Marlin Flake - Oh So Frustrating

carver · Sep 3, 2016

As you guys might know from my past thread, I'm trying to get acquainted with Virginia. She is this sweet gal that I want to learn to know better. Whether alone or with her friend Perique ... I am easy going.
Or so I thought. Especially with this special blend Marlin Flake.

I bought a tin of it long time ago, and like any man, I love the smell of her hair, but I'd really like to love the taste of her tongue.
So far, I've been deceived.
Enough of the train station poetry.

Every single attempts I've had with Marlin Flake resulted in the same, different pipes, different times.

I love how it smells, I take a few flakes, roll them, put them in the pipe, break a flake for tinder, put it on, light it up ... yuck, hard to smoke, weird taste.
I find it really not enjoyable.

What am I doing wrong ?

Chasing Embers · Sep 3, 2016

Cube cut it, and let it dry for about 30 minutes.

mcitinner1 · Sep 3, 2016

My method with most flakes is to really fluff it up in a dedicated, medium sized, food processor. The really cheap one I tried first wasn't powerful enough.

carver · Sep 3, 2016

Subsidiary question : What are the purposes of specific tobacco conditioning methods?

Why flakes, why shag, why cube cut?

rfernand · Sep 3, 2016

The objective is to prepare the flake so combustion is easy.
Rubbing flake by hand can be hard. Fold and stuff may not lead to an even burn in all flakes. Flakes are a bit thicker than the shags you find in ribbon cut tobacco. @mcitinner is using a food processor to essentially end up in a uniform, easy to burn consistency. @chasingembers is ending up with tiny cubes, which are easier to burn than the uneven longish strands you may end up with when rubbing flake.

carver · Sep 3, 2016

The objective is to prepare the flake so combustion is easy.

Would you say that my bad experiences are due to bad preparation/combustion ?

philobeddoe · Sep 3, 2016

Maybe she's just not that into you!

sjfine · Sep 3, 2016

I traded my first acquisition; I just didn't like it.
There are too many tobaccos out there to settle.

johnbarleycorn · Sep 3, 2016

When I first tried Marlin flake I thought it was amazing. A very unique sweet tasting Va blend. But I soon found it to be a little over the top for my taste. Too sweet in a very unnatural way. I much prefer Old Gowrie or Hal o the Wynd now personally. Maybe you are just skipping past the first step much quicker than I did.

mcitinner1 · Sep 3, 2016

Carver it's mostly a learning experience I think. Trying the different textures and moisture levels eventually will lead you to what you like most. For example the HU you're getting. I chop it up in the food processor and it's nice and fluffy, and I love the way it burns; but others may like it better as it is right out of the can, because the burn will be different.

ashdigger · Sep 3, 2016

Marlin Flake can be a fickle mistress. The first time I tried it, it was fresh and tasted funky. I jarred it and put it away. I scored some aged Marlin Flake and for the way I smoke it, rubbed out in a dublin, it just hits the notes. So now I only smoke the aged stuff.
BUT here's the thing. Smoking cadence, body chemistry, pipe, moisture, age and packing can affect ANY tobacco. I've traded enough baccy that I can tell you this simple truth. Sometimes you hold'em and sometimes you trade them away. Just like pipes. I've traded pipes that I could not get to smoke correctly and the next person in line loves how it smokes.
Keep at it.

rfernand · Sep 3, 2016

@carver: it's about the only thing I can think of - and the first two comments also went there. In my case, is a reasonable suspicion for a flake.
It took me a long time to abandon fold and stuff with certain blends, which I did because "they're flakes". Rubbing and breaking, as well as cube cut, helped me love flakes as mundane as University Flake.

sablebrush52 · Sep 3, 2016

I think that Ashdigger nailed it. Marlin Flake benefits from years of aging. Cubing it or rubbing it out and letting it dry will deliver much better flavor.

drennan · Sep 3, 2016

I had to cube cut it and then dry for a couple of hours before it smoked well for me. Whilst it doesn't bite if smoked a little too quickly it does kill the flavour.
It's worth experimenting with

delkhouri · Sep 3, 2016

Cube cut it, and let it dry for about 30 minutes.

Or sometimes I tear it by hand into small pieces. I don't like to rub it out because it burns hotter that way and has a bland taste.

carver · Sep 4, 2016

Then that's what I'll do. Thanks for the suggestions. True that it might just be also that I am not too much in that.
Anyone experienced such situation: really want to like a blend but proved disappointing after many tries?

igloo · Sep 4, 2016

I prepare mine by cutting just a tad shorter than the depth of the bowl . Then I slice like little tooth picks . The third step is to roll the toothpick sized tobacco between my palms . Insert in to pipe and use the smaller pieces left on the plate to get it going . Damn that sounds confusing .

drennan · Sep 4, 2016

Anyone experienced such situation: really want to like a blend but proved disappointing after many tries?

Yep. I struggled with flakes when I first started smoking them, I did start with SG flakes which is probably the hardest place to start. I loved the smell of SG St James but most bowls just turned into a sticky mess of relights and left me disappointed. I figured out that the drying times suggested on forums where massively unrated for my taste buds, discovered cube cutting and never looked back.
As an aside I much prefer SG plugs over their flakes, they seem drier and more well behaved when smoking.

carver · Sep 4, 2016

@igloo : not sure I got that right, but thanks for participating

discovered cube cutting and never looked back.

@drennan: do you let those cubes dry as well ?

mcitinner1 · Sep 4, 2016

Anyone experienced such situation: really want to like a blend but proved disappointing after many tries?

Sure have. Then you just jar it up and come back to it several months down the road. 8)

Marlin Flake - Oh So Frustrating

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