Rattray Wallace Flake

My normal rotation has a noticeable lack of aromatic blends but there are a few out there I do enjoy. Having been a fan of Pete's Uni Flake I was excited to take Wallace Flake out for a spin as TR reviews all noted the similarity of the two blends. While not exact copies of each other, I believe close cousins fit the bill here. Wallace presented itself as a darker flake and just a hair wider in the tin, beautiful presentation. The tin aroma on opening was a deep intoxicating fermented smell, heaven in a metal box. The blueberry (I don't get the plum labeling, plum is commonly used but often isn't a static taste to me), wasn't an isolated smell, I got more stewed fruit/fermented VA than anything. The real treat here was the first light. With more Va than burley compared to the Peterson offering, I found this to be very smooth. I'm realizing I can be sensitive to VA's even when sipped at a snails pace. These Va's are friendly and don't rough up my tongue like brighter ginny leaves. Moisture level is normal to me. While it can and does do well with some dry time, it's not required. Best results for me is to pre-load a bowl to be smoked hours later, not a fully exposed dry time but enough to get a nice burn going. The topping does stick around longer than with UF which I do enjoy. While I'm not a big Aro fan, I find the background aromatic blends like this excellent for a change from full latakia blends. As the bowl progresses the flavor stays rich and full flavored without ever becoming overbearing or turning sour/burnt. This is a steady, easy smoke all the way. My favorite bowl for this is my new H Weibe Radiator Chimney as the tall narrow bowl concentrates the deep VA flavor and makes for an effortless smoke. Price wise, you're going to pay a dollar or two more for the tin than UF but for the ease of use and better taste throughout, it's worth the investment.

I plan on trying another Rattray's flake, Stirling, very soon. Being a cousin to Pete's Irish Flake, I have hopes that Stirling will soar above IF like Wallace does to Uni.

Link to H Weibe pipes site (mods remove if it's not permitted to share here)

http://www.hwiebe.com/

When this tobacco first appeared I wanted to give it a try but was told by a tobacconist that I wouldn’t like it because it was aromatic, so I never tried it. I recently found out that it was in fact supposed to be a Peterson university flake clone, so I broke down and purchased a couple of cans despite my reservations just to see how it compared to the university flake. Folks let me tell you, this is a 1000 times better than any university flake that I have ever tried past and present, it is sweet, smooth, gentle and has no rough edges, in my book this is not an aromatic tobacco and if it is then my idea of aromatics is flawed, if you have never tried this tobacco you owe it to yourself, try it.

This was a weird one for me. First of all, Rattray (along with Solani) are responsible for some of my most beloved flakes ever, those being Marlin Flake and 633, respectively. And having enjoyed University Flake in the past, I was very curious about this blend.

Tin note - very nice. Pretty much exactly like University Flake, which I just had a tin of a few weeks ago. Even the color, cut and thickness of the flakes are pretty much identical. So far so good.

Oddly enough, the first half of my tin was horrible. It was just completely tasteless and boring. All I would get was a terrible ashy taste. Thinking that it could be my pipe, I put it in rotation. It went through Petersons, Nordings, cobs and a meerschaum. Always that same ashy taste.

Being pretty disappointed and discouraged, I took the remaining flakes and put them into a jar for a week and forgot about it, and went back to my Solani blends.

Just one week of waiting completely changed this blend in such an incredible way I don't even have words for it. It was now bursting with flavor, and the plum taste was very, very nice - right down to the end of the bowl. I rub out my flakes completely (the fold and stuff method just doesn't do it for me anymore) so it packs with no problem, and lights with no problem. Tamp once or twice and you'll reach the bottom of your bowl no problem.

It doesn't come wet out of the tin or anything - mine was just perfect - but after you open it up, just let it rest for a week or so. Don't smoke any of it fresh. Just open it and forget about it for a while.

Even though I hated it at first because I had never had a Rattray's blend act up on me like this before, but now I give it a solid three stars. Much better than University Flake. More Virginia than Burley, more flavor, more topping, and just tastier.

Update : The second tin of this I dived into was absolutely terrible, even after following my own advice written above. There is some serious inconsistency and quality control issues with this blend I believe, and it's not just from tin to tin, it's from flake to flake. Now I think that letting it wait for a week has nothing to do with it - in a tin there are good flakes and bad flakes, and the second tin for me was nothing but bad flakes. It was a chore to smoke through it all. I will not be buying this again. Life is too short to have to deal with such inconsistencies.

