Ferndown Mild Brown

I picked up a tin of this from a shop in Burbank when I was out there in the fall (2010). From the tin the scent is aged leather. The blend is fairly uniform shredded flakes about ½ an inch long and maybe 1/8 inch wide of mostly medium to darker pressed tans and browns. The moisture level was a little moist not too bad, and some drying worked out just fine for me. This blend is along the same line of Rattray's Old Gowrie, but smother, and IMO better. Nic level is low and it is a mild VA smoke. Due to the cut of this quality VA flake it is easy to pack and burns slowly. But like other VAs one should take his time or it will heat the chamber of your pipe. But I do not get any bite even if I am clinching and walking. I have had this in a variety of pipes and it has done well in all of them to include meer. But the best flavor is in a small to medium bowl cutty. Larger bowls works fine. There isn't any progression, what you get at first light is what you get throughout.

If you like Old Gowrie I think you'll like this. If you prefer a more robust VA flake, pass this one by. It is very good with coffee first thing in the day. I find it just a little too mild for a later in the day smoke.

I waffle with a rating. It's good and solid, but not blow your socks off great. So 3.75 out of 5

This one is another nicely prepared flake from K&K in Germany that deserves the Ferndown label and is on par with the quality of Les Wood's pipes. However, I didn't sense any differnece when smoking it in one of his pipes or others of lesser quality. The dark brown VA flakes are partially rubbed out but well suited to my preference. The tin and room aromas are sweet but inviting and the natural tobacco taste still comes thru from start to finish. Packing, lighting, burning rate and moisture content are ideal and result in an effortless smoke. Overall, this blend is too mild to receive my top rating but it is certainly an enjoyable smoke. If you enjoy mild VAs, give it a try.

For whatever it's worth, I concur with the two esteemed reviewers above regarding Ferndown's Mild Brown. (That'll probably scare the peewaddle out of both of them.)

Anyway, if light and sweet floats your boat, you'll hit a high water mark with this one. A mild Bright Virginia that has been stoved a bit with a honey flavor added to make for, what to me was a lighter version of Mac Baren's Navy Flake. Quality leaf all the way.

I fully concur with Jonathan's observations: the drab tin and even drabber name did not augur anything very remarkable, but, in the event, this turned out to be an authentically mild, delicately flavoured Virginia flake, with a delightful butterscotch room scent.

I tried it in a brand-new Radice; a Peterson flame-grain bent; a meerschaum: in all cases it behaved itself and, once fully going, proved gently, sweetly zesty, and rather elegant. Then in the evening, with some Tokay, it became decidedly lovely.

I could never smoke anything the whole day long, least of all a Virginia flake, and have never understood the "all-day-smoke" thing. But I was delighted to make the acquaintance of this excellent tobacco.

Tin Aroma: A complex little scent here, On first sniff, I thought it was just some overly sugary Virginias, the kind that like to bite my tongue and burn hotter than the surface of the sun, but on further inspection, I found that the aroma is not quite that one-dimensional. It is still decidely sweet, but there is a pungent earthiness lurking in the background, as well as a light note of grassiness that wafts in and out of the other two scent components.

Physical Characteristics: A darkly colored broken flake. There is nary a stem to be found in a tin of Mild Brown, which is a nice change, if I do say so. Packs with little trouble, though I do like to chop it up a little to facilitate the trickle method of packing a bowl. Burns nice and slowly to a whitish/light grey ash.

Notes: This is actually exactly what the tin promises, a mild brown virginia. I find it very pleasant as an all-day smoke, something to keep around to dip into when I just don't know what to smoke. At first, I wasn't sure that I would care much for this blend, but I was determined to smoke my review tin to the bottom in the interest of 'science'. After smoking the third or fourth bowl, on the first day I opened the tin, I realized that maybe there is something to this blend. Further communing with this blend has left me of the opinion that it is best in morning, perhaps with a mug of hot coffee to get me going. It is not subtle and nuanced, nor is it blod and overpowering. It is a simple and direct blend, suited to all-day puffing or to keep on hand when nothing seems to be the right smoke.

Verdict: Nice and mellow, the way a stoved Virginia should be.