Drew Estate Gatsby Luxury Flake

The flake inside the tin is one long, continuous flake that is folded to fit, and very easily breaks apart. A Virginia and cavendish blend that offers lots of citrus and a couple other fruit flavors along with some grassiness, and a hint of earth and spice. I also get a little honey. Sometimes it's like smoking honey fruit graham crackers. Reminds me of Orlik Golden Sliced in some ways, but this is just a little stronger with less citrus and a dark fruit and earth notes that OGS lacks. Not much nicotine here. The moisture level of the tobacco is perfect out of the tin, requiring no dry time. Burns at a moderate rate with a consistent creamy smooth taste with no weak, harsh or dull spots. Leaves no moisture in the bowl, and can be smoked to ashes. Has a very pleasant room note and after taste. A very comfortable all day uncomplicated smoke that wears well during your smoking day.

-JimInks

I sampled a bit of this blend recently. In the tin, it resembles the 100g tins of OGS: long flakes folded up. The similarity to OGS continued with its appearance, its moisture, and how it loads. Its similar. Even the flavor is similar, but it has a bit more going on. OGS has a more mild flavor compared to Gatsby Luxury Flake. It's much more bold in flavor: shades of fruity, and plenty of roundness. Its character almost reminded me of a Sirrah wine: its flavor is symphonic. There is a lot going on, but it all works in concert. It also reminded me a bit of Dunhill Flake, but again, is a bit more bold. Pretty good on its own (though, with a bit of perique, this blend would be amazing). The only thing I dislike is the name. "Old Sport Flake" would be much more fitting...

When I heard that Drew Estate flipped the store's sign to close, I was a bit crushed since they make Grand Central, one of my absolute favorite blends. It got me wondering what other tasty treats I potentially will be missing out on, so I decided to grab a lone tin of Gatsby Luxury Flake.

I have had several flakes before, but this was the first time I've tackled one uncut mega strip wedged into a tin. It was a maddening pain to manage. You had to simply pick at the edges for little chunks to rub out. A task made more difficult while outside in the winter cold.

The shredded wheat biscuit inside smelled sweet and sort of reminded me of the briny smell of Miso soup seaweed. It was milder than other Virginia's I had smoked, with less of a "barn/hay" taste, nor did I detect any of the advertised fruit flavor.

It's funny to think the minute differences in taste between similar tobacco blends should even register with many pipe smokers, who likely have unsensitive 'smoked-out' taste buds. So, if taste is being assessed equally, the hassle to pack this stuff, made Gatsby one unluxurious flake. For my money I would stick with Escudo Navy De Luxe for that Virginia itch.

I recently did a Virginia/Cavendish exploration including such blends as this, 1931 flake, MB navy flake and a couple others I can't recall ATM. I found most of them I really didn't enjoy too much. They didn't have the punch I was looking for in Nicotine and the sweetness tasted fake, like log cabin syrup vs real maple syrup or artificial sweeteners. This blend is the only one I really enjoyed. This must have Golden Cavendish as the flakes are uniformly light in color. As mentioned it comes in one long roll that I unrolled and cut into manageable flakes to jar.

This blend must be smoked at an appropriate pace as it can get hot/bitey. When smoked correctly, be ready for one of the sweetest smokes you will have. Nice virginia flavor complements the natural tasting sweetness, and the virginia provides a nice nicotine punch I like. A friend of mine who also enjoys this blend says that the cavendish is "like cheating" when comparing the sweetness of this to other straight Virginia blends.

Just purchased 4 tins for cellaring so in my book, this is a great tobacco for those who like a sweet tobacco and can smoke at the right pace.

A nice Virginia/Cavendish flake in the old tradition. It's very similar to Capstain blue and, to a lesser degree, Orlik Golden Sliced (sans the Pèrique). Mild to medium, it is not as falvorsome as Dunhill flake (less sweet, less fruity), and if pressed too hard it may lead to tongue bite. The flake comes in a long, single strand, easy to break and not too moist. A good Virginia smoke for the early evening, perhaps with a sip of Earl Grey.

