Smoking Some 65 Year Old Scottish Flake --- A Group Review

[misterlowercase]

Wow, I've gotten behind on this thread.
Much good stuff added.
A sad note,

it appears that Pat's sample was either lost or destroyed en route to Canada, I could not get an answer from the P.O. and that totally sux.
On a glad note,

awesome Joe!

What a kind and wonderful gesture!

:clap:

I read the reviews and gathered from them what I could and that was that.
In comes 12pups. Seeing my earlier post contacted me if I was interested in getting a sample of his small stash. An honorable gesture to say the least. I thanked him and said I would do my best to review it when it came in and I got a chance to smoke it.

I'm glad you got to try it Jason.

I took a sniff and got mostly the same experience as others. Dried fruit, figgy and almost a bit musty.

That aroma is one that will live in my memory forever.

The longer pieces stood up in the bowl, so I used my finger to gently nudge them back in.

Second light cause even more rise in the tobacco, almost trying to leave the bowl. Common throughout smoke.

I got a lot of that rising also, almost as if it was alive, thriving.

I had never had anything like this, only thing close was maybe some GL Pease Sextant or Navigator.

This makes me even more excited about the Sextant I have on deck, yet to be opened, but somehow strangely my mind is made up that I'll love it and end up dedicating a pipe suchwise, so this is great news for me!

I also did some early through the nose exhaling and I got some intense spiciness to the point my eyes watered a bit. I let the bowl settle a bit before doing it again.

That spicy element is the biggest riddle to me, I simply cannot define it, but it is there.

I smoked this bowlful outside as I was unsure how the wife would react, her only comment was it seemed "strong".

Not very helpful, but she has limited descriptions of my tobaccos (either pleasant or strong).

I picked up on a toasted bread like quality during the 1st third,

Strong enough for sailors 'n seamen!

Although I found the baccy to be somewhat monodimensional on whole, there were little fractions that kept coming through strongly, sometimes a fleeting flavor, but the subtle shifts added some magic for me.

The "toast" continued mid way through and was welcome. I almost want to say a "sourdough" toast quality. However, quite unexpectedly I got some "ammonia" like aroma at this point. I may have been smoking it too hot, so I gave it a rest and it disappeared.

I also experienced an astringent element when I had badly overheated a bowl at one point.

Ashy/Bitterness started to prevail and gently tamping resulted in fine grey ash. I also had 3 relights during this time, probably due to my slowed cadence to keep the "ammonia" at bay. I also had the scratchy throat several noted and drank tap water(no ice) during this trial. There was a bit of moisture in the humidome, so the tobacco was still moisture even now.

Some of the finest ash I've ever seen, the moisture content when opened astounded me, that it was actually still pliable after all these years.

Overall I got the raisin/dried apricot notes, although musty and muted. The bread like quality was nice, but one dimensional. I did however become sad as I would like to have had more time with it.

Yep, those raisin-type notes are what defined it for me.
Thanks for your input Jason, it is most appreciated.

:puffpipe:

 

[misterlowercase]

Arno
Cool pictures!

I expected the tobacco to have a darker colour because of the age.

yeah, it is kinda strange that it wasn't much darker, as often that seems the case.

When I unfolded the tin foil and saw the pristine flakes I smelled something that I can best describe as raisins drenched in some liquor (whisky?) mingled with a bit of hay. After a day in the sample bag I also smelled a tiny bit of chocolate.

That incredible smell alone nearly altered my consciousness!

The first two flakes (I smoked 1 flake per bowl) were horrible.. I did not know what to think of it.. I smoked it in 2 different pipes and got mixed results.

LOL!

I appreciate your honesty, a bitter enigma sent by some crazed Yank!

Then I loaded up a 1979 Dunhill zulu and *tadaaa*, I had a good smoke in which I could actually taste some nuances! So I kept that pipe for this tobacco.

Most excellent, glad you found a proper mate for the leaf, again underscoring the fact that it's crucial to seek until ye findeth, where the pairing of leaf and bowl is concerned.

Personally I think the level of perique (if it was being used at all) is very low. Although my nose prickled sometimes. To me it tasted like a straight Virginia with a pretty noticeable topping. About that topping, I think whisky was used. I already told the smell was raisins-drenched-in-liquor like.

