Ashton Brindle Flake

(3.25)
Flue curing captures the natural sweetness of fine Virginia tobaccos. Partially rubbed out Flake that is delicate in aroma.

Details

Brand Ashton
Blended By  
Manufactured By McClelland Tobacco Company
Blend Type Straight Virginia
Contents Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ready Rubbed
Packaging 50 grams tin
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.25 / 4
9

7

4

0

Reviews

Please login to post a review.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 20 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 03, 2005 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
My tin of Brindle Flake was from 1995 and what a pleasant experience. Quality leaf all the way and put together with expert care, I can see why this one was a favorite in the original Ashton lineup. It is pure and simple, a broken mottled Virginia Flake that ages well. My leaf was loaded to the gills with sugar crystals and the smell in the tin was heaven in a can. Burns cool and dry with a Virginia flavor depth that was scintillating. If bold, rich Virginia flavor is something you crave, find an old tin of this one!

7 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
AL
Feb 11, 2007 Medium None Detected Full Pleasant to Tolerable
This is overall a medium to dark chestnut colored Virginia flake. Most of the tins that I have had came with some sugar crystals. I have found the moisture content about right for me when opening the tin. I smoke this tobacco in larger bowled pipes, usually Peterson systems that are seasoned by Virginia tobaccos. Normally I'll jam in some flakes and then top the bowl off with some finely rubbed out Brindle. Once lit, this tobacco can give you a sharp sting on the tongue, it takes a determined slow draw to avoid bite at the beginning of the smoke. I have found that if I can keep this barely lit the taste is most rewarding. I will also let Brindle go completly cold just to enjoy the wood aroma of the charred tobacco. After the first third of the smoke, I find that this Virginia settles down and behaves, meaning the sharp bite is no longer a factor and the flavors come alive. For me this tobacco is quite complex with notes of citrus, wood, and an infrequent buttery flavor. Brindle becomes excellent at the end of the smoke. If you look hard enough you can still find some of this tobacco around.
4 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 22, 2006 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
I don't know who McClelland's thinks they are fooling. Between their catfood-like tins and the aroma of tomato paste that whafts out when they are opened, no matter the tobacco therein contained, I could identify one of their blends if it was in a tin with a white label that said 'tobacco' on it in large block lettering.

Nevertheless.

I liked this flake moreso than nearly all others I have had from their line, which would be about all of them. With so many of their other flakes, I have noted that there is a basic McClelland's taste, just as there is a basic McClelland's smell, which asserts itself with different levels of intensity from one offering to another. In Brindle Flake we are given something more: it has that well known combination of tang and smokey musk that McClelland's does so well and seems that they will never give up, but with varying notes of fruit(peach, blackberry, whathaveyou), along with an occasional buttery, caramel--butterscotch--that's what I'm looking for--type of note.

All of these elements fail to present themselves in any great force above the basic tobacco undertone, and the experience is rendered just a tad boring as a result. Steve Books of Rich's Cigar Store, Portland, OR had a limited supply of a hand cut, deep red Virginia Flake which he called Stonehaven, I believe. This was, far and above, the finest flake I have ever had. It served to further fix my notion that Mr. Books is the best we have in, quite possibly, the world today. Some of the everpresent but everchanging elements of taste that I picked up on in that Flake of Flakes I noticed in Brindle, once again, though, there is not enough of the expected complexity therein for me to get all too excited about it.

Regards,

A. Morley Jaques
4 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 07, 2002 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
If you like McClelland Virginias, you shouldn't pass this stuff by. Pipe-legend Paul Szabady identified Brindle Flake as the most full-flavored of the McC #2010 - McC #22 - Brindle Flake spectrum. Less lemony than its two siblings, it has a beautifully balanced zest note of apricot/peach in the top spectrum. A wonderful sweet and natural element passes without transition from the high range to the mid-range. The mid-range sweetness is butterscotchy, with toasted marshmallow flavors, again from the natural Virginias. The upper-bass zone carries a light-brown sugar tone, and a light-but-rich creaminess which perfectly balances the apricot zest.

Like most good Virginias, Brindle Flake gets better and better until the end of the bowl sneaks up on you. Smoked best at just above a smoulder, this can bite you if rapidly puffed due to the high natural sugar content of the leaf. Hot smoking also obscures the wonderful nuances of this blend, which continue to evolve throughout the bowl.

This is easily one of my favorite tobaccos. I'm always willing to take this stuff in trade, and I keep plenty of tins on hand due to its proven knack for getting even better with aging. BRAVO!
4 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 04, 2009 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
Got a ten-year old can of this on Ebay, and it is one of the best natural Virginia flakes I have had the privilage of trying. I savored that can, smoking small bowls slowly, until I had only enough for two more pipefuls, one of which I shared with my brother. I missed winning at the last moment another tin on Ebay (hope the winner likes it and posts a great review) and will watch out for more. I think this flake would continue to improve for ten more years. I would give possibly $30 for another can, though I usually don't believe in shelling out that much. It's quality all the way, and I wish it were still made.

