Tobaccos J. F. Germain & Son - Bridge Old Brown Flake

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	McQueen (41)	2018-02-13		Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Bridge old Brown is not a new blend to Germain, and it’s not a replacement of traditional Brown Flake; it’s more of an offshoot of brown Flake that is a bit sweeter.

This is an excellent natural Virginia Tobacco; a savory sweet flake, (with the sweetness taking a slight backseat). With my experience smoking this tobacco fresh as well as aged; I believe this to be a straight Virginia.

I smoked this blend for the first time in 2016, and returned to it this week. I saw it came around again in early 2018 and figured it was time to revisit this rare blend. I quite enjoy this one, Its not as moist as Sam Gawith's flakes, and Bridge old Brown burns quite nicely with just a little dry time. As I said before it IS similar to the original Brown Flake but with a little more panoramic flavor. I definitely prefer this over Brown Flake as well. In my experience it’s best to rub this flake up before smoking, and smoke in a wide open pot shape if you have one.

Sweet, spicy, with some dark qualities.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Porto Cervo 122

Age When Smoked: Fresh, and aged

Purchased From: Payless Cigars and Pipes

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blain407 (4)	2018-02-12		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Excellent version of brown flake. Don’t really know why they changed it in the first place. It’s a broken flake version of brown flake basically only I noticed a bright grassy sort of sweetness that I haven’t found in the regular brown flake. Imho this is a Virginia lover’s dream. It’s like Best brown flake with a few years on it. I smoked a fresh tin that already had crystals forming on the flake pieces. Another homerun from Germain’s.

Pipe Used: Kaywoodie meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Fresh tin

Purchased From: Tophattobacco.com

Similar Blends: Brown flake, best brown flake.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stan (179)	2018-03-21		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Long ribbons. Smells straight. Proper moisture. Easy packing.

Taste similar to brown flake but not as deep. I do not think the tang or edge is the Virginia but from the burley. More woody than cigarish.

Close to Mellow, nice body, steady burning, no bite, cool, dry.

Good, repeatable blend. Not a lightweight. Solid mouth feel.

I do not get any sweetness ( nor is brown flake sweet to me), but I get woodiness, earthiness, and richness.

Another special Virginia mixture from Germaine. Not generally available. I do like it, but I think brown flake is better for me.

Pipe Used: Northern briar quaint

Age When Smoked: New to few months

Purchased From: Ebay

Similar Blends: Germaine brown flake, esoterica Tilbury.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2019-03-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

This Germain Virginia tobacco has been compared to the original Germain Brown Flake. There are differences, however. This one has the flakes broken up into small chunks and is a straight Virginia whereas Brown Flake has some Kentucky leaf added and offers a slightly stronger taste than this Bridge version. It is naturally Virginia sweet, has a fine, medium flavor and is made to age!

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3046)	2021-09-21		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

The fermented Virginias provide a lot of tart and tangy citrus, earth, sugar, some wood, grass, vegetation, a little tangy dark fruit, floralness, small hints of sour lemon and smoke with a few light pinches of spice. The very mild apricot topping weakens a little towards the finish. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. The taste level is a slot short of the medium mark. There’s no chance of bite or harshness, and barely sports any rough edges. Mildly moist, it burns cool, clean, and slightly slow with a very consistent flavor that extends to the pleasant lightly lingering after taste, and room note. Barely leaves any dampness in the bowl, and requires a couple more than an average number of relights. An all day smoke. Four stars.

-JimInks

3 people found this review helpful.