This tastes very much like MacB's Mixture Flake. It certainly looks, smells and feels exactly the same. And that's good (but confusing for this aged brain). To my mind, a VaBur smoker's aromatic (being very non-aromatic save for the room note which is pure tobacco with Fabreze). I very much enjoy all of its characteristics (moisture, lighting, ease of maintenance, flavor, etc.). Just note that it's very light in nicotine. That's fine by me alternatively. Go dark burley one bowl, this the next and you'll be good.

Wallace Flake is another good one from Rattray’s, a short stack of well-formed, moist, dark-ish brown flakes with light golden brown striations. Tin note is subdued nuts over sweet brown bread with a plummy topping that is lightly applied and its tin note dissipates fast, though enough plum remains to waft delicately through the length and breadth of every smoke The flakes are easy to break, roll and loosely stuff into a pipe. I stress “loosely” because WF expands significantly when it heats up, and it’s lots better if it doesn’t tighten in the chamber. It requires some patience to get it going, then it burns steadily through a long smoke. I have to stir it toward the bottom, and no problem there as it gets better and better all the way down. IMO, scents and tastes are best if they are kept in accord with the tin note, and the way to do this is to keep it as cool as possible. Lit, it’s very fragrant, tobacco-y, nutty brown bread, sweet meadow grass and sweet, dried hay, along with wonderful plum blossoms. There are typical Burley bitters, but not much. Very pleasant. Taken slow, there is yet plenty of flavor, rich and well-melded, and there’s nothing to worry about, since it does nothing wrong. The aromas are consistently fragrant and the tastes are consistent, as well, apart from the fact that they intensify, and WF gets stronger (and better) as it’s smoked down. If one pulls, it gets more like Sterling Flake or Peterson’s Perfect Plug, but it does not beat either at their game (not that it needs to). It burns cleanly to the bottom of a bowl for me, just a little dottle remaining. Strength builds past medium, likewise the tastes. Room note is mostly pleasant, at least for the smoker. Aftertaste is a long trailing off of the best of the smoke.

Here’s a swell smoke that’s likely to please those looking for a pretty near perfect, medium bodied +, Old School VA/Bur flake that’s well behaved, fragrant, delicious, relaxing. No idea why it’s not more popular. 4 Stars.

Flakes come in a nice tin and are very similar to University Flake. Dark-Medium brown flakes with flecks of yellow and black here and there. Smells like sweet hay with a hint of plum right out of the tin. The flakes were the perfect moisture in my opinion and were easy to fold and load into my pipe.

Lighting took a few tries, but nothing extreme. Very pleasant smell and flavor. Rich virginia sweetness balanced with a bit of nutty/spicy burley flavors. The plum topping adds a slight fruit accent to the flavors and smoke, but not overdone in the least. I would say this is a perfect lightly aromatic smoke that is elegant and satisfying.

This is one of the blends where directly after opening i cannot smell anything much. But after it got some air i slowly can make out tobacco, the smell of the yellow Wrigley's gum (i often get that with plum flavour, if it is the same with you we just might have the very same taste in tobaccos) and finally plum.

The flakes are neat and appetizing. Also the tobacco was a bit too moist but nothing that 15 min. of airing out right before a smoke wouldn't solve.

Packing is easy enough no matter what method you may prepare. Lighting however takes a little and it works better with a lighter than with matches. Once lighted it burns flake-typically quiet and smooth, however i had to relight alot of times, way more than with other flakes. I did not like that plus its not a good quality in a flake considering how long you have to smoke on it.

Taste is slightly spicy, slightly sweet and slightly soapy but without any depth or improvement over the course of the bowl. What little plum aroma was added complements the natural tobacco taste. The very end of the bowl has to be scraped because by then the flake does not taste well any longer. Overall i found it rather bland and uninteresting which of course is the death of any flake. Smoking in excess of 2 hours on something that wouldn't catch my attention for not even 45 min. is not the reason for me to buy a flake.

