Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake

I love well aged blends but I always review “new” tobacco. Unfortunately, in this case, due to the extreme difficulty of obtaining SG blends here in the US, this review is based on a two four year old tins. That's the bad news; the good news is that age serves this flake really well. Sweet with soft edges, Best Brown is forgiving for a puffer like me. Now that the tin has aged, much of the tin scent of “hay” has been replaced with raisons and figs. I am one of the few that isn't a big fan of FVF, even when FVF is aged. I find BB to be a far more enjoyable smoke. It needs some dry time, but it's worth the wait as it burns cleanly with the flavors developing throughout the course of the bowl. I don't find it to gather a much more strength as the bowl progress's. I have smoked BB in various size bowls and folded as well as rubbed out and my choice is a smaller bowl, fully rubbed out. I guess I'm just going to have to “suffer” though a few more aged tins! Highly Recommended

This flake is a mighty fine example of pure Virginia tobacco. No flavorings, toppings, and no casing. It is not as one-dimensional as some say, rather a straight forward Virginia flake tobacco that I smoke any time of day or night.

I do not dry this out too much as I prefer higher moisture content in flakes/plugs. This flake ages and maintains its character well.

I smoke this in a group 4/5 straight billiard.

I give this a 4 star recommendation as I find this a perfect example of top-notch manufacturing, flavor, consistency, and taste.

...a pipe is to be savored...

This tobacco forces me to calm down, to sit back and focus on nothing but enjoying my time with the pipe. My first go with best brown was not very memorable. It came off a little bland. There was nothing off putting or harsh about it, just a regular smoke... Fast forward a year and though I still have a lot to learn about my pipe and tobacco, my acquired experience in that year has afforded me incredible smokes with SG Best Brown.

I prefer BB rubbed out and dried for at least several hours. The moisture level is usually quite high and I prefer my tobacco on the drier side and I've found BB performs wonderfully at these conditions. From the charring light it delivers a juicy sweetness! Not exactly an in your face sweetness but a lovely slight roasted malty sweetness. Reminds me of a bock beer that has nice caramel undertones. When smoked slow, this stuff really comes through clean and pungent in a good way. I can smoke a bowl in the house and the wife doesn't notice as long as I do so a few hours before she comes home and I find the room note quite nice, but I also love this tobacco.

One negative I have found is that I have a hard time smoking this down to the bottom. I almost always have a little dottle at the bottom of the bowl, and this tends to get a little acrid if I push it or try to salvage what tobacco remains in my pipe. I believe this is probably due to my inexperience rather than the tobacco devolving into a lack luster over stoved mess. But I still give this blend 4 stars, the first 2/3 of the bowl is lovely! Highly recommend this and if smoked slow it will reward you!

I know... it just depends on what you are looking for and what you want out of it. BBF is an old staple of mine. It is not multi-dimensional nor complex, but it is a reliable smoke that always tastes good and sometimes delicious. It's one you can go to when you don't want to think about which tobacco you'd like to smoke next. It's a good companion. Like a faithful dog, it doesn't require much attention but will reward it. For that: four stars.

However, again like an old dog, if it is too wet you don't want to get too near it (although it does smell better). It often needs a considerable amount of drying. I remove it from the tin, rough it up and leave it open in a jar overnight, then cap it and put it away for awhile, checking it, and if necessary, opening the jar again for awhile. Once it dries it is an easy smoke anytime, and stays fresh in the jar for onks. It's also a good staple for the 'cellar' as it gains with age.

BBF is a classic. It is a no nonsense, easy-does-it flake, with which every smoker should be acquainted.

P.S. Sometimes I think this may contain a smidgeon of Turkish (Izmir) leaf... Don't pick it up on the tongue as much as I catch an occasional whiff in the air...

Where has this Virginia been all my life? Admittedly... I smoke straight Virginias not too often, but if I want something smoother, milder, I'll grab for some straight VA.

Inside the tin the typical moist Gawith Flake. Long, and not too densly pressed. Tin note reminding me of oat, bread and honey, with maybe some citrus. Drying it out for right amounts of time is key imho...find your personal sweet spot and maximize the joy.

Once smoldering Best Brown holds up to its name...it's one of the best Virginias I had so far! Oaty, bready, slightly honey sweet and spicy and definetly some earthiness to it. It only has a minor citrusness and fruit tone to it as I perceive it...very rich aroma. After a while I also get a hay-ish dimension out of it. Toast-y and creamy. Not the simple "grassy/hay-ish and citrusy" Virginia one might think of when thinking of some other straight Virginia...but that's what I love about BBF and straight Virginias...bready, oaty, earthy dimension, with a rather dark, rich and spicy character! BBF has it all..

