The New Capstan Blue Flake

[Perique]

Working on the assumption that Harris was correct and my pipe was ghosted by Perique, my next taste of Capstan Blue was in a sweet smoking pear wood that's been dedicated to Virginias. Gone is the spiciness I picked up last time - definitely was the pipe. I dried the flake out for about an hour or so and rubbed it out. Now I'm getting the expected sweet Virginia flavor with a good, stout backbone - hence the "creamy" descriptor many have used to describe this flake. Not stout like Dunhill flake, but striking a good balance between a strong flake and something more cased like OGS. I really like VAs like this that allow the more natural VA flavors and sweetness to shine through - sugar as opposed to saccharin. While It doesn't carve out new ground, it's a solid VA flake and definitely a competitor in this field. Could be anyone's go-to VA flake- definitely that good. I would rank this above FVF for its smokability. (sorry Harris!) I'll be interested to see how it ages. For my next taste I'll try cube cutting it and see what that does to the flavor profile.

 

[cortezattic]

Well, I've laid off this thread for 3 months waiting for a minimal amount of aging to occur before I dove into my Capstan tins.

My timing must be abysmal because I am obviously suffering from some kind of personal chemistry / taste bud problem.

It seems like everyone but me loves Capstan Blue. I don't think it's bad, but I am a little underwhelmed after all the hype.
Like Sothron said in an earlier post, I too think I find a little Perique or maybe Kentucky in the blend. At any rate, just

about everything he says in that post resonates with me right now.
I would go on to say that my main knock on Blue is that it lacks clarity -- it has me totally at sea trying to pick up on

the constituents they used. Maybe that should be expected because of the melding of flavors that occurs in the flake

making process -- and maybe that's not a bad thing anyway -- but it's more like a droning pipe organ than an orchestra of flavor.
As Sothron went on to say, while it's a solid Va flake, it doesn't exactly carve out new ground. Frankly, for the price,

I can name at least 10 other medium and dark Va/VaPer navy flakes and broken flakes with more pizzazz that cost much less.
I hope my body chemistry or appetite for this particular mix of Vas changes soon; but for now, y'all can have my share.
ps. Roth, prescient as ever, had me pegged when he predicted that Capstan Gold would be more to my liking. :wink:

 

[cortezattic]

I'm glad I tried it, and I would encourage anyone to give it a try, but I think that if any blend ever needed aging, it is Capstan Blue.

 

[tarak]

I just keep trying, and keep having an "okay" smoke. Age must be the key. I'm pretty close to finishing a tin, then have 4 I'll leave to get happy over time.
Chris

 

[JimInks]

Blue and Yellow both need aging.

 

[futureman]

are you packing them tight enough? When you are done packing, check the draw and make sure you have some good resistance. I would go with the Blue Flake, it is definitely the better of the two. When I pack, I fill the bowl and then lightly press it down making sure I am pressing it along the sides as well. Fill it again adding a little more pressure, fill it again with more pressure. Check the draw and if you do not have resistance, add more and really add pressure.

I doubt I'm packing my pipes with sufficient pressure. I pack until I have *some* resistance, but not as much as what Harris seems to be describing here. I've been having more dottle lately wit the blends that are not that dry.

 

[cortezattic]

This AM, (the day following my previous posts), I found something that makes Capstan Blue sing for me. I used what I'll call

the folded flake "Scuff'n'Stuff" method. I used a whole flake in a huge 15/16" diameter 4-dot bulldog -- which defies the conventional

wisdom for flake smoking. But it worked! (I'll have to give Capstan Blue another star and a half.)