, the tobacco itself rubs and lights easily.

On my yet novice palate, the dried fruits fades and makes way to delicious nuttiness and breadiness. A wide range of chocolate is also noticeable: white, milk, and a bit of the 70% cocoa ones. Rich in taste and body, this makes for one of my favourite smokes yet.

===UPDATE===

Now, having had this tobacco in my pouch for a good week or so, it’s slightly beginning to dry, and, when smoked in a smaller bowl at least (my Norrøna Lillehammer 1212), there is almondy, marzipan sweetness. Truly delightful!

Pipe Used: Royal Danish 83 by Stanwell

Age When Smoked: From the tin

Purchased From: Tobaccoland Majorstuen

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2018-09-19		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This review is based on a tin smoked 1year ago . Purchased online , covered in the usual annoying health warning stickers , the tobacconist had also put his own sticker over the Solani name , anyway opened tin and immediately whiffed a strong chocolate aroma thought ide been sent a wrong tin , as far as I was aware there was supposed to be no flavouring in this , well there IS . Flakes were all clumped and stuck together , managed to dry and rubbed out a pipefull . There is no doubt about this being a beautiful tasting tobacco , but I found it hard work , have just ordered another tin in the hope it might be easier to smoke , knocking one star off.

Pipe Used: Briar , corncob

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Online

Similar Blends: Rich dark honeydew , but not as strong.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ouch’s Apprentice (2)	2018-08-01		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It’s very sticky so there is a sweet topping of some kind. Flavors are mild and require some slow draws. The flake sticks together out the tin so some drying time might be prudent. At this point of my pipe smoking apprenticeship rubbing out works best for me.

Pipe Used: Deeper narrow bowl pipes

Age When Smoked: 12months

Purchased From: Sp

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greekpipesmoker (201)	2018-07-19		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

After readiing several reviews i prepared my self for a unique smoking experience.once the tin breaks a deep fresh aroma consisted of spices,bread and cocoa notes comes out.the flakes are manageable despite they are stucked each other.the moisture is medium and a little drying time might be needed.lighting needs some effort and several relights are needed.while smoking the flavours are natural and simply great from the beginning till the end.rich cocoa flavour is offered in a sharp and pleasing way.molasses,earth sweet notes are there also in a natural combination full of spices.generally the flavours are natural and they combine in a pleasant way with the light cocoa topping i believe is added.burns slow and cool to perfect ash with a few moisture left at the filter.the nicotine level is almost medium,the room note almost pleasant and the aftertaste is nice and spicy.no chance of tongue bite.not an all day smoke for me but an excellent after dinner blend that fits perfect to my churchwarden pipes!

Age When Smoked: Fresh

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JuanOrez (22)	2018-05-24		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Easily my favorite burley. Very high quality and never bitter like some other burley blends. I have yet to find another burley that matches this tobacco. Very cool, tasty and slow smoke.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SiChange (45)	2018-01-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tastes of toasted oats cereal with a very slight sweetness against dark smoky burley - surely some aged fire cured leaf here. Enjoyed the slow burn and hardly any rough edges and no bitterness. I found this much better dried out a bit when it was smoother and single light after the char did the trick. A good change of pace from Virginia flakes and sure to please burley lovers. Superior blend.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Davetopay2 (16)	2017-08-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Most folks before me have this one well covered. This is top shelf stuff, not noticeably flavored, very natural, and classically burley.

Just right sized flakes, easy to tend, easy to smoke, and it's keeps your attention.

If you are learning about natural tobaccos, without gen usual casing and flavor goo, this is a good place to start. This flake is also great for breaking in your new briar without nasty specters and ghosts.

Get some.

Pipe Used: Briars, cobs

Age When Smoked: 9 years

Purchased From: Some place.....

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MickPiper (6)	2017-07-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Unnoticeable

Solani 656 is my first pipe tobacco and I love it. I quit smoking cigs and started smoking this. The taste is nice I find myself smoking more and more everyday. It doesn't bite. Takes some relights but it's good all the way through to the last bit.

edit- since trying 6 or so other tobaccos, this holds 1st place. with Peterson's Irish Flake at a close 2nd. As far as I know this is THE quintessential burley. Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Missouri Merschaum

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr.James (39)	2016-12-07		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Nothing but Burley, or so they say... Dark Kentucky is rich and tastes like toasted chestnut with a touch of molasses. The Malawi brings mild spice and a fermented quality akin to cocoa nibs. Brazil imparts sugarcane and leather to the mix. Burns clean and slow, very dense and will require relights. The nicotine strength of this blend can sneak up on you, a word of caution to the over eager. Smooth and consistent but will develop in the bowl. Will not bite your tongue. May leave a bit of moisture in the bowl. Has a unique room note.

Note: tins dated 2018 and later seem to be a much different blend, the cocoa topping is very present and identifiable when opening the tin. Tastes like more american burley is in the blend

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	steppx (186)	2016-07-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Well....this is the gold standard for burley flakes. There is not more to say that hasnt been said. Its very flavorful -- nutty with hints of cocoa and brown sugar. A suble taste of almost creme brulee sweetness and is very creamy. Its cool and simply put; perfect. If you have not had good luck with other burley flake....give this a try.

Purchased From: 4noggins.

Similar Blends: Other burley flake...only better..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2016-06-17		Medium	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

PLZ READ IT COMPELETLY!!!Its a big lie that this blend is natural and havent any additives.its good tobacco but aromatic tobacco not natural tobacco.cocoa essence and molases added to it.another problem is that its oily tobacco and makes the pipe very dirty.if someone wants to taste a natural burley tobacco try irish flake cause its more like to burley altough mixed with virgini.I dont like agb because i like natural taste.never even try

Pipe Used: Vauen

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	guitar2mw (92)	2016-02-13		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Very Full	Unnoticeable

I love Burley! This definitely delivers the goods. The tin note is of malted grains with a touch of sweetness. The flakes are easy to deal with, and the roll-and-stuff method works great. It lights easily after about 2 or 3 tries, and I like the fact that the tins stay pretty consistent as far as moisture is concerned (not too dry). It burns pretty evenly, and has a decent dose of nicotine (after all, it IS Burley). This flake is so full of flavor that it's ridiculous! It's zesty, nutty, sweet. There are hints of sweet molasses, grains, and cocoa - all of which make a damn fine Burley blend. I'll be buying more for sure. If you like Burley in any form, get a tin!

Pipe Used: Boswell, Various briars

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jorge Soler (202)	2016-02-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

I am really impressed by this tobacco's quality. It has a caramelish sort of boiled sugar undertone which I am loving. I think this is probably the best Burley based tobacco I ever had in my life. I cannot detect any Kentucky in it and I am not quite sure I am missing it. Not that it does not contain any, but the virginia leaf is somewhat missing. Sometimes it is nice to see how some tobacco will interact with other tobaccos, but but the main player here is the burley leaf. I am finding this smoke very robust and solid and it gets better and better the more you progress with your bowl. This tobacco is gonna get a 4 solid stars.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Corvus (36)	2016-01-06		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Wanting to experience a higher quality burley after initial surveys of various tobacco types I turned to the search function here and found this to be the highest rated example. I was also intrigued by a straight burley flake, not a terribly common form of these tobaccos. I was not disappointed, however this can be a frustrating blend.

I find the packaging to be part of the fun of tinned blends, and while coming in the typical rectangular tin with a label, the antique nautical woodcut is really cool. The flakes are dark and moist, with a rich woody scent of tobacco and cocoa. The leaf is obviously of the very highest quality.

To address its assessment as frustrating, I find the physical smoking qualities to be somewhat poor as the flake is very moist and really required considerable attention. Part of this was impatience on my part as I plowed through my first tin without providing the type of climate control or preparation to achieve the proper humidity. The smoking of each bowl was the same as I would get bursts of incredible flavor that were difficult to sustain leading me to stoke the tobacco which is exactly the wrong way to treat this. This tobacco rewards slow smoking. I also find that the flavors develop much better with a tight pack, however go too far and it just won't burn well. The key is being attentive.

Despite those qualifications, the taste is inspiring. I have to take Solani at their word that no flavoring is added, but it's hard to believe because this pops with cocoa flavor and it's delicious. When crunchy dry it also produces a cinnamon note that combines with both the cocoa and burley pepper like a Mexican mole sauce. The burley roughness is there as well at times that reminds me of radishes. There are also toasted grains, the oily smoke of rich fatty nuts, and light caramelized sugars with a mild consistent sweetness that is more typical of Virginias. Unlike other burleys it doesn't get bitter or ashy. Nicotine seems pretty low for a burley.

I carefully considered the rating on this. The too moist flakes can be painful and frustrating, which could steer this to a 3. This is made more irritating because of the reward of the taste, but ultimately the taste is so outstanding that it is a solid 4. Take the time to get the moisture and preparation right and focus on your technique and it is an awesome smoke.

Age When Smoked: Fresh to 9 months

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Der Pfeifenraucher (71)	2015-12-04		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I bought this tin because I wanted to explore a natural, unadulterated burley tobacco. After trying several burley blends I thought I would see what burley is in the raw. I Like. I did find, however, after half the tin was smoked up, that I missed the touch of added sweetness that other blends bring. Maybe it's my Danish blood, maybe it's just my raging sweet tooth, but I need something more, just a hint of something, to make this perfect for me. This is by all means an excellent tobacco, and I recommend to every grizzled old salty dog piper. In the end I did what burley purists would call an unthinkable, unimaginable and unpardonable offense. I mixed the second half of this tin with a pouch of Captain Black Gold. It is surprising how much the ABF took over the mix being only a third part. I still get all of the Burley flavor but mellowed by the candy Cavendish seemingly perfectly. ABF also kicks up the N juice of the latter a half a dozen notches. I may have a new favorite blend.

Pipe Used: cob, Grabow briar

Age When Smoked: 0-2 months

Purchased From: Pandcdotcom

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	coldmoon (24)	2015-10-28		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

While not being a fan of burley tobaccos, based on good reviews here, decided to give this blend a try. Rich dark scent upon opening the tin. Reminds me very much scent of dried plums and caramelized honey. Neat uniform flakes containing mostly darker tobacco leaves. The tobacco is a bit too moist to be smoked right away. After 20 minute drying time it is just perfect.

As I usually do with flake tobaccos, I used fold and stuff method. This gives me cooler and longer smoke.

After charring light I am greeted with the taste of dark chocolate and some sugar like sweetness. This doesn't change much throughout the bowl.

This blend is pretty strong in nicotine department, so it is better smoked after dinner or good meal.

Room note is not unpleasant but definitely noticeable.

After second third of the bowl buzz from nicotine increases dramatically and the nutty taste from the burleys are in the front row. Very good burley based tobacco. Would not recommend this for beginners because of nicotine level. MacBaren's Golden Blend would be more suited burley blend for beginners.

Pipe Used: Stanwell No. 407

Age When Smoked: 6 months

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Leeboy (20)	2015-07-11		Mild	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

I've been getting into burley tobacco lately and was excited about this stuff. The flakes were soaking and took days to dry out. I smoked this in a variety of pipes but simply couldn't get any flavor out of it. I don't know if it was a bad tin or not but as this was the most expensive tobacco I've bought I'm not happy at all. I will stick with Petersons Irish flake from now on.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JHC (5)	2015-05-20		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Full	Pleasant

I'm new to pipe smoking. It's been a love affair that began only six months ago, but one of the most fulfilling variety. Perhaps it's my somewhat novice credentials that caused such a struggle with this flake but as with so much in life it's the struggles that provide the most fulfilment. The excitement I experience when two 50g tins arrived at my door was that akin to a child on Christmas Day - I couldn't wait to press that two penny piece into the tin and ignite my first bowl. As the promisingly attractive tin eased open and I pealed back the paper I caught my first intoxicating wife of fruits and sweet nuts from the richly brown, thinly cut flakes beneath. Once in my hand I was struck by how delicate and almost fragile the flake felt, a small caress of the Palm eased it apart and careful pressed her into the well of my Rattray's butcher boy (my day to day, trusty friend). That first bowl was... Well it was unlike anything I had smoked before or have since. Butterscotch and fudge, nutty and peachy, peppery and succulent... My excitement was rewarded. As the bowl burned on though the problems started to arise. She burnt too hot and keenly for a while then required frequent re lights later, after a tamp the draw closed in and I became too distracted with formalities to properly relax into the experience. By the end of the bowl I felt unsatisied... I had caught a glimpse of something unique and beautiful and felt it slip from between my fingers. Subsequent bowls proved much the same. I tried various pipes and sometimes a whole flake, sometime a half. Sometimes breaking up into strands, sometimes rough and blocky. That promise seemed always just out of reach.

A few weeks ago while travelling for work I stopped in the Peak District and wandered along the bank of one of its stunning reservoirs. Two men fly fishing nodded hello as they drifted past in their boat. The sun shone down from a clear blue sky and I found myself reaching for the Solani tin in my Barbour pocket. My Nording freehand was with me that day and it welcomed the lightly rubbed flake with open arms. It lit with ease and my soft draws and delicate tamps encouraged the burn along the way. As the minutes wafted by I began to daydream and drift into the moment. Everything relaxed. The complexly soft flavours rolled across my pallet and evolved with every slow draw. It was in this moment that I realised what I was being taught. This tobacco, as with life, requires patience and attention - to be savoured not rushed. Not a single relight and a clean burn of evolving a delight for a full hour as I walked the banks and explored my surroundings.

