Manufacturer Description:
Red Virginias from the Old Belt, bright Virginia with a balanced pinch of Louisiana Perique, delicately rounded off with soft forest honey.
Characterisation:
In the round tin, the slices of the Virginia Flake Blend 633 lie wrapped in paper as an almost square packet and stacked in two clean piles. The even marbling of the carefully cut Flakes is light brown and golden yellow, with some middle brown and many golden speckles. To be sniffed is an interesting fragrance that is less reminiscent of the used honey flavor than sweet citrus fruits with a hint of cocoa. The Flake slices are elastic, but not too moist, so they can be plugged immediately and without prior drying.
Plugging:
Since the Virginia Flake Blend 633 is very elastic, you can easily remove the flakes individually and give them bent and folded according to the classical method in the pipe. If one takes care not to choose the pipe too small and not make it too full, it is of course also possible to rub the tobacco into a Ready Rubbed-mixture, to form it into loose balls or to tear it into little pieces. Flakes such as the Virginia Flake Blend 633 invite you to be creative and try it out.
Light up:
Usually, Flakes will rise under the flame as the compressed tobacco requires room under the heat. So the Virginia Flake Blend 633, too. But it is sufficient to use the tamper to gently smoothen the surface and then give fire again to achieve an uniform glow.
Smoking properties:
For a flavored tobacco the Virginia Flake Blend 633 surprises with a strong tobacco flavor. The use of Perique is clearly to taste as a "pinch of pepper". So the smoke is lush and full without being heavy. Smoked cool the softer aromas show, such as toasted bread and probably influenced by the honey aroma a natural, subtle, rounding off sweetness in the background. During the noticeably quiet burning, the base tobaccos gently increase in strength until the pipe goes out. The remaining ashes, the sparse unburned crumbs and the little condensate make the final cleaning very easy.
Redolency:
The scent of the Virginia Flake Blend 633 is despite of the aroma for tobacco, so that it requires tolerant or smoking society, you do not want to attract attention.
Conclusion:
The Virginia Flake Blend 633 is very high quality in light marbling and appetizing fragrance, and delivers rather dark and intense aromas. It is more reminiscent of classic Virginia-Perique-mixes, with smoky tobacco-spice, toasted bread flavors and just a hint of rounding sweetness. Those familiar with Flakes will find the Virginia Flake Blend 633 easy to handle and to smoke. So the tobacco is recommended for those who are looking for a mostly natural Flake with Perique, but may not yet come up with the pure spice or miss in the Virginia-Perique-mixtures just the rounding sweetness, as offered by the Virginia Flake Blend 633. The Flake is certainly not a flavor bomb, but it does not overwhelm with strength and is therefore suitable for almost anyone who is looking for a honest tobacco with that certain something.
Copyright © 2007 by TECON GmbH
with friendly support of Dennis Hübel