Rattray Marlin Flake

Rattray Marlin Flake is a unique tobacco which will prove pleasing to most pipe smokers. Probably more will deem it good than those who will elevate it to the must have category.

The flakes are six inches long, very thin (16th of an inch), and can be crammed in a pipe with no difficulty. Those who may have found other flakes difficult to deal with will be pleasantly surprised with this one. Just stuff it in; it works without trying to figure if you should rub it out. The flakes are medium brown with a few lighter streaks. The tin smell is citrus Virginia, the rancid note of perique being just apparent. A little cavendish joins the bright and stoved Virginias in the blend.

As with many tinned tobaccos, this one is a bit too moist upon first opening. Break the seal and wait for three days before smoking. Do this and you will find the mixture lights easily and stays lit without difficulty. The taste has the slightly sweet citrus note of Virginia, a bit of peppery tang, and a hint of brown sugar. Although this is not a burley blend, I detect a hint of the chocolate note which is more usual for the air cured varieties. There seems to be just a whiff of alcohol casing or top note (rum? whiskey?) which subtly influences the taste without calling attention to itself.

The room note is a pleasant, natural tobacco smell which does not have the sweetness which causes others to praise the aroma, nor does it have the dark overtones which often elicit complaint. Both the taste and room note of Marlin Flake register as medium. The flakes burn slowly (a big bowl can easily render an hour smoke) to a dry ash of an unusual tan hue.

For my own smoking satisfaction, Marlin Flake earns four stars. I have given it only the three star rating, however, as I think a number of smoker categories will find it an OK plus smoke, but not a really outstanding one. The medium but not vivid smoking flavor may prove too subtle for neophyte pipe smokers. Those who dote of latakia will find this a bit insipid. Those who prefer Virginia/perique blends may deem the perique in this offering as a bit meager, Those who prefer aromatics will miss the sweetness in taste and aroma that those tobaccos offer. I suspect that very, very few will find Marlin Flake an unpleasant experience, but those who (like me) find it wonderful stuff may well constitute a minority. On my last can, I had just bought a cheap no name rusticated billiard basket pipe ($32, name buffed off, some defects apparent where stem hit bottom of bowl). I had puffed several bowls of Carter Hall for break-in and then used this pipe exclusively for the whole can. It worked wonderfully! I'll use it for my next can of Marlin Flake, and in the meantime reserve this good smoking cheapie for Va/pers.

I feel like I am writing the same review for every Rattray product as I have not come across one I don't like. I never realized this contained Perique or cavendish for that fact until I read these reviews. The description on the bottom of the tin merely points to a all Va blend. So for some time that is what I thought I was smoking.

To start, the tin presentation is beautiful. When you open the tin, large flakes are folded over each other like a hay bale or something to that effect. The smell off the tin was like a great VA. The taste is smooth and sweet (not like an aromatic, but more like a sweet VA). The nicotine is pretty strong for this genre. I think if I only smoked Rattray products I would be a happy piper as I have yet to find one I dislike. This one is right near the top, but different enough from the others I enjoy to pick a favorite.

8/1/13 I recently finished a second tin of this and it was much more fresh than the other I smoked. I am not sure how old the other one was, but guessing where I got it from I would say 5 to 6 years. I think the age made the virginias much sweeter as my second tin was not as great as that first one. I also purchased a tin of HOW and a large bulk order of OG and I find MF to be a little inferior to those. So while I still recommend it, my enthusiasm has been curbed a little.

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!

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.

I highly enjoyed Old Gowrie and decided to give Marlin Flake a chance; just exchange the Kentucky for Cavendish and you’ll get another wonderful blend? Perhaps? Let’s find out.

Upon opening the tin, the first thing I noticed was a distinct honey and molasses aroma, mixed with fresh hay and tangy citrus overtones. Nice smell, nothing remarkable compared to other VaPers.

There is some moisture, had to rub it and let it dry out for 20-30 minutes. Marlin Flake is a very sweet VaPer, almost like smoking an aromatic. The first thing I noticed was the taste of darkened sweet- bread, mixed with raisins and a slight citrus aftertaste. The Virginia and Cavendish are the most evident, with a slight Perique spice. However, the brown sugar taste of the Black Cavendish makes this blend a bit too sweet for me and it makes me want to brush my teeth after. Boy, this one is going to stain my teeth even worse now!