This is a joy of a blend. A crowning glory in Solani's crown. For moments of contemplation and relaxation. Patience is rewarded in droves.

Since that teaching I have enjoyed a fair few smokes, each one better than the last. This is my special reward for just being me. Thank you Solani

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: a few months

Purchased From: bonds of London

Similar Blends: ....

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Quaffer (18)	2013-12-07		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Nothing special, but still enjoyable. It is very good quality burley, but this blend really doesn't offer too much. Best if treated in the same manner as a VAPer. Sip it slowly.

Age When Smoked: 6 Months

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	panduji68 (28)	2013-07-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Well, let me see here... I can't quite put my finger on the absolute particulars of this Burley blend. As I write, I am partaking of I believe my 5th bowl since I purchased the tin, and am still befuddled by many of it's nuances which continue to evade my senses. Absolutely no bite, very full in flavor yet mellow in the smoke. The nicotine definitely makes itself known, but not in "kick your butt sideways" fashion. The flavor and aromas are by no means complex, yet there are subtleties that I find evocative and extremely pleasant. I detect no casing or topping in the tobacco. Just a sweet, mellow, smooth, slight chocolate, true tobacco aroma... Hard to describe really, but divine!

Having lived in tobacco country in Shelby County, Kentucky for 5 years, the aroma in this tin takes me on a stroll through the old tobacco barns and some wonderful memories. The Burley hanging from the rafters of 150 year old barns, wafting it's sweet aromas downward. Sitting below, enjoying the solitude and sensory bliss of doing absolutely nothing out in the middle of nowhere.

Those are now days past, city life is upon me again, and being a Peace Officer in a rough area oft causes me to be remiss in not revisiting these wonderful memories. Although temptation abounds to make this an every evening smoke, I will not. It is special, and I shall treat it as such. I'm going to reserve this smoke for after coming home from the really bad ones.

Highly Recommended!

Update: After letting this dry out a bit in the tin, it seemed to smoke a bit hot in the pipe even when just sipping. Still no bite, just rather hot in hand. Also, the sweetness has increased which amazes me for a pure Burley. Perhaps I will I try it in a smaller bowl pipe to see if that controls the heat a bit. The flavor of this tobacco is stellar. Amazing!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2012-09-25		Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

There is nothing bad I can say about this. It smokes slow and cool and the flavor is the most perfect burley flavor I could imagine. Which will likely taste like nothing to the non burley smoker, but anyone who likes burley as I do will find it exquisite. It is most definitely my favorite burley to date.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-09-14		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Someone used the word "sublime," and that's exactly the right word. "Other- worldly" isn't overstating it. I have a Stanwell with a narrow chamber, which I think allows the flavor to develop and nuance.

This has a character unlike anything I've ever smoked. Such a perfect but subtle balance of nut, olive and citrus olfactory sensations, without ever becoming self- aggrandizing. If this were a song it'd be Beethoven's 9th--just getting better until the final movement. If it were a university it would be Oxford. If it were a woman it would be Cleopatra. If it were a play it would be Hamlet. If it were a novel it would be Moby Dick (though Captain Ahab would have left the white whale alone and gone in search of this, if it had existed). If it were a detective it would be C. Auguste Dupin. If it were a cathedral it would be St. Paul's. If it were an epoch it would be the Greek Empire. If it were canonized it would be the book of Job.

If you're a new smoker, don't buy this--you won't get it. Wait a few years and try all the other good stuff, and then you'll appreciate this more. And don't turn this into an all-day smoke. And don't buy it unless you're willing to be mildly dissatisfied with everything else.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	musicman (131)	2012-01-11		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This handsome little flake is a real winner. This is my first foray into the house of Solani offerings. Based on the quality it wont be my last.

My first thought was that a pure burley flake would probably have a brawny nicotine wallop. Not so. I found this tobacco did not give me the spins at all. It pairs beautifully with a coffee and once fully rubbed out packs very easily.

The taste is one that is pretty unique. There is not much stereo typical "nutty" taste as most burleys hold. The flavor is a little hard to describe but very tasty and satisfying. The tin description mentions a sweetness, which is absolutely true, and reservedly appropriate. Not candy sweet, but mellow sweet.

The flavor this blend produces makes me believe I could smoke this as an all day blend. There are some subtleties to this leaf but that comforting baking bread feeling could be an all day smoke for me. The only problem with that is this stuff is not cheap. It is not over the top expensive, but maybe a little pricey for a go to blend. I would also be very curious to see what a couple years of age would do to this tobacco.

Overall an excellent smoke and a beautiful presentation. This tobacco will not be my last offering from Solani. Highly recommended.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dk-piper (25)	2009-12-20		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

tin appearance: darkchocolatecolored-chunky-flakes neatly arranged on top of each other in three rows.

tobacco tin smell: smells like chocolate...wonderful. sweet chocolate.

Perfect moisture right out of the tin, into the bowl. Fold, twist and pack...that easy.

after lightning: The smoke is smooth smoother the smoothest. Very subtle sweetness, subtle nuttiness, and boy....i taste some chocolate.

Conclusion: A very elegant tobacco, honest,pure in flavor...overall dark-flavors. It's hard to describe, what do i mean with dark-flavors?!....transformed into musical terms: minor-flavors. little tart-flavour, earthy, humus-flavor. Natural...fantastic if you like this kind of blends!

give it a try.

==Update=== Another baccy, which made in on my Hall-Of-Fame-List!!! ABF is like Nate King Cole's voice: smooth & entertaining

i dont wanna miss this anymore...THANK YOU MR. SOLANI!!!

==update= i did some research. There is a very gentle chocolate-casing. me love chocolate!!! ...just smell the tobacco...if you dont smell chocolate...i dont know, give your nose a salt-treatment ;)

=another update== January 9th, 2010 this blend is marvelous! Thank you Mr. Ruediger!!! Enjoy this blend accompanied with a nice mellow redwine. Fits together, just like Mike Tyson and a some red boxing gloves...5 Stars.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-09-18		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is the best burley flake tobacco around. It delivers a solid, rich burley flavor unadulterated by toppings like the goop which laces Lane's "Burley Light Without A Bite." It burns evenly and not too hot. It is not identical to Wessex Burley Slice, but has a deeper, fuller body. I only have two reservations about this magnificent tobacco: The room note is not as pleasant as you would expect from the taste, and it dries out quickly once the tin is opened. Remedy: Smoke more of it more often.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ErnieQ (6)	2009-03-05		Very Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

First, let me start by respectfully correcting one reviewer's comments below. This is NOT produced by Orlik of Denmark...this is produced by R.L. Will in Germany. Also, with 20 years of burley fanaticism under my belt, and good relationships with the importers of both the fine Wessex Burley Slices and the Aged Burley flake I can say with the utmost certainty that the two are NOT "exactly the same"

To clarify: The Solani has a greater proportion of Flue Cured which accounts for it's slightly darker color and stronger body and flavor. What does appear to be the same, however, is the method of casing which seems to be a traditional (For Burley)combination of Cocoas, Licorice and perhaps a drop of rum.

Strength: Either way, The Solani Aged Burley is certainly a great tobacco. I would call this a full strength+ blend..while certainly not as powerful as some of the Lakeland tobaccos, this flake has a potency that, combined with it's chocolaty smoothness, can sneak up on you! (Wessex, while full-ish bodied, has a slightly nuttier flavor and decidedly less kick.

Flavoring: As far as a top note, this seems to be topped only with a bit of molasses as a humectant. The aromas of cocoa and (ever so slightly) licorice seem to be leftover from the casing process (used to mellow the tobacco and remove bitterness).

Room Note: The "Old Pipe Shop" aroma from fine burley's like those made by Peretti are extant here, but somewhat overpowered by the dark fired which lend a bit more "Tang" to the aroma.

Taste: Nutty and full with a deep dark sweetness.

Those who smoke McB Navy Flake, Orlik Golden Sliced, Wessex Burley Slices, or Peterson University flake and wish to try a fuller bodied relative should smoke this wonderfully well done flake.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mo (81)	2008-09-09		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I have to say that i LOVE this blend. I was lucky to get hold of this tin from my very dear friend Pipestud a few months ago.

I was hesitant to open it at first, it was when my current tin of Briar Fox somehow caught fire in an unusual number of very small but very cool fires that i was looking for an evening replacement. I was not planning on opening any of my aging tins of BF so, judging by the reviews, i thought this would be ideal based on the VitN content.

The best way i can describe the taste is to say that it has a deep, toasty, nutty taste that i kinda find Old Worldsy. It burns for a long time even in a small bowl and i find it most satisfying. I have a little Meer ( have lots of those ) dedicated to this blend and i will whip it out when in need of a relaxing no frills medium to strong smoke.

I did find it to be moist upon popping the tin and let it dry for around 24 hours until almost crispy. The flakes does remind me of University Flake in look and smell ( minus the berry ) and i felt immediately at home once i lit it up.

Good Stuff

Mo, South Africa

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blackhorse (96)	2008-08-18		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable

This one is such a no-brainer...just read the tin description!

1) contains dark brown Burley from Kentucky, light Burley from Brazil, and white Burley from Malawi. 2) a unique toasting process to make the blend slightly sweet. 3) a natural blend with no additives or flavors.

It's a great Burley Blend (perhaps the greatest now available)...using the headers above as numberical values, it's made according to the following formula:

(1 + 2 + 3) = Brilliant Burley Bliss

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-07-14		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Didnt think i would like this blend(not a burly fan) BUT WOW love it!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jaybee (77)	2008-05-23		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I've not met a Solani blend yet that I don't like. This lovely flake is no exception. I normally rub this out and let it dry 15 minutes before loading. The tobacco burns slowly, to a fine white ash. I would describe this beauty as follows: think of MacBaren's Burley....a little less sweet....a little darker taste....a little stronger in the nicotene department.......very little bite......There you go.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-09-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Update 10 SEP 07

Well, well...I've tried it in a briar pipe, and we don't get along...funny, I like it in a Meershaum, but dislike it in a briar!

I think my taste buds are just not compatible with the all burley flake.

Final verdict: I highly recommend it in a Meershaum, but cannot pronounce myself about a briar, because of the incompatibility of my taste buds with the Burley bakkie. If that makes sense to you lads...

Update 22 AUG 07

After 4-5 pipe fulls, I like the bakkie as much, it definitely goes with the Meerschaum; I haven't tried it in a briar yet, maybe later. I will review my impressions with the briar.

The taste is of pure tobacco, slighty nutty, sometimes a bit bitter but it never lasts long, a second or two. What I've noticed is that upon relighting, the first few puffs will be a bit bitter, sort of like a natural almond taste, then the pure tobacco and nutty taste kick right back in.

Being my first good attempt at an all Burley blend, I must say this leaf is certainly interesting. I get a high satisfaction out of it, especially on the taste side: this mixture is simply incitating me to smoke more and more! I'm sure the fans of Burley blends know what I am talking about...

I am impressed by Solani Aged Burley Flake.

I will rebuy this bakkie and it will now be on a regular basis! This mixture is, honestly, addictive.

I must upgrade it to highly recommended. This baby is a winner!

_______________________________________ 19 AUG 07

Solani's Aged Burley flake...so this is what burley is all about!

I am far from the disastrous experience of Cornell & Diehl's Safe Harbor Flake.

Before I say anything, I must confess: I am sold to Solani's blends, and I feel no shame about it, only pride and joy. Yes sir. But I am objective, nevertheless.

When I opened the tin, I was welcomed by mostly brown, dark brown and just a few golden shades; surprisingly, the Bakkie smelled like cigarettes, let's say Player's filters. More like Canadian than American cigarette tobacco... I was surprised by the tin aroma, this is not what I expected from an all burley flake, but it's only due to my lack of experience with that type of blend...I was anticipating something more like a nutty, somehow more sweet smell. But, mind you, the next day, the cigarette aroma is gone, replaced by the smell of solid natural tobacco with a tiny, very subtle sweetness in the background. Nice. And the flakes - real ones! are beautiful.

The moisture level is ideal and I couldn't resist filling up my Meerschaum immediately, 'cause I've been very receptive to all Burley blends recently. Out of curiosity, I guess...

The goddamn bakkie is great! I cannot describe the taste of it, the Meershaum still has some remains of Solani's whiskey, but barely already...the bakkie smokes evenly, the burning is easy and it has a subtle, very discreet nutty after taste combined with a tiny bitter, but not unpleasant, undertone.

Past third-bowl, the whiskey taste is gone, replaced by the burley. The Meershaum likes the all burley flake, I can assure you: this bakkie tastes like pure tobacco, nothing added. All it tastes like is pure, unaltered tobacco. Surprising but exciting at the same time!

Recommended - very diferent bakkie! I don't think it will become a regular smoke but I will buy more when I will want a different smoke to enjoy...