This was a very unique blend, in my opinion. The long roll was rather easy to break up into manageable slices easy to rub out. The tin note was sweet and semi-candy like mixed with a touch of that natural Virginia leaf smell. What struck me was the instant flavor after the initial tamp and re-light. Every bowl has this same consistent impact of sweet flavor. Unlike the tin note, the sweet flavor seems fruit like, this works in tandem with the Virginias very well. I think the addition of the cavendish simply intensifies the Virginias. I did not necessarily find it to burn altogether harsh or hot, however; it burned for a good long while. I broke in a new pipe with this blend and it was the right tabac for the job. All in all, I recommend this tobacco.

*Edit: I have since set fire to the rest of the tabac and I am longing for more. When that happens, I must note that this is a tobacco worth keeping around. I gave it three starts initially, I am now adding the last star. I think the unique nature, in terms of my palate, is the draw. Amongst my love of VA/Pers and VA/Burs and Straight VA, this stands alone as completely different. Unlike Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Bullseye Flake or Davidoff's Medallions and many other VA/Cavendish blends, the marriage between the cavendish and Virginias in Gatsby is of a completely different nature. Granted, even though the aforementioned blends contain a touch of perique, I think that all of these blends are designed similarly, and should be bracketed accordingly. However, despite similar properties to other tabacs, it stands alone. Four stars!

Of all the Drew Estate blends, this is the only one that caught my interest. I smoke predominantly Virginia or Virginia based blends, so I thought I'd give this one a try. Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised. I heard that most of their blends are rather lackluster so I wasn't expecting much. What I got- a GREAT Danish Virginia flake that I will definitely smoke again. It has a very satisfying creamy sweetness that has surprising depth. If you're a fan of Virginia tobaccos, I highly recommend you give this a try.

****EDIT****

Perhaps I was a little too excited upon first trying this to hold off reviewing until after I had smoked it more. I loved my first bowl, but have yet to replicated the "wow" factor I experienced upon first smoking it.

Downgrade to 3 stars. Still worth exploring but not extraordinary.

I was fast on my first 1/3 of the bowl.. I thought it was rough and had a acid scent in the smoke.. after that it came in to its own and i really started to enjoy it, I got a touch of black tea on the taste at the end. I got two tins ill store one for a while and see how some age effects the taste in a year or so.. not a fav yet but it will do

Drew Estate - Gatsby Luxury Flake.

Just like Orlik Golden Sliced, the presentation is one long flake coiled up. When I take the tobacco out of the tin there's only the tiniest amount of oil/juice on the paper; the moisture's great. So, if you choose to crumble your flake (as I do), a fine consistency can be achieved easily. Getting a bowl of Gatsby ignited is simple, and it burns steadily right from word go.

I like the taste, but I find it relatively simple. I don't get much fruit/citrus; maybe a very slight citrus edge but nothing more than that. The main flavour's a quality Cavendish one: Virginia and honey. For the nicotine I'll go with the majority of reviewers: mild to medium. Although the burn's even, it's too warm, making the pipe uncomfortable to hold, and burning my tongue! The aroma from the room-note's nice, but it makes too much smoke; it's unbearable for other people. I'll finish on a positive: due to the heat, when it comes to emptying the pipe out there's only pure ash in the bowl; everything's been incinerated!

This isn't the worst blend, the taste is O.K, but on the whole it's a bit of a disappointment.

Somewhat recommended.

I do believe this is my current favorite Virginia. I enjoy everything about this surprisingly flavorful blend... from the flake cut to the moistness level and the subtle creamy (almost vanilla?) taste. It is also easy to smoke, much more so than Orlik Golden, which I found to run rather hot only halfway through the bowl. Lovely accompaniment to my 'regular rotation' of English blends, Gatsby is a keeper. Highly recommended.