What is a true navy flake?

[Haebar]

From Wikipedia:

Navy Flake, Navy cut, Navy tobacco is a Burley leaf pipe tobacco. In colonial times sailors twisted tobacco into a roll and "tied it tightly, often moistening the leaves with rum, molasses, or spice solutions." Stored in this way the flavors melded. To smoke it a slice was cut, known as a "twist" or "curly". Eventually all twisted tobacco, and then pressed tobacco, became known as "Navy" "because of the convenience for sailors and outdoorsmen who favored its compact size "and long-lasting, slow-burning qualities."[1] Navy Flake tobacco is pressed into bricks and sliced into broad flakes.

[Rocket Scientologist]

Ah, Wikipedia. The definitive reference source for all things unreferenced.

[NeverBend]

From Wikipedia:
Navy Flake, Navy cut, Navy tobacco is a Burley leaf pipe tobacco. In colonial times sailors twisted tobacco into a roll and "tied it tightly, often moistening the leaves with rum, molasses, or spice solutions." Stored in this way the flavors melded. To smoke it a slice was cut, known as a "twist" or "curly". Eventually all twisted tobacco, and then pressed tobacco, became known as "Navy" "because of the convenience for sailors and outdoorsmen who favored its compact size "and long-lasting, slow-burning qualities."[1] Navy Flake tobacco is pressed into bricks and sliced into broad flakes.

Ah, Wikipedia. The definitive reference source for all things unreferenced.

Hi Haebar & RocketScientologist,

True, Wikipedia's great but sometimes the articles need to be questioned.

Thanks for the post, @Haebar . I mean no offense by my following comments but it's a poor article that confuses rather than clarifies.

The author seems to have thrown together isolated items without understanding his subject, based it would seem, on two articles that are now dead links.

Ken McConnell is my source about how Navy Flake got it's name. Whether tobacco was previously flavored or not, the salt air would have damaged it without the wrapper having been soaked and the tobacco was slowly infused with the flavor. Navy men reputedly treated their tobacco this way and stored it in the ships hold, thus the term Navy. Navy came to mean a tobacco that was flavored with spirits (usually rum or whiskey). Ubiquitous use of flavorings is a rather modern trend but even as recently as 30 years ago in England it wasn't so common and Navy is associated with English tobacco.

Navy Flakes are spirit infused flakes. Navy Cut refers to a cut of tobacco that was convenient for seamen to pack. As a kid, I remember seeing Navy Cut on tobaccos that were shag, like Gawith Hoggarth Dark Birdseye. Navy tobacco is generally used for spirits infused tobacco and it doesn't have to be pressed. Obviously not all flakes or pressed tobacco was processed with spirits and that's why the term is only used on tobaccos that were processed this way.

A twist is a method of process and not a cut. Curly is a cut (slice of rolled tobacco), not a process.

Pete