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Full Virginia Flake

Brand: Samuel Gawith
Blender: UNKNOWN
Tin Description: Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake is for lovers of pure pressed Virginias. Created in the heart of Lakeland,the hot-pressed blended Virginias take on a delicious and distinctive dark colour that creates a pipe smokers dream, a feeling of calm, serenity and anticipation of the next pipeful. A "must have" for all Virginia lovers. Medium strength.
Country of Origin: UK
Curing Group: Air Cured
Contents:
Virginia
Cut: Flake
Packaging: 50g Tin



Average Ratings
Strength: Medium
Flavoring: Extremely Mild
Taste: Medium to Full
Room Note: Pleasant to Tolerable
Recommendation: Highly Recommended


The Reviews  

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Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 270 reviews of this tobacco
Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
DrDyson 08/23/2010 Medium None detected Medium to Full Pleasant highly recommended
Full Virginia Flake is about as good as a flake can get: full of flavour, cool, slow-burning with a pleasant room note, and uniform all the way down the bowl. Taken slowly, it's absolutely delicious, though it probably won't appeal much to the lover of strong flavours.

This is IMO far and away the best SG tobacco. The only minor quibbles that I have are (a) that it comes a little too moist in the tin, and (b) that the flakes tend to be rather thick and difficult to rub out (at least this was true of the 50 gm tin I bought). But these drawbacks are so insignificant compared to the plus points of this tobacco as to be hardly worth mentioning.

A first-class all day smoke. Absolutely outstanding.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Tee-dub 08/06/2010 Medium None detected Mild Pleasant to Tolerable recommended
Already 268 reviews? Well, what's one more?

I waited for a long time to try this, and its lack of availability elevated it to a status beyond what I reasonably should have expected of it. That said, I did like this, and it is a nice smoke.

I do not claim to be anything but a novice at Virginia tobaccos, but I'll tell you what I think anyway:

The flakes are darket in color than one might expect, and in the tin they smell of raisins. The flakes are not tightly pressed, and would fall apart in a stiff breeze. Suffice it to say they rub out very easily, and pack effortlessly.

The tobacco is bright, tangy, buttery and lightly sweet, but is light and unobtrusive. So light in flavor that you'll taste the ghost of whatever you smoked before, and you'll have to dedicate a bowl to it. I had smoked Royal Yacht previously in this briar, and the Royal Yacht's ghost almost overpowered the Gawith for the first bowl or two. The flavors are there if you look for them, and they're worth looking for.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Chatsworth 08/01/2010 Medium None detected Medium Very Pleasant highly recommended
A wonderful flake. Tasty, lightly tangy, sweet, that you will want to smoke to the very bottom of the bowl. The tin note is fantastic. I rubbed this out and enjoyed every minute of the rubbing and smoking. Gave it 6 hours drying outside the tin, and used 2 pipe cleaners for the gurgle. Smoke it slower near the end, and the nicotine intensifies.

Yes this is justly ranked very high with many reviews. I waited months for the online sellers to restock and was not disappointed.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
late-nitedrydrunk 07/27/2010 Medium None detected Medium to Full Pleasant highly recommended
Rolls Royce quality - at a fraction of the price you'd pay even for other tobaccos.

About this rumor that K&K is taking over the manufacturing, I contacted Samuel Gawith and this is what they had to say:

"Dear Geoffrey

There is ABSOLUTELY NO TRUTH whatsoever in this. KK are our distributors in Germany and that is all. Spread the word !! Best regards Bob Gregory"


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Claudius Stradivarius 07/25/2010 Mild to Medium None detected Medium to Full Tolerable highly recommended
Without a doubt, this represents the best VA flake on the market.

Dark flakes producing a rich, creamy taste with a hint of spiceness and sweetness.

It might have a tendency to bite at times if not smoked carefully.

It produces a dry, kind of brownish ash...

As K&k seems to have taken over, I will wait and see the new production's feedback before buying any.

I feel like a good era in pipe tobacco has been closed with this take over. I don't understand why Samual Gawith has relinquished its rights over such wonderful products.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Puffingstuff 07/01/2010 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable highly recommended
Smoking this is akin to getting to spend a weekend in Paris with Samantha Brown.Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. This is my desert island tobacco. If there is a better Virginia Flake made, I have not smoked it yet. This gets more amazing with age. Buy a about 75 pounds of the tobacco seal it in tuperware (example) boxes and toss it in the attic for a few years.Just forget about it. I'm smoking 6 year old FVF, and I find no sweeter words to describe it than, W O W!


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
umm_bacon 06/03/2010 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant somewhat recommended
Not my cup of tea. I am not a fan of the subtle tobaccos. I can appreciate the appeal, and with more experience, I am guessing this might grow on me, but for now it is just blah. I would definitely concur that you must let this dry out a bit to maximize the experience. To be continued…


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
commonsenseman 05/19/2010 Medium None detected Full Pleasant highly recommended
I don't have much to add. In my mind this is just the best straight virginia out there. It's perfect in every way. Rubbed out or folded and stuffed, it's delicious either way. This is one of the creamiest tobaccos I've ever had, very smooth. Although it's full-flavored, it doesn't seem full-bodied to me. I don't notice any nicotene kick at all. It smokes perfectly to the bottom if dried out properly, ages extremely well (it seems to improve with as little as 6 months), is fairly cheap when available & tastes amazing. What's not to like?

My advice, open a tin & let it sit for a week or two to "mellow" out. Then enjoy, repeat as necessary.

