Orlik Tobacco Company A/S Golden Sliced (Red Tin)

Orlik Tobacco Co. - Golden Sliced.

From the tin it's a little moist, but nothing too dramatic. I like to rub Golden Sliced, which is a relatively simple task. And then, after an easy lighting, it's on with the smoke.

It's an exceedingly 'bright' tasting blend. Very sprightly, honey sweet, Virginia, forms the prominent part of the flavour. There's some contention regarding whether or not this is a VaPer, and to me there's no actual Perique 'spice', but there is a zestiness alongside the Virginia's.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: nice.

I think this easily merits four stars:

Highly recommended.

This is a great Virginia. There seems to be some debate about whether it has any perique. I don't have the most sophisticated palate, but I thought there was a taste of it there. It come out of the tin at a good moisture for me, and I found it easy to tear off a strip (I had the 100 p tin with the long rolled flakes). It is sweet and has a slight orange citrus taste. There is a lot of flavor, and I found it was a great slow smoke in a large bowl. One of my pipes seems made for it, and when the tin was open that was all I smoked in this pipe.

If you think you want to try a tasty Virginia with just a touch of perique, try this. I liked it a lot and highly recommend it.

You can't eat steak and lobster every day, it's just too damn rich. However, you can have a nice sandwich over and over again, at least I can, anyway. Golden Slice to me is that sandwich, it can be smoked everyday and won't leave you too full. It's not a decadent tobacco, it's sweet and mild with hints of citrus and hay. Doesn't really have much perique in it, but it can be spicy at times depending on the volumes of your draws.

This is just my first impression as I'm writing this while enjoying my second bowl. I will later edit it if by the end of the tin any of this review is affected.

First off the blend does have Perique in it. PipesMagazine.com's Kevin Godbee did an article on it some years back and said that the people at Orlik mentioned the Burley was a misprint from an incorrect translation. The blend does not have any Burley in it, but does in fact have some Perique in it.

The tin note I got was kind of a hay and raisin smell. Mostly that of a nice light sweet Virginia.

The moisture level was, to me, just right.

With the fold and stuff method it loads nicely. It takes a char light and true light nicely. After that it's just your normal maintaining of the bowl.

The flavor I'm getting is mostly that sweet citrus and apricot like flavor with a bit of the hay or grassy notes. The Perique isn't coming through too much. I'm not really getting the fig or peppery notes that it's known for.

It hasn't bit me, but as it's a mostly Virginia blend I'm sure it could if you push it.

The nicotine level is pretty low.

Overall, it's a nice light Virginia blend that you could spend a nice sunny summer day puffing on all day long.

If you're looking to get your feet wet in more natural pipe tobaccos and venture away from aromatics give this blend a try. Also, if you're a heavy English, Balkan, or VaPer guy looking for a nice light natural tobacco for a change of pace or a cleansing of the palate pick up a tin of this.

Don’t be fooled by the topping - or good availability, Orlik Golden Sliced is a serious, first quality VA flake. If you are OK with generally-lighter VAs, IMO, the VA tobaccos in OGS are as good as any available today. One great thing about OGS is, you actually get what you smell when you pop the tin: a delicious bouquet of sweet, ripe, fermented, bright through orange VAs topped with orange extract, apricots, and currants, with a slight nuttiness that does not fight for attention, along with faint fig Newtons. I would guess that the tobaccos are flue and air cured, also some stoved leaf, all matured before pressing and slicing into thin, uniform flakes that range from predominately gold to streaks and flecks of medium and medium-dark brown.. The flakes are well formed, and they are easy to fold, spindle, load and light, right out of the tin. It burns down great, concentrating a little, and there is plenty of smoke. I prefer to dry OGS just a little first, then I sip, sniff, and savor it slowly, without re-lights. I find this makes for a truly “refreshing” smoke. Again, it smells and tastes like its tin note, top to bottom, and IMO it sets the bar for the genre. Something unusual about OGS: though its main tobacco scents and flavors are in a “higher register” than some other VA flakes, yet the smoke is rich and smooth, and it comes across as well-balanced. Also, though OGS is fairly mild and very consistent, there is a range of flavors to enjoy. If there is Burly, that might account for the smoothness and a delicate nuttiness, and I suppose that a smidgen of Perique could (possibly…) explain the fig Newtons, although I detect no spices I associate with Perique. Strength builds very smoothly from mild to medium, and the tastes do likewise. Smoked “correctly”, it’s not hot. Room note is pleasant. Aftertaste is either best-of-the-smoke or an ashy version of the best-of-the-smoke, depending on how it’s smoked down.

