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Since our "buy a Savinelli pipe, get a free Savinelli tin" deal has been underway, we thought this would be a good chance to highlight Savinelli's newest tobacco blends. With Doblone d'Oro and Essenza Cipriota smoked, and enjoyed to good measure, I thought I'd take a crack at describing my time with Savinelli's Brunello Flake. And by this time I must confess that I've already settled this blend into my rotation of usual suspects for casual smokes.
Now, for a long time, I considered myself a true "Shrewd Judge" of flakes, as a certain familiar old smooth-smoking flake in the red tin put it. But Brunello Flake hit me in the kisser. It broke my stubborn habit of not really trying other flakes, last year, during the initial release when we received sample tins — a perk of the trade kind of thing. I didn't have any preconceived notions or knowledge of the new blends and, at the time, was quite stuck in an Orlik groove, yet unable to even cellar any because it was just one tin after another.
The memory of my first opportunity with this blend is strangely ingrained in my mind's eye. I can remember the tin note putting off not only a certain sweet graham cracker aroma, but it also triggered a vivid sensory memory of being at a county fair in Eastern North Carolina, somewhere near a cotton candy vendor, with fresh hay underfoot, and eyeing the "fried butter" sign just a few booths down. As someone who likes to hunt down the best Virginias, what I feel I'm really after is the smooth and sweet character the leaf can provide. With that I experience a fair bit of tongue bite on occasion, and all manner of lackluster experiences that too often keep me from branching out to more blends once I've found a good one. But the Brunello had an inviting tin aroma, one that promised that distinct sweetness I was looking for. As for the smoothness, well, it hit the mark there as well, and zapping back to the present I think of that first whiff of the tin as a flake (sorry for the pun) of serendipity.
What Brunello was for me was a sort of lifting of my then-stagnant appetite for different blends. Thereafter I had to try out Mac Baren's Virginia Flake, mix in Dunhill's, and rotate Orlik in and out just to keep it on its toes. I would eventually be able to dive into Sixpence from G.L. Pease like it was my job (and it kinda is), and find another favorite. And why it did this was because Savinelli sought to put their name on blends that could be appreciated by discerning (and even just stubborn) smokers, and thus worked with Mac Baren, whose business it is to be distinct and genuine.
More to the point for Brunello Flake, it's this blend's ability to gain favor amongst a wide variety of taster's palates; Va/Per lovers, Aromatic nuts, and Burley fans can all easily find time for this tobacco. Brunello Flake's pleasing sweetness isn't alone, it's mellowed by Burley that cools its roll, and perhaps its most pointed distinction comes from the Macedonian leaf. After all, that golden stuff probably isn't far and away from a fine Virginia, just grown in a more temperate climate, with roots in a different soil, and sun-cured upon harvest. I'll honestly say this stuff doesn't bite at all, but at the same time, it gives me the satisfaction of burning quality Virginia flake, and lastly to give one more metaphor, I liken this it to the way I like my coffee. Give me the best, darkest stuff you've got — but please stir in some cream and one sugar.
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