Rattray Marlin Flake

With McClelland gone, I was a little neurotic to find other Virginia's I'd be able to smoke so as to keep my 40th anniversary and red cake stashes around a bit longer.

Boy, am I glad I found Rattray's Marlin Flake. I didn't think I'd ever find something better than McClelland, but this one really does it for me. It's spicy full Virginia dark flake that is a little more smoothed out and consistent than even my favorite 40th Anniversary. It has a subtle sweet nuance to it probably from whatever minimal Cavendish is applied. Neither the perique nor the cavendish do anything but completely enhance a very Virginia forward taste in the vein of 40th though. It's deep and something I quickly stashed up on. Now, I can just smoke my 40th anniversary on special occasions and I really won't miss it too much when its gone, knowing I have plenty of this in my cellar and still available for purchase from Rattray!

As one of Rattray's 'Big 3' Marlin Flake is a fine tobacco blend. The tin note is earthy and rich, with just a hint of tangy perigue hiding in the background, almost daring you to light a bowl.

The flakes are very well presented, soft and easy to rub out, or folded and stuffed. I find it behaves rather nicely rubbed out and let dry for about 20-30 minutes.

The virginias are rich and creamy, yummy bready notes with grassy highlights sneaking in. The perique shows up mid-bowl, and really brings it all together with some excellent spicey goodness. The cavendish provides a nice cushy bed for everything else to roll around on.

This blend clearly has a casing, I get brown sugar/licorice undertones, but this never gets in the way.

Highly recommended!

Tangy plum sweetness is brought about by the interplay of the red virginias and perique. One can also detect a bit of earth and bread as mentioned in Jim's expert review. The telltale brown sugar sweetness of the cavendish smooths out this extraordinary blend. This flake comes quite moist, so a little drying time will be necessary. Won't bite and burns clean all the way down to a fine speckled gray ash with no relights. This is the embodiment of a fine pipe tobacco. You'll definitely want to cellar this one, gents.

This blend is a classic example how VA/Per shouldn't taste like. Peter Stokebye Bulls Eye Flake is another one, but unlike this, Bulls Eye is bearable. Black Cavendish just ruins everything good in a Virginia/Perique blend. Ok, this is if we review it in VA/Per context, and all the bad things that can be said, are true. Now, let's look at it not in the VA/Per context. Actually it's pretty enjoyable. If we compare it to other Rattray blends, it's in the solid top 3. Good quality smoke, especially for the summer. I've been smoking only this for about a month and I almost got used to it. I have another 100 grams of this Marlin crap, and I'll give it a go until it disappears completely. Maybe when I'm done with it I'll get to like it. I don't know for sure, but I'm half way there. In the beginning, I expected more and it disappointed me badly. I decided to give it a chance and stick with it until I get to like it. There was improvement after all, and now I almost enjoy it.

My 50g tin consisted of just two large flakes folded and squashed together. The tin note had just the faintest hint of pepper and smokeness hiding behind a dominant raisin smell, lovely. For me it needs some dry time or it turns into a damp sticky mess in the bowl.

When dried it lights easily after a charring light and burns slowly. Whilst it doesn't bite it needs sipping to get the most of the flavour, alot of which can be found on the snork. The tin note comes through into the smoking perfectly, it has a deep stewed fruit / plummy / raisinish sweet taste.

i just bought a 50g tin of this pipe tobacco..and its quite nice..im not a flake person..but i thought go for it!..i rubbed it out and im very pleased with it..smokes nice....nice and easy..no bite and thats a good thing.its just a pleasent aroma and easy to relax with..and that for me is what pipe smoking is all about..enjoy!

Damn this stuff is delicious. It's pricey but worth every penny. It's a full and delicious Virginia flake that I only smoke when I can sit and savor it with absolutely no distractions. Like all Virginias it has a delicious tangy/grassy sweetness. But unlike some whose sweetness is that of honey or crisp fruit, this one is a rich dark molasses sweetness. Absolutely mouth watering if you ask me.

It is for the Virginia lover who knows how to treat the tobacco properly. Don't try and smoke it too quickly or it will slap you back for trying to move in on her too fast. Take your time and you will be richly rewarded.

It's easily in my top 5 and I smoke it almost every day.

Something in this blend has changed, and for the worse. I have smoked several 100 gram tins of this over the past few years. I have been smoking a tin now that has aged well over a year in the unopened tin. Each successive tin of this tobacco has been less and less exciting. This tobacco was delicious in its own dark way when Rattray's was producing this, but the new German concoction leaves much to be desired. I have smoked this fresh out of the tin, and after drying it out a bit, and I am not sure which is worse. This baccy is lacking in flavor and depth, and becomes astringent as you work your way down the bowl. I have smoked this in a Ser Jacopo, a Ferndown, a Caminetto, a Larsen, a Design Berlin, all to no avail. My present tin has just found its way into the backyard recycling bin! This tobacco has lost its way, its recipe has strayed far from the original, and I do not recommend this. There are many far better flakes available today, the majority of which are more reasonably priced than this one. Experiment elsewhere, and you will be more greatly rewarded.

Those who have seen my reviews for a while know that I'm a lush when it comes to VaPer blends. I kept hearing about this blend for a long time and it was always sold out online but I finally got my hands on a tin. It is pretty plain, but all of the Rattray's tins are very plain.

When I opened my tin I found a fairly thick cut flake the color is quite attractive with a combination of blacks and light browns. The smell is very bready, sweet, dark fruity, and slightly BBQ. A nice and inviting smell. It came at a decent moisture and I didn't really dry mine out. But I will say that smoking it on the drier side yields a delicious smoke. I've tried filling my pipe the night before and it's worked well. It does take a light fairly well.

When I light my pipe I am hit with a delicate and wonderful smoke. The Virginias end up front: sweet, fruity, and bready. The Cavendish Is toasty and applied lightly. The perique adds some spice and some plum notes. There is a very light and barely noticeable topping of anise and it pairs well with everything else. The slower I smoke, the more rewarding this blend gets.

The taste of this blend is a very balanced medium. The strength is likewise a medium. There isn't enough Perique in this blend to pump up the vitamin N. The room note is very pleasant. For me this isn't an all day blend. It's more of a nice smoke to relax with when I have nowhere to be. The key to this smoke is not to rush. I know that's true of pipe smoking in general, but if you rush this it looses all it's flavor. I hear this is a good one to age, and I might buy a tin with that in mind.