Yep, I was struggling to determine if any perique was involved at all, it seemed to carry an odd element suchwise, but to a quite softened degree. The topping is hard to place as well, but the people here well acquainted with whisky seem to single it out as what was used, incredible that the topping even survived to be detected by us, how strong was it when fresh?

Throughout the bowl I tasted (softly) roasted bread with hints of hay and sweetness. Indeed a bit raisin, apricot like. I did not detect bitterness at the end of the bowl.

I find it most interesting how many of us agree on the main flavor thrust.

All by all it is not a spectacular tobacco, for me it has no "wowww" factor. It is more like a tempting snake which curls itself more and more around your taste buds with every time you smoke it.

That's a good analogy, I think it was a much more stout entity when fresh.

No problemo whatsoever. Because of the long journey the flakes were a bit dry but nothing a little blowing through the bowl just before smoking couldn't fix.

I love how the old stuff burns.

I got no complaints from my girlfriend. Definitely no latakia was used.

LOL!

It sounds like her nose would know!

My throat also became a bit dry during smoking. I made the mistake of drinking coffee during one smoke which polluted my taste-buds.. Whoops.. In the nicotine department the flakes were precisely enough for me. Any more and it would have been uncomfortable.

I got a bit of the dry element as well, I experienced more of a nic hit when I decided to puff vigorously, but during normal sipping it was pretty tame, felt in effect but nowhere near overpowering.

Price: Priceless :mrgreen:

:D :!:

At first was a bit appalled when I smelled the flakes because of the topping. Remember that whisky-blend it made me think of? I did not like that one.. But I am glad I persevered because in the end I was rewarded with some very nice smokes. I think that back in the days this was not a spectacular blend, an all day smoker. But the thing is with all day smokers, they have something that want you to come back to it every time.

Another interesting aspect how the other baccy which reminded you of the Scots Cake crept into your brain, it would seem that instances such as this happen a good bit, where we color our thoughts with experiences of the past regarding similar flavors and weigh things accordingly.
I'm glad you persevered too, and got something from it.
I thank you for taking the time and adding your thoughts.

:puffpipe:

 

[pitchfork]

It's interesting to me that some folks got very little flavor from the initial light or even from the first bowl. I was practically bowled over by the deep plumminess of this tobacco. I don't have any idea why that's the case, but there we are.

 

[misterlowercase]

Jason

What a fantastic thread. There is so much in this, great experiences, vast knowledge and deep appreciation. Amazing- utterly superb.

I agree, this has been a great thing.
And, with your review,

where to begin?

indeed, such richness and depths,

I knew you would pen a poetic vision and your descriptions leap off the page into life itself.

First off, let me just say I have avoided this thread like it was a medieval citadel infected with the plague.

LOL!

Oh! What an aroma. This was a sweet dense scent. If it had a consistency it was like treacle. It did not smell like treacle, but that aroma positively oozed out of the bag, it clung and filled my nasal senses. It was sweet, and complex. It promised flavours and good times. I struggled for a moment and then thought of Clan pipe tobacco. That's exactly what it reminded me off. That beautiful smell, a smell I could breath in for hours on end.

No doubt, as I've noted again and again, the aroma was simply divine, it played a large role in my overall enjoyment of this stuff.

But there were things to do, and considerations to be addressed. Mainly, what pipe do I smoke an exceedingly rare 65 year old tobacco in? I read the article on Celius. I sat. I thought. I was filled with the enthusiasm of the author for Celius pipes. I remembered the Celius Fantasy I got from Dave Neeb. I had yet to smoke it, as the occasion had yet to arrive. Well, today it did. I hadn't planned this. I had planned to work on filling the log shed, but, as it walked my dogs this morning I realised that I was going to take time to be with this pipe and this tobacco, and all else in the world could wait. It was a beautiful, bright, sunny, warm morning and I had the day to myself........

Good stuff here, I like how you shared your thought process about all this, and I'm glad the baccy had the honor of christening a nice old Celius you so admire, and how the day was made, how a moment may open and seem to be an unexpected perfection, how the natural world around us adds to the intensity of the experience.

