University Flake

seadogontheland

Part of the Furniture Now

Oct 4, 2014

599

2

• Jan 23, 2015

• #1

Sniffle, sniffle. Many years ago, before the brute Irish Flake was born, this was a fantastic tobacco with some balls, a nice gentle, berry, top note and some wonderful nutty burley undertones, no longer. This is a mere shadow of what it used to be, an imposter, a wuss and a wimp. Not only has the flavor profile gone completely kooky, I simply don't even recognize this, no depth, no strength. Oh yeah, and I hate the fat square tin. Aside from the muscle lost, they even gave IF the cool as hell rectangle tin. (Wagging finger) Bad Peterson, Bad! A true Bastardization.

 

seadogontheland

Part of the Furniture Now

Oct 4, 2014

599

2

• Jan 23, 2015

• #2

Sorry for the slam review, but this was one of the first blends I started smoking and it truly has changed a great deal. If you have not tried the older blend which disappeared about 7 years ago or so, you may like this light burley.

 

papipeguy

Lifer

Jul 31, 2010

15,778

35

Bethlehem, Pa.

• Jan 23, 2015

• #3

Not an isolated observation, seadog. Many of our old favorite blends have changed when they moved to either Sweden or Germany. IF probably suffers from the loss of the Irish Sea air.

 

seadogontheland

Part of the Furniture Now

Oct 4, 2014

599

2

• Jan 23, 2015

• #4

Oh so true, Papi.

 

Z

zitotczito

Lifer

Aug 12, 2014

1,128

175

• Jan 23, 2015

• #5

Never tried the old and have some tins of the new, so I guess I won't be two disappointed.

 

derfargin

Lifer

Mar 3, 2014

2,028

28

Kennesaw, GA

• Jan 23, 2015

• #6

I wasn't a huge fan of UF either.

 

seadogontheland

Part of the Furniture Now

Oct 4, 2014

599

2

• Jan 23, 2015

• #7

Definitely, same here. I'd like to get my hands on one of the old tins for old times sake.

 

gtclark

Part of the Furniture Now

Oct 3, 2013

512

3

• Jan 24, 2015

• #8

I believe Rattray kept the original recipe when production changed hands a few years ago. If I recall correctly, it's called "Wallace Flake". I've not tried it yet, but it might be closer to the old blend.

 

seadogontheland

Part of the Furniture Now

Oct 4, 2014

599

2

• Jan 24, 2015

• #9

Ill have to look that up...thanks gtclark

 

brian64

Lifer

Jan 31, 2011

9,636

14,752

• Jan 24, 2015

• #10

UF has long been a favorite of mine. Only the first few tins I had of it years ago were the original. I'm curious what exactly the "mahogany" was that was listed on those tins.

 

ivapewithfire

Starting to Get Obsessed

Nov 26, 2014

268

0

West Virginia, USA

• Jan 25, 2015

• #11

Having only started smoking a pipe a few months ago, I didn't have a chance to try the old version. I did recently try the current version being sold and love it.
Wish I had a chance to try the older style from your description of it.

 

mso489

Lifer

Feb 21, 2013

41,210

60,459

• Jan 25, 2015

• #12

I have a tin of Irish Flake from Peterson on deck, at least thinking of opening it, and I'm hoping for better.

Since I didn't know any grand older version of this one, maybe it will please me anyway. I'm enjoying a

number of bulk and open blends already, so I'm slow to open a new one. "Recommended for the

experienced pipe smoker" on the tin gives me hope.

 

seadogontheland

Part of the Furniture Now

Oct 4, 2014

599

2

• Jan 25, 2015

• #13

Well if you like the new stuff then that's a good thing! You'll never know what youre missing...ignorance is bliss!

 

mrenglish

Lifer

Dec 25, 2010

2,220

72

Columbus, Ohio

• Jan 25, 2015

• #14

Unfortunately, the new version (both Peterson and Wallace Flake) are no where near what the old version was. I definitely prefer the old but went a bunch of years without smoking any, so the newer versions are good because they are not compared with the old. If that makes any sense. The cut on the old was more of a thick crumble cake rather than the thin strips we have now.

 

gtclark

Part of the Furniture Now

Oct 3, 2013

512

3

• Jan 25, 2015

• #15

mrenglish: did you find the Wallace Flake superior to the current iteration of Uni Flake, or are they about the same?

 

mrenglish

Lifer

Dec 25, 2010

2,220

72

Columbus, Ohio

• Jan 26, 2015

• #16

I found them about the same. The Wallace flake was slightly sweeter, the University Flake was from around 2010 and the topping has dissipated some. I am not sure who is making the current University Flake but it is different even from the 2010. The current production has much wider flakes than when K&K was distributing it.
Its all quite confusing. I guess Orlik made the tobaccos for K&K, they just tinned the flakes up. So Wallace Flake is being made by Orlik but am not sure who is making the current University Flake.
I just pulled some University Flake out from 2002. It's not a crumble cut like I thought, but much thicker flakes than the current.

 

lordofthepiperings

Lifer

May 3, 2010

6,438

1,487

Las Vegas, NV

• Jan 26, 2015

• #17

I believe Peterson changed production from K&K to Mac Baren last year or the year before.
I've only had the blue labeled square tin. The first time I had it I was new to the pipe world and it was a bit much in the nicotine department for me. Now that I've been at it for a few years and have had Luxury Bullseye Flake, which most say is a medium strength blend, and it doesn't effect me I have purchased a new tin of UF and will give it another go.

 

saltedplug

Lifer

Aug 20, 2013

5,194

5,100

• Feb 2, 2015

• #18

I've smoked a good bit of UF, and it used to be my favorite. But when I smoked a tin a year or two ago, I couldn't find anything to like and haven't bought any since. Same with IF, exactly, smoked a lot of it, bought a tin in the recent past and didn't like it. I disliked neither, but that's a far cry from the affection I used to have.