For All The New Folks....Cigrmasters List of Flakes

[cigrmaster]

I have been gone for a while and I see all kinds of new faces so I thought I would post my list of flakes that I smoke and cellar. For my tastes I have found I get more flavor and a cooler smoke with flakes. The TR next to a name means that for me the tobacco is ready to smoke right out of the tin with no additional drying time needed. Now of course my preference for a moist flake may not be yours so keep that in mind. I have found that drying a flake too much will lose flavor and burn hotter.
Virginia Flakes:

Fribourg&Treyer Cut Virginia Plug TR

Fribourg and Treyer Vintage TR

Fribourg & Treyer Special Brown Flake TR

Wessex Campaign Brigade Dark Flake TR

Wessex Brown Virginia Flake TR

Wessex Gold Virginia Flake TR

Wessex Gold Brick

Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake

Samuel Gawith full Virginia Flake

Hamborger Veermaster TR

Dunhill Flake TR

Astley’s no. 44 Dark Flake TR

Astleys 109 TR

John Aylesbury  Luxury Flake TR

Rotary Navy Cut TR

Capstan Blue Flake TR

Brigham Klondike Gold TR

 

Virginia/Perique Flakes
Escudo TR

Solani 633 TR

Samuel Gawith St James Flake

Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls TR
Virginia/Burley/Kentucky Flakes
Solani Silver Flake TR

Peterson Perfect Plug

GL Pease Navigator TR

Petersons Irish Flake

Peterson University Flake

Esoterica  Stonehaven

Mac Baren HH Old Dark Fired

 

[mortonbriar]

Hello, and do you stick to a method of fold and stuff, or cube cut or rub out? or does each of these flakes work differently for you?
Isaac

 

[cigrmaster]

Isaac, I do most of my smoking inside so I use the cube cut method 80 percent of the time. I will use fold and stuff when I smoke outside as I like the burn better in the wind. Now in general, I cut my flakes into fairly large cubes, maybe 1/3 of an inch or bigger, and I pack them fairly tight. I test my draw and want to have the feel of sipping a milkshake through a straw. Now when it comes to SG Full Virginia flake, I cut that into very small cubes and dry it a good 2 hours plus before smoking as it is the most finicky flake I smoke. I never rub out my flakes as I feel it defeats the purpose of smoking a flake. I feel it burns too hot and I don't get the same flavors rubbing them out.

 

[mortonbriar]

Thanks for the details! I have cube cut much smaller than 1/3 of an inch, i will try large cubes and see how it smokes
isaac

 

[bookn3rd5]

Thanks for the list cigrmaster. When I first started smoking pipes a couple of years ago, I actually ran across some of your posts teaching others how to use the cube cut method. I tried it out when I smoked Marlin Flake - one of my favorite tobaccos - and that's the only way I smoke it now. Threads like yours are helpful and can make a world of a difference for those new to the hobby!

 

[monty55]

Good information cigrmaster! Thanks for sharing that. I especially like the info about the methods you use to smoke flake. :clap:
Any pics or video of this cube cut method?

 

[fnord]

Harris:
I dislike almost every tobacco you posted here: and I'm sure that'll include the ones in the unknown/untasted column I haven't tried yet. However, I'll lay odds the latter will be a snooze fest, make me retch or feel like a lawn chomping sheep just the same.
But, pard - after battling through your various ailments - it's a pleasure and a blessing having you posting here again.
You've been missed, Harris, and we're all glad you're back.
BTW, I watched "The Killer Elite" the other night and, next to "Convoy," this might have been Peckinpah's worst film. I've seen better episodes of Vic Morrow's "Combat" he directed.
Fnord

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I'm not sure if you were aware, Harris, but while you were gone, Kevin made a new rule that of we listed a tobacco, we have to send a tin of it to everyone on the forum. I will PM you the address list. But, the good news is that you can now ship them in mylar bags to save you on the cost of the weight of shipping the tins. ::
Ha ha!! Great list! The only ones that I haven't tried are the Wessex Flakes.

 

[cigrmaster]

Glad I could be of help. I do not have any videos as I don't own a video camera or phone that has it. One thing about my list that you should all know, other than a small amount of Red Virginia in the Solani Silver Flake, all of my list is devoid of Red's. I have an allergic reaction to them so I cannot smoke a lot of blends that I know are great tasting. I have smoked tons of flakes from McClellend, Rattray and others and really loved the flavors, but they burned my tongue off. The feeling I get from red's is the minute the smoke hits my tongue, I get an acid burn sensation, for years I thought it was my smoking technique but finally learned the truth about a body's alkilinity. There are so many flakes I would add to my list if my body could handle them. Things like Dark Star, Hal O the Wynd, Treasures of Limerick and even though it is not a flake, Haddo's Delight. I suffered through a ton of bowls of Haddo's because I loved the flavor that much. I have noticed the older I get the less tolerant I am of the red's. So if anyone is having serious issues with tongue burn, it could be you are allergic like I am.
cos, Wessex flakes are really tasty, try the BCDF first, it is my favorite.

