Solani 656: Aged Burley Flake

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!