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	NEWMAN (305)	2007-07-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Solani has generally not disappointed me in the past and this blend is no exception. Nicely prepared brownish flakes ~ 3/4"x3"x1/16" give off a great, true tobacco aroma from the tin. I don't rub out my flakes and had some problems with numerous relights initially but they were caused by my packing technique. Once I mastered the proper method & looser packing for this moisture content and pliability, those problems disappeared and a cool smoke without condensation resulted. Although the strength was fine and this smoke was not bitter to the end, I prefer the sweeter taste from my VAs and VaPers. Certainly worth a try if you enjoy burleys.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-04-14		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

The story goes that Rudiger Will worked on this blend for a year and still was not satisfied. Just prior to giving up, he experimented with toasting at various times and temperatures, finally finding the right combination to bring out a subtle sweetness that one tastes in Aged Burley Slices.

Subsequently I have discovered my favorite burley blend of all time, displacing former favorites such as Haunted Bookshop, Edgeworth Sliced, Nut Brown Burley, and Burley Slice by Wessex. With all the anxiety we're feeling about the effects of the anti-smoking movement, we sure have a lot of great tobacco blends to choose from, don't we? It seemed that the loss of Edgeworth Sliced was going to leave us without a top-shelf burley flake, then along comes Burley Slice and now Aged Burley Flake. Lucky for me, Aged Burley Flake is just perfect, IMHO.

Its nutty taste and perfect smoking characteristics make it the one burley flake that I can smoke all-day long. In the morning with a cup or two of coffee, ABF is about as good as any smoking/beverage combination as I have found. If you're still mourning the loss of Edgeworth Sliced, you obviously haven't tried Aged Burley Flake.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Antonello Zugaro (7)	2022-03-20		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

All'apertura forte profumo di cacao, flake con grado di umidità perfetto. Brucia lentamente senza necessità di riaccensioni. Costante il sapore di Burley durante tutta la fumata; non scalda la pipa. Perfetto per accompagnare un caffè nero forte. Un "must have" per gli amanti del Burley. Unico vero difetto il prezzo... 29 euro sono davvero tanti per 50 grammi di tabacco.

Pipe Used: Dunhill Cumberland

Age When Smoked: New

Similar Blends: Park Lane.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Maestro SF (4)	2022-03-13		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

PERFETTO with UN BUON CAFFÈ! This Solani Flake is three Burleys from Kentucky, Brasil and Malawi that are masterfully proportioned to provide a perfect pairing for those who enjoy strong coffee. In Milan, I often walk to IL BAR after Sunday Lunch for a strong espresso which prepares my palette for the rich bitter chocolate, leather and oaky flavours this blend evokes. It remains flavourful & burns perfectly throughout the bowl. It also pairs well with rich whiskies like GlenScotia 15 or GlenMorangie 14 which evoke earthy coffee and cocoa notes. Also delicious with Sicilian Nero D’Avola red wine aged in Oak. I hope you are able to enjoy some. Grazie.

Pipe Used: Northern Briars 60th Anniversary

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: Gift

Similar Blends: HH Burley Flake.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RonR (85)	2021-02-02		Very Mild	None Detected	Very Mild	Tolerable

3rdguy

I always finish a tin of this in quick fashion. Consistent flavor throughout the bowl and has a nice sweetness to it. I like to rub mine out aggressively and quite dry for a hassel free smoke. HOF blend right here and worthy of cellaring.

Pipe Used: Briar, cobs, meers.

Age When Smoked: 2 years

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	suitou (38)	2020-12-18		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Rather than how the ingredients of the blend were composed, I was more interested in whether Tobacco tasted good or not. As it turned out, it was delicious. This is a gem of a Burley blend. It is not hype. You can fold the flakes and pack them into a pipe for slow smoking, but I think you need a well-designed pipe with good airflow to make it work. I packed the flakes by rubbing them with my hand. From start to finish, there is a delightful sweetness of coffee, dark chocolate, and in some cases, white chocolate. There is also a slight grassy, earthy, Tobacco-derived quality bitterness. This blend is reminiscent of a good cigar. I wake up in the morning, have a cup of my favorite coffee with this delicious Tobacco, take a shower, shave and brush my teeth. The day will be perfect.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Justindaze (11)	2020-09-19		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Strong

It’s Saturday, so that means I am revisiting my new friend, the Castello 55, which I have dedicated to burley blends. Today we're going to burn some Solani Aged Burley Flake in it.

Solani Aged Burley Flake is a 3 way mix of dark brown burley from Kentucky (where I proudly reside), light burley from Brazil, and white burley from Malawi. These fine tobaccos are pressed and sliced into beautiful medium-sized flakes.

This is a fresh tin I opened and jarred a month ago so it could settle a bit. I have some aging in the cellar as well, but I wanted to start with a fresh tin for comparison.

The tin note is interesting, stick with me here: it’s as if you’re standing in the middle of an old barn, holding a cup of hot cocoa, and bending over to smell a bowl of fresh, plums. That may not sound enticing to some, but I was forged and hardened in just this kind of environment. I spent my childhood in old barns hanging tobacco and tossing hay, so to me it brings back fond memories. I find the tin note mesmerizing. Cocoa, dark fruits, and earthy barn.

I pull out a flake. It feels like it doesn't need any drying time. I rub the flake out, not too much but gently. It unspools into ribbons. I load up the Castello 55 and prepare to revisit a tobacco I haven't had in some time.

The rubbed flake takes a few times to get lit, but after two false lights, it is smoking nicely.

This tobacco tastes masculine, wise and adventurous. If Indiana Jones ever smoked a pipe, this is what I would imagine he’d smoke; maybe not while he’s in the office researching relics, but rather when the plane is going down and he has to think fast.

I taste cocoa, leather, roasted nuts, earth, campfire woodiness, a mild sorghum sweetness and a slight acerbic bitter on the end like dark chocolate. These tastes meld together as the bowl wanes but stays true throughout. It is a no-nonsense burley.

The room note is cocoa, savory nuts and hay. I find it pleasant but my partner Amanda does not agree. She said it stinks. It may be a bit strong and acrid for non-smokers.

The tobacco feels quite strong in nicotine. It tingles the tongue, but never bites and the pipe never got hot, just a little warm. It pairs very well with Coffee, both in taste and in strength, and I would put this in the “WAKE ME UP” category, not the “RELAX” category.

It burns nice to the very bottom, leaving a white and gray, fine, mottled ash with only mild dampness in the bottom of the bowl. I did have to use a pipe cleaner once, but I think if I had dried this out for a half hour before I loaded it, I wouldn’t need to do that. The flakes felt nicly dried, but they are quite thick and I think there was a little extra moisture in there. Also this is only the second time I’ve smoked this pipe so it doesn’t have any cake yet.

So in the end, this is a superior burley flake. One of the best I have ever had. Nicely complex for a burley-only blend and pleasing but also strong enough to scratch that burley itch. If you don’t like burley, this isn’t going to change your mind, but if you do, this could be at the top of your list! It is pure quality, though and through. 5/5 stars. A wonderful experience.

Pipe Used: Castello 55

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Tobacco Pipes

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Leon (85)	2020-09-02		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Excellent high-quality creamy aged Burley blend. Recommended for everyone to try.

The tin note is of rich cocoa and cream, very nice and smooth.

The smoke? Same, really. The Burley feels like high quality aged leaves. It is very creamy and smooth, nothing pops out of harmony. Although I drink my coffee black and don't like to add cream, this coffee and cream is the strongest note I get from it. It's also perfect with coffee!

I'll take the manufacturer's word that there are no added flavors. However, if you told me that cocoa and chocolate were added, I'd definitely believe that too. But it does taste mostly to natural cocoa notes coming out of the Burley.

It's balanced, smokes the same throughout the bowl. Not very complex, although rather than being a one-dimension blend, it is very rich in body.

I rub it out when I buy it in order to make it easier to pack. It is easily packed and smoked, with minimum relights. Can be an all-day smoke and if not for the slightly expensive price, it also should be for lovers of high-quality Burley smoke. Only problem with aging it is the urge to open the tin and smoke it!

Easily four stars. Highly recommended. I'll buy a few more tins to smoke couple of times a week.

Pipe Used: Brewster billiard

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Michael D (33)	2020-07-10		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A quality Burley blend that makes this guy quite happy. Opening the tin, the flake looks dark and rich with some golden leaves intertwined. The aroma of cocoa puts a slight smile on my face, as I know I am about to embark on a true burley blend. The ageing mentioned on the tin reminds me this will be a bit stronger than a daily bowl of my OTC Prince Albert and most likely darker and higher quality. Handling the tacky flakes from the juice of the leaves, I enjoy a bit of rub out and fill the two inch bowl. After false light, the next light gives me everything I assumed. Deep rich burley flavors. I can instantly taste the natural sugars of the leaves. The nuttyness of burley starts to play with my taste buds and I am in burley heaven. Playing with the tip of the fishtail with my tongue, I notice among the sugars the cocoa peeking out. The room note is pleasant and tolerable as I work my way to the bottom. There is no teeth with this blend. Rough edges and bites just do not exist. a blend well worth a four star rating.

Pipe Used: Spigot

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	troyniss (38)	2020-07-06		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Presentation: Beautiful mix of dark, light and in-between golden browns and yellows. Two rows of flakes wrapped in a white paper with golden sticker. Mine came in a round tin and I've seen others have received in the square tins, which I think would accompany the flakes better. Comes pretty moist.

Palette: Just wow! This tobacco has to be one of the most delightful olfactory orgasms in a tin. One might think that this is an aromatic. Tin note is eggnog with nutmeg, Cream of Wheat with a large spoonful of butter, spiced bread and those toasted and sugared almonds you might get at the Renaissance Festival or local fair. Cinnamon french toast with heavy whipped cream, molasses, heavily sweetened milk tea. The only time I'd want a bigger nose than my Czech heritage gave me to stick into this jar for a year or two. I don't have much experience with burley tobaccos other than Prince Albert. Whereas PA is very mild and light, with notes of plum and chocolate and nuts, Aged Burley Flake amps up the flavor to a rich, buttery and creamy sweetness along with the flavors mentioned above. It's super nutty and has one of the best lingering tastes in the mouth. It stays put. Very toasty and rich, umami buds overloaded in a good way. I get full on flavor with this blend. I get hints of pepper/spice. Not black pepper but those cinnamon candies RedHots. No tingly nostril hit like perique, but it has some Christmas spice attributes to it on the backend. Has to be one of the best tasting tobaccos I've tried, and somewhat too flavorful at times. A little chocolate here and there but what I find more interesting is that even with the added information that it's present, I only pick slight hints. I find that GL Pease Stonehenge Flake has more chocolate notes to it than this. Wonderful side-stream note too.

Performance: Burns relatively cool, yet a little warm on my side as I am still working on a decent cadence. Breaks apart somewhat easily. Has a Play-doh like feeling to it and sticks together pretty well. Once you get it broken apart though it and let it dry for a few hours, it has just the right moisture where the ends of the ribbon are dry and the center is still moist. I haven't tried this directly from tin but I like to dry it out to my preference. Only needed one relight in a Peterson X105 Billiard. Nicotine is quite high, even after having a full meal. I have been using tobacco products for almost 15 years so for me this is a heavy hitter. I think the bowl I used was just the right amount, but no more. No chance of tongue bit even when puffed vigorously. Leaves a little moisture in the bottom along with dottle.

Conclusion: I'm not sure what else to say other than what has been said in many reviews. This is a great burley flake and one of the few burleys that I have tried. I mainly gravitate towards Va/Per and VA flakes but this is a new one for me and I'm glad I have a craving for burley this month. While PA is my everyday/all-day smoke with great flavor, this ABF is something to treat yourself to. Not an all-day smoke but certainly can be an everyday smoke. I'm comparing many burleys right now to find one that will fit the bill as cellar worthy. So far I've tried Haunted Bookshop and I think ABF is somewhat more smooth and creamy as opposed to HBS bold and upfront in your face strength. I don't think I will drop a lot of money on these given the price or cellar too deeply but I could see 5-6 tins finding their way in and popping one every few years to enjoy, especially with other bulk blends being available for a pound as opposed to 4oz of this for the same price. Regardless, what a truly remarkable blend.

Pipe Used: Peterson Burren X105

Age When Smoked: Guessing 3+ years

Purchased From: B&M South Korea

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Zippo2000 (12)	2019-08-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

I dint know what to say but, this is really good tobacco. The smell on the tins are really good especially when you aged a bit more. When smoke it cool burn with a enough amount of nicotine for me. Really recommended for burley lover.

Pipe Used: Unknown Briar, Peterson.

