Dan Tobacco Hamborger Veermaster

This lovely flake is very similar to DAN Tobacco's offering of Patriot Flake, albeit slightly more mild in the nicotine department. An absolutely wonderful flake of different Virginia tobaccos, a great milder smoke to start your day in a good mood and do battle with the nonsense that every day life tosses at you.

Excellent Virginia tin aroma (hay, straw, slight molasses sweetness) with the room note and taste to match. A perfect all day smoke whilst doing tasks, mindless yard mowing, etc... Nothing complex about this one folks, just a great, mellow, very tasty and enjoyable smoke with no tongue bite.

I do detect a very slight topping as I do in Patriot Flake. Not so much a flavor as a sweetness. Not a pure tobacco Virginia sweetness, but whatever it is, it pairs perfectly with the otherwise pure Virginia smoking flavor. I also get a very slight spiciness, especially toward the end of the bowl. A little hint of Perique splashed in the mix? I am uncertain, but it works perfectly...

I'd give it 3.5 stars if I had the option. For now it has to get 3 as it is slightly too mild for my taste. Although I did just purchase a 9oz bag to cellar 🙂

I have smoked and enjoyed Hamborger Veermaster for some time. This is a basic Virginia with a very pleasant and consistent smoking qualities. It is a flake and rubs out very well. Out of the tin this blend is perfect (not too moist and not dry). Haborger Veermaster has a sweet taste but not too sweet. The vitamin N is very slight and I would classify this blend as a light tobacco with a very pleasant room note.

Well, this has to be one of the smoothest straight virginia flakes i've ever smoked. Moisture is on the spot (I assume some drying would do no harm, though), it packs and lights easily, stays lit easily as well and produces no harsh tones or tongue bites whatsoever even when puffed quite hard.

The aroma is there right after lighting and stays over the full bowl with a little pleasant tangyness towards the end. It's sweet and mellow (as is said on the tin: "Seut un sacht"). Mellow, mellow, mellow indeed! Round, rich and soft and very delightful.

The only reason for not giving 4 stars is that it's a wee bit too sweet for my liking (hence I put "Extremely mild" in flavouring, because I've never had a virginia THAT sweet. It's not that I can put my finger on a specific flavouring). But that's personal preference, so 3 and a half stars for that one.

Smokers who prefer some edges in their virginias may find it a little boring.

THis is a good straight VA. When I think about what tobacco in general should taste like I would think of this. However, the taste is a little thin for lack of a better term. This was a tin ROTT so some age might help it. I have smoked a little over half of the tin and placed the rest in to storage for a few years. Maybe 3 yrs or so will change my opinion on it. Again a good smoke, one that could be smoked all day except for the tongue bite. I have to smoke this in a small bowl and pay attention or it will bite. There are other VA's that I like better, SG's BBF and FVF would be a better option for my palate right now.

**Update** 2022-10-12 I have smoked 6 tins of this since the review above, it has been hard to find at times. This is my last tin and it has 10 yrs of age on it. The taste is exactly as I described above but the flakes are a little darker and a little sweeter. That said, I still prefer other blends to this one and since it is so sought after will likely not pick it up again but the rating is the same, a solid 3 stars.

Tin dated 10/2006

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this HV. My expectation after reading several reviews was that it was a mild Virginia that didn't have too many new twists or turns to the classic Virginia blend. I cracked the tin only after my Christmas Cheer spot in my rotation opened up due to a tiring of that blend (and empty tin). Yes, Hamborger Veermaster is mild, but mild doesn't mean bland or tasteless. There is a lot of nice Virginia flavor here that is soft enough to smoke several bowls in a row but hearty enough to enjoy it no matter what one is doing. HV is the "Whirling Dervish" of the mild Virginias, it dances like no other. It's hard to ignore and is recommended for all lighter Virginia lovers.

I find this to be a very "bright" Virginia tobacco.

The taste is of light Virginia tobacco with hay/straw notes. The tin I have displays some glittering crystals of sugar on the flakes, which is very nice to see.

While my preference leans toward VAs that are a little darker, this is an excellent example of a light Virginia flake.

The tins I've received from Dan Tobacco had a very low moisture level. The flakes were easily turning into dust. So I carefully put the containing into my tobacco humidifier. After a couple of days they were ready to smoke.

It packed and light well and it is easy to keep it lit. Burns even and cool offering a quite long smoke. The taste of the true tobacco is present, however it is not enough. Also the sweetness of fine Virginia is not satisfactory. It has a nice dosage of nicotine.

This is a fine all day tobacco. But not enough to satisfy a fastidious Virginia smoker.

I love the tin artistry of this one and upon opening it I was greeted with a very sweet, fresh and somewhat musty fragrance. The flakes are on the thin side and they are a little wetter than I like. Rolled up in my Verona Rustica bent apple well enough and after a few lights, it burned well and the first taste was delicious. As I smoked it down the bowl, the taste went from a sweet VA to a strong and musty flavor. Not that this is bad, but I would rather had better balance. I did notice that the blend becomes stronger the more it was smoked and towards the end, it was very strong with just a little tongue bite. This one has to be sipped.

I did enjoy this blend and it burned down to a no dottle, dry dark grey ash which is a big plus. My tin was rather new and I think this blend will do much better with age. I think it would smooth the edges and will become a rich creamy smoke. I cannot give it four stars as I think there are better blends of this type out there, such as Irish Flake.

Edit-I was given another tin of this with about a year one it and I really think my first tin was another blend in the wrong tin. This blend does not bite and it is simply delicious and a great example of a VA. It is sweet, with the haylike taste and arom of a good VA and burns sweet all the way down. Of course a years time makes a lot of difference in a VA blend. I think with age on it, this blend becomes a really great blend.

first: THIS IS NOT AIR CURED BUT FLUE CURED!!!!

and the review:

tin aroma is pretty nice and clean, without being in the same league as bbf or escudo.

a bit too dry in the tin. might explain the lack of fermentational notes? lights easily, of course. very mild, woodsy/vanilla-ish flavour, with only the faintest whiff of berries. slightly sweet. the vanilla notes just might be an added flavour.

burns well, of course. relights add a bit of strength to the taste without being unpleasant in any way.

i think this one will be absolutely splendid for aging in jars if humidified a bit, but when new it lacks some depth.

baking it helps a lot, too.