Solani 656 Aged Burley Flake - Share Tastes?

[PipeIT]

I just purchased a tin from SPC I just received.

The flakes and aroma are amazing, all the online reviews looked great.

So, I expected from all the reading I did over this blend, I’d typically be tasting mild cool Burley, sweet tasting, with hints of chocolate and licorice, breads, maybe raisins, grassy like, just overall a pleasant Burley.

But each time I have tried this at two different occasions, I get this unusual earthy, herbal medicinal taste, which also comes across ever so slightly moldy tasting.

Now the flakes and aroma in the tin are amazing, so I don’t see mold.

Has anyone else experienced an earthy herbal tone to this blend, it pretty much dominates the flavors, and it’s not as complex or as rich as I’ve read.

Overall, the best way to describe it, is Tobacco that has not been cured properly, leaving this herbal bitter like taste in my mouth.

Hmm ?

 

[seanv]

Jar it and go back to later.

 

[pantsBoots]

Have you tried drying it out before packing the bowl? Personally, I love Solani ABF and actively cellar it.

 

[PipeIT]

Hmm jar it for how long if it will change away from this earthy herbal taste.

I rubbed it out both times and let it dry 10 minutes, because the flakes aren’t that moist to begin with.

I just wonder if anyone has experienced this earthy herbal flavor I’m getting. Hmm ?

 

[tkcolo]

Jar it and go back to later.

THIS. I am n expert. For me, when it's fresh it's just okay. After I had it jarred for 1.5 years, it was awesome.

 

[Prunetucky84]

Aged burley flake is one of my favorite blends of all time!! And this is coming from a guy that smokes straight Virginia’s 90% of the time! One thing I’ve noticed with it, is it’s fantastic in a briar, but in a meerschaum, I’ve noticed VERY strong notes of true cinnamon flavor that will pop out of nowhere, and pleasantly shock you. Top notch blend.

 

[PipeIT]

I did throw it in the jar, but if this is one of those meh straight out of the tins, needs to be aged blends, I’d rather buy an aged tin.

I want to smoke now, not wait a year! LOL

In the mean time Baby Solani jarred up.

 

[Effortlessdepths]

I just purchased a tin from SPC I just received.

The flakes and aroma are amazing, all the online reviews looked great.

So, I expected from all the reading I did over this blend, I’d typically be tasting mild cool Burley, sweet tasting, with hints of chocolate and licorice, breads, maybe raisins, grassy like, just overall a pleasant Burley.

But each time I have tried this at two different occasions, I get this unusual earthy, herbal medicinal taste, which also comes across ever so slightly moldy tasting.

Now the flakes and aroma in the tin are amazing, so I don’t see mold.

Has anyone else experienced an earthy herbal tone to this blend, it pretty much dominates the flavors, and it’s not as complex or as rich as I’ve read.

Overall, the best way to describe it, is Tobacco that has not been cured properly, leaving this herbal bitter like taste in my mouth.

Hmm ?

That's crazy because my wife and I both thought it tasted vaguely like mold. Might be a bad batch. Aginf can probably be tricky if they don't get the beginning right

 

[PipeIT]

That's crazy because my wife and I both thought it tasted vaguely like mold. Might be a bad batch. Aginf can probably be tricky if they don't get the beginning right

Interesting it’s not just me...

 

[karam]

I have an unopened tin which was bought a year ago, so I guess it is extra aged. I hesitate opening it because a flake I had from a friend was weird tasting, like licorice, so it is aging on

 

[jvnshr]

I want to smoke now, not wait a year! LOL

That's why I always keep a pouch of Five Brothers nearby.

 

[pantsBoots]

I did throw it in the jar, but if this is one of those meh straight out of the tins, needs to be aged blends, I’d rather buy an aged tin.

I want to smoke now, not wait a year! LOL

In the mean time Baby Solani jarred up.

View attachment 56475

I've enjoyed it fresh and aged (working on emptying a tin that's about 10 years old right now), but I have found the newer to need some air time to burn correctly. I've gotten plenty of earthy notes and I could see an herbal flavor, but have never gotten any flavors of mold. I would posit that if there were any appreciable amount of mold, you would see a fuzzy fungal colony.

Try drying it for longer than 10 minutes. If that doesn't work, perhaps it's just not in your wheelhouse?

 

[Grangerous]

It’s a mellow smoke. Cocoa is the theme. I like it but it’s no GRANGER. ?

 

[PipeIT]

Mine was not mellow, a tad on harsh and bitter bland, it’s nasty and something is wrong with it, now I realize.

I’m sure if anyone smoked what I have here, they would also taste this odd bitter herbal flavor, that has a slight mold edge to it.

This isn’t about what’s in someone’s Wheelhouse of liking, this I realize now after posting is bad.

After making the post, it also left a bad bitter taste in the back of my thought for several hours, and the last experience I had of this type of bitter, is the bitter that comes from old dried out tobacco, not that this was old and dried out.

My best guess is, a casing or topping that didn’t go quite right, or a curing issue some where.

Chocolate tastes like Chocolate to everyone! LOL ?

 

[Worknman]

It kind of sounds like it might be a bad batch. You can try jarring it and coming back to it in a couple weeks, sometimes that helps, unless it really is a bad batch.

 

[northernpipeshed]

THIS. I am n expert. For me, when it's fresh it's just okay. After I had it jarred for 1.5 years, it was awesome.

Yeah 18 months+ and it's sweeter and fuller...........

 

[captpat]

That's crazy because my wife and I both thought it tasted vaguely like mold. Might be a bad batch. Aginf can probably be tricky if they don't get the beginning right

Interesting, the first tin of ABF was like that, since then just burley goodness.

 

[sisyphus]

Apples to apples, I much prefer HH Burley Flake.