Orlik Tobacco Company A/S Dark Strong Kentucky

Oh man, oh man! The guys at Cigar and Tabac in OP,Ks recommended this to me when I told them I wanted a good strong (but tasty) burley blend that cut right to the chase. I wanted something that would be tasty, long lasting, and loaded with nicotine. This is what was recommended.

I have been familiar with Stokebye tobaccos for quite sometime, being a ryo smoker, and I didn't think this blend would be disappointing. It wasn't. Dark (Stong) Kentucky flakes aptly describes what this blend is.

The tin aroma was strong, but pleasant; none of that overpowering sweetness like I found with MacBaren's London Burley Blend. It was a little like dates, but not like the stewed prune smell I expected. And the flakes are beautiful; nice golden tobacco sandwiched between chocolate colored layers. It's almost a shame to rub it out (or cross cut into cubes, your choice).

This stuff tastes like no other burley/va blend I have tried. It tastes like no other tobacco blend period. It definitely tasted of burley, and there's just enough of the virginia to sweeten it, but it has a nice aged character and aroma. The best way I can think of to describe the smoking experience is that it tastes "manly". And the aroma is manly, in a flannel shirt and pickup kind of way. My wife absolutely detests the lingering odor of it in my truck, but she is overly fond of flowers and girly things.

When I asked the gentlemen who recommended this blend to me what it was like, I was told that it couldn't be described. But, I was assured that it would be good if I liked burleys. I found them to be correct. Dark Kentucky has to be experienced. Buy a tin; put on your best flannel shirt and hiking boots, and tramp out into the woods with a bowl full. But, leave the wife at home.

This is one of those tobaccos that doesn't easily compare with anything else. So for that reason at a minimum, one should try a tin (or share the 100g amongst friends). It is a "oreo cookie" of flake. The dark burley strips on either edge of a virginia core. I tried the newer tinned product labelled as Dark Kentucky Flakes per the new EU laws. The virginia must certainly be from a similar batch as the Capstan flake is made from. High quality, clean burning, and delightful.

The tin aroma is nothing less than pure sundried raisins. The flavour combines the virginia and burley so well with a flavour ranging from nutty to raisin and fig. There is a tartness and sweetness from the virginia, balanced with a fullness and rounding imparted by the burley-- which I don't believe is flavoured much if at all. The aroma emminating from the bowl is not really inviting or lady friendly, but outdoors it is a lovely rich tobacco farm fresh smell, not at all like cigarettes as some plain virginias can emulate. This is a must try for those who favour natural blends with medium-hi nicotine and without Latakia. Definitely a change of pace from plain jane virginias. Not for the aromatic lover or those who need to smoke like a blast furnace, though it doesn't really bite.

First, my tin does not say "Dark Strong Kentucky", but "Dark Kentucky Flakes". Same picture of an aging transvestite, same colors and danish inscriptions that defy internet translating services.

I retried this after smoking Pease's Montgomery and loving the dark burley used in it. I like this blend because it shares that same quality. What is likely different is the flavoring used in DKF: whiskey and coffee. It goes well with the leaf, but make no mistake: this is another aromatic burley, but with some welcome differences.

The multicolored flakes are thankfully pre-cut to pipe bowl size. Drying may be advised: I have to use two q-tips to drain my pipe's shank every bowl, though I find the steam very tasty.

Perhaps the name was changed away from "strong" because the blend's nicotine strength is unremarkable. The taste, though, is very nicely rich. The chosen sauces are only slightly sweet and impart a dark flavor rarely found in the vanilla/fruit/spice/Old Spice- dominated aromatic genre.

Grab a new Missouri Meerschaum, christen it Bruce (after the 'guy' on the tin) and use it exclusively for this blend. There's a lot of character here and it leaves its mark.

Many dislike burleys and this will convert none of them. For burlists like myself, it's a gotta-try. It is only available in 100g, but a good gamble.

The fellas above have done a good job of reviewing this blend,so I won't elaborate much further.I sampled a bowlful at the last meeting of my pipe club.It did very little for me, as I'm not a big fan of burley (cased or otherwise)What struck me was just how spicy it was.Unfortunately it was the only flavor I could detect making the blend completely one dimensional to my palate.It was also extremely hard for me to keep it lit.I just have'nt found an Orlik blend that really does it for me and this one's NO different.I'd imagine those who enjoy MacBaren's blends would gravitate to these,I'm just not one of them. Pass This One By... pReP

My first encounter with DSK was a bit intimidating. A bit on the strong side I thought and fairly difficult to light,etc. After this tin sat in my motorhome for two or three months, it had given up some of the initial moisture. It is still fairly flexible and much easier to rub out and get burning. I normally just fold a couple of flakes in half and push them lightly into the bowl. They fire up on the second light and burn nicely. I detect a nice Virginnia component in this tobacco. That typical sharpness tells your tongue Virginnia is present. The Burley is of a very high quality and does dominate the blend. No bitterness whatsoever. If you puff too hard, you can induce some tongue-bite. Take it easy and you will be very pleasantly rewarded. Don't let the Burley name keep you from trying this tobac. It is only available in a 100 gram tin where I shop so you may want to borrow a pinch or see if your tobacconist will let you try a bowl first. In any event, if you end up with the tin, you most likely will have no trouble getting rid of the remainder if you are one of the few who don't like this flake. I am not a big fan of really strong flakes and I thought this one was great! A relatively unique tobacco. Highly recommended for the experienced pipe smoker. Note: After smoking this tobac. you will not taste any other blend. Not even a strong English!

