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Peter Heinrichs - Curly Special 200g
bad
Found a sample of this I had stashed away for a few years and fired it up. It's nice looking flakes, that's for sure. They crumbled well and loaded well and after a couple of charring lights, stayed lit. I don't believe there's any perique in this either. It tastes like a sharp, tangy pure Virginia to me. The middle of the bowl has all the flavor and the end of the bowl changed dramatically for me- turning somewhat sour and ashy tasting. I'll try it again in a smaller pipe and see what happens. Very bad, not great. There's better Virginias out there that are easier to find.

Germain - Eighteen Twenty 50g
bad
Where to start with this one...I do not care for it. The pouch aroma is reminiscent of Nitecap, but strangely mildewed. I compared notes with a fellow smoker and his findings were similar in the aroma department. I am a fan of latakia heavy blends but this one is astringent in its presentation. There is no cohesion of leaf in this blend at all. I smoked it in 4 of my best, most reliable Latakia pipes, with nary a positive result. The flavor is sharp and thin at best. There is no noticeable change, good or worse, as one works down the bowl. Then there is the matter of room note. I checked 'strong' because 'nauseating' wasn't offered. Lastly, there is the matter of flavoring. I am not sure if any of the other reviewers made mention of it, but his concoction is cased in some way or another, very sharp at lightup. This blend was not conceived by my two friends, nor will I revisit it.

Germain - Uncle Tom's 50g
bad
I managed to get a a hold of a 3 year old tin, on which this review is based. Upon opening opening it, there was something in the tin aroma reminiscent of vomit, like others mentioned. Though this faded away after a few days of being opened. After which all one is left with is the smell of latakia. Flavorwise, to me this was rather one note with latakia predominent. None of the sweetness of the cavendish or virginias came through. If I was not told there was perique present I would never have guessed it. Also the orientals were drowned out by the latakia. Also it smoked wet for an english/scottish blend. It is a decent latakia blend, though I probably won't buy it again. Full flavored but very one dimensional.

Cornell & Diehl - Sun Bear Black Locust 2oz
why？
Onto the smoke: The topping pretty much steals all the limelight away from the tobacco nuances but it doesn't seem that gloopy, sticky, or sickly; its a full on aromatic but it's not too much. It burns even and gives of a fairly cool smoke. Unfortunately, it's not all good; it can bite like mad. I have to sip this gently otherwise it's horrendous! The nicotine seems light in this. I'd say it's 'very mild', that suits me but N guys would feel really let down. Another low point for me is the room note; it's like sitting in a florists! And as if the smell wasn't bad enough it creates a serious plume in the room! I can't recommend this for a few reasons, subjective and objective: 1; objective: the sheer amount of smoke it fills the room with. 2; subjective: It bites me like crazy.

Cornell & Diehl - Sun Bear Black Locust 2oz
Bad
I got a taste of this concoction about a week ago; it was a complete desaster. Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that I had not been overly harsh. This blend fills easily enough, lights readily, and from that point on, you're on your own. The taste is of... I don't know; to me, it tastes lightly of tar and something sweetish that would probably do better in a cigarette blend; the aroma is not really something I normally associate with pipe tobacco, and even if generous, I cannot say that smoking BRBW gave me any pleasure. And for the same price, I can get really good tobacco which does not need any flavouring to taste of something. 'nuff said before I go overboard.

