English Flake Reccomendations

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hodirty

Lifer
Jan 10, 2013
1,295
2
Im trying to find a good tin of English flake, preferably with a good amount of Nic. I love nightcap for the latakia and the perique, if that helps. Any suggestions? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

 

lestrout

Lifer
Jan 28, 2010
1,758
283
Chester County, PA
hod - how about cakes, which share some of the same characteristics with flakes? Most of my flakes/cakes that are Latakia-laden are not strong in nic. Bow Legged Bear is the exception.
hp

les

 

doctorthoss

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 6, 2011
618
9
There's not very many English/Balkan flakes to begin with, and latakia-heavy blends generally don't have a lot of nicotine, so.....
Star of the East Flake, Bow-Legged Bear, and Low Country's Cooper are all possibilities, I think.
If you're willing to go with a broken flake, I'd try the new GL Pease mixture Sextant. It's got some kick to it, and it's already one of my favorite mixtures.
If you're willing to drop the requirement for a flake, there are a few English blends with a good nic hit: Nightcap, G&H Balkan Mixture and Ten Russians.

 

chubbster

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 12, 2013
184
0
Dans old Ironsides

Eaoterica penzance

Smokers Haven Krumble Kake

Pease Quiet Noghts

SG balkan flake

Bengal slices

Lancers slices
Those are some new and old favorites of mine, some hard to find, some readily available.

 

hodirty

Lifer
Jan 10, 2013
1,295
2
I was thinking about Penzance, if I could get some that is. If not Old Ironsides would be fine. Thanks guys

 

hfearly

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 11, 2012
822
2
Canada
Penzance

Fussiliers ration

JF Germain Special Latakia Flake
are my top 3 English flakes

 

chubbster

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 12, 2013
184
0
Fusiliers is a crumble cake, but I lump it in with the others.
I can't stand the stuff tho :(

 

teufelhund

Lifer
Mar 5, 2013
1,497
3
St. Louis, MO
I don't like to call things English blend etc. It really makes no sense too many people have too many different ideas about what qualifies as what. I mean common sense would be made in England. That is why I prefer to list things by their content and their type. Now I can say matter of factly without any misconception that a IMHO great flake tobacco with a good nicotine hit is Peterson Irish Flake.

 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,149
32,922
Detroit
As has been pointed out, there are very few flakes with latakia to begin with. Some of the blends mentioned here are crumble cakes (Penzance, Bowlegged Bear), not flakes, and Peterson's Irish has no latakia. Also pointed out correctly is that blends high in lat are generally not high in nic.
All that being said - SG Balkan Flake has a nice dose of latakia, and is a true flake. Star of the East Flake has more lat than BF; I can't remember if it's a flake or a broken flake. Neither have perique. I remember Bowlegged Bear as having a good nic hit; as I mentioned above, it's a crumble cake. Hermit Tobacco Ten Russians is a broken flake with a good amount of latakia.
Happy smoking.

 
Jul 12, 2011
4,135
4,205
Agree, C&D's Star of the East & Bow-Legged Bear are great blends

as is low-country's Cooper...also try Crooked Lane & Billy Budd
I could go on for days about great English blends so my advice

is to just stick with high quality bacci and you will be fine ;-)
C&D, L.J. Peretti, H&H, Dunhill, GL Pease & MC all thump'in

out fantastic blends...

 

alexl

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 23, 2013
105
0
there are very few flakes with latakia
Exactly. Make you own: SG FVF folded and stuffed, plus Pure Latakia in flake's gaps.

You get a lot of Nic with "english" taste.

 

teufelhund

Lifer
Mar 5, 2013
1,497
3
St. Louis, MO
I was just pointing out that it doesn't make any sense that an, "English" blend is one that has latakia in it, but latakia isn't even native to England. English used to refer to tobaccos blended and produced in England that were subject to their purity laws. Hence made in England makes it English; it has nothing to do with the content. Furthermore it is of no consequence any longer because those purity laws are no longer in place. English = Made in England.So go get some Dunhill Flake.

 

doctorthoss

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 6, 2011
618
9
It really doesn't matter, I think, whether the "English" designation is valid any longer or ever was, as it's pretty much ingrained here in the States. I think the "English" designation makes sense historically, since most American blends were essentially burlies and the types of blends called "English" or "Balkan" were usually imported from the UK. Hence, it became part of the informal vocabulary of US pipe smokers to call blends based on VAs plus orientals (such as latakia) "English" blends. Whether it is/was strictly accurate wasn't really all that important, since this wasn't a formal/legal/scientific designation in the first place. The UK blenders, for their part, never called latakia/oriental blends "English" or even "Balkans" -- they were just "mixtures." Supposedly they ended up using lots of orientals as condiments because the government didn't allow much added flavoring, but I suspect that's not really accurate since a great many UK blends were, in fact, heavily flavored (1792, St. Bruno, Grousemoor, etc.). I imagine instead that the oriental leaf gradually became a staple as the British Empire spread and consolidated, allowing for a great deal of trade at low prices. The stationing of so many British troops in the Mediterranean probably had something to do with it, too, since they were exposed to the whole range of oriental/latakia blends and a perusal of catalogs from the early 20th century shows that pipe tobaccos targeted at British soldiers (esp. officers) were primarily robust oriental/latakia mixtures.
In any case, I think we worry a little too much over the rigor -- or lack thereof -- of our collective vocabulary. Pretty much everyone knows what "English" means, and it's been how we American smokers have talked for a long time.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
Everyone in the pipe community understands that when people speak of English blends, they are referring to blends that have Latakia and Orientals in them. I don't think anyone is going to change that fact. It may not make sense, but it is what it is.

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
34
I've recently fallen in love with Robt. McConnell Latakia Flake -- smoked a tin in record time, but it's not exactly a traditional English, nor does it exactly have the usual Latakia profile, yet it's a delicious full-strength robust blend. It's got a sort of plummy topping that reminds me somewhat of St. Bruno, it's quite an unusual flake, like nothing else I've tasted.

 

rmbittner

Lifer
Dec 12, 2012
2,759
1,994
I'll second McConnell's Latakia Flake, although it had way too much nicotine for me. I couldn't even smoke half a bowl, but I'm not a fan of high-nic blends. (I am, however, a McConnell fan.) If you're looking for a flake with nicotine, that one's got it. But it doesn't really have a traditional English profile.
Bob

 

mustanggt

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 6, 2012
819
4
C&D Pirate Kake is very nice and SG Navy Flake is Va/Lat with a little rum but has a nice lat flavor that comes through very well.

 

rcstan

Lifer
Mar 7, 2012
1,466
8
Sunset Beach NC
Fairmorn Lancer's Slices ( only comes in bulk, and if you get the 500g bag you definitely get these long, SG-like flakes that break/rub out fairly easy )
SG Balkan Flake ( needs some drying time ..... shorter flakes in the tin, longer flakes in the 250g box )

 
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