I came home from work today to find my order of the new batch 3 of the C&D Carolina Red Flake sitting by my door. As I've been wanting to compare this batch with last year's batch 2 I figured I'd do a quick write up and include some pictures for anyone curious. I'm not one generally to write tasting reviews so this will be more of a first impression than anything.
I cracked a tin open and was happy to see that it looked as good as I was expecting. The new flake is on the left and last year's batch is on the right in both of the below pics.
Next I grabbed my two most similar VA dedicated pipes, two Peterson Army Mount 120 Dublin shapes, and began packing.
Recently I've been smoking some of last year's batch in anticipation of this release and to re-familiarize myself with the blend. Tonight I first lit up the new batch and smoked through about a third of the bowl before setting it down to rest while I lit last year's batch to compare. I continued alternating pipes after each additional third while I enjoyed a cup of coffee.
I've gotta say that C&D knocked it out of the park again. The new batch is obviously the same high quality VA expertly crafted into a beautiful broken flake like the last batch was. Obviously a year of fermentation and aging in my cellar has darkened last year's batch a bit and taste wise it is a little more open tasting with the sweet dark fruit being more front and center. But this year's batch is just as I remembered last year's batch tasting fresh. That sweet dark fruit is there and I don't get any hay or other indicators of overly young VA in the new batch. I expect this to age and open up just like last year's batch has and to continue to improve for years to come.
Overall I'd say if you're like me and bought a few tins of the new batch to cellar then don't be afraid to crack one now and get a sense of what it tastes like when fresh. Enjoy a few bowls now to get a baseline and then throw it in a mason jar for a few months and revisit it to really taste the excellent red VA contained in this blend. Or just smoke it all fresh, you can't really go wrong with this stuff!
I cracked a tin open and was happy to see that it looked as good as I was expecting. The new flake is on the left and last year's batch is on the right in both of the below pics.
Next I grabbed my two most similar VA dedicated pipes, two Peterson Army Mount 120 Dublin shapes, and began packing.
Recently I've been smoking some of last year's batch in anticipation of this release and to re-familiarize myself with the blend. Tonight I first lit up the new batch and smoked through about a third of the bowl before setting it down to rest while I lit last year's batch to compare. I continued alternating pipes after each additional third while I enjoyed a cup of coffee.
I've gotta say that C&D knocked it out of the park again. The new batch is obviously the same high quality VA expertly crafted into a beautiful broken flake like the last batch was. Obviously a year of fermentation and aging in my cellar has darkened last year's batch a bit and taste wise it is a little more open tasting with the sweet dark fruit being more front and center. But this year's batch is just as I remembered last year's batch tasting fresh. That sweet dark fruit is there and I don't get any hay or other indicators of overly young VA in the new batch. I expect this to age and open up just like last year's batch has and to continue to improve for years to come.
Overall I'd say if you're like me and bought a few tins of the new batch to cellar then don't be afraid to crack one now and get a sense of what it tastes like when fresh. Enjoy a few bowls now to get a baseline and then throw it in a mason jar for a few months and revisit it to really taste the excellent red VA contained in this blend. Or just smoke it all fresh, you can't really go wrong with this stuff!