John Aylesbury - Sir John's Flake Virginia 50g
very good
I believe this to be one of the world?s great flakes, though not a classic example of the genre. The name to the color and leaf component of pale Virginias because in actual strength it is a nice, middle-weight smoke, perfectly able to stand on its own. The strands of which the flakes are composed are long, soft, and of a variegated brown and beautiful gold that serve to make it a tobacco that is as much a pleasure to see as its soft pliability and fresh aroma make it a joy to touch and smell. It is that very aromatic addition which makes Dunhill?s Light Flake so appealing to me, though, oddly, I have read no other reference to it in any review or tobacco literature. All the same, there is a flavor with this flake other than that of pure tobacco, thus making it an aromatic in the modern sense. I have an inexhaustible fondness for mixtures of the Lakeland style and I find Light Flake to be a wonderful variation of that ancient and glorious tradition. I say that it is a variation because as where in quintessential examples of the style such as Grouse-Moor or Westmorland Flake, the floral perfume essence of the aromatic agent is lain on so heavy that the leaf is subdued completely and transformed into something else entirely. With Light Flake, an aromatic not nearly so potent is applied with what would appear to be a more niggard hand. As a result, the toasty sweetness of bright Virginia is noticeable throughout the bowl. There is also a greater smokiness and a heavier mouthfeel than in other such scented flakes. The combination of these factors with that wonderful floral aroma, which would also seem to feature notes of lemon and apple, make for a most pleasing and summer-like smoke which generally puts me in the mind of new-mown hay and other such agrarian pleasantries. As if there were not enough to recommend this tobacco to all save for the most stereotypically thick-necked whom will shun anything not containing either Latakia or cherry sauce, this is a flake that burns equally well rubbed out or packed whole into a pipe. I always prefer my flakes rubbed out, though.

Sillem's - European Blend: London 50g
nice
The very smoky, woody, musty, incense-like sweet Cyprian Latakia is the star component, but this is a lat-bomb with nuance. They are smoky, woody, earthy, herbal, vegetative, with some spice, and is slightly sweet with a hint of sour. They are supporting players. The earthy, woody black stoved Virginias offer a fermented, tangy dark fruity, lightly barbecue sweetness in the third spot in the line up. The yellow Virginias provide a light tart and tangy citrus, grass and minor spice and floral notes in a condimental role. The unflavored black cavendish is brown sugar sweet, and has a smoothing presence to tame any potential harshness, which you’ll hardly find in this product, even if you puff hard, though there are a few rough edges. The very mild top note is licorice. The slices are thick, and easily broken apart to prepare to your preference level. Well blended with some complexity - more so than your average lat-bomb - it burns cool, clean, and slow, and does require some relights, though the number of them will depend upon how you break apart the slices, and pack your bowl. I suggest you do so a little loosely. The deeply rich sweet, spicy, savory, campfire flavor is very consistent and fairly smooth to the finish with no weak or dull spots, and no bite. The nic-hit is a slot behind the medium level. The strength is a couple of steps past the medium mark. Has a fulsome taste. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, which doesn’t often happen with this kind of manufacture. Has a very pleasant, lingering after taste, and the room note is moderately pungent.

Sillem's - Commodore Flake 50g
Bad
It seems this tobacco may have be an excellent choice 2005 or earlier but then went downhill from there - unless the reviews from 2005 or earlier on this page aren't to be trusted which is unlikely. Perhaps there is hope for this tobacco with some aging, but as it is out of the tin you are going to smoke tobacco that tastes like smoke. Not smoked lamb, smoked salmon or smoked unicorn but tastes like smoked smoke. The fragrance of this tobacco unsmoked in the tin is outstanding. The tobacco has since moved to a glass jar, but the tin is still saturated with the wonderful fragrance of this tobacco blend. The room-note smoked is nothing like the rich unsmoked fragrance and was closer to the flavor which is (drumroll) smoke. As for the latakia or virginia, I couldn't make out any distinctions and some of that may be due to my inexperience of parsing tobacco leaf types, but even as I sipped the pipe and tried to keep smoke to a minimum, had an urge to quit right there and immediately brush my teeth. Spoiled with so many brands and blends keep looking elsewhere.

Cornell & Diehl - Haunted Bookshop 2oz
broken
Another C&D blend of rather crude, high nicotine burleys. I can't understand why people can like this blend. Despite it's whole grain character with slight tang and fruit from the trace amount of perique and red virginia, the taste is just acrid and ash. I have smoked much smoother whole leaf burley than this stuff and I have to wonder where they are getting this leaf from and why choose it to blend with. There are much better choices with smoother taste for those looking for a robust non-flue cured tobacco i.g. Tabac Manil Semois, G&H/SG dark-fired shags, ropes, flakes, Five Brothers. Despite coming in a tin there is nothing premium about this product and definately is not worth the typical price for such a pathetic blend of unrefined and crude burley

Orlik - Golden Sliced 50g
very bad
A pure Virginia specialty, Sir John's Flake Virginia from John Aylesbury is an elegant and mellow smoke. A Danish-type blend with an unobtrusive aroma and a fine sweetness on the tongue.

