Brown Flake is a flavor-forward mixture that is naturally sweet and honest to the palate. The mouthfeel is on the full side, but that in no way means bite. This is smooth stuff, but you know you're smoking it. You also may notice a slightly sweet aftertaste. Very nice.

Brown Flake is easy to smoke. It burns nicely and remains interesting to the end. Highly recommended.

Initially, there is a strong "Lakeland" flavor which diminishes quickly to a very subtle, sometimes absent, note. Present througout the smoke is a distinctly British, but also clearly Virginia, sweetness. At the same time, there is a spiciness. Not spicy like pepper, but more like...baking spices (whatever they are!).

I find Brown Flake, well, mouth-watering. It's changes are slow and subtle, and its complexity is minimal. This is not, for me, boring, but rather satisfying. Like eating a slice of pumpkin pie.

Also noteworthy is minimal bite. Savored slowly, it is um...savory! Puffed hard, it will still return flavor with no bitterness, but far less chewy goodness.

As best as I can tell, the room note is not unpleasant. So, I find it a good smoke when wandering about the house, expecting company, or sitting in the park when I have a bit of time on my hands.

I find it rather earthy and musty by virginia standards-- and not quite as sweet as I had anticipated, given my experiences with Samuel Gawith's Full Va Flake (which I find almost cloying, depending on the pipe I smoke it in) and Best Brown to which this is often compared. I will continue to smoke it off and on-- perhaps I've missed something in these first four or five bowls.

All in all, there's nothing particularly wrong with this-- it's not at all unpleasant. I just find that there are other virginias (including some made by Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.), that I find to be more interesting.

U/S Brown Flake came to me as a broken flake with a pouch aroma reminiscent of freshly cut hay. I love the "grassy" smell of "un-fooled-around-with" virginias. The Malawi burley is not evident in the pouch aroma (at least as far as my allergy ravaged schnoz can tell), but if you inspect the broken flakes closely enough, you can see the blondish strands.

U/S Brown Flake lights easily and stay lit without much attention. The initial flavor is a musty/grassy/sweet tang that interplays with the faintest of florals that G & H is known for. As soon as I detected the floral in the background, I braced myself for the soapiness that often accompanies the florals. I am glad to say that this never developed and the floral essence dissipated quickly.

From that point I was left with a lightly sweet and clean burning smoke that burned down nicely to a mottled grey ash. The spicy aroma that often comes with VA's kicked in about 1/2 way down the bowl - right about the same time that the sugars started to develope. While this tobacco blend never kicks in with your sweet tooth, it stays lightly sweet and, thanks to the Malawi Burley, is a very satisfying smoking experience. No need for handfuls of pipe-cleaners while smoking this.

G & H Brown Flake DGT's very well. I might even suggest this as standard modus operandi for this good tobacco. Highly recommended.

Store a pound of this away - or more.

The initial taste is full, with a nice, almost leathery/creamy texture on my palate, and a slight, pleasing, peppery taste. As I smoked down the bowl, a faint sweet note began to accompany the full rich taste.

The taste left me feeling satisfied and content. This is not what I would consider an all-day smoke, rather, and end of day, "All is Well," smoke.

I look forward to rubbing this flake out on my next turn with it to see if changes will be noted.

This is so rich to me that I feel like I have had a full meal with I'm finished a bowl. (Now it doesn't have the spice or effects of the extreme SG 1792 dark flake.) I've been smoking this brown flake blend for about a year exclusively in a Cavicchi bent rhodesian and still later in a Rinaldo bent bulldog, both large pipes, and I plan to smoke it in more pipes rotating soon.

It is cool, very rich, dry, and steady burning, with an earthy tobacco flavor right to the edge. I find that it does develope an edge it I break the flake up much, so it is best just to break the bottom a little and to twist or push a good portion (or all) of a flake into your bowl for maximum coolness. The flakes are quite long. The finish is slightly stronger. Smoke it slowly.

This blend is available from several sources in the U.S. in bulk, so you can start with 50 grams and work up to more.

It doesn't compare with SG's Best Brown, which is more of a medium and scented (I like GH's better), but seems comparable to Walnut Flake (maybe stronger but not richer) and Germain's Brown Flake (not quite as full but rich and tasty -- still testing).

I also tried a few bowls of the GH's Scented Brown Flake for the semi-aromatic buffs, which is the same formula, with "english flavors", and is a bit on the sweet side (but I didn't smoke it enough to review it fully). So far I prefer the unscented Brown Flake. I'll stick with that one for now. How could they make it any better?