Peterson University Flake

ive had this tin sitting around for a while now and keep breaking out the odd flake here and there when the mood takes me. I'm sad to say though that these occasions are rarely fuelled by a feeling of fancying a bowl of this particular baccy and more motivated by a belief that I really ought to give it another chance to prove itself. So far none of the experiences have convinced me that I'll ever buy another tin. It's not a bad tobacco by any means... It smokes particularly well in my Nording freehand when a complete flake is roughly rubbed and allowed to smoke slowly over a good half hour or hour. It also helps to dry the tin for quite a while. I've worked it into my desired state in a few one hour periods, simply leaving the lid of the tin off but the card inner packaging still folded over to control airflow slightly. When first opened I would say it is far too wet. After three or so hours of air and a month to even out it seems to be far more well behaved. There's a nice tobacco flavour, I'd say more Virginia than burley, and not much sweetness to it. The casin flavour (apparently plum) jumps in and out and is slightly evident in the room note. My major gripe with this flake is the lack of depth! I like sweetness when it's slow and easy and builds up softly on the palet and you don't get much of that with University. The flavouring too doesn't really dance on the tongue as I'd expect a good fruit to, it bites the tip of the tongue somewhat and hots the back of the mouth. There's nothing "bad" to the experience of smoking this blend. In fact I would recommend buying a single tin, letting it breath and settle for a while, then enjoying a whole flake rubbed into a good deep bowl. It just doesn't stand out from the crowd at all. The nicotine level is good and my favourite thing about University Flake is the pleasant mellow feeling derived from slowly rolling though a good pipeful. Try it... But only if you can grab a tin in passing... Don't go out of your way for this one.