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

This is about the OGS sold in Germany. Over here it is a light aromatic. The German STG catalogue states a pure golden Virginia flake (no perique) with an orange-lemon aromatization (2 out of 5).

The German government states 138 mg aroma per 1000 mg tobacco. This is quite a lot. Stanwell Melange has 122 mg / 1000 mg.

UPDATE Feb 2018: Considerung my discovered love for Mac Baren's Virginia No. 1, I have to readjust to 3.5 Stars. Also in the meantime the casing of OGS tastes more and more annoying for me. I think it is still one of the best virginias out there but no more for me, because I always reach for my MB V1 while the OGS dries out more and more.

In taste and roomnote, there is only a very slight, barely noticeable citrusy aroma. I guess, the aromatization is more an enhacing and smoothig agend (much like flavor enhancers in food).

I think it is the reason for this very smooth and wounderful round taste which should not be possible with such a light virginia (you would expect much more harshness - flake or not).

So, what is ist? To me ,the OGS is a light, golden virginia flake which does taste more virginia-ish than virginia (like strawberry ice cream does taste more strawberry-ish than real strawberrys) -- and it does so in a wonderful and perfect way (and, hey, who doesn't like strawberry ice cream?!).

So, this is a perfect virginia, a perfect summer smoke.

It goes well with a mild fruity coffee, and with Darjeeling tea (esp. first flush) as well as with a fruity Oolong.

Summary: Sweet with citrus, this confection of tobacco is both boring and an irritant for its deranged topping.

Writers either like or intensely dislike writing negative reviews. It is with no pleasure that I say plain and simply that I hate this tobacco. The flakes have a foam rubber sponginess and are soaked in a citrus concoction that is both cloying and slightly less antagonistic in scent than CS gas. While it burns long and hot, and provides consistent sweet (and citrus-y) smoke, the flavor is one-dimensional and reminds me of candy given to very young children to keep them occupied. The simplistic flavor balance absorbs any Perique to be found here, and then the mixed fruit topping clobbers any remaining taste, leaving only the sweet. Orlik "Golden Sliced" reminds me of those horrible coffee cakes and stale grocery store donuts that one encounters in the morning meetings one least wishes to attend, and has a similar effect on my spirits. I have cellared this by flinging it into the back of my clothes closet where I hope it can drive away the musty scent, or even better take it on, so to spare me from this sugary fruit cocktail and its one-dimensional, happy-like-a-moron flavor. Yuck.

Orlik’s Golden Sliced is definitely a friend to flake lovers that enjoy a lot of high notes. The flakes come neatly cut and offer the nose a little bit of citrus, some of which I believe to be manually added. Some may view this as the “poor man’s” Long Golden Sliced, but I think that Golden Sliced is a better tobacco than that moniker describes. The lower price point shouldn’t put you off either. If there is some Perique in LG, it is just a whisper. I know that in addition to the Perique debate, Burley is often debated with this blend too but I don’t taste any. However, I wouldn’t bet the farm on that. The topping smells stronger (especially on an aged tin) in the tin than it tastes in the smoke. GF offers a clean, burning, refreshing smoke. It won’t win any awards in the complexity department, but it’s an enjoyable smoke.

What can I say, this is a nice, consistent, smooth tobacco. There's nothing out of the ordinary about it, no super wow factor. Having said that, I will always have some on hand. Its a tobacco you can count on to deliver consistently.

Very smooth smoke. The tin note is exactly the same as dried apricots with a slight hay like smell. You can detect a little bit of apricot in the smoke, but mostly it's the sweet even toasty hay with a hint of citrus. Very clean tobacco. Really nice and light change of pace. I find the nicotine on the high side as I seem to experience with most virginias.

I am reviewing the 100 gram round tin, not the square tin with flakes. Very interesting and peculiar cut with rarity value. It is basically a Flake Cut that has been sliced into very long, narrow ribbons, which sets it between a Broken Flake, and a Ready Rubbed Cut. I like this cut. I do not rub it out, I cram it into my pipe straight out of the tin for best results.

There is this never ending controversy whether or not this mixture contains Perique. My tin description, which is rather long compared to others, does not mention Perique. Since original Saint-James-Parish-Perique is a quite expensive and exclusive tobacco, I think the producer would be delighted to mention it on the tin description, if there was any. The other side of the story is, on the internet homepage of (former Lane Ltd., now STG) Scandinavian Tobacco Group of USA www.stglanepipe.com they mention, that there is “a touch of Perique” in this blend.

GOLDEN SLICED is what I call a typical Danish Mixture, which by definition is mellow, pure natural tobacco with a gentle, subtle fruit (or liquor) casing. This mixture develops a remarkable fan of delicate aromas, mainly those known of Virginia, citrus fruits and some hidden fruit-flavours commonly attributed to Perique. I’d say this blend is young, bright, fresh, crisp; an ideal hot weather smoke. There is a reserved hint of sweetness in this blend. I am not a Danish, even less an Aromatic smoker, but I somewhat like GOLDEN SLICED, because all casing has been done unobtrusively, with great prudence and skill.

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.

Orlik- Golden sliced

I’ve had this blend in my cabinet for a while and after our Zoom pipe meeting ended, decided to finish my evening with this blend. I’ve recently been on a kick for VAPers and decided to revisit this one, as it has been a bit and wanted to see how it compares now.

I have stored this blend in a jar since May2019 so close to a year of age on this, the fragrant citrus scent is still here aplenty and really does smell terrific upon first whiff, however after a few more smells it almost reminds me of a cleaning agent.

Upon first light I was greeted with a strong hay and citrusy flavor, that was quite nice, this flavor never really leaves, and the VA’s are very bright not sweet.

The Perique is lacking for the most part and here I sit wishing it was more present. This blend is highly recommended for new Virginia smokers, sip it and enjoy the light tasting flavor.

I can see myself grabbing this on occasion but I prefer other VaPers with more oomph.

Recommended to new smokers, VaPer veterans look elsewhere.