Vauen No. 14 Virginia Flake

The tobacco is a light mottled brown with prominent bits of very light stem embedded in the flake.

Tin Aroma is musty. I've had the same sensation in farm wineries - slightly fruity, but musty wood and grass aromas dominate. The flakes are very moist, and it is difficult to peel them off of each other. Upon rubbing out the flake and taking a deep inhale of the unburned tobac, the scent is more reminiscent of a Hay barn - the mustiness and grassiness take me back to when I used to throw and stack hay bales for the local farmers as a youth. I managed to pick off about a flake and a half and fold/stuff into the pipe. There was just enough sticking out the top of the pipe to rub out with my fingertips for easy lighting.

The charring light can be harsh. Initially, the flakes are very moist, and my initial reaction is that I should have let them dry. However, this blend lit right up, and after about the first quarter of the bowl, it really settled down. After the charring light, I got no tongue bite. This flake reminds me of an unscented Erinmore flake. The tobaccos are very similar, right down to the cigarette-ish flavor of the tobacco (sans acrid paper of course!) There has got to be a some burley in this blend - both because the blend did not bite, and because of the nutty bitterness that is telling of a burley. It's there. The middle of the bowl was rather unremarkable, in that there wasn't huge depth to this smoke, but it burned well and the cigarette tobacco qualities gave way to more of a cigar / cocoa smoke. The nicotine content was similar to that of a mild cigar as well, and wasn't entirely noticable until the bottom quarter of the bowl.

The flakes smoked down to a nice dark ash. This flake rubs out nicely, and Rubbed out, the smoke seemed a bit hotter, and harsher, but still did not bite, but I didn't force it, either. I think that the virginias stand out a bit more when rubbed out. (Both in the unburned aroma and burning state of the tobacco.)

Room note is almost pure tobacco. The ingering aroma is more cigarette than pipe. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing, but it may be a quality that prevents some from smoking it inside.

I'd give this a three out of four stars. It's a nice and pleasant unscented Virginia Flake. I think there are better out there, but it is definitely worth a try. I am planning on throwing a few tins in the cellar to see what some age does.

Suddenly “erinmore” (a fellow smoker from pipeclub.gr) introduced this tobacco into our lives. He reviewed this tobacco so fondly that forced me to search for it anxiously, but unfortunately I didn't find any understanding from my friends. With sweat and suffering, I managed to get hold of a second tin, which obligatory in order to open the first one. Pure, very sweet Virginia, “made” as a very beautiful and convenient – concerning the filling – flake. As the tobacco burns further and further down the bowl, its taste is improving and changing. It lights easily and it can bite if you rush your puffing. It is not very heavy. I must perform a comparative test between No14 VAUEN and Golden Glow so decide who gets the top position in my Virginia preferences. PS. Necessary correction. Eventually this tobacco was introduced into our lives by “Paris”, through “erinmore”. Just to restore the facts.

The first to review this blend, an honor indeed. Picked up a tin of this in Frankfurt. Very nice flake with a surprising nuttiness to it, its almost like Solani's Aged Burley Flake on the mild side. No burley is listed in this blend so I'm not sure where this nuttiness or chocolate tone comes from. A solid VA flake well worth the try if and when visiting Germany....top marks to an interesting and genuine VA flake, from a top German company.

It's now a blue round tin. Sweet smell, very mild, some honey notes. Flakes are soft and quite thin, ideal humidity. Easy lighting. First impression: There's vanilla in it. And something else, quite sweet. Possibly a honey note? Hoping for a pure, straight, genuine Virginia, I'm a bit disappointed. For most smokers, it may be tolerable or even fine. If you expect the pure thing, forget this tobacco. If you like a Virginia-ish tobacco with decent vanilla and honey(?) flavours, you will be happy with No. 14. From the second third of the bowl on, the tobacco is less vanilla, more virginia. Definitely not an aromatic blend, nevertheless noticeable flavouring. Though, for me it never develops the fruit of pure high class Virginias.

A Lighter Sweet Virginia Flake

I enjoy the Virginia varietals that K&K uses in their tobaccos. Here, they are on the sweet, bready and grassy side of the spectrum. They are smooth smoking without any bright notes. The Vanilla and sugar in the casing add a pleasant dynamic that accentuates the sweetness in the VA leaf. There is another added flavor that I cannot put my finger on.

It would be near perfect but something in the casing leaves a lingering aftertaste that I am not fond of.

A mild and sweet virginia. The moisture from the tin is close to ideal, making it both easy to pack and smoke. Few relights required. Dried fruit notes and the natural sweetness from the virgias dominate this uncomplicated yet flavorful blend. A perfect all day smoke.

3rdguy

Just finished a full tin and it did not take me long. Fairly moist from the tin, really needed some serious drying time and it was like that the entire tin. Takes several lights to get it going but once it does you can put the lighter away. Nice vanilla top note which doesnt take away from the Virginia at all but it is present throughout the smoke. No bite, burns to a white ash. Very nice retrohale of vanilla for me. I really enjoyed this blend. Made by K&K. I see it sells out fast and I can see why. I have a dozen tins in the cellar and will be looking for more. Highly recommended.

I have made a few updates to this review. My tin is the round, blue tin, not the square one. I'm not sure if the two are the same or have the same recipe.

Based on an approximate one year of age:

The flakes are beautiful and rustic like a C&D flake. They fall apart easily. There is a mixture of gold and brown Virginia. The smell is not natural at all , to me. It smelled of artificial fruits and vanilla. Those toppings showed up way too much in the smoke as well, unfortunately, for me. I dried this for a few minutes before loading. It burned quite well. .

The strength was maybe medium, and the taste was mild to medium. For the straight Virginia flake-lover, I cannot recommend this one, because in my opinion, that piper prefers a more simple, natural, and unadulterated experience. One star. However, I will return to this review with an update after I give this more air time. I want to see if the topping dissipates.

**Update** the topping does dissipate some and this becomes an enjoyable blend. After airing, and time in a jar this changed dramatically to a more natural smell. It has started to smell much like Opening Night, which smells kind of like a sweet bread.

Produces lots of smoke. Maybe there is some Cavendish in there, or some air-cured Virginia. The combustion is remarkable, rivaling MB Navy Flake. Notes of sweet bread, honey, wood, a touch of cinammon, salty chocolate, a sweet nuttiness, vanilla, sour woodiness, prunes, fig, and grass. It has depth and earthiness and fermented character. I previously upgraded to three stars, but I am changing it to four. Not sure if it's the age, but it's just that good. I can't deny it.

Mild and lightly sweet it is, should you lightly sip away to get up to speed. Interesting, though, when you drop it two gears and dig deep. The VA piping equivalent of hitting 5800 RPM in a Honda Civic Si, when the sweet DOHC iVTEC kicks in. You are greeted with plumes of smoke, and a deep, full, flavor/taste of sweet Virginny, including the tingle on the nose when retrohaling. Lather, rinse, repeat...ad libidum. 4 stars for a pleasantly surprising sleeper!