Rattray Marlin Flake

I really tried to like this one. From the favourable reviews to the reputation of Rattray’s tobacco. I finished a whole tin before writing this review. But still I cannot like it. Mechanically speaking, it comes in long flakes. Almost a tape. But they’re easy to break apart. The flakes are moist, no, wet, this is s blend that requires monumental drying. If you want to dry it as a flake it will take hours, so folding is not an option with it. It will be a relighting nightmare. Rubbing is better, it takes almost an hour to be dry enough and it rubs moderately easy. It requires a few relights throughout the smoke and it expands when lit so don’t pack too tight. The tin note is dark fruity and reminds me of dried figs. And the taste of it matches this. It has dark fruity taste with a bit of sweetness to it, almost like a straight dark virginia, I couldn’t get much of anything else. It isn’t a bad taste when you direct it away from your tongue but I found that if I smoke with the mouthpiece towards my tongue it leaves this tingly sensation so I am wondering if that’s was an added casing. It leaves a nice after taste though, again of dried fruit and the room note matches. It isn’t bad but I cannot recommend it and I won’t be buying more. Unless I am out of tobacco and it is the only one a available.

What has surprised me most about MF is how, even after more than 8 years of aging, the tobacco bites. Of course, there is a fair quantity of humectant (PG no doubt) as the flakes feel on the dry side under the fingers but remain in a ball when the rubbed out tobacco is pinched between my fingers. Despite the aging, despite the flakes having nicely darkened, despite a wonderful fig, raisin, hay and spicy tin aroma which reflects in the smoke, I cannot give a high rating because of how it bites.

I had high expectations - and they were not fulfilled.

The taste is full but not "filling", so this is a good thing to be said about this tobacco. In accordance with our fellow user's "L'Italiano" experience, I have neither detected the perique in this blend and would consider it on the aromatic rather than the natural side of the spectrum. Our German friends tell us that Marlin Flake contains 28mg of flavouring and 121 mg of added sugar per 1000 mg of tobacco (!). https://service.bmel.de/tabakerzeugnisse/index2.php?detail_id=104655&site_key=153&stichw_suche=marlin+flake&zeilenzahl_zaehler=2 Still, not all tobaccos that contain flavouring need be necessarily bad and Marlin Flake isn't unsmokable by far. The taste is OK but does not knock me off my feet. My major problem with this tobacco is the sweetness, which many describe as certainly present but not cloying. Well - I thought it was rather cloying - and it certainly diminished my pleasure.

2 out of 4 stars

In AD 3978, when Charlton Heston discovers the remains of the Statue of Liberty on the Planet of the Apes, he'll also find my tin of Marlin Flake kept at optimal smoking moisture by enough humectant to render it nearly fireproof.

It's good tobacco underneath all that propylene glycol, and in the rare moments that it's burning right Marlin Flake is an excellent step up in flavor from Old Gowrie. But I have had this 100gm tin open for 6 months and it still burns like garbage through all the goop. Not in a jar, mind you ... it's just hanging out in the Rattray tin as spongy and pliable as your B&M's favorite PG-slick cherry aro after 6 months in a leaky ziplock.

At least Hal and Old Gowrie are still smokeable, I'll leave the Marlin Flake for after the apocalypse.

I'm a relatively new pipe smoker, so please bear that in mind. When I smoke my pipe I'm looking for a period of relaxation and contentment - a enjoyable experience. This pipe tobacco doesn't give me that. For newer smokers not aware of different pipe tobaccos, please be warned that this Marlin Flake contains a lot of Perique tobacco which has a peppery, spicy flavor. Smoking Marlin Flake is rather like trying to smoke a pepper pot - lots of hot, spicy, fiery and peppery smoke. I don't like it at all - to me, it's like going through a slow drawn out torture - so much spice that my tongue becomes hot (not tongue bite - spice bite) and there's an astringency that can be felt in inner cheeks.

I feel the name of this tobacco is misleading. It should be called Rattray's Hot Spicy Peppery Tobacco - Marlin's Flake doesn't describe it and nowhere on the tin is there any warning of its peppery flavor.

Admittedly underneath the peppery top note there's some deep good virginia flavor and sweetness, and obviously some high quality stuff has gone into this blend. The problem (for me) is that the peppery stuff overpowers the good stuff. By the end of a bowl my mouth is feeling hot, spicey and toasted, and that's not what I want from my smoking experience.

I'm aware that there are many pipe smokers who love this peppery Perique tobacco, and for them this might be a 'go to' smoke. It's certainly very high quality. But for me there's too much spice.

I've just received approximately a half ounce sample from a member on PSF from 2003. I've given it a run in three different sized briar pipes, and here is my verdict.

This is a well aged sample, that being said it doesn't seem like an aged Virginia blend. I like the flavor I'm getting from the second half of the bowl down to the heel, but at charring light and the first 10 minutes in, not too much flavor. It feels as if the blend doesn't have too much backbone to it. I'm primarily a VaPer smoker, but this tastes like an extremely mellow tangy Virginia. To me, it isn't a bad blend of tobaccos at all, it's just not standing out or anything yelling at me to keep in the cellar. I'd say worth a try, but it probably won't end up being something you can smoke daily, or might not even want to smoke it regularly.

I recently tried three of the Virginia blends (Marlin Flake, Hal O' The Wynd and Old Gowrie) from Rattray as they tend to get lumped together and I wanted to know what seperated them.

I would say MF is the least strong of the three. Although I'd still say it was at the medium end of mild to medium, just a step behind OG and a couple behind Hal.

Taste wise, it's a Virginia/Cavendish led blend with slight hints of perique. Slightly toasty, slightly tangy, slightly sweet. Steamier in mouthfeel (the Cavendish) and less pronounced but tangier in taste than the other two.

Can bite a bit too readily for my liking but nothing very serious.

Good, but not bold enough to bring me back very often.

I went to my tobacconist to see what Va/Per I wanted to try after having had dunhill's navy rolls and this was recommended to me.

for some reason I wish I'd just gotten germain's brown or something instead of insisting on a Va/Per, because I'm somewhat disappointed.

it smells great from the tin, it looks great and it feels great in my hands and so I was expecting it to smoke accordingly. it's REALLY moist, so my first mistake was to smoke it out of the tin. the next time I air-dried it for about an hour. it still doesn't really give me what I expected. I guess I should've taken hal o the wynd instead. I was expecting deep, rich, somewhat spicy virginia, not candy-sweet-like. it's still not a bad tobacco, it's just not what I wanted to spend 18 euros on. I'm also missing that perique tang and spice.

I'd probably not buy this again, I'd get one of the other 'holy trinity' tobaccos or another tin of the delicious navy rolls. or maybe st. james flake. whatever.

I'll still smoke this tin, and I also have some of it in mason jars, so maybe it'll be better in a year or two.

Another excellent VaPer preparation from Rattrays. Mild to medium sweet...accentuated by keeping it in flake form when smoked. Full flavor and somewhat malty. The perique is far less noticeable than in Old Gowrie.

Highly recommended.

A companion infusion: a myriad of libations...ranging from hot chocolate to your favorite single malt...just enjoy.

UPDATE 06/03/2010: After enjoying many other VA, VaPer and VaBurley-American blends lately, I now find my cellared Marlin Flake tins to be a little flat in taste...I'm finding that I'm not a fan of added Black Cavendish in blends...it's boring. Lowering my rating accordingly.