Shorter than modern flakes I'm used to and deeper, like stretched squares, or slightly truncated oblongs. I sniffed deeply, and there was my long past recollection of Erinmore flake. I sniffed again. Yes! This was Erinmore, not Clan. Ah! How I love Erinmore. This boded well.

I like how you described the dimensions here, and wow, Erinmore! I had an very intense experience with an early 70's tin and I couldn't believe how well the scent had been preserved, overall more floral, but fruity undertones indeed.

Charring light! Hmm! Bugger! Nothing. Just hot smoke. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. But, perseverance is the key - sometimes! I didn't let it get me down. Hey! It could have been the loose pack. I tamped the expanded tobacco back down. Second light. Nothing. Flipping heck.

I had the odd moment of tastlessness myself, seemed like nothing was there at all, just musty dank smoke, amazing how it did this, how it could seem to conceal itself until a magic moment when it blossomed as a lush grove of growing delights.

Tamped it down and decided to go for it. Strong light. Deep draws. Thin, wispy, hot, flavourless smoke!!!! Damn and blast! Where were the flavours promised by the aromas emanating from the Baggie? Ok, ok......settle down. Go easy and relax. I was going at it like the proverbial bull in the china shop.

Another amazing thing to me is how there was an initial flavorless sensation on my first bowl, then it settled into a soft luxury, but when I smoked the second bowl with controlled vigor, it gave a depth yet undetected, the ember was quite bright, but somehow it didn't overheat to the point of oversaturation and delivered a calming intensity, like the eye of a hurricane, I could sense fierce edges, but I was not thrown into the full force of the storm.

As I settle in I start to get a sweetness that gently fizzes on my tongue, that lovely virginia sweetness. It comes and goes. It's burning hot and perhaps a little acrid. I slow, I let the ember settle down and draw gently on the pipe - the sweetness is getting more and more consistent. It's not a high pitched sweetness like some Virginias - it's almost muted. I settle some more. Thin strands of smoke and it starts to develop. But it's hot and moist, almost steamy. Maybe the humid heat of the greenhouse is affecting the smoke.

I'm glad to hear the Greenhouse has been rebuilt and you can use it for that special space.

So I move outside to the bench and sit on the lawn. The sun is bright, there's a gentle breeze and the birds are going mental in the early summer morning. The world is alive with joyous activity.

Ah, birdsong, how I love it. Like hot freejazz it blows my mind, outside listening I hear strains of Eric Dolphy, of Albert Ayler, of Coltrane, of so many more all inna collective improvisation that hums my skull into a higher pitch of existence.

The world is alive with joyous activity. And, suddenly, as though enlivened by all the joy around about, the tobacco starts to gently sing. The sweetness is deep and mellow. The more gentle the smoke the more beautiful the flavour.

Beautiful.

This reminds me of Players Navy Flake. At first I'm thinking it's a simple one dimensional smoke, as I first thought of Players, but, like Players, as I pay it attention I notice nuances of flavour - nothing spectacular, but there none the less. I slip into the smoke, and as I progress down the bowl (a couple or relights), I'm reminded of Richmond Navy Flake after about 1/2 hours smoking any of the sharp sweetness has gone, and it's settled into a beautiful mellow, with a subtle flavour, a tang that just sits on the tongue, and brushes over my nasal passages.

I've never had the baccy you note, but I'm glad you mentioned them, giving another reference point.
Slipping into the smoke, indeed, it pulled me in and I was sailing on that stream too.

The harshness of the smoke on the exhale has gone. I'm literally smoking so slowly and gently that I'm getting almost no smoke, but oh! lord! That flavour. Push it, and up the tempo, or deepen the draw, push the ember, and it's gone - it turns mean and rough. Let it settle on the edge of extinction and it revels in life.

Superb.

At this stage I'm oblivious to all the riot of life around me. I'm thinking of how this smoke caresses me. I'm thinking of the finger tips of long ago brushing the back of my hand, and the electricity than ran through me. The merest touch of lips on my cheek from the first admission of affection, from a summer of my youth. How the slightest touch made me soar higher than I had ever thought it was possible for a human to achieve while his feet were still planted on the ground. As the smoke slips through my lips I am lost in the past, my lips are not touching sweet, sweet smoke, they are touching the softest of skin, sweeter than............

