Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake

My experience with this was much like that with Full Virginia Flake by the same company, though my personal preference still goes to FVF. Nevertheless, the quality is more or less identical so it deserves the same rating.

Openning the tin, one is greeted by the same jerky-like flakes of varying size and thickness, with the same leathery consistency as FVF. The tin aroma was reminiscent of citrus and worchestershire sauce.

The flakes smoked best 3 weeks or more after sitting in an opened tin, which I keep in a large jar with other opened tins. Drying the flakes out quickly right after openning the tin resulted in a very grassy taste and it seemed impossible to get the moisture just right. I found after 3 weeks the flakes mellowed out and no additional drying was required for a nice smoke. The flavor went from grassy to woodsy and finally ended with a sweet worchestershire flavor as I went through the tin. I did not ever reach a point where the quality leveled off or declined, so this should be good for extensive aging in bulk form.

Finally, because of the moisture there is a relatively small number of smokes per 50g. tin, 15 for my pipe rotation, just like FVF. But the tins are relatively inexpensive so I think it balances out to be a nice value, though not as nice as the latakia mixtures by the same company.

I could easily see this in my rotation along with FVF as a slight change of pace. Sam Gawith knows how to process virginia leaf.

I am becoming quite a fan of SG flakes. This is the third I have tried so far and ranks a close second to FVF for me.

Big rough cut flakes, mid and pale browns. The tin aroma is all Virginia - somewhere between FVF and Rattray's Marlin Flake. I had a very strong impression that I was going to get a mild smoke from this. As I have found with other SG flakes, The moisture level is a bit on the high side and the flakes benefit from a short dry out of the tin.

A rip, fold and pack rather than a full rub-out for me. This is another I find hard to get going, but it is worth it. The strength and nicotine is much higher that I expected. Coupled with some complex flavours and a nice creamy smoke I get a very satisfying experience - actually more so than FVF, though I prefer that tobacco's flavours. Once I have it going, I get a good clean burn to pale ash right to the bottom of the bowl. Nice constant flavours too, with no sourness at the end like so many others. The taste is all Virginia - no additives and with the sweetness and brightness of a very good quality tobacco.

Little tounge bite, though it can get very hot if you go too fast. Best sipped in a relaxed way while enjoying the experience. Four stars.

A nice steamed flake, probably the SG unscented signature. Tin aroma is of fresh hay and light sweetness, packs easy, rubs easy if you prefer it that way. However I find it loses a little something when rubbed, and prefer the flake folded and sipped, with a clean palate for best results.

Best Brown Flake is a nice everyday smoking tobacco. It is well priced for what you get. Upon opening the tin, the moist brown flakes look appetizing. I needed to leave this one open for a day or two because it was so moist.

This one lights easily and is very consistent throughout. Nice classic Virginia taste. Best Brown Flake is very easy on the tongue no bite. Similar in character to Orlik Golden Sliced. This one gets 3 Stars, because it is nothing out of the ordinary.

Based on the reviews, I was expecting BBF to be something of an "also ran", compared to Full Virginia Flake. It's not. It is at least as good; to my tastes, it's better.

I smoked my first tin of BBF and reordered more faster than any other tobacco I've ever had. It quickly became my go-to, all-day blend, relegating others to the "special occasion" category.

In addition to the wonderful taste and burning qualities (as good as anything on the planet), it is a terrific value, especially in bulk.

For those who adore the sweet tobaccos, they will rather be disappointed. It is not very strong; it is not easy to be smoked, especially in the morning with coffee. It smells beautifully, when you open it, it burns up well, till the end, it doesn?t warm up the bowl and it doesn?t burn the tongue. When I kindled it, I had and attack to the palate and after I led him get dry ? NOT MUCH ? only one night, I thought in the morning that it is a very good and honest tobacco. For the fans of VIRGINIA, it must be one of the best tobaccos. It does not have any sweetening flavor. Clean as all SAMUEL GAWITH' S. Something strange happens to me. After a bowl of BBF, I get pleased even more with the mix which I have prepared with Sir Walter, Pal O' Mine and DTM Käpt'n Brammer´s

This is a very mild flake that required drying before a decent smoke could be had. The quality of the leaf is apparent and the presentation is perfect, yet the flavour is ephemeral. After trying it in a number of pipes it never revealed its secrets. Perhaps it doesn?t have any. Too plain-spoken for my tastes.

My first review of this blend was posted about 3 years ago and since then I have become much more experienced and have developed patience and increased skill. I thought I needed to give BBF another shot since I really didn't do well by it last go 'round...I rated it as average and gave two stars.

This time I picked up a tin at my local smoke shop in Germantown MD and proceeded down the street to homebase.

When I got this home it was as I remembered, moist, had a hay-like scent, promising I thought. I let this stuff dry out for about 2 hours and packed it in my Savinelli Tadpole with the broken up strips placed in length-wise.

This lit well, once dried, and smoked with a little bite...no big deal. Though this was not the easiest to kep lit, I liked this blend...it produced a moderate volume of smoke, a nice smokey flavor, no sign of lakeland soap and it gains greater depth toward the end of the bowl. Minimal relights and this was a much better experience than 3 years ago. 3 Stars.

This is a truly enjoyable blend. Why two stars? Well... I really enjoy smoking this, a lot. I'm about halfway through my first tin. However, I will smoke one bowl of this. The end begins to taste a little sour. Then a couple of hours later I'll load up some Prince Albert, or really, any other blend - and all I can taste is sourness. I have pinpointed it to this blend in particular and the sourness lasts for at least two days - yep, even the next day PA tastes like lemons and it turns me off to smoking.

I have no idea why this blend does this to me and I'm sure it's due to some weird body chemistry issue. When it isn't sour at the end of the bowl it is truly enjoyable. But I will not be buying more of this as that sourness ruins my pipe smoking for at least a couple of days.