Peterson Flake

Dunhill Flake is a yellow Virginia, with some amount of red or orange Virginia speckled throughout. The tin has beautiful, classic styling, and the flakes inside are always neat and unbroken, per Dunhill’s spectacular packaging standards. The current instantiation of this flake, which is what I will be exploring here, is made by Scandinavian Tobacco Group in Denmark. I am smoking a brand new tin of this stuff, made in early 2015. I will talk about differences in aged Dunhill flake later. The tin note is typical but balanced. You get notes of hay and honey, slight citrus (some say orange, but I think it is more along the lines of pummelo or grapefruit). There is an underlying floral scent, which most people miss, reminding me gently of cultivated roses or even rose flavored snuff. Sweet livestock feed is there, kind of–the molasses is missing, but you can pick up malted barley, oats, and in certain tins, even a corn note, which is however buried under the citrus and floral aroma.

I’ve found that Dunhill Flake works best fully rubbed out into a ribbon. It still burns much slower than other Dunhill Virginias, which seems to move along very cheerfully. It also works best in a bowl which allows some air–a prince, maybe, or a pot. Rarely do I recommend using a bowl wider than 5/8 inch for flake Virginias, but Dunhill flake seems to burn best in a 3/4 inch bowl, with not too much depth to it, no deeper than 1 1/4 inches. It needs some air, and in a bowl this size (I’m smoking in a 1965 Dunhill Prince), it’ll burn for a little over an hour, right out of the tin, a little faster if left to dry for 15-20 minutes rubbed out.

Leave some tinder on top so that it lights easily with a match. Matches burn at about a tenth of the temperature of a lighter–use matches. The heat of your lighting method affects the flavor far more that the chemicals in matches or butane. Not only that, but matches give you more control over the direction and intensity of the heat. Use. Matches. Let me make something clear. Tongue Bite is a chemical reaction. No one is really sure about what causes it, and pipe smokers are not the type of population to fund independent research on the matter. It is a quality that is native to aromatic tobaccos, and tobaccos with any liquor added. The ‘nip’ you feel when you burn a Virginia, English, or Burley is NOT tongue bite. You are burning the tobacco too hot, or you are discovering some spiciness on the tongue. But natural tobaccos don’t bite. So when one talks about Virginias, the category of “bite” is incorrect. It is either spiciness, which comes mostly from Burleys, or from your own smoking cadence. If you smoke a Virginia too hot, too fast, too open, too tight, or if you re-light it too many times, it will burn your tongue. Virginias have a high sugar-content because of the flue-curing process, and sugar has a high combustion point–which is why it burns hot.

Back to smoking. Dunhill Flake on a gentle light will start well, but you might need to pack down the ash more than once, as the rubbed-out ribbon expands a lot. You should get notes of canned mandarin oranges and cedar–from the match as well as the tobacco. A buttery texture with some citrusy acidity develops. There is a small bit of curry-like spice way in the back of the mouth, but it is noticeable only as warmth, not sharp at all. It burns evenly and slowly, and there is remarkably little change throughout the bowl, although you should notice a steady increase in hay, fresh grass, mandarin orange, and sweetness. It has a toasty, buttery room-note, which my wife says reminds her of good cigarettes and popcorn. It stands up to more vigorous smoking, but the orange notes and butter happen with a slow, even puffing cadence. I think people are imagining the vanilla, although with a year of age, some dry vanilla flavors do make an appearance. There is a jasmine tea flavor that whispers in towards the end of the bowl if you are paying attention. It inhales well, but heavy, and the nicotine content is low. The retrohale will reveal some earthier flavors, like wet wood. It leaves the tongue feeling like you’ve eaten a warm orange. The aftertaste is very clean, and similar to the mouthfeel of sweet corn. The ash is a very light grey throughout. Towards the finish of the bowl, there is a nice nicotine warmth, and a sharper pine emerges to finish it off completely with no dottle whatsoever.

Overall, Dunhill flake is not a complex or rich tobacco. You can easily ignore it, and enjoy the top notes of cedar and orange, enjoy the mouthfeel of butter and mandarin oranges. It is not striking in any way. But, Dunhill flake is perfectly balanced, perfectly constructed, perfectly gentle without being boring. The weight of the smoke is perfect, and it is generous with the smoke without billowing. If you are looking for an extreme or distinctive smoke, look elsewhere. But the fact that I have smoked through probably a hundred tins of this stuff should tell you that Dunhill flake is an approachable, affable, and sophisticated smoke that has never failed to please. With a year or two of age, dry vanilla, butter, and toast take the foreground, and the brightness of the orange and green grass fades gracefully to the back, although it is still present. Think of this as the Moet & Chandon of tobaccos; nothing new, everything right.

Straight Virginias seem one-dimensional to me, but Dunhill has done the best with this genre of tobacco by producing a top-quality flake. What looks like light and toasted or dark-fired Virginias are combined in a tan-grey flake which emits the sweet hay season smell of a good Virginia. This burns cooler than Newminster and other flakes, and like all Dunhill products -- this is their secret -- carefully balances its flavors for a mature, slow-paced smoke. Dunhill did their best to mediate the one-dimensionality of straight Virginia with this mix, and in the process, came up with something that is basically like smoking a cookie. Sweet, with some added earthy flavors, it provides hours of light puffing fun for those who do not want intensity of flavor or too much nicotine hitting them in the face like a political scandal.