Incredible stuff here, just incredible.

I love it.

And, soon the ember dies, and I am left sitting in my reverie, looking at the fish in the pond, basking in the heat of the sun. The birds singing works it's way back into my consciousness. I am surrounded by light and joyous sounds. They never disappeared, they simply provided the base notes for a sublime moment in which I was transported by a superlative tobacco into a time I had long since tucked into the depths of my being.

I really respect your ability to transpose such personal intricacy into a written form that we can all read and relate to, you have a great knack for such things.

This is what a pipe and tobacco is for me. This is what THIS tobacco is for me. It is heaven. It has taken it's 65 years of maturity and shown me how beautifully something can age, how it can be appreciated, how it should be. It does not need to be brash, to be handled unthinkingly, to be taken for granted. It needs gentle, total attention, an appreciative understanding to see what is held within, what it has to offer, what it will share, will give freely, if only you know how to ask, and are prepared to accept it for what it is. It will surrender it's hidden secrets, open it's depths to you.

No doubt brother.

Well said.

This is a moment I will never forget. This is a moment that has left me a little shaken. This is an experience I never expected to get from a smoke. It is a gift I am so grateful for, and I really do not know quite how to thank those who gave it to me......that blenders of this tobacco.....the person who bought it and stashed it away.......the eBay seller who put it out there.......but, most of all, Troy. Your beneficence is quite astounding. You got a tin of the rarest of the rare, and, instead of enjoying it all to yourself, you shared it. It is quite astounding to me. I am so grateful, I cannot adequately express it. Not just that I got to taste such a blend, a blend our grandfathers would have smoked and loved, or a 65 year old rarity, that few will ever get to try, but that it created a moment for me that was quite literally sublime.

Yes!

The blenders!

They were doing it up most correct.
And the eBay seller,

glad you mentioned this, indeed I'm ever thankful it was preserved and put up for us all to enjoy.
And yes,

sublime.

Culmination of a prolonged contemplation through an impenetrable thickness, an inaccessible expanse, the unfathomable deeps of a mysterious scape beyond imagination and finally sitting silent agape, in total awe.
"These unimaginable dimensions coupled with passion elevate human emotions closer to the attainment of the Sublime,

the overbalance of pleasure."
Jason,

Thank you so much for this great write up,

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

:puffpipe:

 

[misterlowercase]

It's interesting to me that some folks got very little flavor from the initial light or even from the first bowl. I was practically bowled over by the deep plumminess of this tobacco. I don't have any idea why that's the case, but there we are.

In my case, when I did experience that flavorless thing, I think it may have been my lighting technique, but the intense plumminess came through in fairly short order afterwards.

 

[Perique]

Just caught up on this thread - one of the best ever. Thanks again, Troy.

 

[misterlowercase]

Another book which I seem to reread a lot is Sublime Tobacco by Compton Mackenzie, a couple of passages I read earlier today seem to fit here somehow, so here they are...

"In 1929 I discovered in Scotland the virtues of Lambert and Butler's Warlock, and I have smoked it ever since. Apparently it is too strong for the less hardy Londoner in whose city it is produced. The Scots are the people who appreciate this noble dark flake, of which I smoke about an ounce and a quarter a day. I had a suspicion that for a time the Warlock of to-day, which has to rely on Empire-grown leaf for some of its make-up, had not quite the quality of the Warlock produced before dollars became such a headache, but I have been able to satisfy myself that the Warlock of the present day is, in fact, now indistinguishable from the original Warlock made from Kentucky tobacco. I used to hear it said that the secret of Warlock was that it had been soaked in rum! I need hardly add that this was just a fairy-tale, but that such a fairy-tale could win any credence may indicate the satisfaction that the smoker of Warlock derived from his favourite tobacco. I may add that I have several times been asked in railway-carriages what tobacco I was smoking, so agreeable to the nose was the smell of it."

And this bit,

which reminds us of how important a specific blender is, and how sadly their secrets often die with them, never to be exactly replaced...
...this was in 1920 when MacKenzie was living in the Channel Islands.

