Welcome to another episode of Tasting Notes. Today I am visiting an old friend: Robert McConnell's Scottish Flake. This is my all-time favorite tobacco, which I have stated publicly many times for many years, and that remains true.

It also remains true that it's among the three tobaccos that I smoke the most of and is in my rotation the most consistently. I really love all of the Robert McConnell blends, including the cousins to Scottish Flake, Folded Flake and Scottish Cake, both of which I also smoke a lot of and have cellared very deeply.

However, there's something about Scottish Flake that is different for me compared to those blends. The reasons why it's my favorite are hard to articulate. It was a bit of a sleeper blend many years ago when I got into it and I recommended it to a lot of people. It seems that, over the years, more folks have latched onto it, and for good reason.

Scottish Flake Components

Robert McConnell Scottish Flake has really similar components to its sister blend, Scottish Cake. It is comprised of hand-selected dark Virginias, primarily Red and Mahogany grades, a little bit of spicy Kentucky, and a hint of Perique. I don't think the Kentucky is Dark Fired. In the context of European manufacturers, that most likely means air-cured Burley leaf.

I have smoked many vintage tins of it produced in England from Robert McConnell's early German production all throughout the '90s and 2000s. I think that the recipe has changed very slightly over many decades, with some small tweaks, and what I am most pleased with, considering it's my favorite blend, is that at different vintage ages, it has remained the same in its core experience.

I think that Kopp tobacco has been able to manage the blend beautifully ever since they took over production in the early '90s of McConnell's blends. I think it's still really true to the original, despite the small changes in components.

Intoxicating and Comforting Notes

The tin note instantly makes me feel like grabbing another pipe and packing one so I can get it going right after this guy. It has that really ripe, semi-sweet, sour, and slightly fermented character that I get from Virginia/Perique blends and Virginia blends that are on the darker side of the flavor spectrum. This isn't dark in a spicy or woody kind of way, it's more of the base and mid-range notes, as opposed to the zestier and brighter notes that you'll get from brighter Virginia flakes.

On the Perique content, we're talking minimal amounts here. This is not even what I would consider a Virginia/Perique, but it has just enough of that dark-fruit vibe going on, a little bit of a tingle on the retrohale, and a bit of spice and body to keep things interesting and to help with, in my opinion, a remarkable set of long legs when it comes to aging.

I think Robert McConnell Scottish Flake ages among the best of any tobaccos I've ever cellared. Yet, even right out of the tin, or with a minimal amount of age, you have a really rich and mature flavor that is well-rounded, with ample sweetness, and a really nice balance between the bready and tangy notes from the darker Virginia grades and a little bit of natural sweetness and fermented character even in a young tin.

It's absolutely intoxicating. This is my favorite tin aroma. Personally, it's very comforting, and I can't see how any smoker out there would open this, stick their nose in there, and not say, oh, yeah, that's good.

Scottish Flake Cut

One quick note on the cut. It has changed a couple of times over the years. If you've been smoking Kopp products or McConnell products since way back in the day, obviously there was a certain point where most of the European manufacturers changed from the little square tins to the round ones. I personally love the round ones. I feel like they're a little bit safer for long-term cellaring. The seals tend to hold up better than the small, square ones.

You'll notice here that this blend is actually uncut in the sense that it's not sliced into individual flakes. Instead, it's rolled over. The cake is sliced lengthwise and you end up with flakes that unroll to about that long, and then they're rolled over in the tin. I actually really dig that as a smoker because it's not often that one single flake is exactly the amount of tobacco that I need for a given pipe. With the rolled flakes, you see a similar presentation in Reiner's Long Golden Flake, the 100g Orlik tins, and others like that. I like it because you can take off as much as you want at a time. For me, that's really just a neat, little feature.

I do think the presentation this way is gorgeous as well, and that compact, rolled-over flake tends to age really well in these European-style tins. If you are a fold-and-stuff smoker and you're smoking in a Prince versus a Billiard or a Stack, you can easily adjust and get exactly the amount you need for your bowl.

Moisture Content & Burn Quality

I do tend to fully rub out Scottish Flake, but less from a tin that has some serious age on it. It depends where I'm smoking and what pipe I'm smoking in, but more often than not, I am breaking this apart completely. I am aerating it and giving it just a couple minutes of drying time. It has a really nice moisture content straight out of the tin and if that is your preference, I think you're gonna find a really nice, rich burst of flavor and still a very good performance. I tend to take the moisture content down very slightly on this one so that I can more easily control the burn. I think that additional moisture content is really a factor in why this is so well-built for aging in the long term.

When I do smoke old tins, I tend to smoke them directly at the moisture content out of the tin. Think of it a little bit like angel's share when you're talking about aging fine spirits in a barrel. In the long term, you lose a little bit of that alcohol and moisture content, and part of that helps in the fermentation process in the case of tobacco. You end up with something that can be smoked directly out of the tin.

For a fresh tin, break it up a little bit to your desired preference and aerate it a little bit. I would give it no more than three to five minutes, and then you'll have a great smoke.

All of the Kopp products stay burning, even when I'm pausing to talk, but particularly Scottish Flake and its cousins. All the flakes are very similar and burn with a very fine spontaneity. I can really back off my cadence, nurse the bowl, and then increase my puffing as needed to get everything back to the combustion to burn the bowl evenly down.

A No-Nonsense Virginia Smoke

This tobacco ranges in flavor from something that is very refined and delicate with a lot of sweetness to a much richer experience that is more dense on the palate when you really get it going. You do perceive a little bit of that air-cured leaf and Perique spice through the retrohale.

It is just a no-nonsense, perfectly balanced, tangy, and malty Virginia, with the right amount of sweetness and a touch of spice. That's why I love it. It has everything that I look for in a tobacco in the proportions that just happen to work perfectly for me. I think for others too.

It performs equally well in a variety of pipes. I smoke it in almost everything and it's never been a disappointment to me. I've never had a bad bowl of it. I find it easy to handle. Today I am smoking my oldest and favorite friend, Scottish Flake, in a little IMP Nosewarmer. I've smoked this tobacco in hundreds of pipes made of different materials. I chose to revisit it in a Meerschaum today because it's not often that I smoke it in one and I wanted to get a better understanding and familiarity with the flavor because yes, you can smoke something for 10 years, very often, and still find out new things about it.

If you're a Virginia smoker and you have not tried McConnell's Scottish Flake, I think you owe it to yourself to do so. If you're into any of the Cornell & Diehl famous Virginia flakes, but particularly Carolina Red Flake with Perique, or if you like any of the Rattray's blends, such as Marlin, Old Gowrie, Hal O' the Wynd, or any other similar tobaccos, I think that this is gonna be one that will make its way into your rotation.

The cool thing about Scottish Flake and its cousin, Scottish Cake, is that basically you have some of the same components except different proportions and also a different cut, so I find myself smoking Scottish Cake when I want something that's a little spicier, fuller, and richer, while the Flake is more of an all-day smoke for me.

I just went on a trip to Europe and all I took with me was one tin of this that was actually about 10 years old, and that's all I smoked the whole time in a variety of pipes, and I was very happy. It's absolutely a desert-island blend for me, and it's my favorite tobacco of all time. I hope you enjoy it too.