Brown Sugar Flake: Review With Pictures.

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mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Brown Sugar Flake is the first blend that is a result of a collaboration twixt famous Kendal tobacco manufacturer Samuel Gawith and the Danish Pipe Shop of Copenhagen. Their second blend, Beginner's Luck was released recently.
Opening the 50g tin one is presented with a double row of deep brown flakes with the occasional bright fleck here and there. The tin note is of musky fermented fruit with a hint or two of spiciness.
My preference for preparing flakes is to rub them out but not too much. I do this a whole tin at a time on a copper tray then pop the lot into a bail top jar from which I decant from, usually several bowls worth at a time, on to a dish to get some air to it and this blend most definitely needs some drying as is typical of any of the Kendal made tobaccos!
I have found this like many other flakes smokes best when pretty dry. Not biscuit dry but drier than you might initially think. I have just loaded up my new Blakemar bent bulldog with tobacco I let air overnight and it still took a couple of char lights to get going.
Immediately one gets the flavour of the Virginia tobacco which is the main constituent and slowly the other tobaccos become apparent, each with their own distinctive flavours. I find this quite a complex blend with rarely two smokes being quite the same. There is plenty of sweetness in here courtesy of the Cavendish component but also a fair bit of spiciness provided by the Orientals.
Just occasionally, and I do mean occasionally, I have tasted the merest whisper of Latakia in the mix! I actually don't like Latakia but whatever quantity there is in BSF it certainly is not off putting, indeed I doubt it would be the tobacco it is if it were to be omitted. This blend was put together by someone who certainly knows his onions regarding tobacco blending.
Never once has BSF bitten me, it has always given me a smooth almost creamy smoke with what to me is a medium hit of nicotine. Tastewise I would say it is pretty strong, not in a negative way but due to the many flavours that can be discerned, and the flavours last the entire smoke without getting bitter towards the end.
Though my preference is to rub out flakes I have recently been experimenting with cube cutting. I cube cut some BSF a couple of days ago and smoked it in a Blakemar large calabash and got just over two hours smoking out of it. The flavours were slightly intensified as I expected they would be. I can only wonder what a plug version of BSF would be like!
All in all a good solid 9/10 for this gorgeous smoking mixture. Every time I buy a tin for topping up my jar I also buy another for 'saving' should internet tobacco selling become a thing of the past. For those who fear the infamous 'Lakeland Perfume' fear not, of the countless tins of BSF I have smoked, never once did I detect it. Highly recommend.
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Regards,
Jay.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,346
I smoke BSF exclusively in my Weaver billiard, and though good, there's no Latakia in that one. Just burley, orientals/turkish, Cavendish and virginias.
img_20160824_010936-600x337.jpg


 

simong

Lifer
Oct 13, 2015
2,532
15,277
UK
I've said it before, & I'll say it again: That is an absolute beauty of a billiard chasingembers!

 

jmill208

Lifer
Dec 8, 2013
1,087
1,163
Maryland USA
Great review. This has become a favorite of mine.
Just occasionally, and I do mean occasionally, I have tasted the merest whisper of Latakia in the mix!
Must be the Turkish / Oriental components.

I get more creamy, grassy, sweet Virginia flavor from BSF with an occasional spice.
It's just harder to procure in the US.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
A Forums member was so generous as to send me a tin which I am now looking forward to even more. Thank you for a good detailed but to-the-point review. I would have named the constituent ingredient tobaccos as a list in the first three sentences, since I think that sets it up as to what is being discussed, but you did a good job of getting the information in there. This will eventually be my first SG blend. I hope it becomes more generally available as time goes on.

 
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cranseiron

Part of the Furniture Now
May 17, 2013
586
49
McHenry, MS
Thanks for the good review, Jay. BSF caught my eye from the beginning, but unfortunately, hard to get on the west side of the pond.

 

oldreddog

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 4, 2014
923
6
Jay I had looked at this tobacco previously and put it on the maybe list, it's on the must buy now.
CE I wish you'd put that away you've given me pipe envy.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
"I would have named the constituent ingredient tobaccos as a list in the first three sentences,..."
Mso489, apologies. Being a newcomer to writing tobacco reviews I wasn't aware there was a proscribed method of so doing. I shall attempt to do better next time :roll:
"A Forums member was so generous as to send me a tin which I am now looking forward to even more."
Let's hope this doesn't become like your fabled and oft spoken of tin of Royal Yacht that took a small amount of arm twisting to actually get you to open the tin :puffy:
John, be assured this is not a Burley forward blend, you would hardly notice it was there such is the melange of flavours.
Dave, I am astonished to hear you have never tried BSF! I shall put aside a couple of flakes into your ever growing packet so you will be deprived no longer :puffy:
I have to say, my supplier (Mysmokingshop.com) tell me that the Danish Pipe Shop are not best pleased that they are selling it as they assumed they were to be the only outlet that would have access to the blend! Work that one out if you can.
Regards,
Jay.

 

jerwynn

Lifer
Dec 7, 2011
1,033
12
I just want to say BSF was/is one of my favorites! I bought two tins during the short duration it was available here... the old one-to-try/smoke|one-to-cellar formula. Promptly devoured the first tin, went back to order more, and by that time, it was gone from these shores. So the 2nd tin sits there... waiting... tempting... beckoning... but NO!!! Not yet... not yet... (Why? I have no idea... it's just that when it's gone, it's gone. As I consider all these post-2007 blends that might be gone forever, paranoid psychosis sets in.)(Hmmmmm... paranoid psychotic TAD... PPTAD!!! A new one for the physician's desk manual.)

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
"went back to order more, and by that time, it was gone from these shores."
Jerwynn, no doubt one or two of your fellow countrymen with deeper pockets bought every last single tin that was available for their 'cellar'.
Me? I'm not greedy, I just buy two at a time knowing there will be plenty enough left for my fellow pipesmokers. My own 'cellar' might be small but it is ethically accrued.
Regards,
Jay.

 

jkrug

Lifer
Jan 23, 2015
2,867
8
Very nice review and it has left me with a desire to order a tin or two to try. :puffy:

 

jerwynn

Lifer
Dec 7, 2011
1,033
12
Last night I cracked a tin of C&D Bijou from their cellar series. Bless me if it didn't strike me as VERY close to the SG BSF! It was not a side by side comparison, but if memory serves, very close, at least to my perceptions. Might be a way for others to try something very similar.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Jerwynn, that's interesting. I did read somewhere that most blends do indeed have a 'mirror' blend produced by another manufacturer. Whether that is deliberate or not I wouldn't know but it certainly sounds plausible.
Regards,
Jay.

 

simong

Lifer
Oct 13, 2015
2,532
15,277
UK
Orlick brown sliced. This was the discontinued blend that brown sugar flake was created to emulate.

Doesn't do much for me, I'm afraid. Taste very much like a 'stewed' cup of tea. Tried some of the brown sugar flake when it first came out. Very similar, alas didn't do anything for me.



 
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