Rattray Marlin Flake

NOTE: This review is based on a tin that was six years old with the beige colored label under my old handle & also the most recent offering. When a 2005 version was purchased back in 2011, it immediately became one of my favorites, so, I read some good reviews on Marlin Flake from Rattray and gave it a try one warm autumn day, It possessed that typical musty, fermented aroma, dark flake strips clumped thereover, waiting patiently to serve an accomodating smoker, Like wee bacon slices packed within that precious and desirous, little round tin, anxious to be transformed into disappearing ghostly clouds of the hereafter, OK... I'll begin.

It burns & bites as much as Haddo's "Undelight." I dried a few grams over my computer vent, before stoking ol' Pete, consigned to VA/Per blends, After a relight I exhaled that VA/Per so sweet, Initially a wee bite on me tongue, but a bit later made its retreat, And mellowed out to render elation... a milder, subdued, nirvanic sensation, A change in character as it slowly morphed, facilitating contentment coming forth, beyond that realm so reminiscent, Obviously, quality leaf to some, so, enjoy another bowl, so numb you may become,

It had a satisfactory Vitamin N content, and offered up a fairly pleasant scent, willfully submitting to this revelation it became a mainstay in my regular rotation. Greedily garnishing the remnants of that lovely, little round tin tucked away therein my modest cellar bin. Sadly, there's a small congregation who woefully submit their resounding condemnation, Although rating one star is totally unfair and seems in extreme of critical observation for this 15 year tin just beyond compare, Overall, I'm very pleased with Marlin Flake, and Old Gowrie and his pal, Hal cellared for future intake, For a Cav/VA/Per blend, it's really good stuff, that will take the edge off when you're feeling a little rough,

As some may be aware, Perique has a Chameleon like effect & in Marlin Flake right straight away I could detect that this blend had the peppery type affect, Depending on how it's mixed & what it's mixed with & how much is used, sometimes a fruity type flavor might tend to taste infused, Whatever the case, it's always a solid condiment & lends itself to be a fine compliment, Nowadays in all pipe blends I must confess, Acadian is mostly used as St. James nearly ran out of business, And there was simply not enough to meet the demand of blenders of the leaf using Perique to prevent a taste too bland, One thing I'll never understand & I'm not a discriminating young fellow & needless to say it wasn't my choice to change from the colored beige so mellow to that blinding, taxi cab yellow... they could have put a sign on top... the TAXI noun, with black & white checkered squares all around, so one would know to signal for a stop,

Also, I must contend that much of the sweetness of flavor that once had been, seemed at the same time to have followed that trend, I've coughed up my two cents in this ongoing debate to impart my thoughts on this very fine flake, I might downgrade to three stars at a later date but for now, a solid four stars I deem it should rate! The mixture in the newer tins with the yellow labels feels a bit more sticky as it's being rubbed out & seems to have a little more bite & a little less sweetness. Fortunately, however, at about mid bowl the harshness and/or the peppery taste seems to subside somewhat. I think Rattray should alter this mix to tone the pepper down considerably & bring a little more VA & Cavendish sweetness back into the blend.

Anyway, I just feel this mixture was altered about the same time the label color changed. I know it's still a popular blend but I think it was much better way back then... around 15 years it's been. I'm going to alter this stuff a tad but will have to experiment a bit on that approach. My first trial will be to add a little more red Virginia in hopes of going back in time, as it were.

Addendum: I added & mixed about one third of Brunello Flake to this blend & toned it down considerably. It didn't bite so bad afterwards, smoked normally, tasted excellent, no more harshness/bite & not as much pepper from the perique. There's no need to have to age a tin of tobacco for three to five years & then have to be careful & only sip it to keep from getting bit. You buy a tin, it should be ready to smoke right then without all the nonsense involved... something akin to Solani's 660: Silver Flake. Now, that's a quality blend right out of the tin... only requires a little drying time.

Four stars for the older versions of MF & I honestly feel that for the reasons explained above, MF in these times only merits three stars tops until Rattray gets it right again... something has gone awry that should be dealt with by Kohlhase & Kopp. I know they could do better if they tried.

