However... I've only had one tin of St. James Flake before this review and I will not be having another. Ever. When I purchase flake tobacco I expect flakes. This was delivered as a big, wet ball of tobacco. I had to let it age for a few months (which I normally do after a first curious sampling) and even then I couldn't get the pre-smoke preparation down. I'd either dry it too much (resulting in total perique-dominance) or too little (resulting in a soaky, wet and annoying smoke). Admitedly I had a few really terrific sessions with this but they were not the norm by any means. The level of perique would vary greatly which even caused me to discard a few bowls, something that I would normally never do.

I'm hoping I just caught a bad batch, which is why I won't rate it below 'somewhat recommended'. I expected more though...

Beardnote: spiced up virginia, fairly sniffworthy

Aging their tins is difficult because of the rust that will develop in the inside of the tin, due to the too high a level of humidity.

Preparing them and smoking them requires patience, compromise and various strategies I came to realize I do not want to possess. A tobacco should not be so extreneous an effort to prepare.

Also, despite this tin being roughly 3 years old (a gift from an acquaintance that was marked "2010") this flake was still too damp and, despite over an hour of drying, bites.

There are too many good offerings out there that do not require specials skills and deliver an awsome, satisfying smoke.

This Perique shows a nice spice that is well balanced with the Va. Straight forward tobacco flavor, smooth all the way down. This blend does require several relights, but it could just be me. One of my top favorite flakes from SG. I've only smoked a tin of this, so my 3 star may change to a 4.

the smell out of the tin is very fruity, but dark, a lot like stewed plums and even a little bit chocolatey. it's definitely a heavily sweet-ish smell, but not like candy. savory-type sweetness, if you understand what I mean. Delicious. rich and dark...

Packing this is a challenge, as some flakes are extremely thick and also pretty moist, as with all SG flakes. I gave up on fold & stuff with this one. it tastes perfect as a very chunky ready rubbed. so you have a lot of little flake scraps and hardly any strands. more like broken flake, I guess. pack it loosely, light, tanp, relight, tamp, relight and off you go.

the flavors are like the smell... fruity, heavy, sweet, peppery, creamy...rich and dark. it's delicious! and after the tin is opened, it definitely develops over time. I had mine open for about half a year before I smoked it again and it was so much better. still very moist, but the flavors intensified and it became even smoother. the smoke feels like you could chew it in your mouth, that's how creamy this is.

I love it and never want to not have it again!

But it can also be good as it will last longer once you open the thin and it will also "change" with the time.

When you light it you definitely get some of the sweetness of the Virginias (good ones and dark ones) some fruity flavor/raisins but soon enough you get the peppery flavor of the perique. You might like it you might hate it, nothing to do with the tobacco being good or bad. I used to smoke cigars and this seems to me very close to smoke a cigar mixed with some very good Virginia.

After a few relights it burnt all the way to the bottom of the bowl with no dottle just white thin ash.

Now the key, this thing got better through the bowl and made me sad to finish it. Have the feeling it is gonna get better and better as it dries to become a supreme smoke.

However, this is not the stuff i will smoke everyday. Keep that in mind.

I honestly don't know which one I prefer... The smell from the tin is of strong fruity purée, with some notes of pot pourri which is amazing.

In the beginning, this one was more difficult to smoke as it was a bit wetter. I had to relight it a few more times.

However, this flake smokes much more neutrally and I just love it. It is strong, and really excellent, I think it has more perique than the G&H Louisiana flake. It has more body and character. Will definitely buy both again.

The smoke is thick and creamy, the taste is full and exquisite. No special aroma detected, maybe a hint of fig jam? I will maybe get more of a taste with the meer.

I just know it is a really excellent tobacco.

On opening, both tins were stacked with various sizes and thicknesses of sopping, wringing, dripping wet flakes. The interior of one tin was actually rusting from the moisture.

After closing the tins and leaving them for a month the tobacco was still dripping wet, so I left the lid off one tin for four days. I do not exagerate.

After four days drying, I reckoned the top couple of flakes were just about dry enough to take a light, so I tried rubbing one out. It didn't so much rub out as break apart into brittle chunks.

I stuffed it into a cob and applied a light, and kept trying until it caught. My first though was "nice, mild Virginia, but not much perique. No bite at all though - that's good".

About 1/4 of the way down the bowl the sugar started. Sweet, sticky, clinging sugar. And the more I smoked, the more the sugar came flowing out of the stem, like smoking vapourised candy floss. By 3/4 of a bowl my mouth felt so sticky I needed to rinse it out, so I tried a mouthful of diet Coke. The Coke tasted sour and bitter compared to the tobacco.

I gave up in disgust and emptied the bowl into the ashtray. The next day, the cob's cake was full of sugar crystals, the ash in the bowl looked like charcoal and smelled strongly of caramel and the dottle could be snapped like bits of toffee.