"In Guernsey I discovered a mixture which displaced the John Cotton No. 2 to which I had been faithful for twenty years. It was a blend of dark Virginia flakes with some lighter flake and a small amount of perique but no latakia, and it had an individual flavour which I had never tasted before and have never tasted since...this mixture was blended by an old retainer of the firm, and he refused to part with the secret. After smoking it for nearly five years I suggested that it should be put on the market as Mackenzie Mixture, and the head of the firm thought the idea a good one. The only snag was the secrecy which the old retainer insisted upon preserving. I said that I would come over and try to persuade him to initiate one of the younger men in the firm so that the secret did not die with him.
About a fortnight later my usual weekly consignment of tobacco arrived; at the first pipe of it I smoked I exclaimed:

"What on earth has happened to my tobacco this week?"
It looked exactly the same as usual, but the 'nuttiness'. That is the only word I can find for the flavour peculiar to it, inadequate though it is as a description, because it can be applied to other mixtures with a 'nuttiness' quite different from the elusive 'nuttiness' of this particular mixture...

a day or two later I went over to see the head of the firm in Guernsey, and asked him what had changed the flavour of the mixture.

His face fell.
"I was afraid of this," he said. "Old X--- died last week.

We knew the tobaccos that went into the blend and we could estimate the proportions. So we made up a mixture and sent it over to you as a trial. If you had said nothing, we should have assumed that there was no difference. But the old boy always used to maintain that there was more to it than just blending. What that something was we never knew, and now we shall never know."
I shall not try to speculate about that secret; it may have been some process of baking. The old boy used to shut himself up like a medieval wizard to produce his mixture, and nobody was allowed to enter the room while he was at work."

Some 60 odd years later, John C. Loring among many others, also had that sort of experience when the Dunhill production shifted to Murray's - it made a profound impact and might just very well be the genesis of widespread deep cellaring amongst Americans in particular - that something you love so dearly can suddenly change without warning will surely encourage such activity. It was such a tumult that prompted Mr. Loring to write:

"While I have attempted to be fairly mechanical about the late seventies switch to outside blenders, in fact to Dunhill tobacco smokers it was an event akin to the JFK assassination, there’s hardly a pipe smoker that can’t readily recall that horrible occasion when the first new tin was ‘popped’ only to discover the tragic disappearance of the wonderful aroma of mature tobacco."

That's serious stuff indeed.
Not to single out Dunhill, but are the Dunhill tobaccos really Dunhill tobaccos, or is the truth actually only enamel deep, or more frettingly in our cheapened times, only decal sticker deep?
I know it's an old chestnut often brought up by lovely grubby curmudgeons, but I have to ask myself, why is it so seemingly easy for us to buy into the halo aura of Olympian legend?
It seems we like to perpetuate the mythology of brand and say to ourselves that this something is it even if it really isn't.
Again, this is not confined to Dunhill, there are many other examples too, but the fact that at this very moment Dunhill has 6 spots on the top ten of smokingpipes.com top sellers, 3 of which are in the top spot, kind of saddens me, for whatever reason, just because there are so many good tobaccos out there right now that are much more honest and have an integrity of identity that put Dunhill branded baccy to shame.
Okay,

rant over.

My apologies for any trespass or offense, but that's how I feel.

:?

 

[pruss]

Well, for once, the Gods of international post have smiled on two pipers.
I was thrilled, when Troy flipped me a note to ask if I'd be interested in participating in this little experiment; touched even. How often does a guy get offered the chance to try 65 year old flake?
I was bubbling with anticipation when the first posts in this thread started to come to life, as guys began sharing their perception on this interesting and aged flake. Over the next couple weeks I began going to the mail-box multiple times an evening to see if, perhaps, I had checked the post before it had been delivered.
After three weeks from Troy's putting the flake in the mail I began to lose hope. After four weeks I had decided that someone in Canada Border Services had either decided that I was being shipped some really old hash, and had incinerated the letter, or that there was a soon-to-be-retired Customs Officer with his feet up enjoying a pipe somewhere.
Today, Troy's little packet of loveliness arrived.

