Samuel Gawith - Cob Flake pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 7 of 7 reviews of this tobacco
Pipe4ever	05/07/2011	Strong	Strong	Very Full	Tolerable
This is a Virginia flake, highly pressed and generously cased with Tonquin bean oil, very strong in nicotine and requires small bowl in order to fully enjoy this kind of smoke for which you need an attentive and contemplative smoking style. small puffs and slow RPM with many pauses, on/off, lite/re-lite etc.... if it is smoked that way, it is delicious.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
DrDyson	10/11/2010	Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable to Strong
This is a very high quality dark flake tobacco, and very well presented – as you would expect from Samuel Gawith; it seems to me to be the same whether you buy it in a tin as 1792 flake or loose, as Cob Flake, though – as is so often true with SG tobaccos, the tinned version is improved by a bit of drying out. For what it is, you can’t fault it: cool, slow-burning, won’t bite unless you beg it to, not unbearably strong, full of flavour – all the things you look for in a quality flake. Personally, I don’t like it, because I don’t like either the flavour or the room note; but each to his own: this is certainly worth a try, if only to say that you have. It’s an acquired taste. If you like eccentric flavours, you’ll get on fine with 1792; if you like straightforward uncased flakes, you won’t.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
meerkat	06/14/2010	Medium to Strong	Very Strong	Full	Overwhelming
In Britain and (I'm led to believe) in much of Europe 1792 comes in tins. When sold loose it is done so under the name of cob flake. I have no idea why. However, the nomenclature is not the strangest thing about this blend. I bought some of this stuff from a nice tobacconist in Otley, West Yorkshire, and stuffed my nose into the pouch with eager anticipation as soon as I was alone. I'd heard so much about this strange beast that I was expecting to be side swiped by the most unimaginable and exotic sensual assault. I was disappointed but also pleasantly surprised. The aroma of the unburnt tobacco reminded me of a sweet which I buy whenever I get to the Chinese supermarket. It's made of a sweetened mung bean paste and is quite delicious. There was also a faint hint of menthol to the smell which I found pleasing, subtle and intriguing. So far so good but hardly the wild ride I had been promised by those who had stumped up for a ticket before me. When I got up for my apres dinner smoke I packed a brand new corn cob with a good couple of pinches of the flake which I had rubbed out and left to dehumidify whilst I ate. Samuel Gawith's products always seem a bit damp for immediate smoking, at least they do to my sensibilities. It lit with an average level of difficulty, not putting up as stiff a resistance as some but certainly a little hesitant as if slightly embarrassed. I can quite understand it's sheepishness. If I tasted this way then I wouldn't want to be smoked either. The experience was not unlike being locked in a tiny, unventilated, room with a flatulent vegetarian. It was not the strength of flavour which offended me so but the structure. It started out as swampy, decaying vegetable matter and proceded to burnt leather via rained on ashtrays. I occasionally got a faint whiff of the "sweetened mung bean and menthol" I had been promised by the pouch aroma but brief, fleeting and in a sick distorted parody of the unburnt fragrance. I really don't understand it. My taste buds usually thrive on the strange and (to others) unpleasant flavours of the world. I wanted to like this. I don't know why I can't but I'm certainly not going to waste any more time trying. Maybe if I spent more time with it I could learn to love Cob flake, I just don't see why I should. I love the fact that we all have different tastes and appreciate different things. I'm glad some folk love this and I wont tell them they're wrong for it. I'd just rather they didn't do it around me (is this making me sound like a non-smoker?). If I was forced to choose between smoking this and contracting dysentery, I'd be stocking up on toilet paper. UPDATE... I put on my old work shirt the other day and noticed it had a strange smell to it. In the pocket I found the nearly full and unsealed pouch of Cob Flake - still too moist to smoke straight off after a year! I let some air for a bit and then smoked it. The aging certainly helped alot as the swamp flavours and smells were much muted and the "sweetened mung bean" was much more prominant as was a good cigar note. If it was like this from fresh I might smoke it but I can't be bothered with buying a tobacco to age for a year before I start on it, nor did I like the trace of swampiness which remained.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Monopod	02/28/2010	Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Strong
