Peterson University Flake

A nice blend with evident fruity topping. Not sure if it's berry or plum but it certainly has a chemical quality I can't stand at all. It could have been a very nice blend without the chemical quality topping. The topping stayed until the end of the bowl. After becoming a fan of Peterson Irish Flake which is also topped, I expected too much from this blend. While Irish flake topping is not quite evident when you start to smoke, and even sometimes when the topping comes forward it's not unpleasant at all. For my next bowls, I will dry the flakes for couple hours hoping the topping would not show up in every puff. I am worried about 5 other tins I bought without trying it first. For aromatic smokers, this blend could be a good pace of change towards non-aromatic type blends. Can't recommend to anyone who does not like a topped tobacco, and coming from someone who does not mind a little topped tobacco says a lot. The base blend is fine, I think could enjoy it if somehow I can get rid of the failed fruity chemical topping. Don't buy tons of tins without trying it first.

University flake is truly a blend you have to study!

With a blend this dark you can obviously assume this is a very earthy blend. That forms the base for this, and now for the studying. You can figure out the other flavours if you just think about it.

There are three other flavours you should find in your studies that beibg the nuttiness of the burleys, the plum/berry topping and a slight sweetness. The nuttiness comes through much more than the others and suits the earthy base quite well.

The plum/berry (not sure which one, I know it's advertised plum but not sure. Definitely a dark fruit) tastes alright, what taste you can get. I wish it came through more, maybe it's just the aro smoker in me but the tin note of plum smelled so nice. I wanted to taste that in the tin, but I was disappointed. The sweetness is largely associated with the topping, so very mild.

I was expecting a lot more, the plum really drew me to this but it just wasn't up to snuff. The earth and nuttiness is nice, if a bit strong but I felt like the plum could've done so much more. That's why it gets two stars, it's not a bad blend at its core, but it had the potential to be so much better.

Boring tobacco without flavour development. The smell from the tin is promising: dried fruits with woody notes. But it has 0 progression of flavour and its also too strong for me.

After going through about half the tin, I've found Uni Flake puzzling...not bad, but not that great.

The tin note is phenomenal. Plums and a little berry (blueberry?). It literally smells good enough to eat. My 9 year old son (resident tobacco sniffer and expert in tin note) agreed.

It is presented as neat clean and uniform flakes.

I'm getting best results with leaving the flakes out on a paper plate for 4 hours, then folding and stuffing. Yes, 4 hours. It doesnt feel wet in the tin at all, oddly enough. I tried leaving a flake out for an hour, and it still didn't taste right...I was gonna go 2 hours, but I forgot about it until 4 hours and it turns out that works, so I'm going with it.

The flavor I get is not at all what I expected. It's mainly a mild earthy taste, with just a hint of the plum topping on retrohale. Not unpleasant, just not what I expected. Smoking it right out of the tin leads that earthy musty taste to taste and feel unpleasantly wet (hence the long drying times I've been trying), though it does seem to burn ok and never gurgled. Anywho, I found the earthy flavor to be rather boring.

originally reviewed 3/9/2012

This was one of the first tobaccos I tried reviewing as a newbie piper, and I never revisited it. Maybe it was my newbie palate....because this sounds like something I would like, and I've thought of revisiting it, I've just never quite gotten around to trying it again.

As of this writing, there are almost three hundred and thirty reviews; I have nothing to add! So, again, I write this for my future self, standing in a shop, lost in indecision...

The Danish UF is a decent middle weight flake, comes not too wet, could smoke it out of the tin, in a pinch. The fruity topping is ever-present during the smoke, at times it becomes too much. Seems to be able to irritate my mouth as well.

Get the Irish Flake!

It took me 4 tries to enjoy University Flake. I really wanted to like it as I'm a considerable fan of Irish Flake, but the stars and moon have to be aligned just right for me to get into a bowl of this.

Prep - broke the flake into matchsticks and loaded vertically into the pipe, leftovers rubbed out into dust. Match, tamp, match.

I believe this tobacco needs serious drying out of the tin before it's really enjoyable. I also found the burn characteristics were much better in a meerschaum than in briar or cob, which were my previous 3 attempts with this particular tobacco.

Tin note is good, although slightly cloying. Heavy on the plum, and other dried fruit notes most likely from the Virginia (apricot?).

Char is very "burned fruit" forward. Sourness comes next, it's got a lot of sweetness upfront and a sourness that is very aggressive. There are times where I do get a really decent draw and a great, warm rich tobacco flavor (almost a mild cigar leaf) takes hold and that really makes me look forward to the next draw.

This tobacco seems quite temperamental to burn rates and tongue bite. Considering that it's also a beast to keep lit even when dried for an hour or more, that makes it a touch difficult to smoke.

I've agreed to cellar my remainder in a jar to see if it improves over time. As it stands I'm not particularly a fan - which is slightly disappointing as I love Irish Flake. The jury is still out on how much I'll like this tobacco in the future.

This tobacco is presented very well, nice tin, and the tobacco is lined up in neat flakes that are easily stuffed or rubbed out. When I opened the tin I immediately smelled the berry topping and thought, "this isnt the way tobacco should smell," but no matter, as I only got a whiff or two of the topping during smoking. What I didn't find particularly pleasing was the distinct taste of burning cotton candy about halfway down the bowl, and which seemed to deepen as I went on. I couldn't quite get over that taste.

I would have to agree with monopod below in that this is another "continental" tobacco much like McBaren or Orlick, somehting along those lines. It's a step up from drugstore brands, but that doesn't really say much. I don't think it was worth the $14 I paid for the tin. I wanted to like this more than I did, and had some high hopes, but alas was let down. Can't give it one star because it wasn't the worse that I've tried.

Not bad. The fruity topping is strong and a bit garish upon lighting, but changes gears mid-bowl to become more incense-like (one of our esteemed colleagues used this term to describe the room note, and I wholly agree). Smokes kinda hot for a burley, but I'll air it out some more and see how it goes. Decent amount of nicotine. Gets a little bitter down near the bottom of the bowl, sort of like the last inch of a cigar, but I've got no problem tossing the last bit--life's too short to be a bowl-cake nazi anyway.

UPDATE: I've got most of the way through a tin of University Flake, and I don't think I'll buy any more for a number of reasons: I don't care much for the topping; it smokes almost as hot as a va/per and is considerably harsher; the flavor gets markedly worse as the bowl progresses; and it doesn't DGT well. Personal gripes aside, however, it gets full points for character and is definitely a "serious" blend.

This was very hard for me to enjoy. First it causes some reaction in my mouth that results in chemical burn, this caused me to be very careful how I smoked it and I couldn't get much smoke or taste out of it. Otherwise it seems to be a good quality tobacco with a light topping which doesn't smell/taste very chemical. The flakes are very easy to rub out and fill the pipe with. Just be careful leaving this in the popped tin because it doesn't seem to hold the tobacco moist for longer periods.