Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake

I finally got my hands on a tin of this from my local B&M. Upon first opening the tin you may very well need to dry this out for a spell. Right out of the tin it will need some coaxing in staying lit, but once it does it produces a fine smoking experience. This is a straight up VA and being such may prove a bit boring for some. But like all SG products, this is a high quality leaf being used. It is thinly cut, so should be no problem in stuffing and smoking straight away. The nicotine level is just right for me and it burns down to a nice ash at the bottom of the bowl. I would say this is one of the better VA blends out there, definitely recommended.

Best Brown Flake is simply delicious to me, maybe even more than FVF and more easy going. Aromas of great brown VA, almost as sweet as chocolate. Great tobacco taste. Great complexity. 3.5 stars.

Wow! Great Virginia in a flake form. We see that a lot, but this one is something to remember. It doesn't dry out too easily, and it still smokes well when it does. I have had multiple tins of this great Virginia flake and have enjoyed every bit. The room note... who cares. The taste bud experience... well, I have to say that I will be buying more. Samuel Gawith is great at making exceptional blends, and this one is no exception.

The sister to SG's FVF, it's second only to FVF when it comes to straight Virginia flakes for me right now. Sweet and flavorful, beautiful, subtle, raisin bread depth! A little initial drying does assist the experience. Just great, sweet, molasses, raisin, Virginia leaf. The pure tobacco taste, and perhaps "deeper", fuller, sweeter than most Virginia blends.... Can't put my finger exactly on it, but I prefer this blend to others most of the time, perhaps like the comparison of brown sugar to white-- there's more flavor there.

This stuff is great for everyday smokes. Like another review stated, it's one dimensional so you'll be getting pretty much the same experience every time you smoke it. But I don't mind.

50g rectangle tin.

Tin aroma:Sour citrus/sour plum,stewed fruits-very juicy, fruity, fruit salad-sour apples.

Contents:Golden brown tigers eye streaky gold,ginger & brown rough cut stringy uneven flakes.(i don't really care about presentation as long as its good baccy)looks like loose sold but in a tin.

Quite moist to touch,i have to admit i was expecting a darker or "un-chocolate" flake to be honest-like their chocolate flake offering.

This is quite wine-like,fruity wine,and reminds me at this point of a flake equivalent to Dunhill Royal Yacht's ready rubbed.

Considering its moisture it takes light ok(i rubbed it out into a semi stringy flakey ball and just loaded,feels like grass).

First off i get a bright citrusy virginia,followed by a darker burn't orange(alegorically speaking),more mature virginias, or darker maybe redder virginia.It has slight tang but definately no bite.

Winey and slightly sour (definately no bitterness)but not so multi fruity in the mouth at this point.In my mind this baccy has been re-christened "golden flake",it tastes more gold than brown in my mind.

Smoking this in an old vintage 'Park-Drive' aluminium stem system pipe with moisture trap ala Falcon style:This pipe has a very slim @ 2.0-2.5mm draught diameter smoke tube which concentrates the taste nicely for the virginias in this juicy sweet and lemony sour virginia flake.There maybe some small burly in here but i am mainly getting virginias.

Tasting a cross between a number of already familiar smokes in my current possetion;Dunhill light flake,Dunhill Royal Yacht,Gold Block(when smoked in the ronson 3 way),Capstan Ready Rubbed,Peterson 3ps.

I like it already;think of it as a Dunhill medium flake but ultimately Samuel Gawith - it has the SG meaty and full pastry butchers pie factor;think of earthy new potatoes;rich but medium,not a dark flake.

I get hints of cloudy bitter lemonade in here,naturally sweet and definately unsweetened - perhaps like a pancake with lemon and no sprinkled sugar.

Bitter lemonade seems to be my best alegorical description to describe the taste and aroma,perhaps sour apple,or lemon grass -lemony apple.

A darker golden brown and more forgiving equivalent to Capstan Ready Rubbed - this is lemon as opposed to lemon peel(but i do like Capstan a lot btw)aromatically closer to peterson 3ps overal;for all the lemon going on in here it doesn't have any soap factor and hasn't once implied lemon squeezy dish water detergent.

Burns cooler than all its competitors i recon - its unique factor is its slight playdoh earthy new potato hint which assures you of its SG identity next to its simular contemporaries.

Probably mid level nicotine which feels like more, probably due to the taste association with other Samuel Gawith heavy hitters,it seems a heavy virginia that punches more than its body weight.

Burns down to a totally burn't fluffy ash,i only have to wipe out the moisture trap about twice in a full medium bowl session.

Very mild lemony room note,leaves no strong amoniac linger.

Definately worth 3 stars at this point.Not as easily available to purchase in the highstreet,but is a lot more cooperative than other simulars. I will definately keep some on hand and buy again because i have a feeling i will get through this tin quicker than a lot of others.

Easily an all day smoke,very easy.Complimetary drink would be iced lemon tea.

UPDATE 04/07/12 I have finally realised what this baccy really tastes like because i just so happened to be drinking while smoking at the same time recently,i can best describe the taste of this as like an old english cider,think of "strongbow" cider. If you like apple cider the chances are that you might appeciate this because the taste is as near as dammit.

Nice! I've got best results fully rubbed and straight out of tin without extra drying time. Because it's too wet out of tin, it needs more relights at the begining but tastes much better than dried or folded versions (at least for me).

Am now into my second tin, and it hits the spot. I tend to like 'em sweet - BBF is pleasantly so, and for me it's a good, satisfying smoke. I find it needs some drying, though - rub, dry, rub etc - before it'll smoke well, and when it does, it's great. Nothing fussy about it, but it delivers. Update, 14.11.22 - I had had a few problems with this tobacco so dropped it from my rotation. As I recall, it was hard to keep lit and had a bite to it. Ten years on, I decided to have another try, because in memory it was, sometimes, a very good smoke. I ordered a loose 10gm pouch from GQ. It seemed drier than the tinned I'd been used to, and slightly darker in colour. Instead of rubbing out, as in the past, I used the cube-cut method, after a half-hour airing. This time, no problems at all. Fabulous smoke! Good to be back! 🙂 Delicious aroma, great taste, after-taste pleasant enough. Best sipped slowly, as with all straight Virginias. (By the way, I can't recommend cube-cutting flakes and plugs highly enough. I haven't tried any ropes or twists yet, but imagine they might also work well with this cut.)

I'm not generally a great fan of straight Virginias, preferring something else such as Cavendish, Latakia or whatever added to give it a bit more va-va-voom. This, however, has subtle charms which are winning me round. It is slightly sweet, and has an earthy quality I rather like. There's just a hint of dried fruit in there as well, I think. For relaxing with in the evening, I'd want something stronger, such as a Latakia, but this is a good morning or working smoke. It does not seem to me to be excessively moist, contrary to the views of some other reviewers.