A high quality, premium smoke no doubt. However, in a world of so many great VaPer’s (Old Gowrie included), I don’t see myself buying another tin and adding it to my rotation. Still a great blend though, just that I like other VaPer blends a lot better. Could be a nice after dinner smoke, especially if you want something very sweet and skip dessert.

This dark brown flake, mottled with Black Cavendish, comes in extra long slices that can be on the moist side in a fresh tin. It smells deliciously of brown bread with an underlying sweetness. In spite of the mild flavoring, this tobacco might still be enjoyed by fans of English blends.

I usually tear off a strip of tobacco about twice as long as the the chamber of the bowl is deep and use the fold and stuff method for filling my pipe. Alternatively, you might rub it out. It can be a little difficult to put the charring light evenly to the tobacco. Afterwards I level out the ashes before the true light.

Upon lighting there's a sublime peppery tangyness with a slight fruity acididy from the Perique which is mellowed by a distinct sweetness. There are notes of raisins or dried figs as well as slightly nutty flavors, whereas you can only adumbrate the whisky and port wine topping and some grassy notes from the Virginias. It burns down evenly and slowly leaving some coarse, dry, grey ash, all this time being mild on your tongue.

The room note is spicy with hints of sweetness.

Yet another update, my last, I promise. I'm not one to change my mind often. Wait a minute, maybe I am. Anyway, I don't like too many updates but, K&K just updated their website, and for what it's worth, I quote....

RATTRAY?S - BRITISH LINE MARLIN FLAKE Dieser dunkle Flake setzt sich zusammen aus Dark Virginia, tiefschwarzem Cavendish und einem Hauch Perique.

The words in question need no translation but here's one anyway:

This dark flake is made up of Dark Virginia, deep black Cavendish and a breath of Perique.

I have a tin of Marlin Flake on order, just because I really don't remember tasting any Perique in there, and I know I never tasted vanilla. We'll see. I hope I don't come off snooty by posting this, as I have never once, in all my life, actually snooted. By the way, I enjoy Mo's reviews quite a bit, and in no way intend to offend. Anyone. Unless they want to be. (Offended, that is). Happy smoke. p.s. Don't even ask about Hal O' the Wynd. (Kentucky and perique, too. Actually, almost all the Rattray pure Virginias aren't).

Another update,- regarding blend content. I did some research at one of my favorite German language tobacco sites, daft.de .There's a wealth of information on all things tobacco there. One thing you won't find there, I don't think, is this importer's descriptive. http://www.daft.de/downloads/oesterreichischer_tabak.pdf I add this only to try to be informative, I'm not endorsing anyone here... But there's that ingredient list again..VA/CAV/PER. aye aye aye.

--Update-- I'm removing a star, because the cans I've bought recently were sharp (the tobacco inside, not the cans themselves) and bitey. It seems the K and K has indeed filled some of the old 'blended in Perth' cans with their concoction, and it just isn't the same. As for the stickers on the can stating the blend includes things unvirginia, go figure. . . Still leaving it 3 stars for what it was, and may someday again be.(insert weepy violin music)

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Earlier. . . . .

I live in Austria, where this is both hard to find, and not the biggest seller. So, I've had both the 'blended for' and the 'blended by Charles Rattray at Perth' versions. I like them both equally and actually have found more variation from can to can as apposed to blender and country.

That said, I have to say my tongue and nose have always been a little supicious about the ingredients of this blend. 'Straight virginia'? they ask. hmmm maybe some dark stoved to boot. Well, the last 100 gram can I bought had a little surprise on the bottom. A sticker, in German.. It listed this as Marlin Flake, a Virginia with both, get this-- Black Cav. and Perique. I laughed. Then I went back and bought another tin and there was the same sticker on the bottom, go figure.

Anyway, I think this is best when mixed 50-50 with Black Mallory. Mix it one bowl at a time. I tried premixing about 50 grams and it turned into a bitter mess.