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Online Shop

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	AJS2323 (32)	2019-07-31		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

This tobacco is very dense to feel and break up, its very moist, heavy and sticky. It smells great through. Deep earthy smell mixed with raisins, chocolates and I want to say hay... it’s grassy but a deep grass. Like haylage (half wet hay) it’s nice. Needs a little time to dry out before smoking, but this is one of the rare tobaccos that actually tastes as it smells. So that is a big positive for me. It is very wet and leaves a fair amount of moisture in the bowl. I have gone with recommended rather than highly as it’s a very sickly sweet tobacco with the kick of some of the stronger ones. A good flake tobacco to start off with though. Easy to smoke, light, enjoyable and no risk of bite

Pipe Used: Morgan bones stubby Anse

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: My smoking shop

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PhantomWolf (41)	2019-07-08		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Raisins, figs, and damp Earth with hints of cocoa, gasoline, and the faintest touch of horse manure (from the Kentucky, no doubt.) Some Vitamin N, though not overbearing. Burns slow and perfect. Little relighting when properly 'aired n prepared'. No bite whatsoever.

Calming. Thought provoking. Not a tobacco to be smoked while entertaining guests, but alone with one's thoughts.

Room note is horse barn, herbs, and overcooked coffee. Not necessarily bad, though squares will likely complain. Stick to the 1-Q for your dinner party.. Go back to this once your mother in law screws-off back to Fort Lauderdale.

Pipe Used: Multiple Briars and Cobs

Age When Smoked: Tins of this do not last long on my shelf.

Purchased From: SmokingPipes. I would purchase a lifetime supply from The Devil if I could.

Similar Blends: Winning the lottery. Falling in love. Buying my first new car..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	UncleSquinty (27)	2019-05-02		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

The pieces of flake are beautifully presented in a 50 gram round tin. Upon prying open a fresh tin, my nose was greeted with a dark chocolate or cacao scent with a note of oatmeal.

I tested this first in a large bowl, well broken in meerschaum billiard. After allowing about 45 minutes drying time at about 50% relative humidity, the flakes rubbed out easily to a semi-ribbon, with some larger pieces. I packed the bowl gently, as this one would expand in the pipe.

I wonder if this one will age well. What I got was nearly what is for me a perfect burley smoking experience. Some might say this is too one-dimensional, I would agree...but I think this blend is incredibly dependent on the size, composition and shape of the pipe. I will dig out a Peterson bulldog that I have and try this blend in that pipe, next.

If it had a hair more complexity and behaved just a hair better in my pipes, this would merit 4 stars. I like this tobacco, but I'll leave my rating at 3 stars. If it ages well, I'll update this review at that time. Maybe it will earn 4 stars by then.

Pipe Used: Cobbs and a vintage meerschaum billiard

Age When Smoked: New tin

Purchased From: http://www.tobaccopipes.com

Similar Blends: MB Burley Flake.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Skando (203)	2018-06-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I have waited long to review this one. I understand why just after reading Pryhosm’s statement just minutes before mine: “this tobacco is a finicky one in my experience. In the right pipe it is very good, in the wrong pipe it is like a mouth full of soot”. Holy words! If fact, ABF smokes better in sweet briars (Castello). It goes without saying: strictly IMHO.

We are talking about a great quality Burley, indeed. Not to the point that I prefer this Vs. Peretti 333, but still very good. Smoked as a whole flake just screwed into the bowl of KKKK sized Castello, takes the fire easily and burns very even and absolutely cool, no bite. Just don’t rush the smoke to avoid some ashy flavour, but that’s typical of Burleys. I don’t taste any chocolate, I’m more towards the nutty & musty/sweet thing, with some faint acidic note. Flavouring agents ? Not detected. Strenght and body are on the medium side.

A consistent all day smoke for the committed Burley pipster. Missing the fourth star just because it’s a bit monolithic.

Pipe Used: Dunhill first... then Castello

Age When Smoked: a couple of years

Purchased From: received as a gift

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MikeHaggarKJ (22)	2018-03-30		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Nutty, rich, deep, only very very slightly sweet. Not monotone in the way that Burleys usually are, there's also no cardboard notes which I find in most Burleys.

Absolute masterpiece.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ElMog (36)	2017-06-26		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Well well, no added flavors, yet cocoa is listed... To me, this does not taste cased or topped in any way. Beautiful flakes, too moist out of the tin, rubbed out and left to dry about 30 minutes, they smoke perfectly. Tin note: dates, dark chocolate. Taste: brown sugar, molasses, something slightly spicy and herbal, as in a good earl grey tea, and fleeting floral notes. De-licious !

Pipe Used: Savinelli Primo Fumo

Purchased From: 4noggins

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Reagold (29)	2017-05-27		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

First, I guess they must have changed the formula over the years, because the older reviews mention the high nicotine content, but the newest (mine included) finds a mild to medium nic hit.

Anyway, highly recommended, instant favorite. It´s a great tobacco, delicious, the added chocolate aroma is there just to enhance the natural burley flavour. Beautiful flake, easy to work, burns great.

THis is one of the few smokes my wife don't complain at all, and has a great after-taste.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Arkie (129)	2017-04-26		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This stuff has a rich, deep, complex, slightly sweet taste. I get a slight flavor of molasses and a very subtle hint of chocolate but those flavors don't overwhelm the taste of some very good tobacco leaf. I have several tins of it in my cellar and I expect to get even better with age.

Similar Blends: Reiner Long Golden Flake, MacBaren Old Dark Fired.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Col. Stuffinpuff (14)	2017-04-11		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Though it typically starts off a bit nondescript, the flavor definitely kicks in a few minutes in. This is a deep blend, never harsh, and a prime representation of the quality of good burley.

Semi-sweet, burns a long time, and always agreeable. Nicotine is a touch above medium.

For what it's worth, I always cube cut this one.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	gahdzila (61)	2017-03-20		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

My tin has been opened and jarred for quite a while now, and my flakes are starting to fall apart a bit....but I seem to remember them being uniform and neatly cut and stacked in the tin. The tin note is very appetizing - sweet, grainy, nutty, and a hint of cocoa - yum! My 10 year old son (resident tin note expert) says, "it doesn't really smell that good, but it's not stinky like your other pipe stuff." LOL It's not as bad as Sam Gawith flakes, but it's definitely on the wet side, and benefits from drying. Not only wet, but also sticky feeling - like, maybe there's honey or syrup blended in it.

It always seems to take a couple of extra matches to get this one started, but it's well behaved once it's going. It's a burley for sure, but it's quite unique. Nutty, cocoa, grainy, a hint of sweet. It gets a little hot and steamy if I push it too hard...it prefers to be sipped. I'm smoking it in a briar tonight, and while it's performing just fine, I do think I prefer this blend in a cob, as I do most burleys. The smoke seems nice and thick, but the flavor is lighter than one would expect. Not to say the flavor is puny, just that it's not as thick and heavy as you'd expect.

Supposedly, this is straight burley with no added flavoring. I wouldn't necessarily doubt that, but neither would it surprise me if I found that it had a hint of Virginia and/or a sweet topping.

I seem to always have a tin or two of ABF around. I like it quite a lot, but I wouldn't necessarily say I love it enough to cellar huge quantities of it. Nonetheless, I do think this is a blend that practically everyone should try at least once. I often recommend ABF to Virginia or aro smokers who think they hate burley, burley lovers who want to try something different, and to beginners who want to begin exploring burleys.

Highly recommended.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pastor Puff (15)	2016-11-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Tin Note: Chocolate. Lots of chocolate.The burley come through just slightly.

Cut: It's a big, beautiful flake, a little wet but still smokable. The flake feels much more delicate than i'm used to them being.

Taste: Apparently this is a pure burley flake, though I swear that I taste perique. The flavour is much more delicate and floral than I had expected. Deep in the background a campfire flavour is there, but it's searching. Through the retrohale I get a hint of pepper.

Mechanics: There was no bite, and in my second bowl I really tried. I did have trouble at times keeping it lit.

Pipe Used: Big Ben Nautic, Cob

Age When Smoked: New Tin

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	lolin (1)	2016-10-06		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I am a burley fan. I prefer it moré than virginia, maybe because I am a cigarettes smoker, and for this reason, what I search in a pipe tobacco is something different than Virginia (which is the main component of the cigarettes). Therefore, in burleys I use to find"something different". And this Solani 656 is, from my opinión, one of the best I have tríed. It's elegant, equilibrated, cool smoke, doesn't bite the tongue, and has a low level of nicotina. I have to say that, maybe for this low level of nicotina, I can be smoking a pipe of it and when i finísh I wish to continue smoking moré of this. In my opinion, it's an excellent tobacco, where the blend has been thought very accurecily. 5 stars for Solani 656.

Pipe Used: Dunhill bruyere & peterson

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Three nuns.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dixcreek (184)	2015-09-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Nutty sweet cocoa wonderful tobacco! Top five with a bullet! Without a doubt the most superior Strong Burley I have ever smoked, and not to brag but this ole Kentucky boy knows a bit about Burley. Have tried it rubbed out and it smokes excellent but folded and stuffed into a large bowl this will bring you a good hour of pleasure. Has a good amount of nic but not so much as to give you the hic-ups or heaves. Highly recommend this tobacco to anyone who enjoys burley

Pipe Used: Most recently an Angelo squat pot

Age When Smoked: new and jarred 6 months

Purchased From: pipes and cigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gig (15)	2015-07-05		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

This was an interesting blend for me and I was scared to try it as I'm not really a Burley fan. Usually I get a bitter and rancid taste with Burley but this was definitely different. It was a luscious, creamy and very smooth smoking tobacco with dark cocoa, molasses and light earthy tones. I just rolled and stuffed a flake into a bowl and lit up and I liked it from the start to the end of the bowl. I highly recommend it to everyone to try :)

Pipe Used: 314 Peterson System Standard

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	jcwads (1)	2015-01-22		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

Outstanding flake. I can't get enough of this Burley goodness. It is now my all time favourite. Nutty, fruity, deliciousness. Smokes to a fine grey ash , doesn't bite and keeps the pipe dry. Go buy some now!

Pipe Used: Philip Rivara commission

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Henry Mars (21)	2014-08-26		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I was looking for an alternative to Edgeworth Sliced. This ain't it. On the other hand it is a first class burly blend. I can't believe the claim that there are no flavorings added ... coco or chocolate kind of hit you right in the face. I kind of taste some maple flavor too but I could be imagining that. The flakes are not tight flakes and rub out easily or you could just use the fold and stuff method. It lights easily and stays lit for the most part. For me it is a little on the sweet side for an "unflavored" burly blend. I don't think I will be buying more of it for that reason. It doesn't seem to have that burly nuttiness I'm looking for. The hit from Lady N is on the high side of medium. Even though it isn't quite what I'm looking for, it is and excellent smoke for those who like a bit of flavoring in their burly flakes. For sure a solid 4 star offering. The person made the decision to discontinue Edgeworth Sliced ought to be drawn and quartered.

Pipe Used: Cobs and Maplewood.

Age When Smoked: New

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ahmadyuzamir (6)	2014-06-12		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

First tried this blend many months ago. Nothing stood out at first as I was still very new into straight Burley blends. Coming primarily from a Va, Va/Per background it took me a few bowls to really home in on the Burley characteristics. This blend packs, ligths easily from the consistent flake cuts. Unlike SG cuts, the cut found in the tin is very uniform, akin to Dunhill Flakes. The Burley tastes great, cool in various pipes. My advice for you to really enjoy this blend is to either dedicate a pipe to it or use it with your Va pipes. If you are using a pipe that has been used for Aros or Latakia, you may not fully appreciate the subtle taste of Burleys. This one is a staple in my rotation.

Pipe Used: Peterson System Standard, MM Cobs.

Age When Smoked: Fresh, revisited 3-4 months down the road

Purchased From: Kamelah Tobacco House

Similar Blends: None I can think of..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lit a Kia (69)	2014-01-03		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

The gentlest introduction to Kentucky blends, in my experience. For me, it was a gateway smoke to HH Old Dark Fired and Pease Triple Play. It's a bit one dimensional (not surprising, I guess) but interesting. Flavors of dark leather, graphite, burnt pine and toast, and just a few faint and occasional floral notes. Burns like a dream (rubbed out well) and serves up a healthy nicotine kick.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	kaizoku (12)	2013-08-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is the first pure burley and also the first Solani tobacco i have tried,and i must say im impressed.

