Is Flake Tobacco STRONGER ?

[zenforest]

I tried a Flake Style Tobacco for the 1st time ever today. WOW ! Was it good ! Not only was the flavor intense, but it gave me a nice/mellow/buzz which I have never got from my typical bulk cherry tobacco blends.
Is this typical of Flake Tobacco in general ? Or just specific to what I was smoking ?
My 1st trial of Flake Tobacco today was Samuel Gawith Fire Dance Flake ! Nice flavor of Blackberry, and wowza.....a little buzz to boot !

 

[jazz]

In my experience they tend to be though it is not necessarily always the case.
I prefer my smokes on the stronger side and for this reason lean towards flakes a lot. I should mention though that I don't smoke aromatics and so know nothing as to how standard aromatic compares to the aromatic flake options out there in regard to strength. But suspect the flakes more often than not pack more of a punch.
I am sure the more experienced gents will wade in with far more information than I can offer.

 

[fadingdaylight]

To the best of my understanding, it has to do with the type of tobacco and the absorption rate of the nicotine.
What do you normally smoke? If your smoking burley based blends (a lot of aros are heavy in burley), you may notice a nic kick from flakes simply because it is virginia based. The burley has higher nicotine, but the absorption rate of the nicotine in the virginia is higher, allowing it to get into your bloodstream better.
So I guess the short answer is yes, in a way, they are stronger. Now go sample some GL Pease Jacknife Plug, that stuff tastes great and it will make the room spin.

 

[bentmike]

I think fadingdaylight is right. It really depends on the variety of tobacco that went into the press. "Stronger" in awesome flavor- Most definitely! I love flakes that's all I smoke these days. That and GLP Gaslight but that's a plug. Same as flakes just not sliced into handy pieces. I always like when guys post their first experience with flakes. Thanks for sharing Zen and welcome to the forum.
edit: If you like aros give Mac Baren Vanilla Cream Flakes a try. They are terrific.

 

[mso489]

I think flakes, plugs, ropes, etc., tend to retain more moisture and stay a little fresher, and retain more

flavor and nicotine too, so when you release all this by cutting it up and/or rubbing it out, the smoke is

stronger. If you don't want it quite so high test, you can let it dry out a bit after rubbing it out. GLP

Triple Play is a plug and has nice full-strength flavor, but is not a head spinner, at least for me.

 

[billypm]

There are mild flakes and strong flakes, just as there are mild ribbon blends and strong ones. But I will say that most of the strongest tobaccos I have smoked were flakes and plugs.

 

[rmbittner]

What billypm said. There are mild and strong flakes, just like in any other style. But the strongest blends (in terms of nicotine content) are all flakes/ropes/plugs.
Bravo to you, though, for making FireDance Flake your first flake! If that had been mine, I'd have never smoked another flake in my life! It's the only tobacco I've ever tried that actually repulsed me with its flavor/aroma.
It sounds like you enjoyed the moderate strength of FDF. You might also enjoy SG's Full Virginia Flake (which, despite the name, is on the mild-to-medium spectrum where nicotine is concerned). For something with more strength, MacBaren's Old Dark Fired. For even more: Solani's Aged Burley Flake. (I don't enjoy the nicotine "kick," so that's about as far as I've ventured into higher-nicotine blends.)
By comparison, Hamborger Veermaster and Dunhill Flake offer milder VA flake experiences (with the former being almost bland). Penzance is my favorite blend of all time; it's a mild (nicotine-wise) but full-flavored English flake. And then there are the dark-stoved VA flakes, which tend to be mild-to-medium in nicotine but very flavorful and sweet.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Bob

 

[fadingdaylight]

+1 for Full Virginia Flake and Old Dark Fired, my two favorites

 

[zenforest]

Thanks for the responses ! For years I have been smoking Captain Black Cherry, or various bulk cherry tobaccos. Cherry Cavendish.
This was the 1st try of something new. Wont be the last !!

 

[salewis]

Flakes are my favorite tobaccos. However, I am a nicotine wimp and cannot tolerate high vitamin N tobacco. I have been smoking flake tobaccos for over 30 years and believe me that there are many wonderful flakes that are not high in nicotine. The list of low nicotine flakes is too long to list. However, if you look around you to will find many low nicotine smokes.

 

[cigrmaster]

I smoke nothing but flake tobacco and the reason being is that for my tastes they cannot be beat for flavor, slow burning and cool smoking.
Here is my list of flakes in my cellar. The TR next to a name means tin ready i.e ready to smoke out of the tin with no drying time in most cases.
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 TR

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

Treasures of Limerick TR
Virginia/Burley/Kentucky

Solani Silver Flake TR

Peterson Perfect Plug TR

GL Pease Navigator TR

Petersons Irish Flake TR

Peterson University Flake TR

Esoterica Stonehaven
In this list there are plenty of mild flakes along with stronger ones.

Mac Baren HH Old Dark Fired TR

 

[pitchfork]

The Gawith tobaccos in particular are generally high in nicotine. McClelland VA flakes, on the other hand, are relatively low in nicotine. I suppose most flakes are relatively high in nicotine because they have a good amount of VA and/or minimally processed burley in them, especially compared to aromatic blends or English blends. It's more about the underlying components than it is the fact that you're smoking slices from a cake or plug. Still, I guess the rule more or less holds.