I hate throwing tobacco away at UK prices, but both tins went in the bin. As, a week later, did the cob. Nothing I tried could begin to exorcise the sugary ghost.

I may have had a couple of bad tins - going by the rest of the reviews I guess I did. But the poor standard of these tins makes me wonder about SG's quality control.

So, based on my experience, my advice is to avoid unless you like taking chances - and don't try St James in a pipe you don't mind throwing away.

There's no aromatic flavouring in this tobacco by the way - I've marked the flavouring as "strong" because of the overwhelming sugary casing.

First impressions: Like most SG blends, the tin label is simple and unpretentious. This is indicative of a quality pipe-tobacco blend, which should be judged by the contents and not by the branding. It has a picture of someone, whom I presume to be Samuel Gawith himself. This gives the tin a nice old-fashioned feel. Upon opening the tin, the aroma of matured Virginia and generous portion of Perique reveals an unmistakable depth of a quality flake tobacco. Unfolding the paper reveals beautifully presented tobacco with an almost motly-crue of leaf variation in the flakes. Due to the high-demand of this blend and drying time constraints, the flakes where on the moist side. This is a problem which can easily be solved though. I allowed a few days drying time until it was almost crispy. I received a good tip from my friend and fellow pipe-reviewer, Mo. After drying out the tobacco, place it back in the tin and allow for two-weeks "settling" time. I haven't tried this with SJF myself, but can take it with good authority from Mo. I'm not a big fan of the fold & stuff method as it is a recipe for inconsistent smokes. I rub it out completely and use the air-pocket method which appears to be working well for me. Upon first light I knew that I was going to enjoy this blend. The sweetish fullness from the Virginia and spicy strength from the Perique checks all tick-boxes in terms of what I classify a good VAPER to be. The burning qualities of this blend is excellent, requiring few relights common with many flake tobaccos. The remainder of the bowl was consistently good with not too much complexity. You don't have to concentrate too hard to enjoy this blend.

Last impressions: SJF has grown on me as I progressed through the tin. Due to the fullness & strength this blend offers, I have had consistently good smokes in various pipes/times of day/mood etc. This blend will age well and allow for some complexity to develop. St James Flake will have a permanent spot in my rotation. My second favorite VAPER after the king, Escudo.

Similar blends: I'm a bit hesitant to list similar blends as I haven't tried them all (I'm not pipestud:-). But I can say it reminds me of McClelland's St James Woods, although this is far better due to the strength & consistency. If you enjoy great vapers like Escudo, I think there's a good chance you'll enjoy SJF.

Final Notes: SG doesn't label the year of production, so I'm not sure how old this tin is. I presume its very young and I will update my review after I have aged this blend.

TBR rating: 4/4

Personal rating: 4/5 - For now I'm reserving one star to see how well this blend ages.

I agree with the other reviewers' opinion about the tobacco aroma and room note. If no like VaPer's try this one. The only problem is availability in the States from time to time.

That being said, although tin presentation is lacking, this was a really really good smoke. It was very wet in the tin so i would recommend some airing before smoking.

The taste was creamy with the unmistakable kiss of Perique. Really good stuff. I rubbed out some flakes, did the fold and stuff method and there was some variation but not much.

It really differs from what one would normally expect from a Virginia/Perique blend. The tobaccos are heavily stoved and the flakes are very dark in colour.

Its very good but not great. YMMV.

For South African Pipers, Gawith blends are available from Sturks in Cape Town.

Mo, South Africa.

Smells very strongly of rotten mangoes in the tin, which told me it is loaded with perique. Was very wet as a Vaper ought to be to age properly, but a couple hours of drying a large bowl on the lid of a mason jar, and it was perfect.

Took 4 lighting attempts to get going, then burned like a dream to a very light powder. On the first puffs the large amount of perique was evident: not the burley imitation but the real thing, which a few sneezes made apparent, which I get from stronger perique mixtures if I have not had any for a while.

The room note was simply amazing. More flavour than most aromatics! Sour and sweet fruitiness, pepper, tobacco, and not even a hint of bitterness, with an amazing aftertaste. In fact, this has to be one of the best tasting, richest tobaccos I have ever tried. I don't think this is based on best brown or FVF, the virginias are darker and not as grassy.

This is so good I am going to cellar as much of this as I can get my hands on. St. James flake is hands down the best vaper I have ever smoked, and I have smoked most of them. Why I didn't try this one ages ago is a mystery.

Nicotine is medium, which is a surprise since it contains no dark fired (I smoke a lot of Gawith and Hoggarth dark flake/plug in both the scented and unscented versions in the evening) which left me feeling relaxed.

This might be your holy grail, if it isn't, it will be pretty close. Definitely going in the daily rotation.

Samuel Gawith either gets it perfect or rank (like 1792, which can be compared to fermented cow dung with some light vanilla-esque topping) and this is the best one of their line up I have tried to date.