On opening the envelope my nose was immediately assailed by an intense fruity, juicy note. Seriously. The packet note was Juicy Fruit. High fruit sweet, sugary, with just a bit of tang like apple juice. I unwrapped the plastic bag and foil wrapper to discover six lovely little flakes.

On opening the packet and getting my nose right on top of the flake the fruit notes opened up and I began to discern stewed fruit; molasses and brown sugar, stewed prunes, baked raisins and apples. The deep sweets continued to develop and the tangy note sort of evolved into a balsamic vinegar tartness.
There was a tonne of crystal on these flakes, coming off easily onto my fingers as I separated the flakes and broke two out to crumble for stuffing into my pipe.



I took the pile of crumbled flake and stuffed it into the bottom of my nearly new Alden Canadian (Ryan. I love this pipe! It is super light, great for clenching, and the button is PERFECT.) I compacted the bowl as best I could but the flake was a little dry, and the draw was still pretty wide open. I also decided to accompany the pipe with a fairly crisp, clean and palate cleansing pale ale.

The charring light gave over a little of the fruit sweets, but in general produced a light and mellow smoke. Not much body here, and the promise of the aroma of the flake was lost in the bowl. True light helped build the creaminess of the smoke and built up the body. The smoke was sweet, but mild, and the fruitiness was present but very muted, and the caramelized sugar notes and light spiciness was present, but soft.

The tobacco expanded well in the bowl and burned evenly. The flavour never climbed into the intensity I hoped would evolve based on the aroma of the tobacco. I detected no Latakia in this blend. But I wonder if that's more a function of the age versus the blend. The creaminess of the smoke, the rich and milky mouth feel suggested there might be Lat... But I detected no smokiness, salty, or peaty notes which I normally associate with Lat.
If I were guessing, I'd say that the flake tasted like an aged VaPerBur. The sugars and fruit forward notes suggested Virginias, the light spiciness in the aroma of the flake made me think Perique, and the depth of the sugar sweetness sent my brain to Burley. But I am TOTALLY guessing.
I enjoyed playing along, and am thrilled I had the chance. Troy, thanks for sending some of this flake up to the Great White North.

I'm one happy camper.
-- Pat

 

[peckinpahhombre]

What a fantastic review Pat. A very vivid and introspective description of the experience. I feel like I was there smoking it too.
Lovely blast on that Alden.

 

[cortezattic]

Great review, Pat! :clap: And I like that you included some pix. In my enthusiasm I had completely forgotten to

record the historic moment for posterity; and seeing those crystals brought my memories back to life. ::

Thanks for going the extra mile.

 

[pruss]

Thanks Peck, and Cortez. I'm trying to kick up my game with regards to tobacco reviews, and am learning a lot from the folks here. I appreciate the feedback.
-- Pat

 

[misterlowercase]

Hot Damn!
This is great news, I was for sure that it'd been destroyed by customs, it was quite gut-wrenching to think it had been lost in the mail, man, it took a long time to get there!
I dig the pix,

very cool.
I also love that Alden!
So glad the 'lil flakes finally got there, I am a bit surprised that the aroma was still quite strong after sitting around somewhere for over a month!


All is well.

 

[jimbo44]

A package arrived today with a sample of this that someone had chosen to share with me (thanks to both Troy and Dave).
Unwrapping the silver foil gave me an aroma that I'd only smelled once before - from a similarly aged cutter tin of St. Bruno (that I mentioned above as one of the best smoking experiences of my life).
I rubbed the flakes and and smoked them in a small bowl meerschaum with no ghosts.
It started off very much like the smell - fruity but of fermented tobacco rather than topping - mild to medium in body but that I think is down to its age. Picked up a bit more strength going down the bowl but still the same taste subduing a bit as the ash built up.
I hazarded a guess unseen that this would be a Virginia tobacco blended with a bit of Dark Fired along the lines of St. Bruno, Walnut or Bulwark and the smoking seems to me to confirm that. It is of itself and not a clone of one of those but the properties seem the same. To which is it closest? Can't say - it's very like the old Bruno (with the bergamot topping faded with age) or Walnut (which is much less topped anyway); it's milder than the old Will's Bulwark (not tried the new PS version)but it would be after its long sleep and perhaps, in its youth, would have been the closest comparison.
So what can we say? A traditional British flake made in Scotland in the style of its time that has shown its capacity for keeping and is a great reminder of "better" days.
Gone too soon but greatly enjoyed!