5-23-10 I have acquired another sealed tin, which I will save for a special occasion. Really curious as to how the new reissue of this measures up. Buy some, and let's review, guys and gals!

7-13-10 Opened the (original issue) tin. Hope it blows me away like it did before. Will update!

At the beginning of the bowl, this is not much different than the McClelland Christmas Cheer 2002 I smoked earlier. Opening up a little now: perhaps the reason it was so good the first time I tried it was that I had had only a couple McClellands then, but I'll wait to form a final judgment until I have had a couple more bowls. Certainly not a disappointment, but then McClelland seldom is. It's just less unique now, since I have had more McClellands! It is a bit richer than CC '02. The last half of the bowl will tell more surely. No, wait, I can see how it's different: CC '02 is very pure and mild, and you can not get it to bite. This Brindle Flake is a sipper-it can bite a little if you overpuff, though to do so is tempting. Ah yes, now I'm starting to remember. Lovely smoke!
3 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 03, 2005 Mild Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Okay, okay, okay- everybody knows that McClelland?s blends smell of catsup? Like some sort of VA salad dressing that none of us pipers can identify in anything but fragrance. But this one isn?t quite as strong, it has something much sweeter lurking in the tin. I can almost swear that when I put fire to this weed a heavenly cord rang out from above, and a light shone down illuminating me- I felt transfixed, at peace, one with the cosmos? Oops, sorry. That?s what happens every time I light a pipe.

McClelland did a fantastic job with Brindle Flake, the tin is filled with beautiful golden broken strips of flaked VA, I grab the larger strips, fold and stuff them and then crumble the rubbed out bits on top to get things fired up properly.

As for taste- it?s my opinion that this is a premium blend that doesn?t disappoint in the flavor department, there lay hidden in each bowl an unbridled powerhouse sweetness that develops the stoved rich body and roundness as the bowl progresses.

I have read that some experienced tongue bite with Brindle Flake; I humbly beg their pardon but disagree. I have smoked this blend in every size and shape that I can and have had no problems with tongue bite. I found this blend to be tame, or perhaps it?s just me.

A delightful Flake, highly recommended to the new or veteran VA smoker.
3 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 16, 2008 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Pleasant
First of all: I am from Denmark. The total sum of tobacco available in my country is either Danish manufactured or "colonial tobacco" - if such a substantive even exists anymore.. American-made "Heinz-tobaccos" (pardon my french) is totally unknown to most Danes. I had some experiences with this certain type of leaf before I tried Brindle Flake, and I was shocked and appalled.

However: Brindle Flake made me convert.

Next: Never mind the weird smell in the tin. Once lit, this tobacco opens up worlds of nuances in the taste department. The leaf is of extremely high quality; golden brown pure unspoiled VA, with a tang and sweetness that exceeds almost everything I've ever put in my pipe. My tins were three to four years old, and that is probably a good thing - read Pipestuds reviews and learn about the attributes of stoved VAs. (been there, done that, bought the t-shirt) I could imagine a fresh tin would burn any palate to cinders. I have dedicated two pipes for Brindle Flake, because I want it unpolluted. Said pipes will soon be used for other blends, since this one has been discontinued and I have only seven tins left. I hope the taste will linger for aeons.... (pun intended with the New-Age lingo)

Jakob Kiilerich, Denmark
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 07, 2006 Medium Mild to Medium Medium Tolerable
Just like Orlik's Long Golden Sliced Flake except for the price...an online retailer has it on sale for five bucks a can. Don't worry, the tin aroma (burning tires, cat puke) will go away with all the extra moisture... The elegant, re-cycled plastic lid is a nice touch by Ashton...

a really old sasieni
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 05, 2005 Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Tolerable
If the vinegar/ ketchup tirade bothers you, look elsewhere. Otherwise this is a very nice Virginia. One of my pipe pals gave me a few bowls of this and I thought it was an excellent smoke. A bit nippy like all pure Virginias, it seems to do best if lightly rubbed out, coarser tobac in the middle of the bowl and once well lit, smoke slowly and savor the taste. I think the key is the moisture level. The rubbed out flake needs to air dry for a bit but not to the crispy or brittle stage. If you live in a low humidity area, this can be accomplished by filling the pipe and waiting a half-hour to overnight before firing it up. You want the tobacco to have a little spring to it when pressed down lightly with the thumb. I don't know how to manage the drying process if you live in an area like the South or some of the Eastern United States. Maybe a wooden box with a small light bulb inside would do the trick.
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 03, 2004 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Tolerable
A typical middle of the road McClelland-made Virginia, a bit drier than usual but with the usual great fruity/sour smell in the tin. It burns well, doesn't bite the tongue and has a nice delicate taste. Not as spectacularly tasty as some other Virginias by the same brand, but pleasant and OK for all-day use.
2 people found this review helpful.
Please login to upvote this review.

target="_blank"