When i lit my pipe the first thing my tastebuds detected was that of some slighty sweet bread-ish flavour with a good body.

i am quite new to smoking tobacco and have recently gone from smoking flavoured tobaccos and begun to find my way amongst all the interesting flavours that pure obacco has to offer, all tho most of my experience in this (for me) new type of smoking has come from brands such as "Cornell & Diehl" and "G.L Pease" i must say that this tobacco from solani opened my eyes for what i really like to smoke, Burley!

and with that said, i would like to say that this is a tobacco i would strongly reccomend!

ps. please excuse me if my wording is a bit of, english is'nt my native language.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-07-14		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is my first Flake. I'm very satisfied with how it is reviewed, and it lives up to the hype. The flakes are slightly moist out of the tin. The tin can be sniffed for hours in my opinion. Natural, slightly sweet, earthy smell. Something I enjoy in the summer when the nightly mist is on the tobacco fields here in NC. I used the "s" fold that fit perfectly in the pipe. It took a while to light, so next time I'll let it air out for 30min. I also jarred the rest of the flake with hopes that it will be so much more enjoyable next time. Vitamin N is definatly in there. Would probably be great with a cup of of coffee. The flavor is enjoyable with a slight coco/nutty or maybe a toasted marshmellow "s'more" flavor. I tried to find the sweetness, and found what others review about. Very nice, relaxing, complex.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	babysinister (55)	2013-06-11		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

My favorite burley based flake. I even love the cocoa-like topping. Smooth, yet sturdy and flavorful. It comes aged already, as the name announces. But I find it smokes best when the contents are jarred for awhile after popping the tin. Before smoking it, I rub out the flakes a bit and let them air in a twist-lok container for a couple of days. That way it smokes lighter and without as many relights. Tip: enjoy a lozenge of Ghirardelli's 86% cocoa chocolate and then smoke some well-prepared ABF, perhaps with a mug of coffee by your side. The ideal morning smoke combination for me.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-06-01		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I have been impressed with the Solani product line and I like burley tobacco the best so I decided to try this one. I am impressed. Like most flake tobacco it had to air-rest overnight - then, wow. This blend, 656, is the real deal and is full-bodied. The traditional chocolate taste of burley is in the background but you can get to the blend's essence if you take it easy - re-lights are common if you use the fold method. One of my all day smokes is MacBaren's Burley London Blend - excellent $$ and 100gm. MBLB is friendly and relatively light but 656 is its bolder bigger brother. If you like good strong burley, this is the one to get. Sit down with a cup-o-joe and enjoy. -bob

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	spidermonkey (11)	2012-10-06		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This stuff is nothing short of outstanding. I have no idea what they do in the processing of this tobacco, but if it is indeed without any topping/casing - that is amazing. The aroma of nuts and cocoa is present upon opening the tin. It is one of the few tobaccos among those I have tried to give me a slight buzz - although that could have just been the euphoria from the delight that was bombarding my senses. Smokes well. It is a little - ok - really sticky flake - not like sugar... more oily - that breaks up to a rather coarse consistency. This stuff cannot be rubbed into ribbons as far as I can tell.

No bite - at all. Smokes cool. Not ashy on the relight - and it may require a few. Besides the new tin wonderment, I also have a mason jar with some that is over two years old. Smells like chocolate cake in the jar, tastes nearly the same. It's amazing the way that it ages compared to the usual burley blends. It's very rich after it matures. Love this stuff. Not an everyday tobacco for me - more of an occasional treat for a job well done.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Philo Beddoe (221)	2012-10-06		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Simply wonderful, I've been searching for a top shelf Burley for a long time. The best I have found before was Kentucky Club, not a lot of heft but a good smoke none the less. In 656 I get a thick crusty bread flavor, with a nice dose of nicotine. Upon opening the tin you are greeted with a thick rich tobacco smell that no other Burley can match, it smells like a Virginia to me, which is high praise. I will be stocking up on this blend, as I find that it has no equal in the Burley world.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mesh (51)	2011-09-10		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Edit (2016) - just to update, and comment on the comparisons with Wessex Burley Slice

The more I smoke this, the better it seems to get. I'm a fan of Wessex Burley Slice but it's by no means a clone of the Solani. The latter is significantly milder in nicotine and body. I can't stomach WBS in the morning or on an empty stomach, which is not the case with the Solani. WBS also seems to have a few more harsh notes in comparison with the Solani, especially towards the end of the bowl. They're both great blends, but if I had to choose one, it would be the Solani, which seems to have a bit more nuance in its flavour profile and is definitely a bit sweeter in taste.

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A nice flake. The tin aroma is one of dark chocolate with hints of liquorice. The smoke is tasty, fairly sweet, and well-bodied, but without the overwhelming nicotine content of a blend like Peterson's Irish Flake. It goes well with black coffee, a stout ale or a scotch, particularly after a heavy meal of red meat.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DoctorThoss (146)	2011-05-02		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This would be a four-star blend if I hadn't run into serious variations between batches. I don't know if this is a quality-control issue or simply the result of the blender using different batches of leaf from year to year, but I've had tins that were almost indescribably good and others that were nearly unsmokable.

The presentation is that of uniformly gorgeous, deep brown flakes. Unlike many burlies, they smell sweet even before lighting. Upon firing up a bowl (of the good batches) this sweetness manifests itself immediatly in the smoke. In fact, if it weren't for the manufacturer's insistence that there is no added flavoring or virginias in this blend, I would insist there was one (or both). The flavor even changes as the bowl progresses, much like a good virginia, becoming darker, sweeter and even smokier (in the same sense that latakia is "smoky"). This is a full-bodied mixture with a decent nic-hit, and it almost never bites the tongue.

Other batches, however, have been flat and dull to the point of being tasteless. Also, I've had a couple of tins that burned ridiculously hot and shredded my tongue.

Depending on the tin, I could give this four stars or one. I'm giving it three because I get a positive experience more often than not, but I feel compelled to add that I've stopped buying new tins of this because I simply don't know what I'm getting. My first few tins had me convinced that I'd finally found my "desert island" smoke, but obviously that hasn't turned out to be the case. YMMV.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BingCrosby (162)	2010-11-15		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Nice easy smoking flake! and that is a good recommendation.. Solani has a good true burley tobacco here and that is hard to come by.. It smokes cool and has a traditional nutty burley flavor.. with slight hints of cocoa.. If you are looking for something you can smoke at any time of day that doesn't require too much attention but has enough flavor to keep you satisfied this is a fine choice.. If you are looking for fireworks look elsewhere (maybe solani 633 virginia perique.. which has a richer more complex yet more difficult smoke) But this is no drug store burley! this is as good as burley gets in my opinion and as a burley gets 4 stars.. my tastes favor virginias but this smoke is an exception.. well worth the extra money. by the way i found it got slightly better after the tin was open for a week..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr. Scott (82)	2010-08-25		Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Very Strong

I might recommend this to the Burley lovers. In a smaller pipe and fully rubbed out, smoked very slowly, it is somewhat interesting: subtle sweet notes, occasional cocoa scent.

The cocoa scent is more evident in the tin. I don't know if it is natural or a topping applied to the tobacco. I do detect a honey casing which I believe is standard for all blends coming from this company.

Nicotine content is medium-strong.

Peterson Irish Flake, by the same company, has a similar appearance to the flakes, but has enough Virginia in it to make it more accessible.

In the end I give it only one star: it is one of the rare blends I have thrown out after only half a tin. I finally decided it was just taking up space.

Life is too short for mediocre tobacco.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Davetopay (43)	2009-11-27		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is the first Solani blend I have had a chance to try, and I am VERY impressed. Easy to smoke whether you like to rub, or fold and stuff your flakes. I haven't found a need to dry this tobacco as the tin humidity works nicely for me. The tin smells of Raisinettes. The room note is slightly sweet and rather natural in that it doesn't seem encumbered by all the goo and flavors that your every day drugstore burleys are treated with. Relights were not an issue. Neither was bite or that burley "bitterness" that often comes with smoking too fast. The flavors are very full and clean. The nic hit isn't as big as I thought it might be, but you can tell something is going on, especially when you get to the 3rd bowl in as many hours. I can't find any flavors added to this, but it creates so many of its own: Nuts, stone fruits, leather, cork, herbal notes like wormwood, vanilla and so many more. They all fade in and out and never clash. The only downfall is that I don't think I can make this an all day puffer. After a while it leaves my throat and the back of my hard palate a little tingly and acidic feeling. This didn't happen after just one bowl, but several. All in all top notch baccy that REALLY earns its 4 star rating!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dubinthedam (133)	2009-07-15		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

4 stars, it's all been said. The only thing I would add is that I love Prince Albert and MacBaren's Golden Blend, both good burleys but this is in a whole different ballpark, I could see people who normally don't like burleys loving this stuff. A must try blend. Price is the only minus.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	kg0mz (54)	2009-06-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

One of the more inviting tin aromas I have met, this ABF. Rich, deep, dark tobacco and overly ripe pears in the orchard, lots of brown ones on the ground, watch where you step.

The flakes are nicely done. Moisture is about right. This one takes a light and burns nice and cool. Very cool burning. No throat irritation like I get with the straight VAs. No bite potential. In the bowl there is that earthy burley nuttiness with a raisin-like thing going on along side a cup of black coffee, French roast I'm guessing. I'm not overwhelmed (not even whelmed) by the nicotine. A word of caution, be careful not to snort at a joke with the pipe in your teeth or you may blow tiny embers on your smoking jacket (or t-shirt in my case).

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	colt25314 (42)	2009-04-27		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

This is beyond a shadow of a doubt the finest burley flake ever to fill a pipe. I would imagine this is a great seller for Monjure Impoting and yet another homerun for Steve Monjure. Thank you Steve for brining this great flake to the USA!!!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-04-21		Strong	Very Mild	Full	Pleasant

ABF at first blush looks like a high quality tobacco. You can see great attention to detail in its packaging and presentation. A class act all the way. This is based on a fresh tin. Gave it about 30 min of drying time after I fully rubbed it out. May not have needed it but it made me feel better. Took some attention in packing - no big deal. Lit easy. Stayed lit for the most part. Tasted as expected from a full burley blend of this nature. Would not say its for the new pipeman, has some strength that could overwelm. I set it down for a short rest during the smoke to keep some of my cognitive functions. If you enjoy a quality burley blend - give it a try. Some say its too expensive. Life is too short to argue over pennies. Unless you have found a way to smoke 6 feet under.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-02-22		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

This is a simple blend of several types of burley, toasted. You'll pick up notes of nuttiness (walnuts and cashews), occasional mild sweetness, a bit of earthiness, but mostly the taste of tobacco (for want of a more descriptive term). There is some good vitamin N as well, but nothing to get worked up about--though as a (mostly) reformed cigarette smoker, I may be underestimating this based on other reviews below. I give this 4 stars because it is extemely smooth, never bites and always satisfies. I'm laying in a bunch of tins before the new SCHIP taxes hit. Cheers, Counselor.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe4ever (204)	2009-02-15		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This is one of the very few straight, unflavored plain Burley flake available today, this is a top quality tobacco with beautiful flake cut, this is an excellent change of pace when you are in mood for just plain unflavored burley, the flavor is nutty but somehow bland if it is smoked all day long, the nicotine level is enough high, finally this is a good quality burley tobacco for an occasional smoke, I don?t see myself smoking this tobacco every day. I have one tin that I have opened 2 years ago, it is still there, only half empty.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-01-17		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A great Sliced burley flake very similar to Edgeworth Sliced but not entirely the same. Burley smokers seem to like this stuff and for good reason. Great Burley flavor in a very smokable sliced version. Smokes cool and dry.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	haredawg (47)	2009-01-16		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

I?ve got to start smoking bad tobacco, I feel like a kiss ass giving four stars out for everything. This one really really deserves it though. Beautiful thick light flakes laid out in the tin like an engagement ring, all neat and pretty. The scent is sweet, honey and mead, aged tobacco. I folded one flake into a large Radice Hawkbill, two charring lights; it?s a bit moist right out of the tin, and then two hours of bliss. Besides the subtle sweet rich tobacco taste I swear this flake made me feel smarter. I normally shy away from straight burley blends as most of them taste like cigarettes to me, not bad, just, well, boring. This weed is not boring, it reminds me a bit of Orliks golden slices only richer and nuttier, almost like reiners Long Golden Flake minus the touch of perique and richer and nuttier. Pick your favorite flavor adjective and add it in, this is a fantastic smoke, I?ve smoked three bowls of this and am ready to leave it at the top of my rotation. The downside? I have to wait for the mail to bring it to me, it?s not carried locally. I?m either going to have to be proactive or pony up express mail. I can?t imagine that cellaring this could make it any better except the way that delayed gratification sort of makes things better in a masochistic sort of humiliating way, or the strength you feel by exercising your iron will. Four stars with little stars as asterisks that footnote four more stars. Excellent.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-11-10		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is my "GO TO" Burley, since Edgeworth is now in the history books. If you were an Edgeworth smoker you will like this, just a notch under in the nico department but more refined in all other ways.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Duke (41)	2008-09-23		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

For me, to date, Solani?s Aged Burley Flake is the Gold Standard for straight Burley or blends. For starters I have to admit I behave poorly with flake tobaccos. In brief, I now know that for me to enjoy a flake, a flake must be sufficiently dried out for me to derive a pleasurable smoke. So I first let it dry out. ABF tastes solely of Burley tobaccos. It has sweetness to the smoke that is very clean and understated- do not think aromatic. The Burley flavor crests as you advance into the bowl, and yet, no bitterness often found in lesser Burley?s. And the nicotine, hell the Surgeon General would swear ABF the devil incarnate if given the chance. This is a spectacular tobacco every serious piper must try. It is more user friendly than University or Irish Flake, and does not leave the room with a cigar like scent. It is full of strength but not overbearing in flavor or a chore to smoke. This is not in my daily rotation, but is always in my reserve.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-09-14		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Very Pleasant

This is hands down my favorite burley blend. It is full bodied, rich, and yet has some subtlety. It has all the roasted nuttiness that is characteristic of good burley plus a cocoa undertone and a slight dried fruit sweetness. The aroma is rich and clean. It has little aftertaste, leaving the palette clean. I've smoked three tins of this tobacco and despite smoking it in different sizes bowls it always smokes cool and lacks any bitterness. It also blends well. It is pricey, but the quality justifies the cost.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-07-23		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Quite simply this is the best Burley I have smoked.

