[Slow Triathlete]

Okay, so I have smoked a few bowls worth of Reiner’s Long Golden Flake and am finally ready to review it.

First off, I have to touch on what this stuff looks like coming out of the can. I received this in a New to Pipes trade. It came in a big golden 100g can that looked like a gaudy German Christmas gift. Very little of the writing on the can is in English and most of it is in German. And there really isn’t a description of what is inside the can. Anyway, when I popped the lid I was very surprised to find what was inside. It had a total of 3 flakes in there that were about 4 inches wide and 15 inches long all wound up in there begging to be rubbed out. They looked like FVF flakes on steroids to be exact.

The tin aroma was very “Virginia-ey” with the normal dried fruit (raisons, dates, etc) smell wafting from inside. I could smell a little bit of Perique in there but not much. The flakes themselves were very golden in color (hence the name) but there were dark flecks mixed in here and there.

I went ahead and rubbed out the whole tin because I’m not what you would call skilled at smoking tobacco in its flaked form. I usually end up getting frustrated and then being mad the whole smoke so I just avoid that by rubbing it out fully. Once this was at the consistency that I like I went ahead and packed a bowlful. The tobacco was a bit moist but nothing like McC’s 2015 or some other blends that I have seen.

Lighting this up was fairly easy. I think it took about 3 matches to finally get this one going. During the first half of the bowl this was pretty much a sweet Virginia smoke. The Perique would slide in and out every once in awhile making its presence known but was not the main component of the first half of the bowl. I would say that the first part of this smoke was going rather well. It was a very smooth, easy smoke. Based on the taste I can tell that this blend has a lot of high quality tobacco in it. Once the blend got going I didn’t have to relight during the first half.

In the second half of this blend, the Perique seemed to make an appearance more often and with a bit more strength. And the blend turned a bit creamier smooth and had a bit of a buttery taste to it. I know that this blend also is supposed to have a bit of White Burley in it so that may have brought about the creamy, buttery taste. I’m not sure. It was very pleasant however.

Overall, this is a very well put together blend and is made with some high quality tobacco. It has an initial flavor very similar to FVF but has some different taste undertones as you progress through the smoke. The price is another concern for me. While this is a fantastic blend, unless I win the lottery someday it will be in my rotation only as a “treat” smoke and not a daily smoke. If money is not a problem for you then I would say buy a few tins. One to smoke now and a few to cellar. If money is a problem for you then I would suggest that you try this at least once in your pipe smoking lifetime. It’s worth the extra $$ to try once.

For the taste and the smoothness of this blend I think that it now holds the 5th place position in the showdown. I feel that it has a higher quality tobacco than those below it but the Perique amount wasn’t enough to go any higher.

1) McConnell Scottish Cake
2) Escudo
3) GL Pease Filmore
4) H & H Anniversary Kake
5) Reiner’s Long Golden Flake
6) Treasures of Ireland – Limerick
7) Dorchester
8) Luxury Bullseye Flake
9) McClelland Bulk 2015
10) GL Pease Telegraph Hill
11) Kajun Kake
12) Luxury Navy Flake