 

[misterlowercase]

Most excellent Jim!
Glad you got to smoke some of this old stuff, and my thanks to Dave for sending some your way.

I hazarded a guess unseen that this would be a Virginia tobacco blended with a bit of Dark Fired along the lines of St. Bruno, Walnut or Bulwark and the smoking seems to me to confirm that. It is of itself and not a clone of one of those but the properties seem the same. To which is it closest? Can't say - it's very like the old Bruno (with the bergamot topping faded with age) or Walnut (which is much less topped anyway); it's milder than the old Will's Bulwark (not tried the new PS version)but it would be after its long sleep and perhaps, in its youth, would have been the closest comparison.
So what can we say? A traditional British flake made in Scotland in the style of its time that has shown its capacity for keeping and is a great reminder of "better" days.

Love it.
I'm so happy that I was able to experience this tobacco.
Apparently, T&P had excellent distribution over here at one point, look at this 1942 catalog page from Geo. Yale, they dominate the imported section with 5 different offerings!!!

http://pipepages.com/pics/gy6.jpg
:!:

::

:!:

 

[jimbo44]

Reading that link Troy brings to mind another Scottish baccy of which the T&P reminded me - Dobie's Four Square Yellow - Cut Cake (although that was milder to start with than this would have been new but very similar in profile).

 

[pitchfork]

Pat and Jim, great reviews. I have just one flake left and after reading this I'm really looking forward to trying it again.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I was graciously gifted a couple of flakes of this incredible tobacco by Pat (Pruss) last week. This morning I decided to open up the foil wrapper and smoke the flakes in my Castello Old Antiquari bulldog which, I am sure will come as no surprise, has an incredibly wide-open draw.
When I opened the foil wrapper I was greeted with a wonderful intoxicating aroma. I echo the comments above - the scent was that of pruney fruit and raisins coupled with an aroma that certainly reminded me of a fine single malt scotch. I am not sure if scotch was added to the blend as a topping or if the scent is merely a byproduct of the tobacco and the aging process, but it was nonetheless deliciously intoxicating. The flakes themselves were some of the most evil-looking flakes I have ever laid eyes on, resembling a cross between decaying beef jerky and the tread of an old tire.
I used the fold and stuff method and loaded up the Castello. On false light I was greeted by a waft of thick smoke that I was sure was going to trigger the smoke detector alarm. I gently tapped the tobacco down and applied the true light. Again, the smoke billowed into the air. The density and fragrant quality of the smoke reminded me of my favourite Cuban cigar - a Hoya de Monterrey double corona.
What an incredible experience this was. The taste of the smoke certainly did not suggest to me that the blend contains latakia, but it may be that 65 years of age has so muted the latakia as to be undetectable, at least to my rather blunt palate. As I would expect from my initial impression of the flake's aroma, this has a slightly spirity (if that is a word) quality coupled with a delectable dried apricot richness and a sweet plum and raisin fruitiness that, in many ways, was very reminiscent of a fine aged Medeira wine. I also detected a spicy component, which does lead me to believe in the presence of perique.
A luscious and delightful smoke for a beautiful Sunday morning.
I would like to thank Troy and Pat for the opportunity to try this blend. It is an experience I will always remember.

 

[pitchfork]

Peck, glad to hear you were able to try this. I've never had anything like it, and probably won't have the chance to try anything quite like it anytime soon. What you say sounds right on the mark to me. I couldn't detect any Latakia, either, but the rich, deep fruitiness and spice more than made up for any components that may have faded with time. You could find worse ways to spend a Sunday morning.

 

[misterlowercase]

Peck,

most excellent!

When I opened the foil wrapper I was greeted with a wonderful intoxicating aroma. I echo the comments above - the scent was that of pruney fruit and raisins coupled with an aroma that certainly reminded me of a fine single malt scotch. I am not sure if scotch was added to the blend as a topping or if the scent is merely a byproduct of the tobacco and the aging process, but it was nonetheless deliciously intoxicating. The flakes themselves were some of the most evil-looking flakes I have ever laid eyes on, resembling a cross between decaying beef jerky and the tread of an old tire.