Orlik - Golden Sliced 100g
bad
A pure Virginia specialty, Sir John's Flake Virginia from John Aylesbury is an elegant and mellow smoke. A Danish-type blend with an unobtrusive aroma and a fine sweetness on the tongue.

John Aylesbury - Classic Flake 50g
why？
The Virginias are barely sweet with a touch of citrus. There's an earth note that is sublimated by the grass and hay. The nic-hit is extremely mild. Burns at a moderate pace with no bite or harshness, little moisture in the bowl, and consistently dull flavor. Needs an average number of relights. The after taste is hardly noticeable.

Solani - Gold Label- English Luxury - 779 50g
great mixture
A very nice English Tobacco. Opening the tin reveals a blend that is very much on the darker side with a relatively high moisture content. The aroma from the tin was pleasant for me as a smoker, smokey with a hint of being sweet. The relatively finer cut made for easy packing and there was no problem with lighting it which was a bit of a surprise given the higher moisture content it seems to have, at least to the touch. The smoke itself was flavorful though not overly strongly so. The taste was in line the tin aroma, smokey and slightly sweet with a hint of nuttiness backing up the full tobacco flavor. Again given the full flavor and relative thickness of the smoke, I found it surprisingly mild on the tongue and mouth. The room note was as you would expect for an English, fine for me as a smoker but probably not appreciated as often by non-smokers.

Peter Heinrichs - Dark Strong Flake 100g
It's a bad smoke
This blend sums up everything that is wrong with Peter Heinrich's, in my opinion. This is an unrefined, flat, overly mild blend that bites at the least provocation but that has a nice room aroma. There is a light spiciness in the smoke that promises something good to come but it just doesn't happen. It's not a bad smoke but it's nothing that a long time pipesmoker could call a "reference" blend. If I hadn't had such good success with Peter Heinrich's Symphony and, to a lesser extent, I'd suggest that I just don't care for the Danish style of tobacco blending. Then again, Alfred & Christian Peterson have produced many noteworthy blends. I think. Most Peter Heinrich's will not find their way back into my cellar.

Peter Heinrichs - Dark Strong Flake 200g
It's a bad smoke
This blend sums up everything that is wrong with Peter Heinrich's, in my opinion. This is an unrefined, flat, overly mild blend that bites at the least provocation but that has a nice room aroma. There is a light spiciness in the smoke that promises something good to come but it just doesn't happen. It's not a bad smoke but it's nothing that a long time pipesmoker could call a "reference" blend. If I hadn't had such good success with Peter Heinrich's Symphony and, to a lesser extent, I'd suggest that I just don't care for the Danish style of tobacco blending. Then again, Alfred & Christian Peterson have produced many noteworthy blends. I think. Most Peter Heinrich's will not find their way back into my cellar.

John Aylesbury - Sir John's Flake Virginia 50g
Bad
Well same thing with this - I spent quite a while trying to like it and persevered to the end of tin, but in the end, it just turned out to be not for me. Hot, steamy flavorless tongue bite is all that comes to mind when recalling this tobacco. i also learnt on this tobacco that if the first bowl of a highly recommended tobacco is a complete personal disaster, ditch the rest of the pack quickly in the bin and move on rapidly to the next blend - eg just because you eat lots of brussel sprouts, doesn't mean you will ever like them. Life is too short. So I am swimming against the tide here, but thumbs down on this from me.

Peter Heinrichs - Curly Special 100g
Bad
The tartly citrusy, mildly grassy Virginia and Virginia cavendish also sport some tangy dark fruit, hay, wood and earth as the lead components. The nutty, woody, earthy burley is a supporting player that often competes with the aforementioned varietals for attention. The raisiny, plumy, lightly spicy perique is fairly mild, and never gathers any potency. The sherry topping doesn’t sublimate the tobaccos overly much. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is closer to medium than it is to mild. Won’t bite or get harsh. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a touch of inconsistency in flavor (mostly caused by the perique, which waxes and wanes). Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires just a touch more than an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, lightly lingering after taste and room note. Not an all day smoke, but can be repeatable at times during your smoking day. Not as complex as expected. One and a half stars.