This tobacco came out of the packet just like shredded lorry tyres. I pulled it apart and it sprang back to it's original shape. (I'm sure I heard it laugh at me.) With difficulty I managed to get enough to pull apart to get it to agree to charging my pipe and reaching the "ignition" stage. First impression ...aromatic, followed by very strong aromatic, followed by not really aromatic now at all. This was " mailed fist in velvet glove" surely ?? the Tonka beans were there as a joke, just to put you off balance before Madam N. gave you a right kick in the whatevers. One can be sure that on the "Tobacco" journey, there will be many false discoveries of Nirvana. But Hey, who cares so long as I can afford the fare (??) Addendum. Having found my two ideal tobaccos right here on the doorstep (UK)I understand the strange "Soapy" handle that is sometimes appended to reviews of "English tobaccos". I don't think that it is a reference to a physical attribute of the taste at all, merely the fact that these "Dark" brews DON'T give you tongueburn,sore throats,etc., and are a result of discriminating blenders who have really and truly learned their "Art". Although I can't get an authoratative answer other than on the manufacturer's website ( what does he know anyway ?) Cob Flake is the same tobacco as "1792" but Cob is the "Bulk" or "Loose" version of the same animal.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Pipestud	09/25/2005	Extremely Strong	Mild	Very Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I received a tin of Cobb Flake from an overseas friend who claimed this to be 1792 Flake. I think he's right because the appearance of the leaf, the shape of the tin, and particularly the face meets floor effect after smoking half a bowl convinced me. My doctor says the facial lacerations should heal right up.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
The Tobacco Man from Outer Mongolia	01/29/2004	Strong	Strong	Full	Very Pleasant
I was a bit nervous about trying this tobacco which as I understand it is still mase in the same old time way as when it was first produced. Firstly if you are an ex cigarette smoker (you have seen the light)you will love this tobacco as it has plenty of nicotine delivered in a base which is very tasty and pleasent. The flake is very dark and quite damp as supplied and to my mind has an arome reminiscent of vanilla. However this is no candy shop tobacco. Due to the dampness I di find this tobacco a bit hard to light and will benefit from a little drying. The taste is delightful and the smoke thick and creamy and an extremely cool smoke at that despite the dampness. It is evident that this is a high grade of tobacco. There was no bite at all despite the fact that drying would improve the smoking qualities. Cob Flake must be the ultimate in after dinner tobacco. In summary if you like a high nicotine tobacco, with a delightful flavour and little or no tongue bite, I think you will love this tobacco. This is definately one for my cellar.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Haiku	09/17/2001	Strong	Medium to Strong	Full
I don't consider this as overwhelmingly strong tobacco. Taste at the beginning is strong but it gradually settles down to a very smooth and interesting world of flavours. The pouch aroma is at first very unpleasant, but when smoking it a few times you get used to it and in my case I now even enjoy it. This tobacco plug is very moist. It is easy to cut with a sharp knife and rub down. I let it dry for a while before packing it to the bowl. How ever if you let it dry too long, at least in my oppinion it loses some of the taste, but again this is my oppinion. It is a bit difficult to light it, but once you get it running it stays that way and gives you a very pleasant hour of smoking. As I said the taste at the beginning is bit stronger than in the end. Aroma also takes a bit of time before it appears, the aroma to my nose is strong so I recommend to smoke this one outdoors. Once you get the smoking session going the taste is really wonderful. It is so smooth and full of different kind of aromas and tastes that the only way to describe it is excellent. This tobacco, when it is moist, burns really slowly. When I get up from my chair at the end of the bowl it has already gone up in my head... I'm drunk!! This tobacco in this form is really a worth a shot, even if you don't appreciate flavored tobaccos I think this one is one you should try.
Showing reviews 1 through 7 of 7 reviews of this tobacco