I have been mainly a VA OR VA/Per smoker with occassional foray's into English and Balkans. Burley tobacco I have usually found either too mild or having tongue bite or at times both.

This Solani Aged Burley Flake is a delightful smoke, pure toacco taste.

I would say that if FVF is the best VA Flake, and Solani is the best Burley Flake.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Benton (13)	2008-07-16		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Pipe smokers seem to fall roughly into two camps: those who prefer burley-dominated blends and those who prefer virginia-dominated blends. If you want to find out if you are in the former camp, try ABF. The flavor is straight burley, no spice tobacco, and no topping.

ABF comes in little flakes the size of a stick of chewing gum. You can rub them out, but I find that makes it burn too hot. (When this particular blend is too hot it doesn't cause bite like a VA blend, it just becomes very acrid and harsh.) I like ABF in a small pipe that holds one stick, folded in half and twisted back and forth to loosen up the flake.

The flavor is straight burley, which is often called "nutty", but I think that this blend is more "toasty" than "nutty". There are occassional faint hints of sweetness that show up, but nothing like a VA or aromatic. The entire bowl seems to have the same character, top to bottom, with the flavors intensifing near the bottom of the bowl.

And then there is the nicotine. . . This stuff is very strong. Using a small bowl is the only way to tame it.

ABF is a nice treat for burleyphiles, but it is very expensive, so I will savor the one flake remaining in my tin, then move on to other blends.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-06-19		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

My second blend from Solani........2 for 2. I have stayed away from most buley blend untill recently. This fine blend ranks up there with some of my beloved Va's. I Lightly rubbed out the flake, let it air out for 30 mins. The pack, light, and burn are exceptional. Plenty of pure tobacco flavor, with out any bight. The nicoteen content is up there also. I'll not be leaving my beloved ol' Virginny, but Kentucky now looks a whole lot better! RATE

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-04-05		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Burley is my least favorite tobacco. While I do enjoy it in a very few mixtures, I would never have purchased a tin that was labeled as all burley, had it not been for the very positive reviews in tobaccoreviews.com. Aged Burley Flake is not you granddaddy's burley. In fact, it bears no resemblance to anything I've smoked in 50 years.

ABF is highly recommended to all, including those who, for whatever reason, have not enjoyed this fine leaf in the past.

My only disappointment is that ABF, unlike Solani's other tobaccos is available only in 50g tins.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Xeneize (275)	2008-04-01		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I'm not into Burleys, but this tobacco is absolutely great. The natural earthy and nutty taste with no flavoring is improved by the toasting, producing a mellow, bite-free and cool smoke to enjoy anytime of the day (just not all day, due to obvious lack of depth and high nicotine).

Easily the best pure Burley for a pipe. If you love Stonehaven, give ABF a try. It won't disappoint you.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-06-03		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

An exceptional burley flake. Very similar to Edgeworth Sliced, yet better than Wessex and a universe apart from C&D's disasterous Safe Harbor Flake.

It smokes long, very cool and provides lots of straight burley flavor. A definite 5-star tobacco.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	puro66 (73)	2007-05-16		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Unnoticeable

Ordinarily a straight burley does not get my attention. Solani Aged Burley Flake is not ordinary. R. Will is always worth exploring and he does not fail here. Opening the tin is a great pleasure as you are greeted with a pure clean tobacco aroma. The flake is perfectly sliced and medium brown in color. It breaks easily for loading and burns clean to the bottom of the bowl. This has a nicotine kick so don't be fooled into thinking you can puff quickly and walk away unscathed.

Overall I enjoyed this tobacco but would not necessarily have it in my rotation. I will however smoke it again.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pagercat (40)	2007-04-09		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

First of all, I love all tobacco. I am not partial to any particular type of blend. I love VA, VApers, English, Balkan, Burley and good aromatics. With that said, here is my review of Solani Aged Burley Flake:

The day I ordered my tin of this blend I had also ordered a tin of Wessex Burley Slices. When they arrived I noticed that the tins were identical with the exception of the label. The interior packaging is also identical including the little picture of a Burley leaf. I will not compare these two tobaccos but I did find it interesting that there was no difference in the packaging.

The Solani flakes are pliable without being too moist. I smoke flakes unrubbed so I fold two flakes lengthwise then fold them once over width-wise. I place this plug into the bowl with the bent part of the tobacco facing the bottom of the bowl. I thrn gently work the top of the plug around so it makes a nice tight pack yet with a good open draw.

The flakes light up quickly and evenly. The initial taste is a bit of rasin-like flavor followed by some good dark nutty Burley taste. The smoke is very smooth and mellow. There is little to no sweetness during the smoke, just a nice nutty smokey full-bodied flavor that grows in strength as the bowl progresses. It provides a very good olfactory (through the nose) taste that compliments the flavor that the mouth receives. There is very little bite even when producing some huge clouds of smoke. It also smokes quite dry and needs only one pipe cleaner throughout the entire two-hour smoke. It burns slow cool and easy.

Solani Aged Burley Flake leaves the pipe clean and burns down to a fine light grey ash. There is no mouth fatigue so you are ready for more as soon as the bowl is complete. The nicotine content is pretty high but not overpowering like some ropes can be. This is a true Burley without the sweetners or perfumes so this may not be the best choice for a beginner. For those who really love a good honest Burley, this is it!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pip'n'Piper (54)	2023-03-29		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Beautiful large belt cut flakes with a very noticeable and very natural cocoa powder tin note that translates seamlessly into the flavour. Earthy, woody, nutty, savoury, slightly vegetal and oh so sweet. Some light hay, a wisp of pepper and a whack of cocoa. It's been rumored in these reviews that this flake is similar to Mac Baren's HH Burley Flake, of which I am especially fond, so I was going into this venture with pretty high expectations... every expectation was met or exceeded. They are, more or less, similar in every way except the stronger cocoa note and higher price in ABF. No bite, perfect burn, a totally tranquil smoke. Aside from the wallet busting price, it's an no-brainer 4 stars; it is simply perfect. I would highly recommend to all you grasshoppers as it's a very approachable/forgiving smoke. Note: I got this from a B&M here in Canada, therefore there is no date on the plain packaged tin. Due to the abundance of cocoa and abscence of liqourice, I'm assuming this tin is prior to 2022 production. The fact that this has been altered, for whatever reason, is disappointing to say the least. Shame on you Kohlhase & Kopp!

Age When Smoked: Pre-2022

Similar Blends: HH Burley Flake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tobaksrøg (53)	2022-09-04		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm not the biggest burley fan but Solani really did something special with this one. The cocoa flavour is, presumably, purely natural, and the tin note is probably the best I've ever experienced. Seems like kentucky refers to the origin of the burley, not to the processing method. Needs good drying.

Age When Smoked: New

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pikey Mick (49)	2022-08-25		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Have you ever been on a blind date? I don't normally go for a Burley tobacco as I find them a bit too cigarette-ish for my palate but I ordered a tin to satisfy my curiosity after reading and watching the reviews. So when the package dropped onto my doorstep first thing in the morning I approached the tin with a hint of scepticism and nervous anticipation. Tin note is like rye cereal with a faint whiff of chocolate and the flakes are extremely delicate so you will need very light fingers when rubbing them out or they will crumble almost to dust. Lights easily enough and required a second light halfway through the bowl. Flavours are dry earth, with a savoury nuttiness with the cocoa very much in the background adding a little sweetness to lift the dry earth feel. Room note is quite easy to live with which surprised me and I found it lingered pleasantly enough. I found that it blended well with Louisiana Flake which also has a cocoa topping and I preferred it like that as the Virginias lifted the experience from being a fairly one dimensional smoke; not that its a bad thing but I couldn't smoke this one all day as I prefer a tobacco that piques my palate a little more. All in all its a very well put together blend and not the usual Burley blend. 6/10 for me, my blind date was passable with a bit of makeup, but I wouldn't want to wake up to it after a boozy night out.

Pipe Used: Various

Purchased From: GQ

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	smokethefox (14)	2022-04-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The most delicius looking flakes I ever seen. Deep brown, with a wonderful cocoa scent. Easy preparation, thanks to the the precise, thin cut. Just folded and stuffed. Lightin the tobacco was also effortless. But... Nope. Thi is not for me. The taste is too woodsy, too earthy for me. You see, its high quality, but far from my taste. But... combined with my favorit virginias: Oh my Gosh! I tell you, the very best VA/Burley I ever had. 2 stars for me as a standalone smoke. 4 stars as a component!

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: etrafika.cz

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nuvoleazzurre (36)	2022-04-03		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Miscela assolutamente naturale costituita da tre diversi tipo di Burley, di brown Burley dal Kentucky, light Burley dal Brasile, e white Burley dal Malawi, in proporzioni non rilasciate. L’umidità è lievemente alta, meglio fare asciugare il tutto (60-90 minuti sono sufficienti) Io non sbriciolo, arrotolo. Attenzione molto scrupolosa all’accensione, un bel fiammifero lungo è sufficiente. I primi aromi sono prevalentemente tostati; il corpo medio-pieno.

Il tabacco poi aggiunge al tostato puro le note di cacao amaro che tendono all’intensificazione. Se la fumata è regolare e a fil di respiro il flake non si scompone.

Occhio alla forza, questa miscela può essere una puttana, ti assale a tradimento. Il tabacco per essere ben fumato necessità sempre del pigino a portata di mano. Un tabacco particolare o lo so si ama o lo si odia.

Personalmente lo consiglio.

Consigliato ovviamente al fumatore esperto.

Pipe Used: Chacom, Dunhill, Savinelli

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PaulMcCoy (78)	2021-11-25		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

There’s an aromatic, chemical like flavor on the char light that I didn’t like. I tasted coco, bread, earth, nuts and cigar notes. Once it got going things mellowed out quite a bit, then ramped back up towards the end of the bowl. It doesn’t get bitter like some burleys can get towards the end. It burns slow, but is finicky to keep lit no mater how dry it is. Each light was smoky, then soon dwindled out. For the price, availability and taste, I wasn’t very impressed. I give it 2 1/2 stars.

Pipe Used: Dr. Grabow Grand Duke

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Pipesandcigars.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pipesINpairs (19)	2021-07-13		Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I'm happy I was finally able to try this after falling in love with the HH Burley Flake by Mac Baren (Disclaimer: I am a long-time Virginia flake guy; burleys early on, but then off, and I'm only trying the more "serious" burley flakes again recently.)

CONTROVERSIAL OPINION TIME: I like HH Burley Flake better than this! : 0

This is very high quality tobacco, and very well balanced - cereal, cocoa, molasses, etc. (Count Chocula??) - but the flavor spectrum is not as full as the Mac Baren flake, which also has high and bright floral notes at the same vintage. HH Burley is the technicolor version, this is more black and white.

Mind you, I do enjoy a good Bergman or Fellini, but I think the general scarcity of this blend pushes in Mac Baren's favor. Their Virginias are more present too, which is a plus in my book, and it does not strike me as topped, which I suspect this is.

Just to be clear, this is an excellent blend, worth the four stars, but if you want a high end burley flake that is more playful AND readily available, Per Jensen's version of this is where it's at.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	roark (12)	2020-12-18		Medium	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

I had placed so much hope in this .. My first bowl ever was the greatest disappointment of my pipe smoking experience. Bitterness, and nothing else. Everything I've smoked afterwardsthat day was just tasting Horrible. Bayou Morning Flake ? Bitter. University Flake ? Bitter. Never again.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Antonius Blok (192)	2020-09-17		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

I had never smoked a flake made entirely of burleys.

First, the can. Solani's flakes used to come in nearly square and flat tin cans. Now it comes in a round tin with a reason for the arrival of Colon to the new world. As soon as you open it, you can smell the Burley. A smell like cereal, rye, oats ... with notes like dark chocolate. The flakes are quite dense and composed of dark brown leaves with a few lighter shades. Some say that it is possible that it takes some virginia to balance, although in very little quantity. Actually no reviews of this tobacco speak of Virginia, only Smokingpipes makes an allusion. The flake crumbles very easily since it comes with good humidity and although it seems that it can be passed directly from the tin to the pipe, I think the ideal is to let it dry for 10 to 15 minutes before proceeding to load. When I charged it it still held a certain humidity but stayed on without much effort. If you smoke carelessly you can heat the pipe.

It is a rich tobacco. From the same house I would highly recommend the Silver Flake, which I have on my particular podium of favorite tobaccos.

