Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake

Don't buy this! It's terrible... Please leave it alone, I will buy it and take it off the market so you are not offended by it!

Dark and rich this is one of my favourite evening smokes. When I get a tin I just rub out and leave out to dry on a plate for four hours. After this you are good to go. Very relaxing with the faint Tonquin bean flavour floating in.

This, in my opinion, is the best Virginia-Kentucky I ever tasted. Being Italian, Kentucky leaves remind me of Toscano Cigars and I never liked it on pipe tobaccos, with the exception of Brown N 4. So, I approached my first tin of 1792 full of doubts but then... I opened the tin and.... OH BOYS! Thick and soft big dark brown flakes, moisted, full VA-Ke aroma with a scent of Tonquin bean (fava tonka which is a real funny thing to say in italian...) and, very far in the background, scotch whisky. It s a flake that first must be grinded and then left at least one half hour or more to dry up. Load your pipe very loose, leaving a bag of air on the bottom and lit it up. A thick and creamy smoke hits your brain. The aroma is full since the first puffs and it evolves during the whole smoking, leaving soft grey ash. Enjoy it in the evening, or after a good lunch or you'll get an overodse of Vitamin E. Of course, I smoke lot of different mixtures, but a tin of 1792 must always be at my disposal!

Had read about this blend and was interested to see if it was all true. Pouch note is soapy / perfumey but I did not find this unpleasant. Flakes are thick and quite tough. I took a couple of goes to rub it out. By then it was like a crumble cake.

Into the bowl and an easy light. And wow this stuff is nice. Plentiful smoke and flavor in spades. Strangely I did not taste the perfume/soap after the first couple of puffs. For me the nicotine hit was high. Perhaps too high as I'm a two bowls a week man.

I loved it. But will have to treat it with some caution owing to the high nicotine content.

This is a fantastic blend that needs to breath in its tin for two weeks or else the tonquin is all you will taste! Full in taste and strength, 1792 will kick your butt if not respected. Not advisable for the novice smoker or the aromatic crowd! However if a great tasting butt kicking baccy is your kind of blend than get ya some!

This is nirvana for pipe smokers. A masterpiece from Samuel Gawith. I smoked a lot of this in previous years and recently found someone who actually carries this in stock and I made a death grip on some. Sam Gawith tobaccos are damn hard to get. Rarer than a two headed chicken. The aroma is super enticing and hard to describe. Tantalizing! The Virginia flavored with the tonquin bean is simply superb. God, how I love this stuff. An unequaled blend like no other. I do not find this tobacco as deadly powerful as some here describe. And the nic whomp is perfect. Guess that makes me a hard core smoker with cast iron lungs. Ah well, I am back in heaven now that I have been able to secure some.

Well this is pipe tobacco as it should be. Rich,cool burning, full of taste. Tobacco from the past, from days without all the modern nonsense. Dark fired Kentucky married with some flue cured Virginia cased with some sort of casing. Casing itself is more prominent in tin than in smoke. Need's drying time. I usually open tin, putting lid back on ans let the tin rest for few weeks.

This is a tobacco I was very much looking forward to tasting as I had the hunch that it would become a favourite, so when at last I was able to procure a tin I broke it open straight away. I was greeted by thick cut dark, almost black, flakes which had crystals formed on them. Very ancient-looking. Unfortunately I do not know how old my tin was...

Tin note was interesting to say the least. It smelled like a moist decaying mouldy heap of grass and forest leaves with notes of dark earth and manure. Quite appealing, but I was expecting a tonca bean odour which is so obvious in Sam's Flake, but here I could not detect at all and was a little unhappy about that. I then smoked a small bowlful and jarred the rest. I have to say that my tin did not come at the usual Gawith moisture, it was moist but not very much. My first experience with this tobacco, on an empty stomach, I must add, was hindered by constant hiccups. Not a great success, rather disappointing, especially after such anticipation and high expectations.

I came back to it the next day to find the jar steamed up from the moisture, but upon opening the odour was much closer to what I imagined it should be: still decadent but with a discernible vanilla-like note from the tonca amidst deep earthy tones. I think I could also discern the whisky, very faintly though.

So, I dried another bowlful (for a little while - it does not need much drying despite the steaming up of the jar) and took my chances for a second time. It needed a few matches to light, but then on magic started to unfold. 1792 is a deeply flavored dark smoky concoction supported by a decadent musky and musty sweetness that speaks of ageing. As the bowl progresses it becomes peppery, so much so, that I almost suspect there is some Perique in it.

Smoking 1792 flake feels like you smoke a centuries forgotten tobacco that was found in a dark dungeon. This is really something else! It needs a few relights to sustain it but nothing really fussy. It also smokes much drier than other S. Gawith tobaccos and considerably faster than FVF. As to it's notorious strength, it is indeed strong but not overwhelmingly so, at least for me and only when with a full stomach. Room note is smoky (presumably from the dark firing) and strong but I find it tolerable.

A truly exceptional tobacco, a relic from another age, which needs to be smoked contemplatively. If you can tolerate strong tobacco, this is a must!

Update 5/27/15.

I have now tried all three different ways this flake comes: Tin, 250g Box, 1lb Box. (Still haven't got my hands on a cob plug).

Thought it would be helpful to give thoughts on the three varieties:

Tin The tin has short, very thin strips of flake. Big lakeland hit on opening. Most flake-like of the three offerings.

250g Longer flakes and slightly thicker. They tend to break up much easier than in the tin. Much milder essence. Comes wrapped in plastic which is nice because it remains moist. This is my favorite package.

1lb Long and THICK flakes. Thick like country style bacon. Beautiful box, looks like they just chopped up the plug and left it together. Dense. However, this comes with only a paper wrapping in the box and it comes BONE DRY. Needed to hydrate several times to get it where I need it. Flakes MUST be broken up to use, not much of a fold and stuff option here due to the thickness. That said, I have smoked it just stuffed. It's like trying to light briquettes, but once going a very slow cool burn. Again, not a significant essence here since it's been breathing.

There ya go.

Original: Favorite tobacco, bar none.

I smoke this all day, every day. There is something about the aroma that just does it for me. As a heavy smoker, it's also got the nicotine hit that I need, without giving me a buzz, but I will say the only thing stronger I've smoked is pure cube-cut burley from 4 noggins, which does knock me out.

Some tips:

Lighting: yeah, keeping a bowl lit can be difficult, but only if you use the wrong pipe. I can't stress enough using a Dunhill Group 1-2. Personally, I use a clay pipe with a size 2 bowl. Lasts about 15-20 minutes, but it will absolutely stay lit in this pipe, possibly because the bowl itself gets so hot. Another advantage of the clay, is that if you sit near a candle or a gas flame, you can just dip the tip of the pipe into the flame and keep the light going. I also use a Mark Twain cob sometimes and it stays very well lit in there.

Moisture: don't dry this sucker out like some have recommended. Use it and keep it how it comes in the tin. It will burn hot and harsh if it's dry. You need those oils and the steam burning away to really enjoy this one. Using the right pipe will eliminate needless drying.

Bulk/Tin: I've smoked both and prefer the bulk. It's more of a broken flake in bulk, just easier to manage all around. However, the tin isn't exactly perfect flake either (compared to say HH Old Dark and Fired). I like the raw nature of it.

I just can't say enough about this smoke. Clearly I like my smoke strong, and there's plenty of strong tobacco out there, but this stuff is just gold. GOLD!