Capstan Navy Flakes

[smoker13]

Both Blue and Yellow. What the story with these tobaccos? They don't appear on the exhaustive listing of tobaccoreviews.com, which I believe has some connection with smokingpipes.com, which sells them..........

Anybody have any experience smoking either of these and would care to comment/review?

 

[JimInks]

Look under MacBaren since they make Capstan.

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/brand/36/mac-baren

 

[smoker13]

Many Thanks, Mr Inks

 

[Brewdude]

Had them both and they are quite nice in their own individual ways.

Yellow is a bit lighter, Blue is a bit more pronounced. Depends on your preferences, as always.



Cheers,

RR

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I have only had the current rendition of the Blue flake. Good smoke, reminiscent of a lot of your standard European produced straight Virginia flakes. Quality tobacco with solid flavor and perhaps a bit of Danish flare, i.e. fairly nice room note & a touch sweetened. Personally I didn't find this flake to be all that much of a stand-out, and there are others VA flakes that I prefer that aren't quite as pricey, so I haven't purchased anymore. Solid smoke though.

 

[Old Nate]

I have only had the current rendition of the Blue flake. Good smoke, reminiscent of a lot of your standard European produced straight Virginia flakes. Quality tobacco with solid flavor and perhaps a bit of Danish flare, i.e. fairly nice room note & a touch sweetened. Personally I didn't find this flake to be all that much of a stand-out, and there are others VA flakes that I prefer that aren't quite as pricey, so I haven't purchased anymore. Solid smoke though.

Gotta agree with D&B on this one. Decent smoke, some flavor, but not a world beater. I have what's left of my tin jarred up and will checkout out years down the road. And don't forget def pricey $$$

 

[bent bulldog]

Capstan: Glad you asked. W.D. and H.O. Wills were the original makers of Capstan which is one of the oldest Virginia flakes available. When I was first introduce to pipe smoking by my fellow pipe shop workers in Portland, Oregon back in the 1970's most of the guys I worked with were sold on Dunhill Light Flake which, when Dunhill manufactured it up until the late 1970's was an incredibly flavorful and natural tasting Virginia flake. In those days Dunhill manufactured the tobacco themselves and later outsourced the production to Murray and sons in Ireland. Well, you can guess what happened. In true "Erinmore" fashion, Murray started adding a flavoring agent to the original Dunhill recipe which made the Light Flake too aromatic for the Virginia flake smokers in my crowd, including me.(unfortunately apparently the Dunhill flake now being made in Denmark followed Murray's recipe so it still is heavily flavored). So we rooted around and finally decided that Capstan in the blue tin was going to be the closest thing one could find to the old Dunhill Light Flake. When Capstan left the U.S. market in the 1980's (when Imperial Tobacco Corporation got scared of lawsuits and hightailed out of this country[that's why labels like Three Nuns, St. Bruno, and Capstan disappeared here] many of us went into a semi panic on how to get hold of decent Virginia Flake. I am convinced that is one reason Gawith's FVF became so popular as it was one of the few surviving reasonably natural tasting Virginia flakes. When Macbaren reintroduced Capstan I was elated and sure enough, the reintro is very similar to my beloved old favorite and as I am sure those of you who savor it know, it needs to be smoked very slowly in a small bowl to extract maximum flavor from this great old trademark.

 

[taharris]

Thanks for the history lesson.

I always wondered, myself, what the history of Capstan Blue was.

I really enjoy the blend, but I wish it were a little less expensive.

Todd

 

[ftrplt]

Haven't tried them yet. Bought the Yellow and Blue, Flake and RR at @ SP/Low Country Tobacco in South Carolina before the big price increase!!! Tins are dated March/April 2013. Picked up one Three Nuns just for the heck of it. Thanx for the history on the Dunnie Light Flake. I never had the older DH version, but I sure enjoy the Murray/Orlik one. I have two tins that say "Made in the U.K." on the top and "Made in Denmark" on the bottom sticker! Pretty sure these are Orlik-made from leftover Murrays tin stock. :cheers: FTRPLT

 

[Brewdude]

I feel fortunate to have gotten in before the massive price increase. Though I liked both the Yellow and Blue rightly enough it just isn't worth the do-re-mi to get in any more. Pity, that.



Cheers,

RR

 

[JimInks]

I feel fortunate to have gotten in before the massive price increase. Though I liked both the Yellow and Blue rightly enough it just isn't worth the do-re-mi to get in any more. Pity, that.



Cheers,

RR

I agree completely. I cellared a few tins, too. But Wessex Dark Flake, Astley's No. 44 and FVF scratch the same itch for me, so I see no need to pay that high price for Capstan.

 

[Old Nate]

Now, my palate is not as erudite as yours, gentlemen... but I get way more flavor out of FVF and Astley's NO. 44 than Capstan. Maybe I need to revisit this. But, yes, def appreciate the prices of the latter.

 

[taharris]

I would agree that FVF has more flavor, but I tend to get a sore mouth after smoking FVF.

Todd

 

[Old Nate]

I would agree that FVF has more flavor, but I tend to get a sore mouth after smoking FVF.

Todd

There's a post in the TJ about SG blends biting. I think they need to be rubbed to a shag, smoked slightly damp for maximum flavor, and not over puffed. But ultimately it might come down to body chemistry.

 

[ftrplt]

Yeppers, the four tins I have will always be the "only" tins of Capstan I will have. Too many more than good Ginnyweed 'baccy's out there to satisfy me!! :cheers: FTRPLT

 

[bent bulldog]

Gentlemen: I absolutely agree that there are tons of alternatives to the Capstan Virginia flake profile out there, many, many more than there were 30 years ago when we were trying to find a viable alternative to the original Dunhill Light flake. In those days once you got past the Dunhill Flake, the Capstan, Will's Cut Golden Bar, Balkan Sobranie flake, and McConnels Virginia there wasn' much else out there. One of you mentioned Wessex Flakes and Gawith FVF. Well guess what? On the west coast of the U.S. they simply did not exist. So let's count our blessings that there are so many alternative Virginia flakes out there today. But I must tell you, if you are a regualar user of Capstan, as I am, there is nothing that remotely resembles it.