Newminster No. 400 Superior Navy Flake

Tin note is fantastic, quite chocolatey with some dark fruit and fresh baked bread. I keep a 1oz jar on my desk just to open it up and take a whiff, I love the smell. Flavourwise it is a decent virginia, maybe a light topping added. I taste some bread, some straw, some grass, some honey, bit of citrus, a light woodiness and, surprisingly, just a barely discernable smidge of chocolate. No.400 doesn't quite live up to its scrumptious tin note, unfortunately. It can get noticeably hot and steamy on the tongue, it’s thin in the flavour department, kinda boring and bland compared to the contemporaries, but that takes little away from this cut as a whole. It burns slow and is consisent in every facet. I haven't tried yet, but I'd guess this one would age well. Decent price. Easy to work with. Good moisture level. Not the best smoke ever, but still good for a fresh virginia. There's a classic old school quality to it, like a Buddy Holly tune. Very much a Peggy Sue; great tune, but just short of the pinnacle of rock n roll. With a bit of age, this may become a love that will never fade away. I'd recommend, but it's rather average and immature. We'll see what time does to it. Somewhere between 2.5 - 3. Happy New Year pipers!

This is good tobacco.

Flakes came a very large size. Smell is of a brown virginia. Taste is fairly natural and somewhat spicy, as if it contained a bit of perique, once you get used to it becomes a very comfortable bready smoke. Fairly unique although a bit unidimensional. Recommended to those looking for a different virginia experience although I'll stay with capstan wich tastes more natural hay to me.

Three solid stars.

Bag note: 4/5 Sweet Bread pastry Rum raisin

Cut and Pack: 5/5 Loose, long, thin, flake Perfect for fold and stuff Right moisture content from P&C If you’re new to flakes this one is not as cumbersome as your typical presentation.

Taste: 4/5 Compared to the bag note, you get that lightly sweet bread, but no raisin. Then on the back half of the palette there’s a nice Honey and vanilla sweetness. Very mild and delicate smoke but gives you enough to keep you interested throughout.

The strength of this blend is that it’s so impressionable and delicate a flavor that your drink pairing will really bring out different elements of the smoke. Ginger ale, black tea, coffee with cream will all enhance and elevate certain subtleties of the blend. And for that reason I would recommend the blend.

Would highly recommend as a first time straight VA Doesn’t bite, isn’t harsh on the retrohale, burns and behaves well. Would highly recommend for experienced smokers as well as it demands a slow smoke because the flavor is so subtle. It’s a lot like Japanese sake; you can’t pound the stuff because when you do it’s really underwhelming. It has a natural sweetness and subtle strength. Requires gentle lighting and puffing.

If I had to compare this to a food item it might be macaroons. It’s more about the subtle sweetness and the big picture of the individual elements working together as a unit. It’s not a flavor bomb. But sometimes that’s just what you need.

This tastes like candy, and I love the raw aromatic tobaccos like this one. Sweet and sour is all I can say about it, though - folded and stuffed, rubbed out and packed the next day, cob or expensive briar, it always left my tongue sore before making mid-bowl, even quicker than the literal candy shop, puff-it-only cavendish my family enjoys as much as I do. But this is just sweet tobacco, so only other smokers will likely enjoy it with you. I actually never knew real tongue bite until I met Newminster 400, to be candid.

Now, Virginia flakes aren’t my favorite. I’m alright with Golden Sliced or any of Stokkebye’s VA flakes when it comes to bite, I don’t buy them often but I do enjoy them when I do. Russ Oulette has that Anniversary Cake everybody seems to love, and while I enjoyed its taste it was too hot and sharp for me to enjoy. This stuff, I could probably smoke this same 400 leaf ribbon cut and not pressed, without the excess moisture - it reminds me a little of my favorite daily smoke, D&R’s Wind Sail Platinum. That raw tobacco tastes a little like candy, too. But this stuff is on another dimension, and it leaves a sweet caramel kiss on the lips and tongue that dissipates into an earthy fog of nuts and grass as you exhale it. The next puff might be lemon drops, the next a summer field. Oh, it’s marvelous at first. There’s a snake amidst the vapors though, so beware.

Here, you take a handful of lemon-flavored SweetTarts and a caramel cube, chew it up for ten seconds then spit it out, split the tip of your tongue with a razor blade, then set your tongue on fire. Next, you set your tongue on fire again. Nature hates you, learn to sip it, practice in patience and all that. And I always thought the “practice in patience” bit was just keeping the pipe lit but cool enough to hold and still get a satisfying smoke. For the price, tobacco this good is always worth trying again, so I might do that someday.

I’m going to smoke some 403 and think it over. Sure, that can get hot and tire the mouth at times too, but not to the pain. That I still have some of this 400 tucked back in some tin in a box somewhere says enough for now.

Everything that needs to be said about his flake has already been said. It’s a sweet, mild and a fairly one dimensional all day smoke...the only thing that I can add to the conversation is that when dry puffed (puffing on your pipe before the initial light), I get the distinct flavor of toasted marshmallow. The wonderful thing about this is that it translates into the smoke as well. I love toasted marshmallows so this to me is a plus! I highly recommend this flake for that reason, but YMMV.

This is a nice, fairly standard, slightly grassy, light brown VA. The flakes are easily folded or shredded, and there might be a touch of extra brown sugar or molasses. If you're looking to try this type of VA, this is a good intro. If you like this sort of flake already, it's at a reasonable price point. Unless you only like aromatics or really powerful blends, it's worth giving it a try.

I've smoked a lot of PS Luxury Navy Flake over the years and out of the bag Newminster 400 Superior Navy Flake is a dead ringer aroma wise. Whatever casing/top dressing is used, some kind of brown sugar derivative I guess, it is indistinguishable to me from one to the other. They also look the same, except for No. 400 being enormous flakes. Laid end to end I cannot tell LNF from SNF visually.

Having said that, the two tobaccos differ once lit. No. 400 makes no pretence at having Perique in the mix and is decidedly less complex. It is a decent enough Va but has little nuance or variation through the bowl. That's not a fault per se; a thing is what it is, and as a straight Va muddled with a bit of sweetener it does what it is supposed to do, giving an uncomplicated, simple, easy to manage smoke. Are there better Va flakes on the market? Sure. But you'd be pushed to find one as good at this price point.

Realistically somewhere between 2 and 3, but it would be churlish to mark it down.

I'm slowly starting to come around to camp Virginia and No. 400 here has been a great counselor. For a flake, it had the perfect feel and moisture content, and rubbed out great. The initial aroma had less of the anticipated barn/hay oder, and instead gave a off a pleasant honey vapor.

Everything stayed lit and burned for the long haul, dispensing a nice sweetness all the while. Not a refined sugar, but the kind of sweetness that is much more dialed back and found only in natural things. I would say it was a mild smoking experience with a tad bit of body creeping towards medium strength.

Try not to puff too hard however, as you may get a little tongue sting, loss of flavor, and some spittle. It is for this reason I considered it a 2 star blend. This stuff is meant for a laid back approach.

I'm not entirely sure what Newminster is known for, but I think they did a fine job with this flake. It was 180 degrees different from the Blackberry Brandy blend I just quaffed from them, so maybe they can just do it all.

Beautiful presentation, neat clean light-to-medium brown flakes. Moisture level is just fine.

This is mild Virginia, nothing else. There's nothing wrong with it, just nothing stands out. Fairly one dimensional. The good thing is, that one dimension is pretty good. Sweet, slightly grassy Virginia goodness from top to bottom.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this blend. But it just isn't my cup of tea. It's too bland and boring for me, and it doesn't have enough nicotine to scratch the itch.