McConnell: Black Flake 50g Pipe Tobacco

I hope the word doesn’t get out that this and Heritage Flake are 2 absolutely great blends. VA with plenty of VA flavor with a little sweetness and this has a slight stone fruit on the back end

One of the most bewitching, enthralling, perfect tin notes I’ve ever experienced. Dark stone fruit, grass, hay, citrusy sweetness, spiciness. But it’s ephemeral. Doesn’t last long once you open the tin. They do all reappear once you get it in the bowl, though. All components of the tin note are present in the bowl — grass and hay, citrusy sweetness, dark stone fruits, a little bit of that raisiny-bready signature “Virginia” flavor. It’s a bit light on the perique, imo, but the Virginias are delicate and light and fine, so maybe any more perique would have drowned them out. I’ve been on an English & Balkan kick for about a year and I wanted to change it up a bit with a dark, sweet, truffly VaPer, and I’m not sure this one hits the spot. If I were hankering for a lighter Virginia with the tiniest pinch of perique, this would probably be a great option. But it’s not satisfying my VaPer tooth. It’s good, it’s just typical of that Scottish style: bright, toasty, almost malty. And that’s not what I wanted when I opened this tin. So I’ll put it in my cellar right next to the Trafalgar and see what it does with some age....Read More

Perique is to pipe tobacco what Hops is to beer. We know what happens when it's overdone, or made into a gimmick, vs when it's expertly used as a condiment. Though the description says there is onlya slight offering of perique in this blend, it certainly tastes like there is a lot more. The perique flavor is strong here, but done in a way that to me works extremely well. This is a great example of perique offering up those complex plummy notes, vs when it's done badly and all you get is rancid tartness. This is a blend for experienced pipe smokers, but it is excellent....Read More

Beautiful packaging and presentation. It’s a beautiful dark brown flake with a Pungent tin note. I’d put the Perique level at 30% to Virginia, which has a nice subtle sweetness. It smokes really well, need to take your time - flavor will open up nicely half way through. I’ll be buying more