How does it compare to University Flake? I only know Murray's version of it but compared to that it tastes like a washed out version of University Flake that in very rare glimpses actually reminds me of University Flake. Strength also is weaker than the Murray's version but still nice enough to be enjoyed.

Room note is the glorious smell of plain tobacco and virginia at that. Aftertaste is mostly sweetness.

Quality and make of this flake are of excellent quality it's just that the outcome is just plain and does not add anything to the world of flakes which does not already exist in better quality.

So do i recommend this blend? Well, somewhat. Since it really is nothing special at all i only recommend it somewhat. Even tho i really, really wanted to like this offering and it *is* of good quality i can't make myself give it a 3.

Also i don't know who is actually making this tobacco because K&K do not have the equipment to produce any flakes.

Ever since I found out that after transferring Peterson tobacco production to Orlik/STG facilities the crafty and sneaky Germans from Kohlhase & Kopp managed to preserve recipes of almost all Peterson tobacco products and start producing them under new names in the Rattray line I could not stop thinking about to test them with originals and compare. Today's hero is Peterson University Flake which I got in three versions: the 2010 Kohlhase & Kopp square tin (hereinafter UF K&K), its clone, the Rattray Wallace Flake of 2022 (hereinafter WF), and the August 2021 University Flake by Scandinavian Tobacco Group (hereinafter UF STG).

Appearance: on the whole, all the tobaccos are similar to each other, presenting a wonderfully well-cut flake of several Virginias of various treatments - and Burley. Only the UF STG can be faulted, with its slightly darker shade giving off a higher moisture content. Alas, the UF STG has the touch has an obvious presence of glycerine and propylene glycol, which cannot be said about the other two tobaccos. UF K&K also dried a little during storage, the flake didn't feel so dense, but still retained its shape. Overall all three left a good impression, although UF STG would need some time to dry out.

Flavor: this is where the first differences begin. I'll try to describe the difference in aroma.

UF K&K: it smells like a good plum biscuit lying on a wooden cutting plate - each note of flavor is woven into the overall bouquet, all together they create an amazing harmony, it literally wants to be eaten. It's very difficult to isolate the nuances of the aroma, although of course the plum gently prevails, creating a general background supported by notes of biscuit dough with an almost subtle touch of vanilla and cinnamon. As for the burley, it hardly shows itself, being present only in the form of soft woody and nutty notes in the background.

WF: reminiscent of Tyrolean plum cake - it cannot boast of such harmony in flavor, however, all the notes of the aroma, though not constituting a whole, are perceived quite appropriately and with the right intensity. Plum, of course, dominates, somewhat detached from the rest of the bouquet. Also, the bread notes have a slightly different quality here, not so soft and airy, dry a littlle, and the vanilla and cinnamon are barely perceptible. The woody-walnut notes of burley, as slightly detached as with the more mature tobacco, but still more noticeable. Perhaps over time, the overall flavor of WF could compete with the 12-year-old original, becoming softer and more solid. But for a fresh tin, and also being a “copy”, it's great.

UF STG: it's a batch of grandma's plum jam, which you stolen with an old wooden spoon straight from a jar open for a pie, for which, alas, the dough hasn't even been kneaded yet. The plum flavor is brighter, more pungent, and I also managed to smell a slight note of molasses. Woody notes of burley are also more noticeable, and what's more, a walnut note permeates the overall flavor as well. And, the other side, Virginia bread notes, alas, got pokey - they are barely noticeable in the flavor to favor of a brighter plum aroma and burley notes. Moreover, rubbing the tobacco in my hands, I managed to catch a slight scent of hay, but the bread note was equally subtle and unnoticeable.

Taste: there are differences in this aspect as well.

UF K&K: Initially a little drier in flavor than expected from such a flavor, the tobacco quickly gains sweetness and after a couple of minutes is fully consistent with its aroma. Calm biscuit notes framed with plum are in a harmonious balance, setting the base. The woody and nutty tones of birch barely support them, complemented by a very slight hint of cinnamon, the resemblance to which is enhanced by the fact that I felt tobacco as a little tongue-twisting. However, the overall taste of the blend is absolutely mild, without any roughness. As you smoke, the burley adds nuttiness, catching up with the woody notes in intensity, but doesn't step out of the shadow of the main, plum biscuit flavor. The strange thing (for me) is that burley doesn't bother me at all in this blend, remaining a minor player but being nonetheless highly noticeable. What's interesting: whichever padding I tried, the tobacco flavor remained quiet without getting brighter. The tobacco smokes cool, dry and slow, burning out into a dusty light grey ash. I didn't want to take any risk, so I only stuffed one flake plate into the pipe, but the tobacco still seemed stronger than average to me. Separately, I can say that in both bent and straight forms of pipe the tobacco has almost the same taste. The aftertaste is fruity and woody, a little astringent, soft, but quite persistent.

