Manufacturer Description:
Strong Virginia grades from India, are mixed with a sparkling, sweet and tart Virginia from the Philippines and cold pressed for 3 days. This is followed by a 30-day repressurization in the screw press. The result is a tasty, sweet Flake in the best English Flake-tradition. Sunset, a pure, medium Virginia-flake with beautifully balanced flavors.
Characterisation:
The small round tin of the Sunset Flake is almost completely filled by the almost square flaky slices. The medium and light brown flakes show dark brown proportions and lighter inclusions. The discs are elastic, but hardly a millimeter thick and crumbly, so you can take them only with caution in one piece from the tin. The moisture of the slices smelling of hay and dried fruit, works well, but it does not harm the Flakes to lie in the air for a short while until they are plugged.
Plugging:
The Sunset Flake can, if it succeeds to take it in one piece from the tin, be brought bend and folded in the pipe also. Due to the larger format you should also choose a correspondingly larger pipe. Of course, you can also grate the Flake to a Ready Rubbed Mixture according to personal preferences or formed into a loose ball. Lots of tobacco crumbs at the top facilitate the subsequent lighting.
Light up:
As is usual with Flakes, the Sunset Flake after the first flame requires the smoothening use of the tamper and then a second flame for a constant ember, which then also lasts to the end.
Smoking properties:
The flavors of the Sunset Flake are smoky and strong, although the nicotine content is not too high. As a natural flake, the Sunset Flake provides tobacco flavor and toasted bread notes, as one might expect from a pure Virginia. Rounding off is added a subtle sweetness, which, with its creamy glaze, cuts off the tips that are otherwise often native to Virginia tobaccos. Even tongue burn or gargling - the usual disturbing properties of pure Virginia - the smoker of the Sunset Flake needs not to fear: after uncomplicated burning remain white fine-flaky ash, hardly unburned crumbs and virtually no condensate, so that the pipe can be cleaned quickly.
Redolency:
The scent of the Sunset Flake is for tobacco, but fine sweet, so that it could be permitted in tolerant society.
Conclusion:
The wide Sunset Flake is marbled in all shades of brown and shows already in the cold scent the usual hay and dried fruit aromas of a pure Virginia. In the smoke, the Sunset Flake is quite strong, although the strength is not burdensome. Tart tobacco is complemented by a pleasant natural sweetness, making the Sunset Flake a good choice for those looking for a natural and yet uncomplicated Virginia-flake.
Copyright © 2017 by TECON GmbH
with friendly support of Dennis Hübel
