A while back Kapnismologist posted a thread about McClelland's Dark Star that garnered several responses, including one by Slow Puffs indicating that he thought McClelland's Dark Navy Flake was a poor man's McClelland's Dark Star in bulk form. I subsequently bought a couple of pounds of Dark Navy Flake and a 100g tin of Dark Star and intended to do a comparison. Trying to be scientific, I thought I'd survey ten of our brothers, send samples of both tobaccos, and see if they could find differences.
So I bagged up samples (roughly 1/2 ounce worth) of each and sent them out to 9 of our brothers, planning on being the 10 myself. I ran out of Dark Star, so two of the ten "blind" samples A & B were actually both Navy Flake. Two months later, we have six of the 10 results. One participant never responded, one (unfortunately, our dear brother Kan) passed on, one it turns out can't take Mc Virginias in any form and found both samples burned his mouth, and the last one that we can't count was me; by the time I sent all the samples out, I had run out of Dark Star, so I never had a chance to compare the two!
The six testers were our three South African brothers, Piet, bluedigital & Muddler, Puff Daddy, Carlos, and Kapnismologist. A two page survey was included and the samples were simply labeled A or B (and varied by person). I had SWMBO randomly mix them up. While I was bagging up the two different blends, I could not see, feel, or smell a difference between them, they looked identical. The results are listed below based upon their "secret" number. It seems that most found the Dark Star (DS) had more taste or was sweeter than the Dark Navy Flake (NF), and most seemed to either slightly prefer Dark Star or mentioned the differences were too minor to influence their preference. The fact that the Dark Star had two more years of age (sealed, at least) than the Navy Flake might have made a difference?
#2. Found the samples similar, but overall preferred DS; DS had more taste, NF was stronger;
#5. DS "slightly smoother" than NF, but quite similar; guessed right; DS slightly sharper smell in baggie
#6. Similar taste, but DS "spicier" than NF; NF "broader taste" and "more satisfying" than DS; preferred NF
#7. DS was sweet, hints of molasses, malt, figs, and increased flavors during smoke, NF was flat, not complex. Guessed correctly which was which.
#8. Similar but DS slightly more taste; "not enough difference to mention"
#9. Both baggies were NF, (ran out of DS!); described minor differences between them.
So, there we have it, a resounding huh?
:lol:
(Note to self, get some Dark Star and don't send it to anyone, dipshit!)
Natch
So I bagged up samples (roughly 1/2 ounce worth) of each and sent them out to 9 of our brothers, planning on being the 10 myself. I ran out of Dark Star, so two of the ten "blind" samples A & B were actually both Navy Flake. Two months later, we have six of the 10 results. One participant never responded, one (unfortunately, our dear brother Kan) passed on, one it turns out can't take Mc Virginias in any form and found both samples burned his mouth, and the last one that we can't count was me; by the time I sent all the samples out, I had run out of Dark Star, so I never had a chance to compare the two!
The six testers were our three South African brothers, Piet, bluedigital & Muddler, Puff Daddy, Carlos, and Kapnismologist. A two page survey was included and the samples were simply labeled A or B (and varied by person). I had SWMBO randomly mix them up. While I was bagging up the two different blends, I could not see, feel, or smell a difference between them, they looked identical. The results are listed below based upon their "secret" number. It seems that most found the Dark Star (DS) had more taste or was sweeter than the Dark Navy Flake (NF), and most seemed to either slightly prefer Dark Star or mentioned the differences were too minor to influence their preference. The fact that the Dark Star had two more years of age (sealed, at least) than the Navy Flake might have made a difference?
#2. Found the samples similar, but overall preferred DS; DS had more taste, NF was stronger;
#5. DS "slightly smoother" than NF, but quite similar; guessed right; DS slightly sharper smell in baggie
#6. Similar taste, but DS "spicier" than NF; NF "broader taste" and "more satisfying" than DS; preferred NF
#7. DS was sweet, hints of molasses, malt, figs, and increased flavors during smoke, NF was flat, not complex. Guessed correctly which was which.
#8. Similar but DS slightly more taste; "not enough difference to mention"
#9. Both baggies were NF, (ran out of DS!); described minor differences between them.
So, there we have it, a resounding huh?
:lol:
(Note to self, get some Dark Star and don't send it to anyone, dipshit!)
Natch
