Samuel Gawith - Full Virginia Flake pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 405 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
430pat	06/13/2013	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
Rub it out,let it dry in an open pie tin a few days then I place it in a resealable plastic container,pack lightly,char it,lightly tamp,light and enjoy absolutely fantastic.You can not smoke this out of the tin it just will not light so don't try. Really,Really Good
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Gus Tation	06/11/2013	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I had found that the SG line of flakes were very inconsistently sized. The cut would be thin for one flake and then thick for the next flake. Also the flakes were a little difficult to rub out. Lastly, I had trouble keeping this stuff lit and producing an acceptable amount of smoke. These flakes had really nice flavor though. Eventually dropped the whole line of flakes due to these drawbacks. Now, when I could coax out some smoke the flavor was rich and full, little consolation when you have to do so much maintenance. May the Lord bless you and hold you close in your time of need.
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O'Confrère	06/10/2013	Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Yep, this is a tobacco that everyone should try, and, yep, it definitely needs drying before smoking. This tin is from 2008. The flakes are dark brown, mottled with lighter birds' eyes, and are very moist. The aroma in the tin is attractive, fruitily sweet with notes of fruitcake (or Christmas pudding), berries and herbs. If dried, it rubs out well to a stringy ribbon and packs easily. In the unlit pipe it tastes sweet and confirms the aromatic qualities noticed in the tin. It takes to the match and burns well to the end of the bowl with little maintenance. It's an easy smoke that offers earthiness with toasty notes of coffee, hickory nuts and walnuts. While the well- known Lakeland flavorings, often called 'floral scents' or 'soapiness', are not as strong here as in other blends from the same house, they are recognizable from first light and become stronger as the bowl progresses. These are absorbed quickly by the pipe and are easily detectable for many smokes to come, so be aware. If you like them and smoke them often, you may want to dedicate a pipe to them, and you may miss them in other blends. Here they seem to meld with a certain tarriness to provide the backbone of this blend. FVF is a diplomatic and very easy smoke, with some depth, a smooth and full mouth-feel, and a Lakeland tang. If you are looking for a regular nicotine fix this will deliver reliably, if a bit stolidly. Samuel Gawith's Full Virginia Flake is a tradition and one of the very few remaining blends to offer this traditional smoking experience. It is one that every smoker should try, especially if they are looking for "their brand" to smoke daily. Thank heavens (and Kohlhase & Kopp) that SG is still around! Maybe this is for you. However, if you are looking for complexity or a broader flavor-spectrum, look elsewhere. Reccomendation? The Lakeland perfume is present from first light to aftertaste and that is difficult for some. This smoker prefers other Virginia blends (including SG's Best Brown, and others by McClelland, Comptons, McCranie's, C&D and Pease), but this is a must. Two stars.
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Peter Piper	05/22/2013	Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant
An absolute classic which thoroughly deserves its place at the top of the ratings. Astonishing depth of flavour for a single, uncased varietal, sweet smoking with a hint of peach. Take it easy, or the nicotine will send you reeling. Highly recommended.
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CoolPilot	05/18/2013	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is one of the best flakes of virginia ever smoked. The other best is the Brown Flake. It is imperative that the tobacco is left to dry for a week or two. A couple of days with tin fully open, and then some 10 days in the closed tin, just let it rest. If you smoke it before this time, it is likely to be quite hard to light it up and to keep it burning. It becomes an hateful experience. Normally, when dried sufficiently, the tobacco lights up and burns to ashes with no relighting needed. Otherwise, you are warned. It is not even worth trying to smoke the FVF out of the box just open. It simply won't work.
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Passion	05/13/2013	Strong	None detected	Full	Strong
I cannot say more than has already been said in the last 399 reviews of this blend. It is my absolute favorite Virginia and it ages better than any other blend I have tried. Truly sublime!
