Tobaccos Samuel Gawith - Firedance Flake

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe Beard (8)	2013-12-17		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I will start by saying that I am not a huge aromatic smoker. I am, however, a big fan of VA flakes, especially Gawith's Best Brown (one of my all time favorites), which is the base of this blend. I will also say that this blend is very finicky and not for those that don't want to fuss with it. A lot of folks report that it is tough to light and even tougher to stay lit. My first few flakes out of my first tin were in the range of 5 to 6 matches to get a charring light, if that paints a picture for you. But when it dries out some, that tends to go away. I have a system down where I turn my oven on, lay out a few flakes on a paper towel, and sit them on top for 15-20 minutes. The little bit of heat and the paper towel to wick away some of the excess moisture seem to work wonders. That takes care of any lighting and 'goop' issues. Is it worth all the extra trouble? I certainly think so.

I go back and forth on whether I prefer to fold and stuff or rub it out. You can certain play around with the smoking qualities that way, which is nice.

Once it is ready to go, the warm and brown, VA goodness offers a lot of rich flavor. For me, the blackberry brandy casing at this point is not overwhelming. Actually, at this point, it is typically something that I tend to only taste when retrohaling. It's nice to be able to 'switch back and forth' between the VA and that hint of berry. I tend to find the berry flavor to be really pleasant and not overpowering.

This is not a blend for when I want to pack and go. However, when I want to really sit and savor and appreciate all of the nuances, this is one of my favorites. If you are willing to fuss with it, there are certainly some rewarding flavors in there.

33 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3046)	2015-10-21		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

The Virginia is Best Brown Flake with the following aspects: sugar, a little tart and tangy citrus, plenty of fermented tangy dark fruit, earth, wood and little grass with a floral note. Those characteristics don’t show up all that much as the rich, very sweet blackberry topping dominates all else. I can taste the brandy, and a minor vanilla note, too. There is a slight syrupiness that some may find distracting. The strength is medium. The taste level is a couple of steps past the medium mark. The nic-hit is in center of mild to medium. It may need some dry time, and doing that will reduce the effect of the topping a little, which some may find to be a good thing. The description says “… subtly flavored with…”. No, it’s not subtle. Not at all. Nor is it complex in any real way. This is a highly aromatic flake that is exceptionally sweet. Burns cool, clean and a tad slow with a smooth, creamy, consistent flavor that never weakens. No dull spots, and no bite or harshness. Will leave some moisture in your bowl, and requires some relights. Has a pleasantly lingering after taste and room note. Not an all day smoke. Two and a half stars even though it is a product of high quality.

-JimInks

24 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CoolPilot (69)	2012-08-30		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

A great aromatic from SG, if you like aromatics and still love BestBrown or Full virginia, then this is your choice. as all SG's blends, the only problem is to bring the flakes dry correctly, which is something quite difficult for me. It results in lightning up again and again the pipe. In my repository there are always 4 tins of Firedance, because for me it is a perfect combination of strenght, flavour, and room note. If you dont like BestBrown, forget this blend. If you want a danish-like or dan tobacco-like aromatics, forget it too. This is a SG aromatic, and when you smell the tobacco it is just wonderful in the berries, the vanilla and this wonderful sweet flavour remaining in your fingers. So for me it is a full 4 stars, like FVF.

22 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2003-03-27		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Well, I don't have time to write a book on this tobacco, but I will give you my 2-cents worth. LOL

Shock and awe! (Hmm, that sounds familiar). Anyway, the smell was unusual and blackberries was certainly one I detected. After rubbing it out, I loaded up expecting a really aromatic smoke.

While casing is evident, I mostly tasted a very mild and Lakeland processed Virginia. Not as strong as other Gawith offerings of this type, for sure.

It took 12 hours of sitting spread out on a paper towel (not me, the tobacco!) to knock the moisture content down to a smokable level.

If you enjoy a subdued aromatic that carries a wonderful room note for the family and friends to enjoy, then give this a try.

22 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Beer (345)	2012-02-24		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Well, better than I thought! While I like Best Brown Flake and Full Virginia Flake, and I find intriguing the occasional bowl of Grousemoor, I am usually not a fan of aromatics (the only one I smoke once in a while is Mac Baren Cube because it's so flamboyant and garishly excessive) and certainly not of typical Lakeland flavored flakes with their soapy/tonquin flavored and too strong virginias.

This one is an exception, in that it has none of the typical Lakeland flowery flavoring and it has a nicotine content which is quite low and tolerable (unlike Bracken Flake, 1792 and other by the same brand). Yes, it's much more of a classic "American style" aromatic in flavoring, although the blackberry reminds me of Dunhill Three Year Matured Virginia. The difference is that the Dunhill is stomach turning (in taste and nicotine intensity), while this one is quite pleasant.

