The blackberries are at the forefront, the brandy in the background, and the vanilla almost undetectable, though quite noticeable in the room note.

This could be the holy grail of aromatics.

Upon opening the tin, I find a haphazard row of varying thickness flakes, probably due to being hand cut with a block feeder using the pull-down blade, which is hand fed, which accounts for the different thickness in each flake. But if not, it is a most serious breakdown in quality control.

The moisture was not that bad, the flakes were "gummy" as others had mentioned, but dry out rapidly.

Upon lighting you get blasted with blackberries, but as the bowl burns down, it melts this with the brandy and tobacco flavor quite well. This one actually tastes as it smells, though halfway down the bowl it does develop a character one could call "soapy," albeit it is nothing like a soap, more a creamy character.

This did not bite for me smoked straight out of the tin, and I plan to buy a few pounds for my cabinet. A real winner from Samuel Gawith!

"What shall I do," he cried to his trusted confidant, the tobacconist. "She Who Must Be Obeyed has decreed - no Latakia in her presence." The crafty old Sage winked his eye, and wisely produced a tin of legendary renown: "Firedance Flake!"

And so the man carefully pried open the lid. A strong scent of berries (blackberries - oh sweet memories of youth) and brandy greeted his senses. "But I've tried other aromatics, only to be crushed by the fickle flavor that is not true to scent." "Do not fear," said the Wise One. "This one is far truer..."

So the Man returned to his domicile. With fear in his heart and trembling in his fingers he loaded his trusted bent billiard with the flake called "firedance". A light - a puff -- and a smile!

Even She Who Must Be Obeyed was convinced. This is one aromatic that is true to its form. A fine Virginia with a sweet, lingering scent that will enhance any room. And peace and contentment returned.

The flakes in my tin have a pleasant aroma and are thick and hefty with moisture. I rub out the flakes or fold them, but I never dry them, and I have no problems. The berry/brandy/vanilla flavor is not syrupy, but delicate to elusive. The tobacco is sweet and combines with the flavoring to produce a cool burning, expansive and rich smoke. I frequent many Lakeland tobaccos, and I do not detect any "soap" in Firedance.

I have experimented by tossing in a wee bit of Brown Bogie or #4 Twist, and while the addition ratchets up the strength I think it also disturbs the balance. Firedance is a mild to medium Virginia with a subtle aromatic counterpart. I think it works when you go slow. If you like a mild to medium tobacco and are not put off by a dash of flavoring, then I recommend you try this.

The flakes are inconsistent in thickness with some slices almost becomming slabs. I will say that a quick fold and it is ready to pack, I had no problems with keeping it lit or with the moisture content. One match will most often do the trick.

All in all a decent smole for the aromatic smoker, though I tired of it before finishing the bag and I have moved on to other things right now.

Things went awry from the getgo. I'm usually impressed with the flake quality in SG tins, but this one looked like wet flank steak slices arranged by a blind man. It looked, actually, vaguely chewed.

The disconnect between the advertised "Blackberries, Brandy & Vanilla" and the real tin aroma has been mentioned by everyone. I was looking forward to the berries and though they were there, they were buried beneath more intense smells. This tobacco is floral for sure, but it's a vaguely unhealthy smell, too, something like a rose consumed by powdery mildew. My first instinct was to sprinkle some garden sulfur on those mangy flakes and fill a bowl with something else.

Since then, I've pushed through a few bowls of this stuff and every time I smoke it, I feel like I'm doing myself potential harm. Maybe I've just learned that I don't enjoy smoking something that looks like a half-chewed flank steak and smells like a sick rose.

1/3 of the bowl is heavily flavorful with heavy vanilla casing.

2/3 of the bowl is still heavy in flavor with some tobacco flavor coming through.

3/3 is burnt ash, but thats aromatic for you.

If you are in to VA/PER or ENGLISH,stay away from this blend. It is to aromatic for me at times and I am an avid aromatic fan.

I find the natural sweet Virginian tobacco taste is well augmented by the rich berry and vanilla casing. I like Fire Dance quite a bit.

I seldom smoke aromatic tobaccos: it took me two months to finish the tin. Fire Dance was much better than many aromatics I have tried. It maintained its tobacco taste while satisfying my sweet tooth. And it didn?t flavor my pipe! If I were a regular aromatic smoker this would be in my rotation.

You get a faint whiff of berry from the tin but that's about it.

I guess it's cheaper to sell water than tobacco, considering how soggy the flakes were in the tin when I opened it.

It's got a sort of floral aroma and taste, like a straight virginia with a weird top note.

Hugely better than Devil's Holiday, but that don't make it great either.

Won't be buying this again.

Although I have just taken the decision to stop the experiments (because of Bob?s Chocolate and Campanille Mixture), this amazing mix came up on 25/12/07.

Blackberry? and something more. I can surely smell the blackberry but there is a British element in it. I left a dose out in the fresh air to get dry for one hour before I try it. It is not heavy and I don?t want to discourage anybody who has addicted preferences. It has something different which I don?t know whether it is the tonquin for which I read and I don?t know what it is or a very real flavor of vanilla.

They say that Samuel Gawith uses natural flavors?.. Hmmmm? this tobacco makes me believe it. Dry and easy to be smoked till the last gram in the bowl and it does not warm it up.