Pipe Used: Bruken Master Deluxe Rioja, Peterson Filter B10

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Reed's Tobacciana (7)	2020-09-12		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I must state my bias for burley up front. I prefer cube cut, crushed plug and flake to ribbon cut by a very wide margin. I like the way you can codger scoop or even pour the above mentioned cubed and crushed into your bowl and I prepare flake the same way. Solani Aged Burley Flake is a high grade version of the other old burleys I love so well. To me there is a tread that connects all burleys that have favoring attributes of cocoa and molasses all the way back to Edgeworth so that if you love one you'll at least like the other. With all burley's I follow the advise of the late, great John Patton. Dry it a bit more than you think it needs and pack a bit lighter than you think it needs. With that in mind Aged Burley Flake took light right away and needed no re-lights. The flavor is pecan like with some chocolate and that great old time molasses flavor and remains so throughout. No epiphanies here. It's like a visit with an old friend, no surprises just good and relaxing. After a smoke the room note lingers and is very pleasant reminding you perhaps, if you're old enough, of something your Grandfather smoked. There's a lot of comparison of this blend to Wessex Burley Slice. I'm smoking both today side by side. My opinion will probably vary from most but to me they are very, very similar. My review of Wessex Burley Slice and Solani Aged Burley Flake will basically be the same. Both are great. Both are 4 star. Both could probably be offered in bulk at a more reasonable price. That's my only dig here. For some of us who smoke daily, price does matter and means the difference between a daily smoke and an occasional treat.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Wessex Burley Slice.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sangagor (79)	2020-08-06		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

when you open tin you can see nice shaped flakes with three colors inside. Typical nuttiness is main smell combined with a bit of coffee and smokey hint. Preparation of tobacco is easy with accurate moisture. Nuttiness and full aroma during smoking rounded with sweetness leave you with nice bitter after taste. Some of the leaves are earthy with hint of hey. Very enjoyable and relaxing smoke. Not all day smoke

For VA lover good choice as burley based tobacco for rotation.

Comparing with other burlies stuff, most probably four star stuff. But for me personally, there is too much nicotine hit.

Pipe Used: BPK, MM cob

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: etrafika.cz

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MangoLegs (72)	2020-06-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I like this blend. From the first taste, I knew I had found something special. It has a '19th century farmer' quality. Subtle, woody, balanced. I rub it out and let it dry a short while before packing. Smooth smoke, relaxing experience.

Age When Smoked: Fresh from a new tin

Purchased From: SmokingPipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tiffanzsolti (6)	2020-05-20		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

My favourite Burley.

Typical Solani good looking tin design. Round 50 g tin, but the insert paper is squared, that’s a little odd... Perhaps they had some leftovers hence don’t match.

Thinly sliced good looking quality flakes. Coffee brown with small golden spots. Medium moisture.

Tin note is typical pure burley. Lots of cocoa, cigars and coffee. Very pleasing and mellow, could smell all day.

Stuff and fold is fine but might require some re-lighting. Had some issues with tamping though when stuffed moist. On the other hand, it’s still a good smoke when accidentally completely dried out. Actually drying out more than average surpised me: no bite, doesn’t burn too fast and retained its aromas.

Burns wonderfully tastes wonderfully. No harshness, mellow and round, full bodied smoke. Chocolate and very subtle dried fruits in the background. Ppl who like to drink Italian-style espresso: pair with it!

Medium in almost all aromatic factors. Nicotine high. I am a former cig smoker and pipe tobaccoes barely make me feel uneasy. This one, however, did. Could be that I had a bad day, but be careful, choose a smaller bowl not like me with a larger bent Rhodesian. Definitely has the Burley signature similarity with cigars in taste and room note but not overpowering.

It gets better with age, at least 6 months helped my tin. I’ll definitely consider to stock up and cellar a lot, see how it goes.

Excellent tobacco.

Pipe Used: Szabó Premium bent Rhodesian

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: DanPipe

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	William H. Hardy (95)	2019-06-16		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I love all things Burley. In fact, other than Virginias, they are the tobaccos I smoke the most of. Wessex Burley Slice is one of my favorites and it keeps me happy a lot of the time. Sir Walter Raleigh is also a great tobacco, though it has received some bad press in the past. Solani ABF just does not "ring the bell" for me like these others do.

Don't think I don't like ABF, as that would be inaccurate. This blend has some fantastic leaf and is timeless in its appeal. I just prefer other Burleys to it. SWR, though it is a VA/Bur, is much more enjoyable. Wessex Burley Slice has the treacly goodness that is surpasses by no other. ABF, though others extol its virtues, is not the great straight Burley for my tastes.

ABF is a fine blend. Much to its credit, ABF commands a great following and is a superb tobacco. I just prefer many others to it. Is it even necessary to age Burley? I don't know.

Pipe Used: Cobs, Briars, and Clays.

Age When Smoked: New to several years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darkarts (2)	2019-04-26		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is the breath of the gods. It is the taste of rain meeting the earth and of wind through grass. It is mushrooms in the leaf litter, the pine nuts ripening on their branches, and the acrid touch of autumn’s first frost on wilting grapes.

Pipe Used: Various briar

Age When Smoked: Various

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2019-01-10		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Nice dark flakes with specks of lighter tans. Nice jar note. I usually pack with the fold method in a larger bowl, but also good more rubbed out in a smaller bowl depending on how much time I have to enjoy. After jarring for 6 months, it seems to be at about the perfect moisture level for me without additional drying.

Takes a couple of tries to really get burning. Great of slow sipping with an evening cup of coffee, or really good with a Guinness. Flavor to me was consistent nutty and hints of chocolate. Not sure if that is the tobacco or a flavoring, but if a flavoring it is subtle enough not for me to consider it an aromatic.

slowly sipped it burns cool. strong to me in the nicotine, so I enjoy on a full stomach. Really enjoyable and I'm going to make a place for it in my extended rotation.

Pipe Used: Radiator and Canadians

Age When Smoked: fresh from tin to 1 year

Purchased From: tobacco pipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BriarWoody (33)	2017-02-21		Medium	Very Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Cigarette smokers should like this one. Strong tasting, medium in nicotine and bitter, there's little sweetness or complexity here, maybe a hint of coffee bean/cacao. But it's really a one-dimensional burley bruiser.

Don't get me wrong. I like burley and dark fired, but blended with other tobaccos. Alone, this is just too much. It is the second tin I've tried over the years in multiple pipes and the result is the same. I feel like I'm smoking a filterless Lucky Strike cigarette.

Age When Smoked: New Tins

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Planet Scott (66)	2016-08-25		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

I honestly believe this is a decent tobacco, however, it is not my thing. It just does nothing for me. It does not bother me, but I find nothing interesting or compelling. It burns and smokes great. Very cool, even with heavy puffing, which to me indicates a quality blend. Difficult to comment on room note as I live alone. I don't want to discourage others from trying this. It is just not me. I suppose, based on the other reviews, if you like burley, you will like this.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pecheur (19)	2016-06-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The flakes are gorgeous, a lovely mottled brown colour showing off the mixture of burleys and a strong tin note of cocoa that's almost too strong to be natural. The flakes are incredibly sticky and for me require a little dry time.

Easy to smoke flakes that'll happily rub out or fold and stuff just as easily, it smokes dry and doesn't bite. I found it can be a little fussy with pipes but with the right pipe it had a sweet, nutty, buttery flavour that I find a little cloying. The flavour stays pretty much constant throughout the bowl but occasionally a metallic flavour appears but it rarely lasts more than a couple of puffs.

I can see why it get's a lot of love but it's just not for me.

Pipe Used: Askwith Bulldog

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: mysmokingshop

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lyle (32)	2015-12-26		Strong	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

A true Burley blend, indeed. The flakes are quite dark, and the tin aroma is very natural. The flavor is very nice, however on the subtle side.

I got my best results by fully rubbing out the flakes, but I also enjoyed it dried to a crisp and broken into small bits. Both ways, I found it easy to light and keep smoldering.

I didn't experience much flavor development as the bowls progressed. This, combined with a strong nicotine charge, makes me recommend the use of small pipes for this one.

Pipe Used: Small bowled pipes dedicated to Burley

Age When Smoked: Six years old

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	crazy owl (74)	2015-12-15		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable

It´s my first meeting with a pure burley and I fell in love with this natural fountain of flavour.I think that bad reviews of burley based tobaccos come,perhaps,from the use of burley in not top quality cigars.But this 656 is the number of the beauty.Perfect interlude in the middle of balkan/english rotation.The only objection is the high price well over other ,similar?,stuff. UPDATE After smoking a whole tin I can feel an unsufferable ghost in my pipes.I don´t like it and I guess some non natural casing,in consecuence I downgrade to 1 star.

Pipe Used: smalll dunhills

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: local tobacconist

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ig88 (9)	2015-11-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I'm a casual pipe smoker so for me to buy 3 tins of this, says a lot. This is one of those blends which was given to me by my father who wasn't thrilled with it. I had a completely different experience with it and I love it. This is a blend which doesn't try to be something it is not. It is simple and in a sense, perfection. I am amazed at how complex the flavors are with something so simple. Nutty, creamy and hints of earth. One of my absolute favorites. Good right out of the tin! This blend proves "simple is best".

Wife note is pretty good with this one! Always a plus!

My father is now a fan after giving this blend another try.

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	virginia king (2)	2015-07-14		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is some quality flake ready to smoke from the tin but i like to dry for 10 minutes. On opening the tin your greeted with dark fruits that reminds me of a Christmas pudding (Devine). The flakes are a nice size and rub out easily,packed and a couple of charing lights and your in for a fine smoke, it's sweet a little nutty with a malty , bready taste that reminds me of Soreen (malt loaf). There's a good N kick to boot and the taste is constant maybe less sweet towards the end. A welcome change. Give it a try it's a little pricey but top quality pipe tobacco.

Pipe Used: savinelli , parker

Age When Smoked: new to 1 year

Purchased From: GQ tobaccos

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	krg1000 (183)	2015-05-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

All in all, not too shabby of a blend of different burleys from around the globe as the tin states. Fairly monochromatic in taste, but it does get the job done in room note and tin note. The flakes come in a nice uniform condition and, for me, ready to light up right out of the tin. The moisture level is good for me, YMMV of course. The nicotine level is just right for me and this one lights and stays lit with little effort. Overall a recommended blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Coloradopiper (1)	2015-05-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This is a high utility tobacco. My favorite bowl of the tin I just finished was driving over Ute Pass in my home state of with my beagle in the passenger seat. This tobacco is perfect for driving or doing chores. It burns cool with very little smoke. You don't "smoke" this tobacco, that is to say, you don't puff away. It sits in the bowl and slow-cooks like a Sunday roast. If you want a special occasion tobacco, this is not it. But if you are looking for a way to take your mind of a certain errand or just to put around in the yard, this is a great hour long companion.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	natibo (169)	2015-03-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Strong

I was quite surprised on how this looked in the tin. It look like a very aged Virginia flake. I think I like it better than most VA flakes because the burley provides more taste and more strength in my opinion. It just seemed to be missing something, I just can't put my finger on it. All in all, and excellent smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WillBrown (137)	2014-11-04		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

From now on, when it comes to burley's, I must begin by comparing any new blend against the two burley blends that have, quite frankly, blown me away—those being Patton's Storm Front and 4Noggins Bald Headed Teacher. Aged Burley Flake's good, but it is not as good as either of them. I like Aged Burley Flake, but the blend didn't measure up to my favorites, especially in regards to taste. On the other hand, neither of my favorite burleys are flakes, and I love flakes! It's good to have a burley in flake form. A good blend, just not my favorite blend.

Pipe Used: Mario Grandi freehand

Age When Smoked: ?

Purchased From: Cup O' Joes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PhillyB (70)	2014-08-28		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

For a straight burley this is a surprisingly well-rounded smoke. The smell from the sample bag I got is like a rich hot chocolate. The taste is pretty much the same but has a little nuttiness as well. Not a complicated taste but very satisfying. Very similar to the Sutliff match of ERR but a little more flavorful.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Legend

Similar Blends: Sutliff Edgeworth Ready-Rubbed MATCH.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sibeen (10)	2014-07-31		Medium	Mild to Medium	Overwhelming	Tolerable

4noggins had a special on this a month or two ago so I thought I'd give it a try.

BIG MISTAKE.

Maybe, just maybe, I received a dud of a tin. The aroma upon opening wasn't too bad, but the taste once lit...Oh dear.

Mould with a musty after taste. Just dire. Unsmokable. So I dried some out overnight. Same result. An extreme mouldy taste.

Right...straight to the bin with that one. never again.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greasy Neale (1)	2014-03-22		Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Mild	Pleasant

A nice dark flake with a mild tin note. I rubbed the flake out and my fingers were covered in sticky wet gunk that dried off quickly. The rubbed out flake needs to be packed loose to get it to burn properly. Otherwise, plan on relighting regularly. The smoke is nice. It's strong and subtly sweet for a burley. It burns hot, but probably because a loose pack is required for a consistent smoke due to the damp stickiness out of the tin. I imagine it would burn just fine with a little drying? It's not my bag, but I'm not a big burley fan. I'll update this review after I spend more time with the blend using various pipes.

Update: This blend is growing on me. The burn has cooled down with a little drying. I think it smokes best in a cob. I'm not a burley fan, but I have to say I'm really starting to like the nut and chocolate flavor. I can see myself smoking a few tins every spring, but it won't be a regular thing for me. I'd say it deserves another star. It's a three star blend.

