Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake

I am trying to like this but I find it smokes very wet, perhaps I am doing something wrong?

I picked this up from a bulk jar at Leavitt and Peirce over in Cambridge, and I'm only guessing this is the same stuff.

Mine came a little dry, but rehydrating it produced the most wonderful smelling tobacco ever. Plums and citrus. Picked apart the flakes and stuffed it in a medium kirsten, lit up pretty well.

The flavor is good, if monochromatic. Earthy with little hints of sweetness here and there. Definitely less bright than a yellow VA, as would be expected from something described as 'brown'. Sweet sidestream, but ashy room note.

I'm still up in the air on this one. I really looked forward to trying it (perhaps I'll get a tin straight from SG and see), but it didn't live up to my admittedly high expectations. It's not bad at all—far from it—but it doesn't tickle my fancy the way others do. When I'm done with my little stockpile, I just might grab some more to keep around.

I love the flavor. But the damn stuff burns me every time. I have a full pound. that's been aging for 8 years. Still bites me - DAMN!

I find this flake to be pleasant tasting although it is monochromatic and become flat and boring within a few few bowls. It has a pretty good bite potential being a Virginia. I eventually have almost a pound of this stuff away because I just had no desire to smoke it anymore. To me it lacked flavor and offered nothing to make me want to smoke it again. If I had to describe it in one word it would be "boring".

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.

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.

Samuel Gawith is probably my favorite of the two Lake District houses of blending. Many of their blends are a regular part of my long range rotation and several make the short range list as well. On any given day you are likely to find me smoking a Samuel Gawith blend at some point.

Appearance: A leathery flake of varying thickness mostly tan and chestnut brown flake with a smattering of yellows and dark brown mottling. Very pliant and easily manipulated to match your own smoking style.

Tin aroma: The first thing that is apparent when opening a tin of Best Brown Flake is simply natural smelling steamed pressed Virginia. There is a faint (very faint) floral characteristic, slightly fruit like and quite common in Lake District blends, but absent is any top dressing or scenting in this mixture. There are the expected hay-like tones with deepening fruity notes, promising a no nonsense Virginia blend of high quality.

This tobacco seems too moist to me, I decided to air it for at least ½ hour before smoking another bowl. I general, it performs well straight out of the tin, however, ½ hour's drying time helps enhance the burn rate slightly maximizing flavor delivery. As with most flake tobaccos I simply take several flakes together, fold them in half and insert them length-wise into the bowl trimming off the excess. I find it has a much better burn this way and makes for a long enjoyable smoke. For this review, I?ve chosen an L'anatra Canadian which is dedicated to Virginia flakes.

This one like several other Gawith offerings can be a little tough to get going at first, yet once fully lit provides a self maintaining bowl nearly every time. The very slight floral aroma noted in the tin aroma is there for the first few minutes of the bowl each time, but rapidly fades as the Virginia begins ?stoving itself? and deepening in flavors and balance.

Mid Bowl: Approaching mid-bowl, the fullness tends to build this mixture lacks complexity, something I find disappointing, the Virginia has plenty of depth and character yet there is little or no variation in flavors or range. While it is rich and deepens very nicely, it just ends up being rather bland too me. This is probably a very desirable characteristic for some, but I prefer a more nuanced smoking experience even in ?simple blends?.

Home Stretch: As end of the bowl approaches, I find that it becomes slightly more intense, yet remains almost monochromatic in flavors. The only variation being an occasional return of the ?floral property? noted early in the bowl There is a sweetness which builds slowly over all and at times become almost too much for my preferences. None of this is to say that I really find any ?fault? with Best Brown Flake, just that there are many other things I prefer.

Supplemental Notes: This is a top quality mixture which is sure to please many, might even be their ?huckleberry? it's just not mine. Rating for those interested in such things **

This is my first review of a tobacco. After trying 3/4 bowls of BBF I realise I find it a little bland but this maybe due to smoking Marlin Flake regularly. The flakes were moist from the bag so I set to dry a little but probably not quite long enough as I had quite a few relights. First impressions were not too bad but I found the flavour didn't improve much throughout the bowl it just seemed to remain constant. On the upside I didn't suffer any tongue bite with this and I found it a mild smoke, probably good for an introduction to Va's. I'll perservere with the baccy I have left but will probably not invest in more.