It also reminds me a lot of St. James Flake minus the Perique. Similar tin aroma, similar Virginia taste. Bet they use the same leafs for the two.

I'm overwhelmed by its beauty and aroma...4/4 stars, instant favorite...one of the few Virginias I'll keep at hand any times.

The comparisons are Gawith's own Full Va Flake and probably Macbaren's HH Pure Virginia flake. Hot pressed and unadorned. Best Brown is lighter in color than FVF and a bit sweeter and brighter in taste. Its a very fine virginia flake, no question. It maybe hasnt the complexity of FVF but its got its own appeal...a subtle sweetness and its also an easier smoke to repeat during the day. Pure virginias on the market run from Buteras dark stoved and several of the heavily stoved McClelland flakes all the way to Pease's Union Square and then Wessex Brigade Dark Campaign flake. Or Astely's 44. The latter two have a bit more casing (that is, IF best brown has any...its hard to tell...but most tobacco made for pipe smoking have at least a tiny bit). I rate BB among the very best and honestly i smoke it more often than I do the FVF. Its a classic. Been around forever and is always popular.

First I love Samuel Gawith for it's total lack of marketing. I mean, look at the name of this! Look at the "tin art". I can even imagine they creating the name:

- How we will be calling this new blend?

- Well, what is the cut?

- Flake.

- What is it color?

- Brown.

- Do we have a better brown flake than this in our production?

- No.

- So I think that "Best Brown Flake" suits good.

- Brilliant! How inventive!

Ok, on to the tobacco itself. If you're expecting good mannered, well-disposed squared flakes, sorry! You'll find dark, thick and uneven flakes thrown in the most messy, almost offensive way. But the smell will make you forgive all this. It's clearly well aged.

We'll, I'll love flakes and I love to fold'n'stuff them, so my first smoke was terrible, I just find impossible to fold'n'stuff this, it´s too thick at least for me. So next I tried to rub it (crucify me). And when I rubbed this I found out how pressed it was! You can rub this forever, there's always another piece of flake that turns in mountains of tobacco. I also tried to slice it in tiny cubes. These two ways it worked much better.

Is it delicious, intriguing, and every other fancy description already used on the others reviews? For sure. But for me is also very, very unpredictable, and that makes me smoke a little tense and spoils a part of the pleasure. Anyway, a classic that deserves to be smoked by everyone.

A very pleasant all natural smoke, which goes to show what can be accomplished by the fine fellows of Kendal using nothing but Virginia leaf and a hundred or so year old steam press... I bought some of this to break in a new Northern Briars pipe, and it's doing the job admirably. I've also had a couple of bowls in a Virginia dedicated Canadian, and suspect this is a tobacco I'll be buying quite a bit more of.

The principle aroma that leapt out of the new tin was ketchup! Sweet, malty aromas of horse food and hay accompanied this, and I was transported back to my childhood, helping in the stable.

The flakes in this tin (Sam Gawiths flakes can be very variable) are pretty thick brown belts of tobacco, somewhat ragged as usual, rather too long for the tin, so folded into it. For all their untidy presentation they look appetising!

I rubbed it well for the new pipe, and with some crumbs on top for kindling, lighting can be a one match affair. It has a moderate natural sweetness at the tip of the tongue, flavours of malt loaf, toasted wholemeal bread and butter to start with give way to a black tea astringency as the bowl progresses: Turkish Ceylon tea with sugar to be precise. The flavour is at the same time mild and satisfying, and reveals its subtleties when smoked slowly. The sidestream smoke smells like hay and toast.

It smokes very long and slow even when well rubbed, and a few relights are needed to burn the last of it, which retains its pleasant flavour. The marginally increased need for matches could well be down to the lack of cake in the new pipe, but this is developing nicely after most of a tin of Best Brown Flake. It burns cool and does not seem to be capable of bite. The dose of nicotine is satisfactory, but this isn't a powerful tobacco - ideal for long slow smokes.

Overall, a fine tobacco. It has subtleties but isn't overly complex, so to me it's ideal for studying, it can keep me happy for a couple of hours while I'm working without demanding too much attention or input. Highly recommended to students and Virginia lovers alike.

For my palate this is the best straight Virginia available. Best Brown Flake is a rich, straightforward, mild-medium strength Virginia. It has a good amount of sweetness with honey and citrus flavors. Throughout the bowl it becomes grassy and earthy with some occasional spice mostly through the nose. I never noticed a topping as much as maybe a mild citrus or honey casing. Highly recommended.