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Alrighty then folks! The majority have spoken! Smoke it if you got it and if you don't got it, go get it!
Orlik Golden Sliced - A blend of golden, fully ripe Virginia leaves from the traditional districts of the United States. Natural sweetness and freshness with hints of citrus.
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Golden Sliced
In the tin, this is beautiful smelling stuff; sweet and sour, raisin and hay- absolutely delectable. The flakes are sliced so that they rub out into thin, springy ribbons, and the moisture level is ready for loading immediately. The sweet, barn-like notes really come out once the flake is prepped and the sweetness escalates some as well. This is one of the sweeter Virginia flakes that I know of. I actually find it to be medium strength and pretty one-dimensional (not as if that’s necessarily a bad thing). It reminds me of walking across a freshly mowed lawn on a summer evening when floral scents are still hanging in the air. I’m of the school that picks up a little Perique in the retrohale- though I realize that is a bit controversial Overall, I find it to be a good, quality smoke, but it isn’t among my favorites.
Orlik Golden Sliced (June 11th, 2015)
I smoked my first Orlik blend a long time ago and can’t say with certainty what it was so that becomes yesterday’s news but I’ve wanted to smoke this mixture for a while and I did have some anticipation about how it would look and taste. The look was what I expected.
I’ve smoked three bowls, not normally as many as I’d like to do a review. I smoked all three bowls outdoors, lit with wooden stick matches. First two pipes were larger thick walled smooths that I prefer for flakes and the third in a thinner walled smooth, Capitello Jonico I, that yielded the best result.
Very light in color with a new mowed grass tin note and a powdery scent as if the lavender from a Lakeland essence were isolated. Flakes are good size but packed in my tin in such a way that they’re impossible to extract individually so all bowls were broken out a little more than I normally like.
The first two bowls were flat with a lavender haze that had a light chemical caste and was too light in body. The grass aroma translated with notes of hay and almost no sweetness that lacked complexity and nuance. A boring smoke that tasted every bit a mixture made of unripened leaf.
Based on bowl dynamics I selected the Capitello (third smoke). When freshly reamed it retains less heat because of its thinner walls. I smoked more aggressively to create a little more heat that I normally would. The lavender caste remained but was integrated with the hay and it had a consistent light sweetness with a mild Virginia dry crunch in the back of the throat (that I like). It had some characteristics of Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake although with less depth and nuance but it was sweeter (with the lavender note). I didn’t detect anything more than a whiff of citrus.
Orlik Golden Sliced appears to be well made and indeed it smoked consistently, even if not always pleasurably. It burned well and didn’t require maintenance until I approached the dottle. It really calls out for age and it’s flavors didn’t appear for me until smoked with more heat than I want or normally generate.
There are many light flakes that I smoke so I won’t buy Orlik Golden Sliced again unless I find that it improves greatly with age.