No holding back, I highly recommend Orlik Golden Sliced to anyone who smokes a pipe, apart from confirmed VA haters or those who smoke for nicotine. Just take it slow and easy, and let the delicate flavors and side streams come to you. Typical of fine VAs, OGS ages well in its sealed tin. Four stars for this venerable flake, and a place on the Classics List.

This is probably my all time number one smoke. This is the blend that I compare all other Virginia's to. The real comeliness in this tobacco is not only in it taste, but also in its value and age-ability. This is the best value in the pipe tobacco world, in my humble opinion. This blend is often compared to Reiner's Long Golden Flake. In my mind it is better in taste, and the the difference in price is prodigious. If the price was not a good enough selling point then consider this. This is some of the most trans formative tobacco I have ever smoked. It is good out of the tin, but with a couple of years of age it becomes astounding. Being so inexpensive it just begs to be bought in large quantity and put to sleep in the cellar.

There is some debate on its contents. The inclusion of perique? I do not pick up on any. I have also heard tell of a light bergamont flavoring. I am not sure, sometimes I think I can detect it, sometimes I cannot. I do not really care for that matter. It does not matter what is inside, all I know is it is good.

The packaging is so very classy and not overdone, The flakes are uniform and very comely. The moisture level is great right from the tin. This is a high end Virginia flavor, a contralto of the Virginia world if you will. While some Virginia's like Escudo and Wessex Brigade Campaign have dark earthy Virginia flavors, this one has high, bright lemon and grassy hay notes. Just wonderful. If there ever was a desert island tobacco this one may be mine.

If you are into straight Virginias, Orlick Golden Sliced (Orlik in the tin) seems to me very close to a perfect all day smoke. It is a lovely, soft, golden flake, with some Burley in it (enough to give the blend a very subtle unsweetened chocolaty background flavour, without ever being blatantly present), mild in strength, yet quite flavoursome. Unlike Full Virginia Flake or Best Brown Flake (which are also very good, albeit rather stronger), Golden Sliced is very easy to break and pack. The lightening process is also quite simple, and it burns pretty cool. The taste is pure tobacco (except for those underground Burley notes), simple and subtle, producing a nice room atmosphere, which does not seem to bother tolerant non smokers. It lacks the zesty sweetness of Light Flake (Dunhill?s is darker in colour), but it is simpler to smoke. No tongue bite, no gurgle, no particular attention needed to fully enjoy it. A very good option both for the beginner and the established Virginia smoker. Highly recommended.

The hay has been noted - and is to be expected with Virginias - as has the sweetness. It is a sweet, grassy smoke, but what sells it to me is something citrusy. I've read orange, and that may be it, but I get a sour note as well; a pleasant sour, mind you. Think grapefruit and lemon.

The citrus is perhaps why I invoke St. Bruno in my similar box. It gives the pipe a very cool feeling, but be careful not to push it, it will bite and it will lose a lot if it heats up too much. I'm claiming a mild to medium for strength as it has quite a bit of body for so much Virginia. Typically I don't experience billows of smoke sipping Va, but this has a fair amount of satisfying smoke, even smoked slowly.

The smoke is silky and smooth across the tongue. Perfect body in that regard, nothing unrefined jumps out. It's a pretty fantastic tobacco, especially in the price range. The lemon from the Va doesn't mark this as an all the time smoke for me, but definitely keeps it on a "look forward to every now and again" relationship with me. It's a nighttime reading tobacco for me, not a nighttime thinking and whiskey tobacco.

I won't weigh in on the Perique question save to say it's not straight Virginia and I don't think it's a burley (well, a not Perique burley, anyway) so I believe the tin. Presuming its existence the Perique is hinted at rather than bludgeoning you. As a guy into Bayou Night, this is not that. But I love it for what it is and recommend it strongly.

The Va is lovely, so if it's alone, it's enough. Hope you give it a try, it's not a 'forget about it' blend nor a contemplative, complex smoke, but if you're up for something between the two this might be just the thing.

What can I write about this tobacco that was not already written before?

It is one of the classic evergreens that keep pipe smokers satisfied for many decades. And yes, I am one of them as I love this tobacco. I think it has the perfect hay/citrus flavor and in my opinion there is definitly a little amount of Periqus involved. it is a inherent part of my tobacco bar and a daily guarantor for pleasure and content. I prefer to rub it.

The Nobel Foundation should add a 'tobacco blender' department and put the creator of this stuff on the list of candidates!

4 stars!