Solani Aged Burley Flake

[WerewolfOfLondon]

If you have not tried the silver flake you should, though it might dry out in the plastic bag in the non sealed tin and it doesn't have as much red as it used to it's still an amazing VaBur. It's easy to rehydrate, truly unique and not as hard to come by as the ABF and Va.

It's ironic. We don't have silver flake here, yet the other two you mention are freely available. I'll defo try that one when our customs chill out and start allowing packages from the states to flow again. Next up for me will be HH Burley, not avialable in the UK any longer, but still freely available from Germany.

 

[vosBghos]

It's ironic. We don't have silver flake here, yet the other two you mention are freely available. I'll defo try that one when our customs chill out and start allowing packages from the states to flow again. Next up for me will be HH Burley, not avialable in the UK any longer, but still freely available from Germany.

yeah what's available seems so arbitrary, wish I could get Mac Barren Caporal in the states, but after tasing what they have done to my beloved Gauloises I doubt the old French black leaf is the same.

 

[WerewolfOfLondon]

yeah what's available seems so arbitrary, wish I could get Mac Barren Caporal in the states, but after tasing what they have done to my beloved Gauloises I doubt the old French black leaf is the same.

I hear ya pal. Shortly after Brexit MacB was removed from the UK market altogether. Thankfully we can still get imports from the continent, so it is available from German retailers (only found this out recently), so I can once again get my beloved Navy Flake, another solid burley.

 

[garageboy]

Iv'e noticed there is not as much red in the Silver flake and it's sad because it was a great marriage of two distinct flavors the new stuff is still a great VaBur though one of my favorites for sure.

Dang, I loved the tin I got back in the early 2010s

 

[ADKPiper]

I did. Two tins. Great stuff

 

[sardonicus87]

I have no comparison to the old ABF, but this iteration isn't terrible. It's not great, for sure doesn't live up to the hype the old version had, but it isn't bad.

I say if you missed this last drop, just get some Savinelli Jupiter. That to me is what it most closely resembles, and in my opinion, the Sav Jupiter is better than this.

Popped the tin last night and was instantly turned off by the very chocolaty tin note, but tin notes can be deceiving. Initial lighting is much more cocoa tasting than chocolate (a plus in my book), which quickly gives way to a lighter and much more woody flavor that is more preferable to me. The Jupiter has that same woody flavor, but more mixed with the sweeter, floral taste of fresh burley rather than the cocoa taste of aged burley. Though if you prefer your burley darker (in taste), you might prefer ABF to Jupiter.

Do I regret the two tins I got? No, but knowing what it tastes like now, I also won't regret missing future drops.

 

[tmcg81]

I thought I was on the notify me list on smokingpipes.com for ABF. I'm glad that when I first tried it, it was still fairly available and I was able to get about a dozen tins of it. I supplement my stash of it with HH Burley Flake, as well as a few other similar blends, so at this point I have close to a lifetime supply of Burley flakes to smoke. Also, from what I understand, the ABF's recipe or leaf has changed since I bought it, and not for the better. I think another 15-20 tins of various burley flakes should definitely cover me for the foreseeable future.

 

[yanoJL]

I've moved over to Erik Stokkebye 4th Gen 1931, although it's not really very comparable as the 1931 flake has a noticeable (but not cloying) honey topping and Virginia as well.

Somewhere along my path I started thinking of Burleys into 2 groups; the meatier blends (OJK, Pegasus, HB, WCC Deluxe Crumb cut, etc) and the more delicate, "gourmet" burleys (ABF, HH, ES 1931)

And right now the 1931 flake seems to be getting the most attention.