For me, trying to decide which of the “Big Three” Virginia blends from Rattray, Marlin Flake, Hal O' the Wind and Old Gowrie is a bit like trying to say which one of your children you love the most. After smoking each for about five years and yet I am still struggling to determine my favorite of the bunch. I enjoy all of them. Marlin Flake seems to have the least amount of spice of the three and maybe it is just in my mind, but when very slowly sipped I do get a hint of the Black Cavendish. In my book, MF is the gentle one of the bunch, exhibiting a wonderful profile when very slowly sipped. Puff MF a little too hard and the subtle flavors are quickly lost. MF is sweet, a bit complex and a worthy Virginia forward blend. I tend to find it a little less sweet (when aged) than Old Gowrie and I tend to reach for the “big brother” of the bunch, Hal O' the Wind, the most often because of the bolder flavors and rougher edges that HOTW possesses. I prefer all of them aged as opposed to new. That is about the best I can do. I have not smoked anything other than the K&K versions, but after messing around with these three for the past several years, I guess it is safe to say that MF, while good, is my least favorite of the three. However, I will always have a few tins of MF on hand. Clear as mud??

After completing the, so called, 'virginia trinity' i found marlin flake to be the most difficult to rate.. It is a great smoke and a fine presentation and Rattray's has yet to dissapoint me. A very fine virginia with a much more noticeable perique character than i was expecting. this would indeed be one of my favorite va/pers were it not for the cavendish which, at the risk of sounding nit-picky, actually brings this one down a notch.. having said that, i see what this blend is going for.. it is going for a smooth rich quality, and it indeed succeeds in this.. but while the cavendish does tone down and smooth out the smoke, it also detracts a little from the complexity of the virginia. the perique is a nice addition and it saves the day for me.. but in my opinion what could have been a great va/per, turns out to be simply a good one.

Update April 2018.. Not surprisingly this really improves with age.. everything melds together. Worth cellaring for 5+ years

Marlin Flake is famous for its presentation in the form of long strips of flakes, though in my particular can they came quite torn apart, appearing more like a broken flake. Very moist and pretty sticky, so I think there might be some humectant or casing added here.

Pretty easy to rub out, but requiring quite a long drying time. Most reviewers mentioned 20-30 minutes, but I've found that's not nearly enough. If I do so, it will not burn properly, it will require a lot of relights, burn hot, leave the bowl almost soaking wet and become pretty harsh. I've found that the best result comes after 90 minutes of drying time, which is far more than I would normally do with a flake. To put it into perspective, not even Gawith flakes require this much drying time for me.

Once at the proper moisture, then it's an enjoyable VaPer. It carries that Dark Virginia taste that seems pretty typical for Rattray's: mature, fermented, fruity, cereal, yeasty, a little toasty, somewhat earthy and sweet. In fact, that sweetness seems a bit pumped up, leading me to believe that there might be some sort of sugar casing added to this, though the Black Cavendish might also be responsible for that. The Perique stays in the background and provides a hint of raisins and figs, with a bit of pepper if doing a retro.

Not a bad VaPer, though it has a bit more sweetness than I usually prefer in a Virginia. I would still reach for Old Gowrie over this, but it's still a good VaPer on its own merit. Plus, that very long drying time can be quite a nuisance. All in all, it's good and warrants a recommendation, especially for one who has a sweet tooth or an affinity for sweet Virginias.

50g Round Tin

Virginia-Cavendish-Perique are the ingredients, and these 3 degrees come through in the taste in combined equal measure.

Citrusy lemony virginias combine with the berryesque perique to produce a kind of sweet and sour baked apple and sultanas taste ala stewed fruit. The cavendish offers a toasted pastry factor ala strudel as mentioned by another reviewer. I also detect a faint maple syrup topping which may be part of the cavendish.. The only thing missing is a dollop of custard.

It is to me a kind of dessert smoke , it borders on aromatic yet is a strait tobacco at the same time. I use a medium-large solid meer conical chamber bowl on a Falcon -Bantam small bent stem. This is my safe cavendish pipe.

This sample i have left in a jar is from 2013. I haven't touched it enough between then and now to notice any ageing. I expect it has rounded out, but that might be more to do with finding a better sympathetic pipe that suits cavendish blends better in the mean time that is doing most of the rounding.

Although cavendish isnt my favourite leaf for quite a few years-( it just doesnt agree with me too often)-, this isnt a bad smoke and performs in such a way that I wish other cavendish aromatic blends would of done.

Even though I am not a fan of cavendish, I have seriously enjoyed other blends in the past that contain it like Petersons Irish Oak, of which this Marlin Flake is similar in character where cavendish is there but I don't notice it because it is doing something to bring out the best in the other ingredients, like it does also in Old Dublin.