 

[dread]

Happy to see you back in the game, as it were, Harris! I have your old list bookmarked and study it from time to time. A great reference for VA etc. flake lovers.

 

[papipeguy]

Glad to see you're back here. Harris. That's an impressive list of some very fine blends. Stay well and Happy Smoke Rings.

 

[misterlowercase]

So glad to have you back posting Harris!

:clap:
It was reading your prep tech a while back that clued me into cube cutting and that's how I smoke most my stuff now.

 

[yazamitaz]

Welcome back sir,
Now if I can only get my hands on more of that John Aylesbury Luxury Flake. Tasty stuff but harder to get than Stonehaven.

 

[cigrmaster]

Thanks for all the welcome back guys, I really appreciate it.
yaz, I hear you on the JALF, I honestly do not understand why the mfg refuses to make more than a few hundred tins a year.

 

[yazamitaz]

Not sure my friend but I wish they made more. I only have 4 tins so I don't smoke too much of it

 

[graydawn]

Interesting that you should mention the acidity/alkalinity factor. I smoke Virginia and Virginia perique mixtures and occasional blends will have the same effect. My tongue will develop what is called 'geographic tongue' where areas of smooth surface are devoid of papilla. This resolves in several hours without difficulty.

 

[cigrmaster]

yaz, I won't tell you how many JALF tins I have in stock for fear you might just come by and shoot my ass. lol
Grey, There are a lot of Vapers that I tried smoking but because of the reds, I had to quit them. I believe that most of the best vapers do use red virginia as their base. The reason I only have 4 vapers on my list is because of this. Here is a list of Vapers I have smoked that I really loved, but had to stop because they hurt so bad.
Hal O The Wynd

Haddo's Delight

Treasures of Limerick

Marlin Flake

Old Gowrie

Black Parrot

Redwood

No. 2015

St James Wood

Bayou Morning

Poplar Camp

Bayou Morning Flake
I am sure I am forgetting others but those are the ones that came to mind. That is 13 blends I would love to be able to smoke but because of my affliction, I had to find substitutes, which as you see are pretty few and far between. I am lucky that there are a lot more other flakes that do not use reds in them. My list of Virginia flakes with reds that I tried smoking and enjoyed is much larger than the 13 vapers I cannot smoke. It really sucks I am limited but I am very happy with what I have been able to find over the years. The first flake I smoked that did not contain any reds was Fribourg & Treyer CVP, that blend changed my world as it was the first flake I could smoke with no pain. I followed that with Astleys 109, Hamborger Veermaster and Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky. It was 2001 when I found those blends and I have been looking for flakes with no reds ever since. 2013 was a good year as I added 2 new flakes to my list, both Capstan Blue Flake and Brigham Klondike Gold made the grade and I loaded up my cellar with both of them.
So to anyone who is getting acid buurn on their tongue, it may not be the pipe or your technique or the moisture of your tobacco, it could be you are in the same boat as I am so hopefully this list will really help you.

 

[yazamitaz]

Now come on Harris, I would never do that. I know you have a few so maybe I will just try to con you out of them
I am hoping it is like Wessex BCDF. You can find that stuff everywhere now. I am hoping the JALF has the same availability down the road.

 

[cigrmaster]

yaz, I never thought the demand on BCDF would go down so quickly so it is quite possible the same thing will happen to the JALF. For your sake I hope it does, because the chances of you getting me to part with any is slim and none. lol Seriously it took a stroke of real luck to grab the last 50 tins I needed to finally grab enough of these for my 25 year supply. I cannot count how many mom and pop stores I called over a 14 month period chasing this stuff down. Hell when I went on the chase for Stonehaven, I was able to grab 14 pounds of it within 6 months and could have grabbed another 7 or so pounds if I had wanted it.

 

[yazamitaz]

I have 24 oz of Stonehaven and that is more than enough for me. I am looking to get a total of about 25 of the JALF (that is about how many BCDF I have) and I would be happy as a pig in shit. Since I don't I will let the 3 unopened ones age, smoke the opened one, and when it is gone will just smoke Astely's 44 and BCDF and be good with it.