12/20/04 - Marlin Flake (new tin)

Tin: Marlin Flake arrives in the tin as a bundle of impressive 6" long flakes of mottled reddish-brown and black strands. A whiff reveals dark fruit notes over a core of good, strong natural tobacco. The moisture level in my tin was high, even for a Rattray's blend. Give this one some airing time.

Pack: I rub out all my flakes when I smoke indoors, and this one does so easily, breaking down into short strands that make loading easy. The strands are dense, so I find myself tending towards a looser pack.

Lighting/Burning: For such a dense flake, the tobacco lights relatively easily. An extra pass with the lighter at the outset is helpful just to make sure, but there isn't any need for extraordinary effort, which is nice. MF burns evenly down the bowl, but is an easy one to smoke hot. This is a flake that absolutely requires good technique.

Flavor: From a freshly-opened tin, MF is dominated by the sweetness of the red VA's, so much so that it's distracting. I believe that this is the source of the occasional comments that that MF is "syrupy". Fortunately, this sweetness dissipates after the tin has been opened for just a few days, making the core flavors of this flake - big, rich, slightly spicy low Virginia notes - that much more apparent. The flavor is fairly consistent across the bowl, gaining just a bit of strength at the bottom, but there's a lot to appreciate in MF's basic flavors. Tongue bite is definitely a possibility, though. I feel like I'm always just on the edge of smoking too fast with this flake.

Pipe/Technique: This is one of the rare flakes that I find really likes a slightly larger bowl, probably because of the benefit that the extra air provides to slow combustion. I've settled into Group 4 sized bowls as my favorite for this, sometimes breaking into Group 5 territory - though MF burns well and tastes good in even bigger pipes, I find the flavor to be strong enough as is. Regardless of the pipe, good smoking technique is essential here - this is the only blend I smoke where breath-smoking or some other kind of forced slow-smoking routine is absolutely necessary to avoid bite. And, as mentioned above, open the tin a few days early and let the flakes dry before rubbing-out.

Overall: In the arena of strong, straight VA's, this is a top contender. The core flavors of Marlin Flake are simply fantastic - rich, strong, natural VA at its best. It reminds me of Hal `O The Wynd, which I used to smoke almost exclusively but have not returned to for a couple of years. I look forward to opening a tin of Hal for comparison to MF sometime soon. My only reservation about Marlin Flake is the propensity to bite - I prefer blends that are a bit less precarious to smoke, and MF definitely requires my full attention. For that reason, I'm going to stop short of giving this a "favorite" rating just yet, but I look forward to seeing if the tins in my cellar mellow any with age. 3/4

Update 4/23/05 - It hasn't been long enough to break another tin of MF out of the cellar, but I did get a chance to smoke a tin of (unaged) HOTW recently. While there is a certain similarity in flavor between these tobaccos, I very much disagree with people that consider them "nearly identical". The sweetness in HOTW is much more subdued than in MF. Perhaps for that same reason, I find HOTW much easier to smoke. Maybe with more aging, the two will become more similar. Only time will tell... But for the moment, I find Hal to be much more to my liking.

Thought I would give this one a whirl at ‘the club’. Nice sweet VA aroma with medium-dark flakes 1”x 2”. This was in a round 50g tin packaged with square flakes. One of my pet peeves. What? Square tins no longer popular or is it just easier to package them all in the same cheap generic gold colored round tins with some cheesy paper label? Pause. This was surprisingly pretty moist in the tin and I did something I rarely do. I rubbed this out and let it dry a little bit. Most of the time I fold and stuff but due to the moisture content I thought it might be a bear to keep lit. I had one bowl of this yesterday and decided this Labor Day morning to have some of this with my morning coffee. Starts out sweet and about a third way down I believe I detected some of the perique kicking in but hard to say. I have read some of the other reviews and to me the Perique is really lame in this one if even existent. I thought about trying some of this in a cob instead of my Meerschaum but was too lazy. Besides I am trying to get my favorite Meer some color to it which it has but not enough. Mild, pleasant with virtually no bite but just a little to smooth for me. You could very easily make this one an all-day smoke. I always wonder about the name of some of these blends and I think of the fish Marlin but maybe someone’s last name? I gave some to a fellow club member and he liked it so much he bought their last tin. I told him he could have more of mine but I guess he wanted a tin for his own. Hey, I actually made a sale!