Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake

Well, I normally do not like flakes... but this one has some delicious Virginias on it!

Easier to fill the bowl than St.James or Balkan Flake. The colour is more brownie than colour in Golden Glow.

Burns well and evolves in a good virginia smoking experience... creamy, slightly sweet and not boring at all. The taste is more toasty than the taste in Golden Glow (which I do prefer) Nevertheless, a recommended one for Virgina fans.

Only problem is this can become a little bit boring if smoked bowl after bowl and tin after tin.

RdX score: 87.90 (I revisit now and then, but I only regularly repeat tobaccos over 90)

That it's packaged as unbroken flakes allows the smoker somewhat more control over the experience than with Medium Virginia Flake. As with all Samuel Gawith Flakes, I like the presentation in the tin. A little uneven, it seems more pure and less like the product of mechanized industry (i.e. Dunhill's Light Flake)

This seems a little milder to smoke than Medium Virginia Flake, but the difference is subtle. It is also a shade darker and perhaps sweeter, but again the difference is small. Both tobaccos reach their zone early for me and remain relatively consistent throughout the smoking experience. This is mild, sweet and pure Virginia goodness. Almost cleansing.

While not as deep a flavour experience as its cousin, FVF, this remains a tobacco that I will keep on hand for when I want a lighter Virginia experience.

BBF has a neutral tobacco flavour that lasts from the first light to the end of the bowl. There are elements of sweetness to it, and slightly nutty undertones. When smoked slowly the tobacco has no bitter taste and smokes dry and cool in the right pipe.

About 3/4 of the way down the bowl there are hints of an almost herbal nature - something like lavender. These ease off near the end and the final 10-15 minutes return to a natural tobacco flavour, albeit with slightly more body than the beginning of the bowl. Smoking all the way down to the dottle is not a problem, as it remains cool and sweet. The nicotine is not overpowering, and no strong taste is left in the mouth. This is ideally suited to day-time smoking, and infact it would lose it's subtle notes if it was smoked after something stronger. The room note is of tobacco, nothing more.

I smoked through this tin quicker that I have smoked through any other tin. Although it is a mild smoke, and over the day I often move onto a heavier flake, this has a seductive, alluring call to it. Well represented in my cellar. Delicious.

This pressed flake cut in six inch shingles rubs out very nicely, and packs ok for it's cut. The charring was seductive enough, the smell of tobacco quite inviting to my senses. Once relit again, it stayed lit. It burned smoothly, drawing very effortlessly. I was surprised because I did not take the best of care when I packed my pipe. The flavor is Virginia tobacco, processed and cured with loving care. It begins, continues, and ends with a uniform taste, never a hint of bitternes to it. This is very fine tobacco for those who enjoy Virginia flake, and probably for those who think they don't like Virginias. It is squarely in the medium range for strength, but the flavor is a little lighter than the fullest of Virginias, but I find that this is more flavor than those stronger Virginias that can simply be too much for me. You don't get queezy from this smoke, but you know you are smoking real tobacco. My score card is 10. What more can you ask for? If this blend could pack it'self, light it'self, and maybe pay for it'self it would then be perfect.

Very grassy and hay aroma is the first thing I noticed from the tin. Relatively moist flakes in mine, so I let them dry for a bit. I have tried folding and stuffing, rubbing it out, and chopping the flake into bits with a knife. In my experience, the fold n stuff is the least operable method, compared to cube cutting which I find to work wonders. The flavor is consistent throughout the bowl, starting off very high and bright and fresh, and barely mellowing off to feature a bit more earth. I love this tobacco and find it stands strongly alongside FVF and the like. Very high quality tobacco here to no surprise.

This tin smoked up quick; it was that good. The baccy was slightly on the sweet side. It had a marvelous side stream. A tinge of bitterness on the snork. The room note, something I don't often notice, was also good. The blend wasn't as strong as Full Virginia Flake (another blend I really like) which, for me is a good thing. I prefer the taste of FVF over this blend, but only marginally. Best Brown's a great blend, I'd purchase this again, if I could ever find it (why is it that Sam Gawith blends are rarely available?).

Keep on pipin'

Definitely the best tobacco I have tried so far. Virginia's wonderful sweet wooden taste is immediately associated with the green hills of Tolkien's Shire. Slightly moist if burn straight from the tin. It does not lit easily but then it burns calmly and coolly. There is no way of biting your tongue. Room Note is quite pleasant for smokers and quite bearable for the rest. I noticed that it is often compared to Full Virginia Flake although for me it is definitely less grassy and less tea like, which speaks in its favor. There is also less "sugar" than in other Virginia I've tried. I VERY recommend!!!

This is my second recent purchase of a Samuel Gawith Virginia blend, the first being Golden Glow broken flake, which I enjoyed, but wanted something more mid range and less citrus. FVF looks to be too heavy for my current flavor profile but Best Brown is seemingly my Goldilocks blend, being right in the middle of the other two. I took delivery of a 50g tin and eagerly opened it to reveal the mid brown flakes within, speckled with orange and gold and already showing sugar crystals, having been packed in april 2017. Tin note is of raisins and oats with a hint of baked goods and spices. The flakes are nowhere near as moist as I was expecting from other reviews, but the first bowl I tried was hard to get going, so I gave the flakes an hour of air time and rubbed some out to a fine ribbon, as I rarely use the fold and stuff method, and then allowed this to further dry for 45 minutes and judged it good to go for my review. The second bowl was a lot less hassle to ignite and a single char light and one true light had it going nicely. The flavour built steadily and was very much as expected from the tin note. Not over sweet but very tasty with dried fruit notes and a little cinnamon and clove present topped off with some brown sugar. For a straight Virginia it burned very cool and slow with no bite, all the way down to a very fine white ash. No bitter notes were encountered and I can honestly say that it is a great smoke from start to finish. The room note was noticeably good, which says a lot, as like many others, I find some blends hard to detect whilst smoking. This was a great change from that, being a classic sweet virginia aroma with elements of toasted cinnamon loaf and baked goodness. All in all a very rewarding smoke and one that I would welcome in my rotation and it has the added bonus of being easier to obtain than Capstan Navy Cut Flake, which it resembles in all aspects, except the moisture content when first opened. I like this blend a lot and will be happy to order more and it could well be an all day blend for me. 4 well deserved stars from me !

Update: On opening my second tin, which was much fresher from the factory, being packed 23/12/18, I was surprised to see mainly broken flake. It was still an outstanding smoke and was almost perfect moisture wise straight from the tin. The taste was a little more citrus than the slightly aged tin I had last time. Interesting to see how age mellows this blend first hand. I am tempted to get a bulk box of 250g next time and jar the long well cut flakes therein. I fully understand the artisanal nature of flakes that Samuel Gawith are famous for in tin form, but wasn't expecting the same rough cut as Golden Glow, which is another wonderful straight Virginia that I like to smoke now and then from the house of Gawith.

Hmmm. Is it better than FVF? It's easier to light and keep lit. Although doesnt quite have the same depth as FVF. Not nearly as strong either. It comes down to taste and your own preference I guess. There is no doubt best brown is of the highest quality too. A classic also. Not sure why I felt a need to compare it FVF either, maybe because it would be a hard choice between these two. So my choice would be this one though. Just easier to smoke and thats all it comes down to for me.