Peter Heinrichs - Golden Sliced 100g
This is some good stuff
Really, all I can say is that this is some good stuff. Those who don't like straight Virginia tobacco, don't bother. For those who do like them, this is a winner. Grassy, light, and citrusy. Just like others have said. I've had many enjoyable smokes with it and will probably keep some in the rotation. It won't replace my faces, but is a good change up. Highly recommended

Peter Heinrichs - Golden Sliced 100g
This some good stuff
Really, all I can say is that this is some good stuff. Those who don't like straight Virginia tobacco, don't bother. For those who do like them, this is a winner. Grassy, light, and citrusy. Just like others have said. I've had many enjoyable smokes with it and will probably keep some in the rotation. It won't replace my faces, but is a good change up. Highly recommended

Wessex - Brigade Campaign Dark Flake 50g
nice
I'm halfway through my first tin of it. I've decided to give it a try, and I wasn't disappointed at all. I got pretty much what I was expecting, but also i got surprised by it's quality. I don't know why this tobacco is marked as non-flavoured, since there is a lot of casing or maybe even topping added to it. Flakes appear visually similar to Orlik golden sliced and also smells similar. First part of the bowl, you can feel some "Danish" flavouring" which fades away and disappears completely at the middle of the bowl. And then something very strange happens. Floral aroma comes up to the front, as in the first lit of the Lakeland tobaccos. After the danish taste, this is awesome. Not overpowering, but pleasant. And this goes for about a third of the bowl, then the pattern changes and darker VA's come upfront, all until the end. Burns perfectly to white ash, comes in a perfect moisture condition ready to pack immediately, doesnt dry out easily and stays in perfect condition for a week or two. It's "danish" flavoured, Highly recommended from me.

Fribourg & Treyer - Vintage Flake 50g
good
This is my favorite pipe tobacco of all time. Yes, the seemingly unremarkable -but perfectly crafted Flake. It was one of the first nonaromatic tobaccos I ever tried. Since then, I have smoked tins of easily over 50 different blends from every kind of blending style I could find. I always come back to this wonderfully consistent straight Virginia flake . It smells like hay with a hint of ketchup when you open the tin (I remember wondering what the hell I'd gotten myself into when I opened my first tin) it lights and burns great. I find it seems especially flavorful in small bowl sizes. If you are wondering what people mean by "sweet Virginias" in a blend, this is a great place to start. I still don't feel like I am explaining it quite right but it has a natural (no flavoring added) smell when burning like a chocolate cake baking and coffee brewing and just a hint of good teriyaki chicken. ...except even better. I'm doing a terrible job describing it but here's the bottom line: There are more complex, more remarkable, more unique blends out there and most of them are great, but it burning in the bowl turns into something so good, I haven't figured out a way to explain it yet. Just try it, and see if I'm crazy or not.

McConnell - Pure Latakia 50g
This is delicious
But in the right setting, like New England autumn and winter, this is a most agreeable blend. It does not demand much attention, is not very strong, but is a fine accompaniment for contemplation on crisp, grey days alongside a cup of coffee. It provides enough slight variations and body to satisfy and stay interesting in the background of one's thoughts. It required little to no drying, burns at an easy pace and leaves a fine ash. For me, this blend works much, much better in a tall pipe than a low, wide one. The former seems to lend more concentration of flavor, whereas the latter dissipates most of the nuances. I keep being drawn to this, and enjoying it, so I am upgrading from Recommended to Highly Recommended. Also, I notice that one of nice things about this blend is that unlike many Latakia blends, this one leaves a toasty nutty spice flavor on my tongue, rather than a heavy Latakia coating.

Reiner - Blend No. 71 100g
This is delicious
But I liked this so well that I have to comment. I'm not generally a "straight Virginia" smoker. I like my latakia and perique and usually don't care for blends without them. This tobacco changed my mind. On opening the tin, I found these lovely, thin and lightly moist flakes. Easily folded, crumbled, rolled into a ball, they lit nicely and burned well. I quickly found that if I hurried, my tongue would get a quick message telling me to slow down. Once I did, a wonderful flavor and volumes of smoke were the results. After just one bowl, this has a place in my regular rotation