Tutorial Tuesday - FLV Tobacco Pack Notes

by /u/isuamadog

Hey everyone,

First off, join the Discord. Lots of real time discussion and equally as much trash talk.

Secondly, check out prior posts in this series, Tuesday Tutorial. Originally conceived hoping to get a wide variety of viewpoints on equally as wide a variety of topics, it's become my monthly instead of weekly output and contribution to the community. Feedback helps. Comments are better. Volunteers to write are BEST. Thank you to everyone who has contributed thus far.

Today's Topic

Decided last minute to try to get one more of these done before August fades. I made a reply to u/Jake-N-Vape in this thread here and realized I basically covered most of the flavors in the FLV Tobacco Pack which sells at bcf for $50 and really is a great pack, assuming you like tobaccos, that is. Figured it was fairly useful enough information and the bare bones basically laid out, so why not give the notes a bit more visibility and provide an opportunity for people to fill in the gaps of my experience, especially with flavors I tend to overlook due to my own limitations/preferences.

What does it include?

FLV Tobacconist pack sells for $50 at Bull City Flavors and comes with:

Arabian Tobacco, Cavendish, Classic Cigarette, Commercial Cigarette, Connecticut Shade, Cured Tobacco, Kentucky Blend, Native Tobacco, Oriental Tobacco, Pucker Tobacco, Red Burley, Sweet & Smokey Tobacco, Sweet Cigarette, Tatanka Tobacco, Turkish Tobacco, Virginia Tobacco

What is the benefit?

These flavors range from $3.80 to $12.49 solo and, while each one might not be for you, just to buy even the three or four most highly recommended ones will run you about half the price of the whole pack. This is literally one of the best deals in town. I would even highly recommend this pack for anyone even considering testing the waters of tobaccos for that reason alone. Add to it that the flavors are generally considered Shake and Vape tobaccos (which is relatively unheard of) and widely regarded as "good intro flavors", you really can't lose. Well, you can. you can hate them all but then you probably know that and won't consider even buying the single flavors anyway. :)