From your description, I wouldn't say you had a blunt palate, that profile is much what I also experienced, I am somewhat stunned though, after all this time, that it kept that potently enchanting aroma so strong, so that's cool as hell --- that smell seriously made pixies dance in my head and I was spinning in delight!

The flakes themselves were some of the most evil-looking flakes I have ever laid eyes on, resembling a cross between decaying beef jerky and the tread of an old tire.

LOL

:lol:

Good line!

I used the fold and stuff method and loaded up the Castello. On false light I was greeted by a waft of thick smoke that I was sure was going to trigger the smoke detector alarm. I gently tapped the tobacco down and applied the true light. Again, the smoke billowed into the air. The density and fragrant quality of the smoke reminded me of my favourite Cuban cigar - a Hoya de Monterrey double corona.

Damn, makes me wanna go Hoya dubbel rona if it is like this stuff!

The quality of smoke with the Scots Cake was a thing of beauty, odd how it was, like somethin' outta the movies almost how it could be swirling thick and billowy, yet somehow thin and wispy, and dare I say, magical.
Glad you got to enjoy this stuff!
Well done Pat, well done.

Kudos to you!

::
On a sad note, the other day on a thread I linked to some auctions because the seller hadn't responded if he'd ship over here, and I thought maybe I'd be helping out some eurodude who might see it, but the moment I hit the send button on that post I had a pang of regret, thinking to myself that the damn bastard will probably contact me with 24hrs left, near the end of the line, and of course, he did, shit, shipping was only 7 euro...the Erinmore went first and I bid low, I shooda went for it, but for some reason I'm not just a big fan, but it went cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MURRAY-S-Erinmore-Flake-Tabakdose-30er-Jahre-aus-Army-Bestanden-/400713711205?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=iNUuQ9Nj0ALWwJI9dhbbBNfXKmw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
Then I thought, Holy Shit! this stuff is going cheap, next was a 1/4lb Capstan Medium:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAPSTAN-Navy-Cut-Bristol-amp-London-Tabak-Dose-30er-Jahre-aus-Army-Bestanden-/360940190325?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=iNUuQ9Nj0ALWwJI9dhbbBNfXKmw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
The auctions were ending literally minute by minute one after the other,

I hesitated on the Player's, it also went cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PLAYER-S-Medium-Navy-Cut-Tabakdose-30er-Jahre-aus-Army-Bestanden-/400713712743?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=iNUuQ9Nj0ALWwJI9dhbbBNfXKmw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
At this point I was very excited with a rapid pounding heart,

BULWARK FLAKE was next, and I bid a bit higher for it, but lost DAMMIT!!! :evil:

:crying:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bulwark-Cut-W-D-amp-H-O-Bristol-amp-London-Tabak-Dose-30er-Jahre-aus-Army-Bestanden-/400713713630?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=iNUuQ9Nj0ALWwJI9dhbbBNfXKmw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
I let the Sweet Crop go w/o bidding because it was a total unknown from Cohen & Weenan and probably a Lat mix, and anyway, ST BRUNO was up next and I was gonna go big...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SWEET-CROP-Smoking-Mixture-Tabak-Dose-30er-Jahre-aus-Army-Bestanden-/360940195070?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=iNUuQ9Nj0ALWwJI9dhbbBNfXKmw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
And the beloved Holy St. Bruno,

GODAMMIT ALL IT HELL! :evil:

I should have bid more, why am I such a cheapskate?

This was a tragic loss...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ogden-s-ST-Bruno-Flake-Tabak-Dose-30er-Jahre-aus-Army-Bestanden-/400713713893?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=iNUuQ9Nj0ALWwJI9dhbbBNfXKmw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
I was really irate, bummed and generally depressed for a short span this afternoon,

but whatever, I say to myself the shit was riddled with rust pinholes anyway and woulda been past its prime and console myself with extra strong coffee and a big big bowl of Condor,

all is well now.
Not really.
But hey,

I'll get over it!

:lol: :x :lol: :x