I bought a couple more tins of this recently, after a long break - I have one stashed away, but decided to leave it where it lay and pop a fresh one.
"Fresh" is a matter of debate - the date code translated to 18 months old, so it has stewed in its own juices for a respectable period. I think "very moist" would best describe its state. I've already smoked a flake or two from it, but there was a half flake there and I took it out and let it air for several hours, unusually for me.
In reality, it's much darker than this, almost black, and already had a fair bit of bloom when I first popped the tin.
For my last smoke of the day, I took the half flake and folded it, stuffed it into my Savinelli St Nicholas 2023 Prince 315. I have a 6mm balsa filter and a mesh screen, giving the chamber less depth (I had been wasting too much).
Of all the SG flakes, Navy is the most fire retardant. Even with drying time, this was no exception, a labour of love, multiple charring lights, resting the pipe, more charring lights, more resting.
Finally, ignition, and the lat-forward flavours I've found from folding and stuffing. It was most pleasant, tasty, full and continued that way, the latakia receding into the ensemble as it went.
At about half way, it went out. I reorganised the contents, pulling tobacco off the side of the chamber and into the centre, tamped and relit.
Oh. My. Word. From then to the very end, I had the most intense, hypnotic smoke in a long while. All of the virginia, latakia and rum firing together in perfect harmony with the taste turned right up to 11. Lots of smoke. I didn't want it to end, it didn't want to end either. Extraordinary.
When I finally tipped the ash out of the bowl, it was grey/white from top to bottom, complete combustion, not a fragment unburnt. A truly wonderful thing.
I'll have to give that one a Zaphod, one million out of ten.
"Fresh" is a matter of debate - the date code translated to 18 months old, so it has stewed in its own juices for a respectable period. I think "very moist" would best describe its state. I've already smoked a flake or two from it, but there was a half flake there and I took it out and let it air for several hours, unusually for me.
In reality, it's much darker than this, almost black, and already had a fair bit of bloom when I first popped the tin.
For my last smoke of the day, I took the half flake and folded it, stuffed it into my Savinelli St Nicholas 2023 Prince 315. I have a 6mm balsa filter and a mesh screen, giving the chamber less depth (I had been wasting too much).
Of all the SG flakes, Navy is the most fire retardant. Even with drying time, this was no exception, a labour of love, multiple charring lights, resting the pipe, more charring lights, more resting.
Finally, ignition, and the lat-forward flavours I've found from folding and stuffing. It was most pleasant, tasty, full and continued that way, the latakia receding into the ensemble as it went.
At about half way, it went out. I reorganised the contents, pulling tobacco off the side of the chamber and into the centre, tamped and relit.
Oh. My. Word. From then to the very end, I had the most intense, hypnotic smoke in a long while. All of the virginia, latakia and rum firing together in perfect harmony with the taste turned right up to 11. Lots of smoke. I didn't want it to end, it didn't want to end either. Extraordinary.
When I finally tipped the ash out of the bowl, it was grey/white from top to bottom, complete combustion, not a fragment unburnt. A truly wonderful thing.
I'll have to give that one a Zaphod, one million out of ten.
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