Ok, you have to like the sweet flavoring: if you don't, steer well clear. But it must be said that in the smoke it translates much less intrusively than in the tin aroma. Actually, call me crazy, it complements the tobacco quite well. And the tobacco is a very fine (though initially rather moist) Virginia flake, juicy and with a nice body, with no harshess and no excessive heaviness. The flavoring comes out in the first half, but just as a top note, never drowning the pure Virginia taste. In the second half, the tobacco is all is left.

If you take care to dry it out a little bit, and especially to rub it out a lot before packing the bowl (usually I like whole flakes, but this particular tobacco absolutely benefits from rubbing out), you will experience a creamy, rich, smooth, cool and easy smoke pleasantly alternating between sweet and sour. No tonguebite AT ALL.

I am not always in the mood for such a flavoring, but I must also say that whenever I "force" myself to pick this tobacco I rarely have a disappointing smoke. Sure, there are FAR better flakes around, but Firedance certainly is not disgusting... on the contrary, it can range from OK to quite pleasant depending on mood, moisture/rubbing out and pipe.

Almost tempted to give it a "Recommended" rating, which is certainly a great accomplishment from S&G since I am not an aromatics fan. If you are, but also care for a nice tobacco underneath the topping, by all means give it a try.

21 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-07-09		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I've tried some SG aromatics, but they just didn't kick me off. Firedance is different. Opening the tin, you can smell blackberry and a pinch of vanilla. The flakes are quite moist, so I suggest to leave the tin open a couple of days to dry up a bit.

For filling the pipe, I use the rubbing method and the just stuffing in method depending on the flake measure. Easy to light, easy to smoke: it's Samuel Gawith!

Very good flavoring and a good nicotine taste, just like Best Brown Flake but with the blackberry and vanilla added.

Recommended if you want a non overwhelming aromatic.

One of my best smoking aromatic blends.

18 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ruffinogold (112)	2011-02-28		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Here's my spin on Firedance .... Giada De Laurentiis in fishnets !!! :)

What this means in tobacco talk :

The aroma of this blend is so good . My wife said the other night .. " you can smoke that around the house if ya need to " .. sigh . The tin says " A blend of fine Virginias with the flavor of Blackberries , Brandy and Vanilla . I'll go w/ that . Mind you , this isnt a super high Aromatic [ not perfumed ] . The Virginia is always there and the " flavor " as well . It's a medium body smoke that smokes slow with a full mouth . Ya cant get it to bite if it's dried enough ... which is it's only drawback . When I first opened the tin I rubbed it a little and went to town . That didnt work at all . Basicly 50 % smoke and 50 % steam . Bummer . So I rubbed it some and let it sit out 30 mins , an hour , 2 hours etc ... At 2 hours it was pretty good [ rubbed mind you ]. Overnight it was fine .. about 6 hours . I didnt rub the hell out of it .. just to break it up and get more surface area goin on . If one were to not rub it I really dont know how long it would take to get ' right ' . I enjoyed it best in a Kaywoodie # 28 .. a smallish octagon billiard [ group 3 ] . In a group 4 Dunhill Billiard it was as good really . In a big ass pipe it was fine but just not as good is all . My kaywoodie # 28 now has a Firedance ghost .. and I'm glad ! I smoked Edgeworth in it today and got alittle Firedance goin on and I liked it . So it can ghost . Again , this isnt like PS Black Currant cavendish that is a high Aromatic .. It's flavored as they say and it's about the nicest flavor I've ever smoked in a pipe ! At TB I'd give it 4 stars without thinking . I really wish it were like a MB product as far as ' ready to go ' ... if so it would be absolutely perfect ! I thank Wicklow for the trade we did . . . Rarely will I blow money on a " fancy " tin that I'm not sure about . Thanks Brother :) ... This blend gets Ruffinogolds highest recomendation ! Giada De Laurentiis in fishnets !!!!

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2003-03-25		Medium	Mild	Full	Very Pleasant

I ordered about eight ounces of Firedance Flake from Knox Cigar last week when they first received the flake. It arrived this morning and I was eager to try it.

Composition: This flake is a mottled mix of light and dark brown, with bright yellow swirls that suggest a presence of leaf rib. This tobacco is a shade darker than Best Brown but not as dark as Full Virginia Flake.

Pouch Aromaa: Blackberry...and something else. I can definitely smell the blackberry that June loves, but there is a definite "british" scenting to it. I can not identify it upon my first sniff, but upon smoking this blend the ingredients become a little more apparent.