WF: Amazingly, the taste of the tobacco is almost entirely consistent with its flavor. Slightly buttery notes of sweetly sandy pastry, a slightly bright but still very mild plum flavor, a barely noticeable presence of cinnamon and only the merest of woody and nutty notes in the background. As you smoke, the woody and nutty notes increase slightly in flavor, leaving the Virginia in the foreground, along with the plum filling. The tobacco taste is slightly sweeter than the original. I've smoked WF both whole and broken flake, and I have to say it's a bit brighter in the broken form, which makes sense. The tobacco smokes cool, dry and slow (and in the case of whole flake - very slow), burning to a perfect dust of light grey. It is reasonably tolerable for a beginner, although if smoked too hot, the plum will be the first to disappear. Also worth considering is the fact that the strength of WF is slightly above average - having puffed a plate and a half into the pipe, I felt a nicotine hit at the end, soft and slight, but perceptible. The tobacco, just like the original, tastes pretty much the same in both straight pipes and bents. Also, its aftertaste is also pretty much the same as the original - fruity-woody, slightly astringent, soft and quite persistent.

UF STG: The woody and nutty notes of burley are more prominent in the taste of this tobacco than the earlier versions, while the sweetness is much less noticeable. The taste is considerably simpler and more reminiscent of the usual Virginia-Burley blend, as the plum tones become imperceptible in the middle of the pipe, being replaced by herbal and - finally! - bread-like Virginia notes. Besides, the tobacco itself is much more demanding to the temp of smoking at the beginning of the pipe, and has a certain 'roughness' in taste, though becoming softer towards the middle of the pipe. The tobacco smokes a little hotter, burning into a grey ash. The strength of the tobacco is above average, as in the previous two variants, and the taste is unchanged from pipe to pipe as well.

The smoke from UF K&K and WF has almost the same flavor. Smoking the tobacco creates a luxurious ambience in the room - slightly sweet, with an aroma of wood and all the same plum. Fairly persistent but loose. The smoke from UF STG has a more pronounced woody flavor with a hint of ash. It's hard to call it luxurious, but it's not irritating.

What's the bottom line? Next, as always, solely my opinion. First of all, all the assurances that Kohlhase & Kopp has done some kind of 'tweaking' of the recipe that came into his hands, I would call untenable. Yes, the fresh Wallace Flake has slightly different taste and aroma, but these nuances are so insignificant that I am pretty sure that if I had a tin of 7 years aged Rattray Wallace Flake in my hands, I would not be able to tell which tobacco is which in a blind test - although I know University Flake pretty well. Of course, the 12 year aged version of University Flake by Kohlhase & Kopp looks more advantageous in our comparison. But it is no longer in production, although you may come across old stocks from time to time on the secondary market. If you come across such a tin - touch a legend, it's worth it. As for the two versions remaining on the market, Wallace Flake is much more interesting than the current University Flake by STG, which has kept its name, but has lost the charm of the original recipe. All indications are that the composition of the current version definitely has been changed to somewhat aside from the original, and that has clearly not come in its favor. As for Wallace Flake, if the opportunity arises, I'll stock up on a tin or two to open them after ten years aging and see if the aged Wallce Flake can resemble the original.

Tin design elegant and clean, “smoking kills” sign removable which is a huge plus.

Chocolate brown, nicely pressed thin slices of moist flakes.

Very straightforward, long and rich plummy tin note with strawberries in the background. Lovely smell.

Very wet. So moist, it’s almost impossible to smoke properly without some drying time.

Aromatics feel fine, plums and frutiness until 50% of the bowl. After that, premium pure tobacco flavor. Can get hot.

An overall good blend but lacks complexity and could be a little bland. Perfect for an afternoon dessert smoke with a cup of cappuccino.