This came as a very nice surprise. IMO this is an excellent tobacco, flavoursome, spicy, with a discreet toffee-chocolaty undertone (though I wouldn?t say an aromatic proper), elegant, palatable, and exceedingly smooth. It does have a rather noticeable nicotine kick, but other than that this is not a strong tobacco in the sense that Dunhill?s Nightcap, Fox?s Provost Mixture or even Gawith?s Full Virginia Flake are. If anything, I rate DSK as a medium strength dark flake, with a very obvious Burley-Kentucky component, but with enough Virginia to give it an admirable balance and zest.

Tin aroma is very inviting: somewhere in between the bitter sweet and tangy registers. The flakes are beautiful: almost square cut, dark and bright brown striped (rather like petite biscuits), and amazingly easy to break up and pack in. It lights with no problem and it smokes clean, with a velvety smoothness. The Burley and Kentucky components provide a rich nutiness and density which are, IMO, very agreeable.

In terms of quality and ease of smoke, DSK resembles its milder sibling, Golden Sliced. Top grade leaf, unimpeachable attention to detail and an elegant presentation, make DSK a recommendable tobacco for both aromatic and regular leaf smokers.

This is an interesting blend. I was introduced to it fairly early in my adventures with tinned baccies. Peter Stokkebye was at our local shop and he talked about how, when this blend was created, they brought it to him for his opinion. He tasted it and immediately said that this stuff would never sell in the US market, it was just too strong. He chuckled and said even he could be wrong. With a challenge like that I just had to try some. I did and smoked it fairly regularly for quite some time but then drifted away from it.

The other day I decided to open a tin that I'd cellared for almost two years. Upon opening I was greeted with that peculiar licorice aroma. The tobacco had dried some in the time it had aged which made me wonder just a bit about the tin's seal. Upon lighting I was greeted with the full flavor of this blend. I remembered why I'd considered this stuff on a par with Blackwoods Flake. It is about that strong, but with something else added. That something else I now realized was the charateristic taste of burley. Since passing through my original DSK kick I'd come to the conclusion that I really am not that enamored with burley blends. I smoked the rest of the bowl, rated it about a six to my current taste and wondered what to do with the rest of this tin.

Then it hit me. There are several guys who rave about burley blends and corncobs. Why not give it a try? I dug out my Wanghee (a godawful ugly bamboo shanked cob that smokes like a dream) and filled it with some rubbed out DSK. It was great! The sweetness of the cob offset the dry nuttiness of the burleys wonderfully and let the Va's come through. Now we had a smoke that did indeed rate an eight or nine anyway.

If you are a fan of burleys and want to try something new, ignore the sweet topnote of this one and give it a go. If you are more of a Va smoker, as am I, dig out one of your poor maligned cobs and see just how good they can be.

I like this tobacco a lot, and it’s sad that it’s been discontinued. Plenty has been said of it’s qualities, but for the life of me I couldn’t taste any of the dark-fired Kentucky in this blend.

My reference for that flavor profile would be G&H Kendal Kentucky, University Flake, and MacBaren Old Dark Fired.

Instead I can taste the citrusy Virginias and the sweet black cavendish, and the brown sugar casing that’s mentioned by other reviewers. And I’m surprised because I’m smoking a tin from 2005.

It’s more akin to the modern iteration of Three Nuns, to my taste buds.

Having said that, it’s a very nice, cool, and sweet tobacco that I can smoke all day. The nicotine strength is mild to medium.

The flavor and aroma is good, it’s not offensive to non-smokers, and it doesn’t bite my tongue.

One of my favorites. Too bad it’s no longer in production.

Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky is different from all other tobaccos I have smoked. It is neither "Dark" or "Strong" and it is totally different from other kentucky forward blends like HH Old Dark Fired, Gawith Hoggart Dark Birds Eye or Savinelli Doblone d'Oro.

This blend is quite cased in licorine/molasses/strawberry. The casing sublimates the tobaccos a lot making them indetectable in some parts of the smoke and masking their flavor the rest of the time. Even though it is very cased it doesn't overwhelm me as fast as many aromatics do causing me to dump the pipe after a few pufs. It has quite a few rought spots showing a truly chemical flavor particularly with every relight.

This blend is not bad but at the same time I wished it was less cased, thus, showing more tobacco flavor and eliminating some rought spots. Since it is high in nicotine I recomend it to aromatic smokers who are on the mood for a stronger smoke since aromatics are usually low in the nicotine department and this is not. Two and a half stars which I rounded down to two.

UPDATE: After trying this blend in a smaller pipe, particularly a group 2 corn cob pipe I noticed that the topping was sublimated a bit and more tobacco flavor came through with less chemichal flavor. BEWARE: Contrary to what others experimented this tobacco ghosted my briar a bit.