4 out of 4.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Bierstadt 05/13/2010 Strong None detected Very Full Pleasant to Tolerable highly recommended
This is the KING of all Va. tobaccos. It is so rich, buttery, and creamy sweet that at times you find yourself in disbelief that there is a tobacco that taste this good. Dry it out and the flavors easily triple as does the quality of the burn. Age it for a year and it will amaze you. Age it three years and it is almost a mind altering experience. Age it 5+ years and enter the perverbial halls of Valhalla. If you said that FVF was the best tobacco of all time, you would not get much argument from me.

Personal Rating 10 of 10 (rare)

Tobacco reviews rating 4 of 4


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Daggers62 05/10/2010 Mild to Medium Mild Medium Pleasant highly recommended
My first flake which I ended up rubbing out, I couldn't get on with the fold method but maybe that is down to my inexperience with flakes.

The tobacco is sweet, tasty, and very morish. If you want to just sit back, relax, and enjoy then you cant go far wrong with this.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Jeremy 05/09/2010 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable highly recommended
Among my favorite straight VAs. The flavor seems to flow around the tongue, not just one flavor like so many VAs.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Storm Watch 05/06/2010 Medium None detected Mild Tolerable somewhat recommended
I was hesitant to review this tobacco. Mostly because I didn't like it all that well and every one else seems to. To be honest I can only give it two stars. Personally I found it rather bland. I've had drug store blends I liked better than this. Everyone has different taste buds and tastes even change over time. Perhaps some day I'll like this as well as the others do.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
BingCrosby 05/03/2010 Medium None detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable highly recommended
perhaps the favorite of the gawith flakes, i still have a few left to try myself, full virginia flake has a solid reputation.. Having tried it before, i decided to age some a little and see how that would effect the taste.. I was very pleasantly surprised.. What makes this flake great for me is not any particular flavor but the range of different flavors that other 'pure' virginias don't seem to have.. It is a full flavor that has everything from deep bass tones to high citrus notes - and everything in between.. It would be good any time of day. I find other virginias like 'old gowrie' suitable for morning smoking but at night I want something a little more substantial.. full virginia on the other hand will satisfy at any time.. There is no such thing as perfection.. but there are some brilliant imperfections out there and full virginia flake is one of the best i have found.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Fubber 05/01/2010 Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable highly recommended
THE Virginia Flake.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Poppy 04/22/2010 Medium Strong Very Full Tolerable to Strong highly recommended
A big must !


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
JESTRAB 04/20/2010 Medium to Strong None detected Full Pleasant to Tolerable highly recommended
What else can be added. This flake is simply a benchmark for other straight virginias. There are not any tricks, no 'improvements' made to this baccy, just a natural tobacco as it should be. If you are looking for a polished taste, this is not for you. But if you want to taste real tobacco, go ahead and you will not regret.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
The Pipesmith 04/17/2010 Medium None detected Full Pleasant to Tolerable highly recommended
I liked this one. The flakes are surprisingly thin and narrow as though they had been full sized flakes that were shrunken in on themselves a bit. Supple and leathery - and very, very dark. The dryer they get, the better they burn. I must be flake challenged though as it takes me a number of relights to work through a bowl. However, there is no tendency to bite the tongue for me. Rich tasting and satisfying. If a comparison could be made to a beer, this would be a stout or porter. Not much nicotine that I could notice, which is fine by me. If you want a top notch example of heated and pressed Virginias, this is it.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Big Nick 04/13/2010 Medium None detected Medium Tolerable somewhat recommended
I just don't understand the popularity of this stuff. At best it tastes like a good cigarette. My reality says it's prickly, flat, stinky and uneventful. Sweet? I think not. Fresh cut hay? Maybe, but does'nt that seem bland, unless you're a cow. You don't chew on a piece of straw when you want sweetness. I don't know, I just don't get it. To me, this stuff is the reason that casings and toppings were created. But of coarse, I am way in the minority on this one. It's like Parmesan cheese, to me it smells and tastes like dirty socks and makes me gag, but a lot of people like it.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
pipesomkinsquirrel 04/10/2010 Medium to Strong None detected Medium to Full Very Pleasant recommended
I have tried a few different Samuel Gawith tins, and this is by far the only one I would buy again.

Upon opening the tin, I was surprised to see the flakes to be a lot darker in colour than I was expecting. The tin aroma was fantastic with just a hint of dried fruit and no casing. Just simple plain old tobacco.

My tin benefited from ageing for about two months. It was smokable off the shelf, but the flakes were a little moist, and seemed to burn a bit hot when I first bought it.

The last time I smoked this was out of an Amorelli bent billiard pipe.

The flakes were easy enough to break up, but I was not completely satisfied with the consistency at which I was able to break them up. It seemed like the best I could do was to get them like a ready rub flake.

The charring light was fantastic. Smooth, dark, and rich. I could almost swear I detected a little perique in this blend, but it may have just been my senses playing tricks on me. Either way I liked it, and hope that is a continued characteristic of this tobacco.

It was strong, but not too strong. I was able to leave my park bench feeling quite satisfied, but not in a sleepy trance that I get from some VAs.

This blend burned down to a fine white ash, and never got too hot. I did notice that care must be taken while enjoying this tobacco, for it will bite if you let it get away from you.

All and all, not my favourite Virginia on the market, but for how it was presented and advertised, I would say it measured up to its promises.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
ned 04/03/2010 Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Pleasant highly recommended
a wonderfull VA, dynamic, complex and... no words...


 
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 270 reviews of this tobacco

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