Butera Blended Flake

I have almost finished my first tin, and I can't say I am overly impressed by this tobacco. My tin has been aged for a couple of years after purchase, I must remark.

Many others have said what the components of this blend are, and their contribution to the taste, so I won't digress any longer as they are quite accurate.

What puzzles me a bit is that while the interplay of the different tobaccos is quite lively and you can feel the different kinds of leaf quite well, the overall result is underwhelming to my taste buds. Probably this means that the balance is superb, but I often find it too weak and dull, lacking in any oomph. Sure, there is a nice tangy red virginia sweetness, some perique sourness and the orientals have a nice character... but at times I also feel a slightly ashy, cigarettish taste.

Anyway, it burns smooth and extremely cool, which is a definite plus. The tin aroma is excellent (if you can stand the McClelland trademark smell...), very fruity and slightly "putrid" (in a nice way)... but the taste is not as lively or rich as some of my favorite offerings from this brand.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been going through my little stash of Butera blends and some have proved to be exceptional and others not my favorite. Blended Flake is a good example of a broken flake VaPer using excellent quality leaf as always provided by McClelland which is IMO almost a must for Perique blends since McClelland uses the real thing: St. James Perique, not that fake Arcadian Perique which as I understand it is Burley that's cured in the same manner as the real thing but to me does not taste the same. I have tried both on their own and the real thing is spicier and has more plum like qualities. BF has an almost perfect percentage of components resulting in a mild VaPer with added Orientals that can be smoked all day without tiring the palate. I much prefer St. James Woods since it has an ethereal Sweet and Sour sauce like flavor and amazing Perique finish, also I prefer my VaPer's to not contain any Orientals. BF did not bite me at all even with a hot bowl and had a mild to medium nicotine content. Although the signature McClelland tin note is present in BF, it is in no way overwhelming and I did not detect any sort of topping over the delicious tang of Perique. The room note was described as a classic Pipey aroma and was not detested so that's a plus. Another 2 and a half star blend for me but in this case I will round down to 2, this is a crowded field and although a tasty, well though out and high quality flake, I prefer other VaPers over it.

I had taken a break from pipe smoking, was doing e-cigs for a while. E-cig reviews are pretty silly, it's a good review if it tastes like watermeleon and kiwi. Tobacco I had cellared seemed a little to sacrosanct into I got back into the rhythm, so I bought a number of american blends. It seems everyone, including butera, in america is using McClelland Virginians. The ketchup smell has turned into a vinegar smell. I don't know why I dislike that so much, it's not like it tastes like it smells, but, yeah, it bothers me. That's why I'm giving it a lower ranking, not the lowest because I didn't dump the bowl, but I'm smoking it in my S. Bang either.

Well upon opening the tin a very bitter and almost malt vinager smell hit me like a brick wall, i wasnt very optimistic at this point. After rubbing it out in my hand for a minute a smell of tomato paste came to mind and this turned me off even more. It took a bit to light it, and when i did it was heavey and spicy, and quite hot. I really dislike it so much i gave away the rest of the tin. In all honesty though i could see how some smoker may like this so im me impartial and fair in my descrition.This blend has turned me off flake, i think for good.

Strange tobacco. Ever now and then this smoke reaches 'four star' level, you can taste figs and chocolate. But it's a pity that this happens only incidentally, most of the times there's nothing more than a very very strong vinager taste, which dries out your mouth and throat. I like McClelland (the producer of this tobacco) 'catsup' a lot but this is way over the hill. "Royal Vinager Blended Flake" would suit better as a name for this blend.

The appearance of this flake is fine, really nice to look at, the rubbing is easy and the moisture perfect: all that's needed for a fine smoke. After the first puffs where you taste the usual McClelland ketchup flavour, the body and taste set both on a light/ light to medium level, while the three components start to play their role. The first important impression is about the incredible smoothness of this blend, rather strange knowing the components. The Virginias and Orientals make the first half of the bowl a little "cigarettish", while the Perique adds some sourness. The second important impression is about how much this tobacco is drying my mouth. The burning is cool and regular, really ok. In the second half of the bowl the Perique comes out stronger, but everything remains light, too light for my taste.