The Flavors

Red Burley - People love burley. It’s a solid flavor. You can solo it at 1-2% or use it as an accent as low as 0.2-0.5%. It’s a warm thick rich tobacco flavor with a pleasant nutty vibe and really moist. Showcased perfectly as an accent in the legendary Cardinal by u/fear or as a main note in one of my favorites Dune by u/kindground
Kentucky would be more of a ryo cig with a bit of ashiness and a realistic pleasant feel. Can also solo 1-2%. Found in Cardinal as an accent, The Southerner by u/Kopel and Abuela by u/fear in a blend, as part of the unusual mix IPA Smoke by u/cokecan.
Virginia is a bit bright and doesn’t solo as well to me, missing a bit of sweetness but lighter if you’re looking for a less burly bacco. Worth buying just for the magic that is Cabin by u/AlfredPudding alone, but also in Abuela.
Cured is more leaning cigar-like without being mouthy or heavy burning. It’s like the solid neutral flavored tobacco body. Very full flavored and can be used to add body at 0.5% to complete profiles. Blends well with caramel/ry4 types imo since it’s a less distinct flavor. Excellent flavor solo and essential in mixes, it's featured in Sweet Leaf by u/Vurve and used in 1079 other recipes, some of which have already been mentioned.
Cavendish is a bit tricky, more like a syrupy pipe flavor with dark fruit notes and it’s got a real fine line of how much is too much. Sometimes 1% is too much. Start at 0.75 and inch up. Found in a paltry 15 published recipes, this is a niche flavor. I love it as does u/CheebaSteeba featured in Autumn Sunset and Autumn Sunset V2. If that deters you, look at the range of profiles made with this flavor in those 15 recipes. They all appear to be unique playing off the dark fruit vibe and allowing for a range of pairings that might seem unusual if you haven't tried, and fallen in love with it, yourself.
Native is probably more ryo than Kentucky is now that I think about it. Kentucky would be more your full bodied golden tobaccos and native is more american spirit red ryo. Native also doubles as franks hot sauce additive at lower percents to make a more distinctive bacco mellower and balanced a la Max Savage. That effect can be seen in RY4 Custard by the Developed crew or max's own Gatsby. One of my favorites by u/ChemicalBurnVictim is Native God showcasing what that flavor can do as the star with a little INW GFP assist.
Oriental and Turkish are real similar and have some spice notes like a spiced tobacco. Not like cardamom/cinnamon but well, idk kinda like an eastern tobacco or cig might taste. A little dryish and lighter overall for it but having some aromatic notes to the tobacco that make it Seem distinctly different from burley/native/Kentucky. Chemical burn victim did a great write up on those two a while back: Battle of the Baccos: Turkish/Orientals. He kinda trashes Turkish a bit, but I think it has strong merits. You can see Turkish featured in over 30 published recipes on atf and RY4 Custard, but it also is one of my favorites by u/Foment_Life's Clovert Operative, a tribute to clove cigarettes that isn't a harsh clove at all but a bit of mixing magic in this one man's humble opinion, with Turkish sitting pretty at 1.5% paired brilliantly with Cured.
Arabian is one of my favorites but I like really strong flavors. This one is potent at 0.2% and can add a sharp aromatics spice note to any bacco blend. Not for beginners imo. The early reviews of this found here and here were not favorable and off in my humble opinion. They were tested at 1.5 and 3% which seems to me to be asking for trouble. Take some sweet cig at 1.5% add a little Cured at 0.5% and finish with Arabian at 0.25% and you have a full bodied, sweet and spicy tobacco. I also disagree with the assertion that it can't be used as a dessert tobacco. If you check the 15 or so recipes on atf, you'll see a strange variety where Arabian is never alone but used in strange ways. I assert it is one of my favorite FLV Tobacco flavors, worth every dime of that $12.49 entry point. I rather enjoyed it in my mix, Arab Mom's Butter Cookie, which really deserves a better name but whatever.
Flv sweet cig is like a mellow baccoish additive but can make a base for a sweeter bacco blend. Probably not recommended for you since you’re already mixing with ry4 so why use a tobacco additive when you have those base components already? Still a great flavor because at 1% you can add to any mix and just have it be fuller bodied with a neutrally sweet base. This flavor is poorly represented by the 6 published recipes on atf, but there it is regardless of the love, found in Prapple Bacco, IPA Smoke, and 123 Fancy Cigarette.
Flv classic cig is not my jam. At all. Tastes like chemical hay to me. I have tried to like this flavor over and over and I just simply do not. That said, high regards are given to my friend JJ's mix, 2 Flavor Banger. Summed up by u/ID10-T: "This is aptly named! I don’t even like Classic Cigarette - which tastes like chewing on a partially smoked cigarette - but this mixer has found the perfect complement to it, like these flavors were made for each other. Nutty and sharp, subtly sweet yet dirty and a little smoky, very moist but not soggy, thick and flavorful with just 2% flavor. It’s not one of those “tobacco recipes for people who don’t like tobacco,” but for people who do really like tobacco, I think it’s a must-try. This might be my new favorite vape for pairing with extra nicotine, hard drinking, and mornings after."
Tatanka/sweet and smoky/commercial cig don’t really tug at me like the rest. Tatanka has powerful notes in it that you really have to bend your way and lean into. I lack that imagination. Sweet and smoky is too much a cigar and too much a sweet with too little in the middle for me but I haven’t tried to fill it out. Probably sweet and smoky mixed with some cured and a hint of ct shade would be a killer mild cigar flavor? That said, Tatanka can be found in many recipes including the highly rated Black Forest Bacco by u/Shyndo and the infinitely intriguing A Good Book by u/LonesomeRhodesTN as well as the sequel. Read that beauty.
Commercial cig I have only tried a few times. There's only two published recipes that use it on atf and one old school review with it tested at 3% that seems... dated at this point. Please add your note in the comments.
Connecticut shade is a wild ride. Not for beginners. Not for everyone. Cigar wrapper leaf flavor. Unique coffee and chocolate notes. A bully at 0.2 or perfect at 1.5 depending on what you’re pairing it with. I’d follow recipes for this only at first and, even then, with a healthy trepidation. I love it. Shows you something about me. It's used in a who's who of recipes as well: Abuela, Gatsby, A Good Book, the incredibly delicious Coco Bacco, Arabian Night's, Shaded Cuban with a Nut, and even the oddly placed (and truly enjoyable) Tenacious T by u/SkiddlzNinja
Pucker i have not experienced at all, but it's in IPA Smoke and only 2 other published recipes on atf. If you have any experience with it at all, please include your notes in the comments. There is one excellent and thorough review by u/ConcreteRiver that can be found here. this is another one just waiting to be discovered :)

tl;dr All flavorah. Best tobaccos overall. Flv tobacco pack from bullcityflavors is the best deal in town. $50 seems steep but is a banger if you know you want to dive in. Flv bacco steep times are short, good off the shake but tend to mellow and soften after 7-10 days.

I'm tired of writing. Hope this helps you out a little and please link your best recipes, favorite mixes, personal pairings, trash talk or whatever below. Share your thoughts!

keep mixing and stay safe,

- i