First bowl of Ampersand Flake from L.J Peretti’s for the thirteenth bowl in the calabash meer, fantastic stuff. Creamy, sweet, and toasty. Despite its visible brighter Virginia flake composition, it had no sharpness. The smoke stayed incredibly tame and flavorful with little to no bite, much cooler than most tobaccos I’ve smoked, let alone flakes. Best B&M house blend I’ve had to date, puts the rest I’ve had to several generations of shame. Best part is, it’s not even a mind-blowing smoke, it’s just good. The exact thing I look for in all tobacco I try. This stuff would be fantastic for those stepping into VA’s. Also, I noticed that many say it has a bit of a Lakeland note, but I noticed none, even in a tapered meerschaum bowl. At most I noticed an ethereal grapefruit taste pop in and out of the smoke here and there, defined but so light it might be better to label it closer to grapefruit pith.
Ever-pleasant though, really. I’ll need to spend more time with it, but wow. Very, very nice.