First impression: Viking Classic and McClelland's Red and Black

[jaytex1969]

Online ordering is hard to beat, but the local B&M needs some love, too.
In that spirit, I devised my errand route today to pass by a shop in Austin, Pipe World.
A nice young man listened to me babble and offered helpful but not pushy input, so I rewarded him by opening my oft-unbreachable billfold.
I left with a Viking Classic and some Red & Black VA flake.

Tobacco was overpriced, but the pipe was on clearance for half price, so I feel I did okay.
The Viking was an impulse buy, lacking my normal obsessive, online study. The VA flake was a variety I had already decided I wanted to try after listening to many of you describe your experiences.
Since my smoking up to now has been mostly blends, I wanted the simpler taste of a single tobacco. The sales person explained to me how the red and black flakes were in there separate, so I could load all red, all black or mix as I felt compelled.
This intrigued me, so I grabbed it. My first bowl was all red. Not having used flake before, I just kind of ripped it apart and jammed it unceremoniously into the pipe. If there's a technique or ritual to it, I'm all ears.
As I expected, the tobacco was less busy. I could focus on the more 2-dimensional flavor of red Virginia without the distractions of companion leaves. Sweet and unassuming, to me. A lingering sweet. It's over an hour since I finished and I can still taste it a bit. I'm still in my leaf evaluation infancy, so I've little compiled data to compare against.
The pipe is beautiful, if not fancy. I've been eyeballing the Dublin style all along and glad to now have an example.
I can't say anything bad about it from the first usage. It's bigger than I thought. I was hoping to land in between the Baraccini pocket pipe and the Stanwell 185 in bowl size. In reality, this one's not much smaller than the Stanwell.
My load was just over 3/4 full, maybe not as crumbled as it could have been. It puffed along just fine with a relight about 20 minutes in. It did not burn as cleanly down as I'd hoped. I suspect my flake handling skills over the pipe, however. The ride lasted 40 minutes. The briar did not overheat. A little gurgle in the middle. Again, I suspect operator error and tobacco moisture over a pipe issue.
For the sake of learnin', feel free to add your random thoughts and experiences on Viking, VA flake and operator error.
Thanks.
Jay :nana:

 

[mso489]

With McClellands and Virginias, it's hard to go wrong. Some like to just fold and stuff flake, but I prefer rubbing it out, but try both. Some swear by fold and stuff.

 

[jaytex1969]

On to the Black...
When I loaded up on the Red earlier, I didn't pay much attention to the Black.
This evening, I decided to load up the Black while the Red was still fresh in my memory so I could compare.
I was not expecting such a difference as I found.
Where the Red was easy to work with and mellow, the Black was quite the opposite.
The Red was kind of dry, easy to crumble. The Black sticky and unyielding to my attempts at deconstruction.
I'd equate the Red to crepe paper and the Black to tar paper.
I had concerns about whether the Black would want to burn by itself, so I actually put about 1/4 red to moderate the load.
The taste of the Black is quite awesome. Almost "chewy". Beyond sweet, past raisin and almost to mincemeat. At the same time, it did not seem to cloy. With a little focus, it stayed lit and produced puffs of awesomeness all the way to the bottom.
I see in some other reviews people describing changes of characteristics as they progress through the bowl. I've not yet noticed any such phenomena, but have begun actively looking for it. No such transition with the black Virginia flake, that I could identify.
In a few days, I'll probably load up a 50/50 bowl and try again.
Jay :nana:

 

[rigmedic1]

Take a pair of scissors and cube cut half a red and half a black, mix em up and fill your pipe. I believe that was the intent of the pairing. It's awesome.

 

[crashthegrey]

Nice new pipe. That tobacco is wonderful. I smoke it all different ways and enjoy it every time.