I do wonder if the perique within has a neutralising effect on bite. This hasn't bitten me at all or tried to. If I have to compare this then to Irish Oak I would say that Irish Oak definately & noticably ages and matures more than Marlin. Irish oak also has a lot of black pepper to go with the sour plum, but Marlin remains pepperless and true to its original form (good form mind). Irish oak is cigarette like where Marlin tastes like an all pipe tobacco and is sweeter than Irish Oak. I prefer Irish Oak but these days I would probably buy neither because I prefer meaty,cigarish stuff like ropes, dark plugs, plus I really like Gold Block still.

The room note is actually quite nice and might be a crowd pleaser .

Burns to a crisp salt and pepper dry grey ash, no gunk, burns ok, no bite, stays lit, no glycerol detected. Sunday pudding 3 stars***

Dark flakes presented nicely and a bit moist. There is a good natural flavor here with a touch of added top note. I like the slightly sweet smoky Virginia flavor and strength seems a notch below medium. With only 10 minutes or so of dry time this blend used more than half a new box of matches to get down to the bottom of a big size bowl. My tongue was fried for the night and half of today. This one has the flavor to be great but the smoking isn’t easy. You need to go slow to enjoy the flavor here but it’s impossible as you need to keep puffing to keep it lit. Even after breaking it up pretty good. it gets acrid when puffed too fast/ hot . A small bowl really does seem to work best. In a small bowl I could let 3 stars pass I would give this 3 stars for flavor anyway but the hassle of the relights and the bite here I’d give it two stars. It’s somewhat recommended ..... maybe I’ll be able to give it another star if I can figure out how to make it behave better. I really want to... it burns really slow and even a small bowl can give you a 60 minute smoke. She’s got a lot going for her I’d say. Heck, I’ll give it 3 stars ....

I just tried Old Gowrie next to Marlin Flake and I like MF better. MF is what I would call a true VaPer , very much in the style of McC's "St James Woods". It has that little spice. MF can be a little bitey if it is not dried and sipped. MF has more flavor and strength than Old Gowrie which I find the Perique component is almost none existent. In addition, I find MF more complex and develops a greater flavor & is creamy as you smoke it. Old Gowrie is closer to a Straight Virginia in the Danish style. I think if I had my choice I would smoke St James Woods over MF as I think it is smoother, but both are very good tobaccos.

Updated 10/8/11 I've found that drying has really made this a real nice tobacco. Burns well, taste develops thur the whole bowl and it just has that spice tingle that makes it interesting. I've smoked two bowls doing mindless yard work and the tobacco has been perfect, no bite stays lit and has great flavor. Light in "N" and smokes great from a cob. 3 1/2 stars

This is a good stout VA tobacco. I've only had a few samples here and there so my thoughts and impressions may be limited on this one. I do know that I've enjoyed it every time. A good sipping blend will for sure bite if you aren't watching your smoking pace. I really like this one, it reminds me of some of the G&H VA blends, dunno if it's topped or not, but a very decent VA smoke. I really want to compare it to Hal O' The Wynd with a decent amount of both at some point. Hope to have a bit more to say about this one when I get around to trying it again, but even without that, I would still recommend it as a great blend, it's also a favorite of a good friend of mine, so we have his word to go on as well and not just mine!

Sight: The typical Rattray round tin reveals dark, rich tobacco. Great aroma from the tin.

Touch: Still a little moist for direct smoking. This tobacco is best when thoroughly rubbed out.

Taste: Yet another great VA from Rattray. How it attains such a sweetness without compromising/interfering with its natural origins is unknown to me. Personally, this tobacco might easily be a tad "too sweet" for my every day smoke. I think that this tobacco could provide the allure to VAs for individuals who like flavored tobacco. But, as with other VAs, this should be initially approached somewhat delicately.

Smell: The wife didn't actually give me a review of this tobacco. I find it comparable to other Rattray VAs, but perhaps slightly more pungent.

Conclusions: MF is a great tobacco blend. It only fails to be "one of my favorites" simply because I find it falling in between two of my definitive favorites from Rattray (OG and HTW). My olfactory ruminations usually lead me towards one of my two "poles" (not the right word, but I think readers understand) in the VAs from Rattray, rather than selecting the one that is more centered.