J. F. Germain & Son Rich Dark Flake

Rich Dark Flake isn’t Stonehaven. Other than the fact that is each contains Burley and Virginia, I don’t even find them all that similar to each other. (I have smoked them side by side). RDF offers a different pouch scent that indicates right away that there is more topping and/or casing in RDF. The scent offers up some chocolate and in the pipe it leans more toward the aromatic side of the spectrum where Stonehaven’s steam treatment plays more of a prominent role in the flavor than RDF (which I assume has been steamed as well). Stonehaven is earthier where RDF is sweeter, especially when smoked in a cob. With all of that said, this is a very fine, lightly aromatic flake. It needs a fair amount of dry time and I prefer to fold and stuff it with some rubbed out to get things going. The Virginia’s are the lead players here with the Burley only in a support role. RDF is fairly straightforward in flavor and has a “richness” to it that offers up billows of smoke. There isn’t a bite to be found, even when pushed. RDF isn’t an easy acquisition in the US, but worth the effort. Three and a half stars.

It feels like one of the Lakelands. The label reads "contains Virginia and Burley" and I believe it as I cannot detect any smoky edges so typical with Kentucky leaf. The topping is quite apparent but difficult to describe. The tin note kind of smells like a bottle of spicy old rum, but it slides inconspicuously through your taste buds. Because of its dark colour, you would have expected something somewhat stronger, both in the nicotine and taste departments, but these flakes seem to be rather mild/medium in this sense. The moist content is ridiculously high, so they might benefit from some drying time. I am finding the whole thing rather bland and tasteless, so 2 stars is as good as its gonna get.

Edit1: I had a few more bowls, and it seems to be OK. The only problem is that the Virginia it contains does not tell me anything, but I am going to upgrade to 3 stars as it seems to have other good qualities.

RDF arrived in a peculiar unsealed pouch and inside were 10 quite long and very thin dark (nearly black) flakes, streaked with some crystals here and there. Quite wet, but I suppose that's a good thing considering it's only available as bulk. Airing a flake before packing is a good idea, but not absolutely necessary. And even so, it takes a little bit of work to get smoldering.

I had expected RDF to be, well, chock-full of flavour and to the point. But it's really not, it's actually quite the opposite - it needs to be smoked gently and slowly to find out what's really going on. I don't think the burley is immediately noticeable - at least for me it's very much in the background. The VA is the main player here, and it's really quite good. The creamy earthiness, brandy and malt notes, like mr Wibblefishofdoom suggests are quite accurate as a general flavour profile, but I associate the main flavour more with a dry red wine than whisky, and the brandy note coming through in the sidestream. It's all subjective in the end, of course, but very tasty all the same.

Each flake usually lasts me a good 2 hours or so, so it's a pretty slow burning affair, suitable for winding down in the evening. Not too strong in nicotine, but by no means too weak either - just right, in other words.

All in all, this is a very good blend. And while I probably won't be spending the rest of my life smoking it, I will certainly not be opposed to buying it again in the future. Go ahead and try it if you can, I'm sure it'll appeal especially to those fond of dark stoved flakes. In my opinion this is much better than certain other dark stoved flakes from another British blending house.

This is without doubt a very high quality product.no smoker can dispute that. But I can't see why it's so regarded. It's not the rolls Royce of all tobacco as some say. There's nothing derogatory you can say about it.but the wow factor is not there for me personally.it sells like hot cakes it's in stock then out in a day so I'm probably missing something in my palate . Burns very slow and cool. A black treacle topping on this one

I requested this one for review. Other than the above description that I placed under "Tin Description," I can't find this one anywhere in the USA. From what I can discern from Germain's email, this is Stonehaven but sold under the name "Dark Flake." As such, I'm using the Stonehaven ratings to get this one going.

Have any of you pipesters from the UK or elsewhere ever try this stuff? Your thoughts and comparisons will be greatly appreciated by us all!