Liking Virginia's except for ....

I've found that McClellan and Samuel Gawith require way more drying time than you think. I'd dry it out for several hours. At least.

Yep. One VA I like, for example, takes around 4 hours to dry to my liking.

For a quick dry you can put in under a desk lamp. Depending on the wattage it will dry your tobacco to your liking in no time.....check every 5 minutes and see if it is ready for the pipe. Just the amount for one pipeful, not the whole tin. Good luck

You can do it Jon11's way, or you can leave some out and check on it periodically. Learning to tell if it's dried enough by touch is the best way, but that takes some time to learn. But, once you get the hang of it, it makes life easier when you light 'em up. Flakes, especially if they have any thickness, hold moisture more than you would think. Always pack the tobacco a little loose, too.

I just take some out and lay it on a sheet of paper.

. Flakes, especially if they have any thickness, hold moisture more than you would think. 

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One thing I've learned is if I think it's dry enough, give it another 15-30 minutes.

Usually leave mine out overnight. Then, I pack it, and if a bit too dry, I blow warm breath through the pipe to slightly rehydrate it.

When I am in a rush, which is 90% of the time, I just toss a flake or a bowl full into the microwave for 8-12 seconds. It doesn't dry it out, just heats it up a tad, waking up the flavors, but also making it burn a little better. 5100, I keep in a tobacco pouch when I am on a 5100 roll. I like it bone dry, so it drying out in a leather pouch doesn't bother me. But, I think that smoking very slow helps offset some of the reported "fast burn" or lack of flavor. At least for me it does.
But, honestly, I've never had a problem keeping any of these burning right out of a fresh bag. Do you talk or socialize while smoking? Do you keep the pipe in a clench the entire time? I find that distractions that have me taking the pipe out of my mouth makes for many relights. I hate the distraction. My best smokes of these comes from just lighting the pipe, keeping it in a clench, and just working on something as normal, just letting the pipe become a part of me. FVF and some of the other flakes can be frustrating if not dried, but 5100 or any of the McC's bulk Virginias have never been a wet hassle for me. There are so many variables that coule be in effect, the pack, the tamp, the pipe. It's really hard to say. But, once I get my pipe lit, my folks know not to bother me with questions where I'd have to take my pipe out of my mouth, unless it's a real emergency, like someone is on fire or something, ha ha.

It seems that when I have trouble is when I've packed too tightly. I like to keep a flake relatively intact, and because it's been pressed into a cake, it will expand with the heat of the light and burning of the coal and can choke itself if too tightly packed. I keep a few flakes 'out' in covered plastic food savers and they dry out just fine in those.

Getting it just right is always rewarding.

Great information guys, thanks. I dry most of the aromatics I smoke, but had not thought about it having a positive effect on the VA's. I have just kept relighting them. The Golden Virginia that is my favorite comes a little on the dry side and when I smoke others and moist VaPer I have just endured it. :roll:

+ 1 to Cosmic on the microwave. I do this when I'm in a hurry. About 10 seconds and then leave it for a about 5 minutes.