Ashton Brindle Flake

While I generally am not a virginia smoker, to those who are, I commend this blend to you. Upon opening the tin, you are greeted by partially rubbed out flakes, and a tangy odor common to this type of tobaccy. It rubbed out and packed easily and lit easily as well. The tanginess that you smell in the tin does not come out in the smoke. Rather, you get a dark ,woodsy ,medium flavor that reminded me of my boyscout days. It developed a nuttiness toward the end of the bowl and smoked to a fine grey ash with no dottle typical of this blend. One warning though, you must smoke this sloooowwww, otherwise you will toast your tongue.To end, this is a good medium strength virginia blend,nothing special, but good, good, good. Recommended....

To all the peasants that would past judgement on a fine leaf such as the Brindle Flake I say to you all - OFF with your Heads!Better yet- you're out of your heads!The richness that is obtained thru the aroma of drawing on my Reo Ferndown is unparallel to any can i've opened in the past 6 months.I must say the 5-97 mfg. date probably added a great deal to the sugar flakes that I so much savored . Then again, only the FINEST Virginia's are fit for a King!

Brindle Flake is a very fine virginia that needed just a bit more rubbing out to suit my tastes. It is not overwhelmingly sweet, indicating no casing. It will provide a very pleasant smoke for virginia fanciers. A bit darker in flaver that an unstoved virginia, don't expect this to be an all-day smoke.

It lit very well, was easy to keep lit, and provided the usual ample, yet airy smoke of a virginia blend. It was not at all vinagery in taste or smell. Just a delightful smoke.

By the way, I smoked this blend in my XXX Ashton Pebble Shell...and I'm sure that made the blend smoke even better! Blimey, what pleasure!

How about some ketchup with that there pipe?!! J/K, couldn't help myself. McClelland should just stamp there name on any product that comes out of their factory, 'cause they'll never fool anyone. That being said, this VA is one of their better. It is a very rich smoke. Unfortunately, as Eulenberg put it best- there are lots better out there! It just isn't worth the tongue bite either. If you really, really, just had to have this particular flavor of smoke, you had better watch your smoking technique or else!

Slightly peppery, with a semi-sweet chocolatish undertone (not a casing, just a feeling) this is a pretty good light flake. The catsup in-the-tin redolence I didn't care for AT ALL.

There must be forty Virginia flakes out there better than this. But this is not bad.

The following review was the result of a blind taste test:

Sample A arrived dry and required additional moisture in order to adequately rub out or pack. The tobacco was partially broken upon arrival. The component tobaccos range from blond streaks through medium and on to dark brown. This tobacco smells like a McClelland to me, with the characteristic vinegar nose.

My first bowl of this was in a medium sized Castello billiard, where I found it to be much too hot and caustic to enjoy or even really pick up any of the flavor other than thin heat. Within a few days, I came down with a cold, and it is possible that the lack of flavor could be attributed to that. I generally find that I have tongue bite problems with McClelland VA products and this was no exception.

My second bowl was smoked in an older Lane Era Charatan poker that I have used only for VA and VA/Perique blends. This developed a good burning character once it got started, although it is still a bit hot on the tongue. The flavor is well developed, particularly in comparison to the thin flavor that was shown in the first bowl.

Early bowl flavor character is bright with a citrus sourness. It is accompanied by a slightly metallic flavor and moderate body. While there is some sweetness, this is not a really sugary virginia.

Mid bowl flavor has intensified and has sweetened considerably. There is a tendency to burn hot. At times, very hot. The tongue bite reduced considerably midbowl despite all of this.

The third and final bowl of this was smoked in a gourd calabash and it really shined here. Early tongue bite was still present, but the richness of flavor was exceptional and the smoke temperature was acceptable. This was DGT?d overnight for the bottom third or so, and suffered no bitterness as a result. The flavor was muted, however, although smoking characteristics were good.

The moderator asked that this be tried in flake and rubbed out form, with which I was unable to comply. I am rarely able to smoke flakes without rubbing them out, and given the difficulties that I experienced with the first bowl, I was unwilling to try and feel like I was going to be able to review.

Given that I tend to stay away from McClelland products, this was a nice change of pace and o decent experience. I think that I may try additional flakes in the gourd, where the cool characteristics may do the job for me.

I generally smoke about 15-20% VA or VA/P flakes, and tend to go in streaks of smoking and not smoking this type of tobacco. This was richer tasting than most that I have experienced for the type. Overall, I would rate this 80/100 for flavor, 50/100 for burning characteristics, and 60/100 overall, with deductions for the heavy tongue bite.

February 2003

Absolutely delicious is this weed. It also reminds me of Benjamin Hartwells Signature Blend. Although this seems fuller and not overly sweet. It has wonderful low and high notes. A really good virginia flake. Brindle flake rubs out, packs, lights and burns great right down to a white ash a real clean tobacco. This flake has a wonderful smokiness to it not as citrusy as BJ's signature blend. This is a definate keeper I will be buying more of this to cellar. Highly recommended to virginia fanciers and flake fans. Happy New Year!!!

A good Va flake,easy to smoke, with a slight vinegar aroma (as common in McClelland blends, as the soapy taste in many English tobaccos). It reminded me very much of Ben Hartwell's Private Reserve/Signature Blend (which is also blended by McClelland).

Nothing to get excited about, but a good, honest Va smoke. It burns very well, it has the right degree of moisture and it's easy to pack.

Tin date code 550100 (2000). Tin note of a mix of tangy sweet and tart sour dark fruit. Tobacco is a broken flake of reddish brown and dark brown. Moisture content is great. Flakes break apart and rub out with a little effort. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and very consistent, with complex notes of tart and tangy dark fruit, spices, floral, bread, sweet grass, wood, slightly herbal, fermented sour, old hay, earthy, very savory, slight bitter orange peel, a deep tangy citrus background note, and a peppery retro. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is outstanding.