Orlik Tobacco Company A/S Dark Strong Kentucky

This is a fantastic Bruley Flake! By far, the best burley tobacco I ever smoked. If you had reserves about smoking burley tobacco in the past, you owe yourself of try of this tobacco.

This is dark and strong, with a full flavor rival to English/Balkan blends. This is a great end of day smoke and goes great with your choice of drink. The tin aroma is wonderfull, licorice/anise. Like others had said, this does not smoke or taste like an aromatic, but the licorice flavor stays in the background and compliments the great tobacco flavor. Bright VA adds a nice sweetness. I think this is what C&D was trying to do with Safe Harbor Flake, but fell very short on their flavor and flake quality.

These are excellent flakes that fold for easy loading and smoking. This tobacco will have a place in my rotation!

Highly Recommended

Although I am not so fond of Orlik products I have to say that Dark Kentucky Flakes are amazing! Lots of kentucky taste here with a good nicotine kick! Perfect after a good meal? and before a long sleep! 🙂

This is a very pleasant medium strength tobacco that doesn't fit into any classification-- a little stoved, a little flavored, a little straight Virginia.

I was sure this was lightly cased until one day I mixed some rubbed out Stonehaven with light Virginia and realized it was a bit like Orlik DSK. Otherwise, there is nothing else like it.

OK, so I was very leery. I read the reviews and they concerned me. It didn't sound like this would be my kind of tobacco at all.

Well, here is my first sample review. I was given a 100g tin of this, and am not normally a big fan of burleys. The reviews here had me very leery of trying things, making me think of powerful Burley. Powerful I don't mind, I like stout tobaccos, just like my beers. However, the reviews had me concerned.

Ah what the heck, a friend said I should go for it. OK, I cracked the tin. This is some interesting looking tobacco. I like the color of the flakes, black & tan, reminds me of one of my English pub favorites - something with a stout in it. The tin note is very coffee-like with a dark molasses sweetness to it. However, it does not seem to be cased in any way. This smells like pure tobacco.

Rubbed some of it out as I like to try a flake the first time completely rubbed out to get its full measure. It rubs out easily into a very fine cut. Nice! I like that. Pulled out a cob, just in case it was a flavored tobacco, filled it and we were off.

OK, it was a little moist and needed three lights to get going, but I knew that before I started. Hmm, nutty, sweet, and very tasty - not complex, just tasty. Strong? Well, not yet anyway. I like the flavors here. This is some excellent tobacco. There is a hint of coffee, someone else mention caramel - maybe. Brown sugar? Possibly. Molasses? Could be it. It is just naturally sweet, no detectable flavorings. This was incredibly cool.

Inhaled a couple times to get a feel for the nicotine content, it is supposed to be "strong". While it is bold, it isn't nicotine strong so that it is going to leave you woozy. The room note was very pleasant for what I am still believing to be an un-cased tobacco.

OK, let's see how this stuff burns. I am looking for a blend I can smoke without thinking about it. When I do that, I tend to get bit badly as I puff more forcefully. So, I forced it. I tried to get this to burn hot - didn't happen - couldn't make it happen.

Again, I want to return to this. Is this an aromatic? Well, if it is, it is only mildly so. I get the feeling this is just a very tasty, full-flavored tobacco. This isn't a contemplative blend, you know, the type that needs 100% of your concentration to experience all the subtle nuances. This is just a very solid taste treat, rich and sweet.

If you haven't guessed by now, I thoroughly enjoyed this first bowl. That is saying quite a bit. Usually I reserve any judgement until I have had a couple pipes. Now, there is every possibility that all things were hitting on the right cylinders and I just got into the groove on this baccy in this one bowl. And, it may miss entirely after this. I doubt it, doesn't normally work that way.

So, I wanted to say thanks to the friend who encouraged me not to trade off this tin without opening it and giving it a whirl. Wow, what a mistake that would have been.

4.8 of 5 halos.

UPDATED - January 9, 2005

I didn't expect to like this blend much. My first review of it was after a sample. I have since gone through two 100g tins and have three more in the cellar. For me to have that much of a "burley" in my cellar says quite a bit. In fact, I don't have three tins of a whole lot in my cellar.

If you like aromatics, give this a try, this might be something to lead you into straight tobaccos. If you like Virginias, and think that Burleys aren't for you, this might change your mind. I have tried a few other Burley blends since this to see if my tastes have changed, I never finished one of them. I was hoping that Solani Silver Flake might be in a similar vein as this - no such luck.

Still agree with my original assessment.

This is a fairly strong, spicy tobacco. It has a nutlike flavor and a mellowness. Its strength never seems to translate to tongue-bite. A very satisfying smoke on occassions and in a very small bowl.

A great tasting and smelling tobac (chocolate - molassis - raisons - fresh baked bread) to the smoker. This is not an aromatic tobac (cherry,vanilla,etc) Your family may not like the room note. Slow burning, no bite, good DGT, burns dry & stays lit. A great all day smoke with a slight virginia tang. Wonderfull in a large cob pipe.

This is a blend I had been eyeballing for awhile, and finally found a local guy who would get it for me. I don't mind ordering online, but at the same time I would like to support the local guy. He ordered 3 tins of this and Nightcap at my suggestion and they all sold.

But back to the tobak. The flake in this tin, is beautiful. You almost want to carry it around in a pouch to show everyone. Especially anyone who is into pipesmoking. I would recomment it just on the visuals alone, but the taste is outstanding. Sweet, robust, fills your mouth and nose with a wonderful plume of smoke. One cannot go wrong here.

Upon opening the tin, there was a rather sharp smell in there that I didn't agree with too much, however having popped the top for about two weeks, the scent is gone replaced by a lovely tobacco smell. Wonderful stuff, highly recommended..

(my first review)

Great tobacco, cut into small, square cuts of half dark, half light flakes. I liked this onee and found it to burn real well in any size pipe. It has a real good flavor and is very predictable in any size pipe that you smoke it in. 4 out of 5 stars!

For the economy of space I will refer you to the review of Tantric which I believe is right on the money, with the exception that IMO this tobacco is lightly scented. I have devoted a Zulu with a narrow tall bowl to DSK and have developed a technique of loading for it. I pick equal qualities of dark and light pieces, make a round "plug" with my fingers and load it vertically in the pipe. Takes practice to get the right thickness but smokes great. Late night smoke with a glass of port and a nice movie. Blow the smoke to an uninhabited corner or the LSW will complain!