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Benjamin	04/26/2013	Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This stuff is fantastic. I've read reviews expressing varying difficulty in the preparation process. I read'em reviews while in eager anticipation of the post man with a nice sized box of this treat. So I got to researching because I really wanted to create the best of all possible worlds for this smoke to burn cool and deliciously.. Placed four Flakes one on top of the other.. cube cut into millimeter squares (easier than it sounds). Then I backed off and smoked some of go-to MC2015.. Waited about three hours, packed a bowl and stuffed the rest of my cubes in a Mason Jar. Man! No problems lighting.. little tamping. I've had to stop smoking on occasion because I'm sucking the dog out of this delicious stuff and it truly does require patience. Its so good it makes me feel guilty... I am in touch more than ever with our forefather's love relationship with Tobacco... Get you some. There are a couple of retailers that have it in stock at the moment (that's all you'll get from me) SG must have pushed a large shipment of their flakes.. Do not delay!
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Squidpanda	04/07/2013	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Full Virginia was the first pipe tobacco I experienced. I owe my love of pipe smoking to this tobacco. With a smooth and mild flavor it is great for first timers.
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RonPiper	04/05/2013	Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable
This was my first introduction to "Virginia's" years ago when I first took up the pipe. I was still in the newbie stage experimenting and finding my way searching for my smoke of choice. If I was going to stick around in this hobby I was going to have to try one of the best. I did and I got carpet bombed with nic. It made me go to bed early that evening. Now being a little wiser and having more patience I decided to revisit the flake that took me out. Much better result this time. Flavorful with a sublte sweetness I sipped slowly knowing the beast was in my bowl ready to nic me in the dirt. The end result was a very satisfying smoke. Pure tobacco nothing more added. Don't think it will make my rotation though, more of a vaper now. Nonetheless, I have several tins of this in my cellar because I found it increasingly hard to find. A definite must try. Makin' my wife rich one bowl at a time...
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rogermugs	04/04/2013	Medium	None detected	Very Full	Pleasant
Apart from being much too moist on opening the tin (a matter which probably aids the aging process), this is as good as it gets. Perfect taste, perfect sweetness, improves slowly throughout the bowl, never bites. I love SG, and thus far this is my favorite offering of theirs
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Quaffer	03/24/2013	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
It's been a while since I last smoked this stuff, but I felt I'd give it a review anyway. It's a relatively simple smoke, definitely a good everyday smoke, doesn't smoke hot, very smooth. Taste wasn't as sweet as other virginia's (such as Best Brown, which I found to be a very sweet virginia), but its very earthy and pretty full of flavor at times. I wasn't blown away by this tobacco enough to give it four stars, but I definitely enjoyed it while it lasted, so I'm gonna safely give it three stars because it is a generally well done tobacco.
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Demetri	03/17/2013	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
The highly acclaimed SG Full Virginia Flake - finally I got to try this nearly legendary tobacco. Before this my only experiences with Va flakes were McClelland Dark Star and Dunhill Flake. Dark Star is in a class by itself and to me defies comparison with anything else and so it is only the Dunhill to which I can make any comparison. My B&M charges eaxctly $.09 more for a tin of the Dunhill than he does for FVF. That 9 cents in my estimation buys a better blend in the Dunnie. Despite SG claiming the matured Virginias in FVF I found it to taste too green. Plain and simple. I do not expect it to be tang-less; it is a Virginia after all. But after the hot pressing I would have expected a more mellow blend, less tart. There is a difference to me between tart and tangy. I intend on exploring this genre more with other blenders (C&D's Simply Elegant series to be specific) shortly, but FVF did not exactly enthrall me. It would rate above two stars if I had not already given Dunhill Flake three.