Pipe Used: Cob & Briar

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tntrush (3)	2014-03-04		Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Mother earth at the best possible smoking version ... Or is it the scent of a fertile woman at her pick?

Excellent smoke, strong though.

Of course it is not easy to make ends meet with a fertile woman at her pick, if someone is behaving sloppily. Overdid it once, and got dizzy.

Pure smoke, deep taste, full "as is" Burley dimension in your bowl.

This is an experience.

Pipe Used: Briar Pipe

Age When Smoked: Off the tin, up to one year in a jar

Purchased From: http://pipe-shop.net/

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	richardsondp (1)	2014-02-20		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

One of my favorites. While it is has a complex full tobacco flavor it is also mild and won't bite. Will keep coming back for more. What everyone says is true. You will not be disappointed.

Pipe Used: Petersen Aran Bulldog

Age When Smoked: 48

Purchased From: Pipesandcigars.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	o3Ho3 (28)	2014-01-15		Medium to Strong	Medium	Full	Tolerable

Well this is BURLEY at his best. One of the best burley flake I ever smoked. Close to perfection so I highly recommend, at least to try once. Love it.

Pipe Used: always Peterson

Age When Smoked: -2 yrs

Purchased From: street corner shop

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-10-22		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Ahhhhh... I was so looking forward to try this blend for sometime now...

After finishing (throwing away) Peterson Special Reserve 2013 tin, I decided to open this tin, for a real, unflavoured (or little flavoured) tobacco taste; Burley at that!

Upon opening the tin, there is a very faint smell of dried fruits/pot pourri (really ever so slight).

Rubbed one flake just to try it out in my meerschaum pipe after scraping some deposit from the walls, and I was welcomed with strong nutty flavours, very slight fruit/sugar aromas and stronger wood notes. Is it just me, or does anyone detect a slight alcohol taste? This now goes down to my favourite tobaccos list, as it is an enchantment to the palate! No tongue bite whatsoever and room note seems to be quite tolerable by the partner.

Highly recommended.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-10-15		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

My absolute favorite all day any time smoke just fold and stuff in to a cob and enjoy

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-09-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It' a lot of time I wanted to try this flake, unavaible in Europe. Two days ago a friend finally brought this for me from USA.

Open the tin reveals a sweet aroma of dark chocolate and figs, but I think it's not a top casing. It's more similar to the tobacco aroma of some king of Virginia from SG.

The flake is compact yet very wet, so I decided to rub it completely and let it dry 20 minutes before filling the pipe. I saved some dry tobacco and put it in the tin.

Uhm...first bowl wasn't that great. Let me explain: the tobacco never bites, the bowl almost always cool, but...it seemed to me like...the full taste wanted to explode but it couldn't. I was noticing it was a good tobacco, but I wasnt able to apreciate it.

Day after (today) I dared more. Broke the flake into small pieces, but not rubbed out. Let it dry for one hour and a half. Then I filled the pipe starting from the bigger pieces and the going to the smaller ones. In the end I put the dry tobacco I saved the first day. Pressed well and lit. It required some patience to lit, but...once lit...wow. Wow. Pure tobacco flavour. Pure dark tobacco flavour, filling your mouth with smooth smoke and caressing your nose with notes of tobacco, nut, chocolate, may be cocoa... As you go throught the bowl, this small dark lord bring you through a walzer of nuances, getting you SATISFIED.

No flavouring at all. Just good old tobacco taste. Just tobacco. But...what a tobacco. Never ever biting. Never ever overheating the pipe. No need to relit (don't press the tobacco too much through the experience). So delicate and so decise! Easy to fall in love with it!

the only bad new was for the pairing I did with a single malt whiskey. The whiskey cleanse away the delicate yet full taste of this wonderful tobacco, which is full, but not persistant. Next time better with a dark coffee or a grey tea.

Would love to say it'll be in my rotation, but it's not avaible in Italy so, at least for me, will be a special friend for special evenings.

N-Vitamine is present but not as strong as I read below. If you ever tried Black XX or Brown 4, they're a lot stronger. It's the right amount for a evening dream on burley wings.

If you like aromatics or if you need latakia to feel ok...let it go. But if you like the dry, full, charming taste of pure tobacco...buy more than a signle tin. Highly reccomended!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-08-07		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I guess I am not a burly guy I felt as though I was smoking peat moss. Sorry.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Wellpipe (66)	2013-07-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Neatly presented uniform flakes. Rub out gently lengthwise to keep some long strands, let rest for half an hour. Pack inverted leaving an air gap. Sweet and nutty flavors - makes me think of Rocky Road ice cream with a slight hint of coconut mid-bowl.

High-quality leaf for sure but not for every day - will save this one for when I am in the mood for something on the slightly stronger side.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	robsm2013 (9)	2013-06-27		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is my absolute favorite tobacco! It's complex in that you have to find the sweetness in it - which i find interesting about it - unbelievable richness - you definitely notice the quality of the aged tobacco.

Highly recommended!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cragganmore (6)	2013-03-31		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I feel everything regarding taste has been covered previously. The only things I would stress is the quality and consistency of Aged Burley Flake. It took me a while to warm up to it but once I started to appreciate the subtlety and realized that it provided me with the exact same high quality smoke every single time... well let's just say I went from 4-6 smokes per month to a daily consumer.

I even had euphoric smokes of this in -20 degrees Celcius (which is -4 or so in Yankeedegrees I believe) coupled with a huge, hot cup of coffee.

Beardnote: dangerously close to being cigaretteish. This would be the only flaw I can find in ABF.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-01-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

There is no better burley brand anywhere. Pricey, being as it is only available in a tin, but worth every penny. If you're preference is burley, you can't do better than this.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JustinCarcerated (99)	2012-12-29		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

High quality flake, nicely packaged (its how a man would like his presents wrapped all the time). Just moist enough to require minimal drying time, breaks apart well, burns cool and clean.

I trust burleyphiles who state this as being creme de la, but I just can't do straight burley-it's just too one dimensional for me.

Having said that, I'll try to maintain some stock of this as its a great 1:2:0.5 mix with 2 parts Dunhill Flake and 1/2 part St. James Perique. Now that's a tasty VaBurPer! Recommended

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-11-30		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

Good smoke. Best straight burley I have smoked. upgraded this to 5 star after finishing a tin. The charring light is a little harsh so I cap off the bowl with an aged virginia to tone it down a little. I can almost fill a full Peterson house pipe with 2 flakes. This is a great burley flake!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fustillat (6)	2012-11-16		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm sorry to say that I was hardly impressed. I found it too bland. It burns well, without tongue bite.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	derlict311 (71)	2012-10-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Pure burley bliss, if that's your thing. The smoke has a blue green hue. The taste is sweet and straightforward burley fare. Can't go wrong here. Even those who aren't really burley fans should enjoy its simple beauty. Best in a small bowl. I found the flakes are difficult to rub out but it is still worth a look.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mnadz (69)	2012-09-29		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Coming from a new pipesmoker trying to find blends that deliver in tobacco taste, this one delivers. I recently came away from straight virginias disappointed in their mild taste profile. I liked latakia blends and was searching for something else to bring it. This definetly did but not in an overwhelming way. I will definetly have this on hand at all time. Very nice nutty natural pleasant full flavor.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-09-09		Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Fabulous Smoke! Extremely pleasant! A little high on the nicotine for what I was expecting. Got me dizzy :), but I was still very happy about it. No dottle. Loved it! Next time I will be ready.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ap (57)	2012-08-24		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Delicious Straight Burley , nutty and with a light sweet and cocoa taste, this one is fantastic!!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-02-24		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

When I opened the tin, the darker aromas, such as chocolate, coffee,nuts....very earthy sweet smell. The first bowl i packed was a fold and stuff , very smooth and sweet. Then i tried it rubbed and it was not very impressive after about a week of letting it sit in the can, it was heaven at every puff. Tastes good and smooth, no tongue bite, sweet. If there really si nothing added to this one then its deserves its merit. Definietly will be buying more eventually to age to smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blue Bayou (60)	2011-11-16		Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Pleasant

A delicious all around smoke. Woodsy, nutty notes.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-11-10		Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

right when uou open the tin you notice a sweet smell almost like raisins or a sweet black cavendish which will make you think the smoke has alot of flavor....it really doesnt...just a slight sweetness at the end of every puff... but overall good earthy tobacco

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-11-08		Medium	Mild to Medium	Full	Pleasant

Well-rounded burley. Don't worry if burley isn't your thing, because this one has some depth to it. It retains the nutty and earthy tones that make burleys attractive to some, but has a wonderful sweetness to it that belies a depth and body of some Virginia and even oriental blends.

This one needs some drying time after rubbing out, deserves to be sipped slowly, and certainly wouldn't qualify in the 'all-day smoke' category.

This is much more complex than your straightforward burley blends and as such provides several smokes before rendering an opinion.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kokinhenik (93)	2011-10-10		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

656 Aged Burley Flake! This was the tobacco with which I had my first uber zen pipe experience. The tin nose is an inviting aroma of chocolates, raisin and bread. From the first puff, whoa momma, 656 grabs you right away. It's full bodied, dark and nutty, with notes of buttery toast, coffee and molasses. At the end of each puff there is a sweet little cocoa note that pairs beautifully with the burley. It's a wonderfully behaved tobacco, each and every draw has the same wonderful flavor profile. It burns cool with no bite, harsh edges, fuss or relights. Moderate in nicotine with loads of exquisite smoke. 656 is delightful, you transport from the first puffs to a zen smile on your face. Hands down this is one of my favorite tobaccos.

Pipe Used: Bjarne

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Smoking pipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-09-08		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Burns great, no bite. As good as Solani Silver Flake. Another one I'll buy again.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rodricus (29)	2011-08-02		Medium	Mild to Medium	Full	Very Pleasant

Solani´s burley flake is a blend for the pipe smoker connoisseur. I do not consider myself a flake fan, but I keep finding some of the very best blends to come as flakes (Astley´s 109, Peter Stokkebye´s Luxury Twist Flake, and Peterson´s University Flake). This burley flake now joins the list.

Upon opening the tin, you will find beautiful flakes that will give you a pleasant aroma: bread, raisins, brown sugar, even a hint of sawdust. The rubbing part can be tricky as it may come just a little too humid. I found my flakes to feel somehow sticky, which was new to me, but I didnt find it interfering with my smoking.

This tobacco can be lighted easily. Provides a full smoke, rising the pure burley to its splendor. You can feel its unadulterd sweetness while enjoying a high quality tobacco taste. Sensational wood notes are sense along with just a hint of orange as in a zesty mixture.

I am looking forward to keep a couple in my cellar to see how they age. Man, even the tin is outstanding!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-06-02		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

Most people seem to have had positive experience with this. My tin tasted very mild and not at all what other people have said. One other reviewer mentioned that they had bought a couple of tins and there was a big difference between them. Some tasted great while others were bland. I can only conclude that this is the case with my tin. The tin smell is very good, but the smoke is harsh to the point it almost seems like a spicy blend that spices the back of my throat. When I smell the smoke, it spices my nose and into my sinuses (if that makes sense). To top it off, the taste is very bland and not tasty at all. I am not sure what I got but it aint what others are describing.

This inconsistency in the blend between tins leads me to suggest not getting this- although if you are a gambling man your chances seem to be good that you will get a tin that is as most people describe.

I am using this in a corncob that I previously used aromatics in. I am using burley to take away any ghosting that may have occured in this pipe and I am planning on using VAs in it. Could this be the reason for the harshness? I doubt it. I have only smoked A LITTLE BIT of Carter Hall, Uhle's Marquette Blend, and Mac Barens Dark Twist. But Ill give the benefit of the doubt and if it happens to be the case that the aromatic ghosting is causing this, I will update this review. I will smoke the rest of the tin....reluctantly...

Update: My "spicy" perception may have been from a too hot of a smoke.

Update #2: It seems I was smoking this tin with it being too moist. Dry this out- a lot! Spiciness is gone. Could this have been steam? I don't know. I did get the sweetness/tangy that others had at the beginning of the smoke, then at the end the nut flavor. I will change my star rating from 2 to 3. Being a latakia lover and not into the aromatics at all, I was surprised to find the sweetness with this not being a flavored tobacco. This one may just grow on me. I will give it some more time and am no longer reluctant to try another round. It still is a medium in strength, as I have had much stronger blends than this.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipeliner (13)	2011-05-29		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

The tobacco can burn easily, and after the first trains developed a rather unusual tangy-sweet flavor. This is rather unusual for Virginia lovers taste from first to last whistle of the train continued without having to change fundamentally. The taste reminds most of the smell of pure unsweetened cocoa. The Burley has, contrary to many descriptions, but a very distinct taste and plenty of power. Unlike good Virginia tobacco, the taste is not very nuanced, it is earthy, tart-sweet.

So I like the Aged Burley Flake honest with his earthy charm. We know each whistle what to expect. Not in the morning and not at noon, but at night you will ever seen a tobacco with oomph of calls and still not enough tension holds. Those looking for that is operated well with the Aged Burley. Who is lively, elegant taste, the pleasure of looking hands off the tobacco.

1 person found this review helpful.