Peterson Flake

My second Dunhill Flake that I received yesterday from a fellow member celebrating International Pipe Smoking Day. When I first looked this up in the review site, I could not find it and then switched over to the Peterson link. This is a Dunhill tin dated June 2018. Nice looking brown flake, slight sweet tin note, very mild. This as stated is a straight Virginia and smoked pretty smooth with little or no bite. As with a lot of Virginia's I chose a corn cob, in this case an Old Dominion Cob. The first bowl was okay but as this is a light tasting blend probably more due to whatever tobacco I had previously smoked. The second and third bowls I sipped on it and detected a nice grassy hay taste. The flake was slighty moist and I basically just folded and twisted it up into smaller ‘ribbons’ before loading my pipe. Good, but with my jaded taste buds a little too light in flavor but that is okay. I am sure the Peterson edition is the same. Side note, it is in a round tin now. If to choose between the two I would go with the dark flake.

This is a great easy virginia blend. However it doesn’t have some of the more interesting diversity of flavors of some of my other favorite Virginia’s. Likely to be a custom blend base for me.

UPDATE: I was a little hasty with my prior review. This is a good quality flake that smokes oh so much better under cooler, drier conditions. There's a delightfully refreshing citrus top note that I find attention grabbing, enough so to smoke 3 consecutive bowls this morning. Due to the higher cost and my very rare desire for straight Virginia's, I doubt I will purchase again, but I did want to return and bump this one up a notch.

I had read so many favorable reviews about this one that I sort of built it up in my head as to what I should expect. Price always put me off, but I finally jumped on a tin last weekend. The tin note is incredible and definitely suggests a darker, deeper fermented character. There's a predominant twang that resembles Worcestershire or bbq sauce. I may prefer that to the delicious McClelland ketchup aroma! Sadly, the smoke never delivers. There is just not much flavor there, and what little is there is very flat, monodimensional, and all around disappointing. But I can forgive this...perhaps the blend is too fresh and young. Perhaps this will mend in time and blossom, like all of McClellands VAs do. What I cannot forgive, and what consequently drives my rating, is the heat and bite. A blend just cannot be enjoyed with a swollen tongue and burnt taste receptors, no matter how slow and easy you take it. I had the same issue with SG FVF, and it took months of trial and error to find a magic combination that made it bearable. I don't wish to repeat the process. I'm giving a low rating but will return with an edit if further findings warrant it.

The unlit tobacco gives a full Virginia aroma with a certain "earthy" quality to it . The actual flakes are of a perfect thickness and moisture content to rub and fill with . The smoke is (as you expect) a full Virginia flavor and unless you "strain" the draw you get no bite . It is steady to smoke and burns very evenly .The room note is as you would expect from a full Virginia . Considering I favour Cavendish and Latakia I am surprised with my liking for this one ! If you like a straight Virginia then go for this !

Light pleasant tin note, dried fruits and nuts, hay and allspice. The tobacco comes in beautiful wide rather thin flakes. One flake folded, twisted and stuffed is just enough for a corn cob. Lights very easy for a flake. The smoke is a pleasant, dry, light bodied Virginia with a sweetness that develops, without any hint of sour notes; this one is a rather frank and clean tobacco flavour, earthy, notes of hay, leather and spice, but remains in the lighter shades of the spectrum. Also in terms of nicotine it is rather light, which can be a good thing. Burns cleanly all the way and leaves a very fine ash - beware if youre unfilterd like me. All in all a clean, pleasant, consistent, light smoke without surprises

Fine leaf,of course,perfect cut,easy rubbing and burning but...IMHO it lacks of pe rsonality,it can´t match any of 3 Va from Samuel Gawith or the wonderful for me and disputable for others Mc Clelland virginias,or Solani´s.In short really good stuff but I prefer other options in Virginia´s planet.It worths a try but it doesn´t enter in my rotation.

I agree: there is no point in comparing this tobacco to long gone Light Flake produced by Murray. It is a not entirely different animal, but it is simply not the same. In terms of strength (the term "light" in the old Duhill flake was referred to the color of the Virginias empoleyed), texture and density this new Flake is closer to Orlik, Capstan or most of the Danish style of Virginia flakes: tasy, smooth, very nice and easy to break and smoke.

I enjoyed it very much and defenitely recommend it. In fact it does manage to keep that very special sweetness (dry raisins, molasses) of its former self, but only as a whisper, a reminiscence. Still, a very nice smoke, kind on the palate (for a Virginia), very supple in texture and quite friendly.

As all the Dunhill blends, this is a high quality pipe tobacco, where in this case the mottled brown flakes come in perfect shape and condition.

The tin note gives a rather earthy, typically grassy, haylike smell with a subtle sweetness in the background.

Using the fold and stuff method, filling your pipe is easy. After a thorough charring light it'll stay lit and burn down evenly.

The taste is quite typical for a straight Virginia blend: dark, earthy, grassy notes with a slight tangy sweetness in the background. All of this rather mellow. I experienced no tongue bite whatsoever.

The room note is a natural tobacco scent.

This is definitely one good flake; a helluva great taste and side stream. It gets a bit acrid and bitter on the snork, at least for me (not a deal breaker). As far as nicotine levels, this baccy is stronger than I usually prefer (though, again, not a deal breaker). I put this flake on the same tier as Orlik Golden Slices (that is to say same level of quality—it's even presented in much the same way). If one is to compare Virginia Flakes, I like Gawith's Full Virginia Flake over this one, it's smoother and offers a more interesting taste (though SGFVF doesn't behave as well in a pipe as this flake does, however). There are a few other flakes I prefer over this, but, honestly, I wouldn't pass this flake by, it's worth a good look. The moisture level was no problem; I didn't have to wait around for it to dry, I just folded it up and fired it up. It burned down to a nice light gray ash. Recommended.