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Wince	03/16/2013	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Had this for a month. Cannot get it to light. I rubbed the lot out to dry it and left it and it still wont light. When I can get it to light, the taste is ok but nothing like the honey tin note. I am guessing that some of the weight is moisture as my tin is quite 'light' on tobacco. I will put aside for a while longer and smoke another VA. Disappointing given this stuff aint cheap. I expect to be able to smoke stuff out of the tin sooner. Edit My first tin had to be returned to the tobacconists after the tin rusted up. My second tin fared no better, showing rust on the rim and, after a month of drying, has gone mouldy, despite my best efforts at storing. Pipe smoking is meant to be relaxing and if I buy a tin of tobacco, I expect the work involved to enjoy it to be minimal. When I was able to smoke, it was unremarkable. I have switched to Orlik Golden Sliced and am enjoying that far more
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Teamkazam	03/13/2013	Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant
Reviewing this is a little like throwing a glass of water into the ocean... But I will swim against the tide a little bit. Great smoke but is way too wet to smoke out of the tin. I rubbed the whole tin out and jarred it for a month. That seemed to help it in so many ways. It's wet, leathery and hard to keep lit. It demands almost too much attention. Once dried a bit it comes closer into the glowing reviews I have seen here. The last third of the smoke is amazing and tastes completely different then the first third. All-in-all, wonderful but falls short of perfect based on the prep needed. The one big disappointment - compared to the amount of tobacco you get, the tin is too big..... Fully rubbed out it was about half the quantity you would expect.
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Shoog	03/13/2013	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Comes very moist like stated a hundred times before. I recommend letting it air dry over night. Other than that there really is not anything negative I can say about this stuff. Sweet plum like tin note. Burns cool with lots of sweet creamy smoke. Never bites. Decent enough room note. The only reason for 3 stars instead of 4 is it does take some prep to get the most of this tobacco.
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Perique	02/09/2013	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Do we reallly need another review of this excellent tobacco? I say yes, because previous reviews are misleading. Is this most likely the best pure Virginia pipe tobacco out there today? Yes But this tobacco is, quite simple, a pain in the ass. Now I know there are those out there who relish in the thought that they are amongst the elite, the cognizanti who are anointed into the secret club of spending at least as much time preparing and tinkering and babysitting your tobacco as you do smoking it. But for those among us with other things going on in our lives besides pipe smoking, this tobacco is simply a pain in the ass: a pain in the ass to find, a pain in the ass to prep, a pain in the ass to keep lit. Flavors are amazing - the best pure VA you'll find. Final third of the bowl is a glorious experience, But getting there, to me, simply isn't worth it. Especially when there are so many amazing (and better behaved) flake tobaccos out there. So I'm going to go against the crowd 'wisdom' here and say this is a pain in the ass, MF'er of a tobacco. If that's your thing, this is your blend. That said: nic heavy, glorious final third of the bowl, undoubtedly the best pure VA out there. Does not bite (and it's a good thing too, because you'll have to puff this sucker to get it burning). Edit: I cube-cut some FVF, dried it, and tried to improve on my harsh-sounding though somewhat tongue-in-cheek review. The smokability was much improved by cube-cutting. Still a pain in the ass, as stated above. Still the best pure VA, as stated above. Worthy of my initial two-star review? Probably not. So I'm raising to three stars, the final star being deducted only for PIA factor.
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ERader	02/09/2013	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant
Simple, tasty, full of flavor, what our "poor fathers" smoked back in the day. Gets better with aging. Love it, A true classic!
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TheJayBee	01/30/2013	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Full	Pleasant
I love VA/PER more than pure VA, this is the only reason why I will not buy the Full Virginia Flake much, and buy instead the St. James Flake more frequently. Upon opening the tin, the smell is very similar to St. James', albeit a bit weaker (pot pourri, dried fruits). I found also it smelled a bit like bright honey. Anyway, very pleasant smell. The flake is wetter than G&H flakes, but less wet than St. James. I had to relight the bowl more times with the briars and I never had to relight with the meerschaum. The smoke is so mild, so darn cool, is sweet, and the room note it leaves is just amazing. No complaints from the smell this time! Recommended not only to VA lovers, but to every pipe smoker. This could be an everyday, all day smoke.
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Taraban	01/29/2013	Medium	Very Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
It's hard to imagine better Va!
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cakeanddottle	01/29/2013	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
Quite simply the best Va flake made. Unadulterated. You are tasting a process here, and one that no one else can duplicate. Full enough to be smoked all year round. Satisfying as tobacco, satisfying in sweetness, just plain satisfying. Tied for my very favorite tobacco.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 405 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >