Irish Flake's New Packaging

[docspipe]

Irish Flake is my number 1 tobacco and I currently received my 91st and 92nd tins respectively. I have noticed on a few of the vendor sites that the image of the tin has changed - round has replaced the square. It's description has changed as well. No longer does it say, "A full bodied blend made of equal proportions air-cured, flue cured and dark fired. True to the pure, unspoilt tobacco taste. Recommended for the experienced pipe smoker." No it reads, "A dark brown Virginia Flake." OK...I always keep a few tins of my favs in my "cellar" and after numbering them, place them in the back of the line for eventual smoking. Since this new incarnation came I had to crack open one of them as I was curious to see what, if any, changes would be in store.
Fortunately, the tin note was identical to what I am familiar with. The flakes are cut the same thickness, same visual appearance except the flakes are a bit smaller lengthwise. However, there are now 14 flakes compared to 11 flakes normally found in the square tins, so I'm assuming true to the 50 gram weight. I am smoking one flake fresh as I write this and the taste is still the same - thankfully!
I thought some might find this of interest and you can see a pix of the new tin on the smokingpipes.com and 4 noggins.com websites.

 

[docspipe]

Here are some pix of the new Irish Flake tin and contents:

 

[paulfg]

probably to make room for the new health warning carp that must be on the tins in Europe now.reduce the description to give more space for photograph

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

probably to make room for the new health warning carp that must be on the tins

Yep, that big empty spot on the bottom half of the tin, is where the "SMOKING KILLS," sticker will go, or those ridiculous photos of disease.

 

[davidintexas]

Could be but I wonder if the change might have been because the round tins hold their seal better than the others?

 

[deathmetal]

I have no objections to this blend being offered in round tins because they are somewhat sturdier. Also not much of a surprise on the description: while last season was Va/Per mania in the marketing department, this season they seem interesting in Va flakes. Could lead to some interesting surprises...

 

[docspipe]

Deathmetal, I do think you're on to something re pushing the Virginia flake description. For me, as long as the smoke remains the same I'm certainly ok with it. And yes, the round tins seem to be better with regard to resealing once opened. My first experience with Ir Fl was with the smaller rectangular tins (which I enjoyed the most for ease of putting in one's pocket). The flakes were sliced perpendicular to the tin length; the flakes being about the length of 2 US postage stamps side by side. I found one flake of that size made for a nice, short smoke in a smaller pipe.

 

[dochudson]

Everyone is going to the same standard round tin.. Some of the names need to be adjusted to drop the more descriptive words. Dunhills Deluxe Navy Rolls is now Dunhill Navy Rolls.

 

[hawky454]

Thanks for the info... The round tins make sense for long term storage but I prefer the aesthetics of the square tins. Luckily, my last order of 5 tins from SP turned out to be the square tins even though the picture in the item description showed round tins. I figured they were pushing out all the old stock which is another plus in my book.

 

[deathmetal]

My first experience with Ir Fl was with the smaller rectangular tins (which I enjoyed the most for ease of putting in one's pocket).

It's true: they fit really well in a regular shirt or pants pocket, and as you say, one flake makes for an enjoyable short smoke.
I suppose a compromise would be the smaller round tins that Former's uses, which also fit well in (most) pockets. Not as well as the little square tins though.