Deep dark earthy... call me crazy, but I think Pecan Pie best describe the array of flavors that dance in and out when this tobacco starts to sing.

I folded stuffed and tufted this fresh from the tin into an orlik rhodesian. The first part of the bowl was very woodsy and dark with hints of leather and essential oil very little sweetness. It gets a bit dry and campfire towards the burn out of the first relight. However, beyond the first light when the bowl starts to heat up and the tobacco hits its stride, I taste dark cocoa, with creamy top notes and a hint of a sweet nut meat that permeates the palate. As this progresses the flavor intensifies and the taste of toasted coconut or pecan pie is incredible. A dark savory meal with a side stream of biscuits and sweet hay.

The burn characteristics out of thr tin are phenomenal and if you stick wiith it past the first few lights it will reward you with a treat. I will try a few other methods to see if I can get past the admittedly rough front end.

Definitely a 3 star blend that will probably earn a 4 star if I can massage it into its zone sooner.

Clean. That's the key word with this one. Pure too. Fantastic tobacco, try it straight outta the tin if you like but I found it to be very slightly 'young'. As I do with all my baccies, jar her up and leave her in the dark for at least a week or two. Really, the quality is top. Yes, not particularly complex, no rising and falling overtones, but for sheer consistency and smokeability, this tobacco is very highly recommended. Good all day smoke and a superb first of the day bowl.

I was at JR Cigar today and spotted Dunhill Flake and purchased a tin. I am happy I did. The flakes were arranged neatly in a row with a tin note of hay-like Virginia. It folded and loaded very easily and took to the match without effort. The taste was perhaps one of the best straight Virginias I have ever smoked, and it wasn't at all hay-like in taste. It was spicy and had a raisiny presence. I couldn't detect any other flavors. If you like a straight Virginia with natural sweetness - and not over the top - Dunhill Flake is surely one way to go. It is sweeter and more flavorful for me than Pease's Union Square by way of comparison. Also, much better than FVF and BBF from Sam Gawith. A bit stingy if puffed on too fast, but one need not worry. There is enough flavor to satisfy with slow puffing. Not a hot smoke by any means. Really smokes best for me when near to brittle dry. A superior offering all the way around. Very nice DGT by the way.

This is the one Dunhill blend I have cellared the most, though in the meantime I’ve discovered other Virginia flakes that I like even better. I do consider this a sort of benchmark for darker flue-cured Virginia flakes, and unlike Astley’s 44, I find the presentation here very natural, with very minimal pH tempering. As for aging, it takes a long time to notice much difference, I’m thinking about five years, and even then the transformation isn’t as dramatic as it is with some other Virginia flakes.

Even when fresh you will discern that this is made of the highest quality leaf, and the depth of flavor is most satisfying. I get winter hay, toasted Cheerios, toasted wheat bran bread, and on long, slow retrohale a faint trace of anise. When young I also experimented with some tweaks (I know: sacrilege!) and found that a drop of Watkins coffee extract with this was simply amazing. Trying a tin with nine years on it I get the usual predominant taste of brown bread, slightly rounder and mellower now, but also surprising nuances of inexplicable flavor toward the end of the bowl: orange peel, and dried apricot. I never tasted those before, and they are fleeting impressions, but shows that some surprises await as the tobacco ages. I have several more of the older square tins with nine years on them, and I will try those when they hit the ten, fifteen and twenty year mark. Something to look forward to!

*Peterson Flake*

Got a 2 yrs aged sample.

Dark brown and golden Flake,  thinly sliced. Dried it for a bit and then folded and rubbed followed by some more drying before packing the bowl.

Initial light gave stewed fruity sweetness with very mild tangyness.

As the bowl progressed fruity sweetness was consistent along with some sugary sweetness (lighter than molasses) was present. I could also taste some bread notes.

The beauty of the blend was mild creaminess all along with the sweet notes.

Mild spice detected on retrohale.

Overall a satisfying Virginia blend. Not complex but yet very enjoyable.

It did need average amount of lights, mostly tuned into grey ash and left a little moisture.

Strength - Medium Taste - Medium Overall score ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was hesitant to try this tobacco since I had a bunch of the Dunhill square cans, I figured this was the same thing in a round can with Peterson name. I broke down and bought a few cans, to my surprise this tobacco tasted almost exactly the same as the old Dunhill light flake which I smoked exclusively for many years. Dunhill Flake in the square can is good but this one is beyond good, it is awesome.

Smoking now:

Let age for a while in my basement. Tin note is grassy lemon sweet hay. What you would want from a straight Virginia. Moisture is fine, flakes are light in color and fold or break apart nice.

The taste is as it smells. A really mellow and easy smoking blend. Not getting any bite or mouth tinge. Retrohale is pleasant and the bready hay taste comes though nice. It’s very light in body but has a wonderful grassy tart hay bread like flavor. Easy and enjoyable.

It’s a absolute classic.