Peterson University Flake

A nice easy smoking flake. Tasty, with a hint of plum. The room note is enjoyed by myself and my significant other, which is always a plus.

Another winner from Peterson. I really enjoy what they call an aromatic versus other brands. Peterson is a tobacco, through and through with aromatic hints, not a sugary glop of who knows what with some tobacco in it...

Recommend! Especially if this is your first flake. Between this and the Luxury Blend, and Old Dublin, I may never buy anything else! Well... That's not entirely true... Variety is the spice of life, but Petersons has been my daily smoke and will continue to be.

I had declared in the past that Connoisseur's choice is the only Peterson I like, so I hesitated to purchase University Flake. I hesitated for one more reason. The name University associatively brought in my mind the following thoughts: University = Students = Young at age smokers = Inexperienced in pipe smoking = Simple Tocacco = Light Big mistake. One think this tobacco is not, is suitable for new pipe smokers. From one hand, all the good words I was hearing, from the other, its great price at Bilbao, where I found it, convinced me to buy it. It contains Virginia and Burley. It is not produced anymore by Murray Sons & Co. Ltd. It is produced by Kohlhase, Kopp und Co. KG of Germany. Pure luck??? I don't think so!!! Attractive tin. Very beautiful flake, thicker than usual, with oily surface. Dark colored, with blond highlights. It has a very discreet plum scent. Quite strong, nicotine wise, and it strengthens even more after the first half of the bowl. I used the cutting in cubes technique with these flakes also, which helps for easier filling of the bowl, but also so that the flakes keep their flavor and cohesion. It does not light up very easily. It usually takes two, maybe three attempts. Neutral to pleasant room note. I will try to find this tobacco again. I was totally satisfied.

First flake I had was disgusting, but I gave it a second chance and it turned out alright. Like Irish Flake, it is not well behaved and needs constant relights, compared to say St Bruno Flake which smokes all the way down without more than one or two relights quite easily. Needs to be rubbed out all the way really, which for me sort of defeats the purpose of smoking flaked tobacco. But it tastes quite pleasant and has a nice room note. Doesn't feel very "university"-ish to me, though, I can't see many professors liking the berry flavouring. Perhaps "Muffin Flake" would be a better name. I'll finish the tin but I doubt I'll buy another, there are too many good flakes out there to settle for this.

A flake I often smoke. The amount of topping I taste in the smoke can be adjusted a bit with different drying of the flake. I do not want to smoke this out of the tin but I never let this one dry to tinder. I like an average drying allowing for a decent amount of topping. I naturally like this one and don't want to let the flavor slip away, I want to keep it present not hidden. This may be the most aromatic tobacco I smoke.

I really like this. I'm still fairly new to the hobby and this is one of my first flakes (also have some McCranies New Bedford). Perfect moisture level in my tin but being new I don't think I packed it right because it needed quite a few relights. Smoked it in a normal sized poker and it really opened the eyes towards the bottom of the bowl. Fairly strong for a guy just starting out. Excellent flavor though. The 'plumb' is really there at the start but settles into the background. Little to no bite and I still have the habit of hitting it hard at times. Highly recommend. Think I'm sticking to flakes thanks to this tin.

I love this tobacco, and currently it is my favorite. They rarely have it at my local tobacconist, which is probably a good thing as it's much cheaper online. I first was drawn to the attractive tin, and I also liked the sound of the name. Upon opening my fist tin I was a little put off by the strong berry aroma, but the flakes are just lovely, the nicest I've seen.

The first time I smoke it I was not wildly impressed, but then it grew on me very quickly, and is now my main smoke. There is definitely a sweet take added by the berry topping and virginias, but not over powering so. For me it's the perfect balance when looking for a robust smoke with a slight sweet note.

Straight virginias for me are a tad too much on the sickly sweet side, so I think the burleys round off this blend. My other preferred smokes right now are Peterson's Old Dublin for an English blend, and the Frog Morton's range for a lighter tangy latakia smoke. I also like the McClelland's British Woods for a less tangy latakia similar to the Frog Morton's line.

University Flake (together with Planta's Burberry) is one of the very few topped blends I can arrange myself with. The nicotine is reasonably strong, the taste presents the smoker with a harmony of well and finely tuned rich notes that suit the Burley tone quite charmingly; its fragrance - in a rather subtle way - commemorates olibanum. The burn is brilliantly slow and cool (as others have noted before me).

One of my all-time favourites over the years.

University Flake has the same status as Erinmore flake: a Love or hate it tobacco.

Besides the occasional overly cased tin, which only happened twice, I must say I enjoy University Flake very much.

The flakes are dark, tasty, rich and the fruity note an excellent enhancer of the fine tobacco taste.

This flake is NOT for a beginner. The nicotine level is significant.

I do not like the first half of a bowl of University Flake. The combination of berry and burley is too much for me. Smoking this down makes me not like burleys. The second half of a bowl is okay, but I am still getting hints of that berry taste. I love Irish Flake, but University Flake is too...something...for me. I have almost made it through a tin of this, but I don't think that I will be seeking it out again. On the other hand, I think that I need to increase the rating I gave their plug. Maybe it is the berry flavoring, maybe I am just not a huge burley fan, but this just isn't for me.

To its credit, I have had good luck with the moisture content out of the tin. I fold it and once I get it going, it stays lit. I am not a fan of overt added flavors. The Lakeland essence (soap) I enjoy, tonquin in 1792 is not bad, there are a few others that I am okay with, but the berry taste that persists for much of this bowl is just off-putting for me.

I think I now need to find a spicy VaPer to cleanse the palate.