Peterson Dark Flake

A touch peaty with remote hints of dark fruit from the Virginias, the latter reinforced along with a touch of spicy tang from the Perique -- altogether, an easy smoking VA flake, darker perhaps in appearance than in flavor. May be even an all-day smoke for those who really enjoy this category, although for me more of a change of pace.

Edit: just finished a tin bought at the same time (now 4 years later), and the taste was a bit darker and 'peatier', the taste now medium-to-full.

Peterson Dark Flake- I get mostly dark fruit like plums and raisons . Very smooth . A bit of sour fruit and molasses . Very sweet . The Perique is light in this blend but at times it hits with some of the nicest notes I’ve ever puffed from a vaper . No hay grassy citrus notes to be found . Sometimes it is like tart cherries topped with cocoa . Hard to describe . Very unique . It is too bad I can’t seem to find anymore anywhere . Even checked The German websites and nothing . Good stuff if you can find it . My tin is 5 years old though . 4

Tin note: Tangy, dark fruit notes

Presentation: Wide flakes perfectly cut. Very moist when I opened the tin. A lot of brown and black leaves with only few golden spots here and there. Lucky enough to have some sugar crystals too.

Taste and flavor: Well, it took me a month to finish this tin, and in this month it changed its taste and flavor, but not much.

At first, it was sweet, bit peppery, dark fruit, dries plums, a little bready at times.

Not very spicy, I was expecting this to be heavy on the perique, however the old virginia is sweet and just a little bready taste, while the perique is tangy but calm. Only when retrohaling do I sense a tingle from the perique.

The interesting fruity notes, I don’t know where they come from but are welcome nonetheless.

However, the taste fades and eventually becomes a virginia with some hay, grass and bready notes that smokes cool and dry, but nothing spectacular. Somehow reminds me of Orlik Golden Sliced.

After a while, since I said the taste changed, this is what I detected...

First smokes begin with sweet, fruity, little bready and hay notes and no perique at all. As you smoke, the sweetness fades away and gradually becomes bready and hay like,

If you leave the burnt tobacco in the pipe for a while, there will be a sweetness and a peppery note especially when retrohaling. The more you leave it, the more peppery it gets

By the end of the tin, after I left the tobacco to dry more, it eventually became what it’s supposed to be. A VaPer. Sweet virginia balanced by a decent amount of perique, delivering a cool smoke, very tasty, with some bready notes as well. I wish it was this way from the start.

Smokes at a slow pace, burns very well, delivers a cool and dry smoke, doesn’t bite or get hot and stays lit without much effort. If smoked as a folded flake it will require some relights, especially if it’s not dry enough (obviously) but does deliver more taste.

Mild to medium in flavor and also in strength.

Has a very low room note, barely noticeable.

I have wanted to try this revered blend for a long while, but it became unavailable when Dunhill withdrew from smoking related products. My curiosity peaked when it was re-introduced by Peterson and as I had tried the Charatan Black Flake match blend, and really liked it, I was eager to try the original product. On opening the tin, it had the usual folded paper insert containing neatly arranged dark chestnut brown flakes and the tin note was like a fruity malt loaf. I could detect the Perique aroma and although my tin has only 7 months of age on it, the potential for cellaring is immense. I loaded a Falcon Hunter with a small Bantam size Bulldog bowl and set to enjoying it. It lit after 2 charring lights and immediately released a wonderful taste of bread, dark fruit, raisins and sweet malt loaf. Perique is evident, but in a perfect measure. My body chemistry will not tolerate a heavy hand with the Perique, but here it works in perfect harmony with the Virginias. Strength is medium and the taste is on the fruity bready side of the spectrum and there is no danger of tongue bite. Room note is pleasant and shouldn't offend. There is bound to be a comparison with Charatan Black Flake and if I am honest I actually prefer the Charatan version in some respects, as it lights easier and literally smokes itself. This might simply be moisture and some drying time might remedy that as the Peterson flakes are slightly thicker. Very close call though and both get 4 Stars. Good stuff and could easily be an all day smoke.

Update:-

I can't help feeling that this is very fresh tobacco and it needs some age to truely give of its full potential. I was going to say I can't wait to try it with some age on it, but I guess I will have to.

My local pipe shop had 2 tins available. Due to Dunhill being discontinued, the mark up was a little more then what I want to pay for a blend that I don't know about. I managed to get it for $10 off the asking price. Honestly I wasn't sure if I even wanted to try it because of it being discontinued. I feared I might like it and would never get the experience again if I did.

The tin aroma is dark fruits and bread like. Loaded up a bowl after rubbing it out. I get a plum from the perique and no spice. That was consistent all the way down. The Virginia was toasty, bready with hardly any sweetness. This also was consistent all the way down the bowl.

I understand some blends take a little time to develop ( much like cigars do). This never did. I have smoked it rubbed out partially, fully rubbed, and folded in all my pipes. Nothing changed. There is hardly any sugars left in the leaf of the Virginias. It does smoke cool and dry but due to the lack of sweetness, and heavy toast flavors, this is a blend that I won't be going back for and won't be a blend I will miss either.

Even with so few components, the flavor balance of this blend is sublime. If you've not smoked it before, buy one to smoke fresh and buy several to cellar.

Synopsis: A dark molasses-like Virginia flake with a hint of perique spiciness that produces a rich and complex smoke—one of favorites.

The dark Virginias come to the forefront of this blend in the tin-note and the smoke. They are rich and dark with hints of molasses and an intensity more pronounced early in the smoke. The perique is present, but to a lesser degree than Escudo or Dunhill Navy Rolls. I find that the flavor develops the further down the bowl you smoke. It seems to get richer and with stronger-sweet notes and sways to delightful piquant notes from the perique.

I typically fold and stuff flakes. However, DDF (Dunhill Dark Flake) burns a bit slow and I find myself having a few more relights than my average. When rubbed out, I find I get a more consistent smoke.

While Escudo and Navy Rolls are also in my normal rotation, I enjoy the dark Virginias in DDF that give the blend a more unique character in a sea of Va/Pers. The perique content is similar to that of Comoy’s Cask #4, but DDF is much more of a richer and complex blend with less citrus flavors and more hints of figs and molasses. I do not understand how some reviewers describe this tobacco as soulless or one dimensional. For me, Dunhill’s Dark Flake is a hidden gem of a blend.

My palate is not as refined as others as I am new to the hobby but all I can say is that it tastes like tobacco smells. If you smell the flake when it is out of the pack that’s it only a little sweeter. Very cool dry smoke from the top to bottom, flavour is the same all the way through. Very nice indeed.

I used my Erik Nording Compass which was a good choice as the bowl diameter and height are quite modest so it uses about 3/4 of a flake with keystones. You get a full flavoured and nice smoke but it was acceptablely short and absolutely no bite.

This was quite horrible - bitter, soulless and dank, without any pleasure to it at all. I bought it with some excitement to follow a tin of Dunhill Aperitif, which I loved. I had almost no money at the time and had to save up for a tin - even so, after two bowls of this I left it on a wall in the street for whoever wanted it. Don't believe that it is 'sweet' - it couldn't be less so, or that it has an interesting flavour profile. Avoid.