Touch: My guess is that this flake was freshly made. The flake is not dense like Full Virginia Flake, nor is it loosely broken like Medium Virginia Flake, I can not help but to compare it to Best Brown in density. The flake is not a uniform color, but I can definitely see that the brick was lightly steamed in the press. The outside quarter-inch is dark from steaming, but the inner leaf is almost blond in color. The outside is a little sticky from the scentings and steaming which leaves the flake a bit moist.

I leave a half flake out in the open air to dry for an hour or two before folding it in quarters into a new Boswell billiard.

Flame hits weed and I taste...blackberry. I am not an aromatic fan and the last thing I want to taste is blackberry the entire time. Two puffs in and the blackberry is already fading. The next waves of taste are distinctly british, with the familiar musk/rose/geranium/Lakeland District taste that you either love or hate. It is not strong, and I do not want to discourage anyone who is put off by these tastes. It is so slight that I am sure most will miss it. I was surprised by these scentings as I was not expecting it, nor did I smell them in the pouch aroma. After the first quarter bowl of blackberries and Lakeland scents, there was this fantastic transition to pure tobacco taste. I think there is some tonquin in this blend as I tasted a distinct "Topps Bubble Gum" flavor that I only taste with 1792. Where 1792 is loaded with tonquin bean, this flake (if it indeed has any) uses a small bit of tonquin that carries the flavor well. No tonka bonka here, just a smooth transition as if I walked from the ice-cream store to the baseball-card shop with a pipe going. At the half-bowl moment the tobacco finally settled down and all harshness went away. I will give this blend the benefit of the doubt and attribute the harshness at the back of my throat to its youth. The leaf ribs that are present tend to add strength and body when aged, but only add a harsh factor when young. After the flake settled down, it burned quite well on it's own. I was able to casually puff my pipe without fear of the flake quitting on me. The "sage" note that others have noticed is most apparent in the aroma, I did not taste any herbal-like flavoring in the tobacco. The blackberry taste was completely gone from the tobacco by the time I was mid-bowl, but if I searched for it, I could taste it. The blackberry was so faint, it was as if it was merely a crossover taste, a ghost of a previous bowl smoked in my pipe.

After the bowl was done, the finish on my palete was very clean. No "greasy" aftertaste was present (which I taste with many low quality aromatics), nor was there any floral ghosts that stronger scented british flakes can produce. The aftertaste was clean and tobacco-tasty (thanks Jeff!).

I give this blend four out of five stars. Who know how long this blend will be producde, I personally plan on cellaring at least five pound of this stuff. In a year or two, this flake will be phenomenal. My congratulations on Samuel Gawith on using a good blend of tobaccos with balance and restraint with the flavorings.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blackhorse (96)	2011-07-21		Medium	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant

So - Best Brown with Blackberry, Brandy and Vanilla, eh? This is not an American Aromatic by any stretch of definition...I'd call it a Gawith Brit Aromatic, which is a very good thing. No, there's no Lakeland essence here. Thank goodness. No tonquin. No treacle. It's like the finest Marion Blackberry Cobbler hot out of the oven with heavy cream or maybe French Vanilla Ice Cream on it...but the tobacco flavors are not lost. How they acomplish THAT I have no idea. This is my dessert blend for sure. A guilty pleasure. The only strongly flavored thing like this that I really like. Not like University Flake in the least. Maybe it's the Best Brown base that holds it all together...but then I'm not one for Best Brown by itself, so it must be the combination of flavors that holds my interest...well, not only holds but attracts, as there is certainly 'allure' here. Not subtle, not over the top, but just right...in a very succulent way. I don't smoke American Aromatics but maybe a few times a year...but this stuff...this would be my last bowl of the day if I could lay my hands on it often enough. Um, yes, I recommend it highly for what that's worth - each being their own measurer of goodness.

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2080)	2014-02-04		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant

Samuel Gawith - Firedance Flake.

As usual with Sam G' the moisture's horrendous. The tin-note's highly aromatic.

The smoke, like the tin-note, has lots of flavour: I find the piquant berries/alcohol outweigh the vanilla, somewhat. Despite the heavier topping it doesn't bite me. A bowl can be smoked with minimal re-lights, unless neglected. Tongue bite can occur, but this requires forceful puffing.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: potent.

One for the more adventurous!

Four stars.

Pipe Used: Peterson

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smoke King

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-12-30		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I have found that this tobacco is too wet to smoke straight out of the tin, but let it dry out completely, tub out and you'll enjoy one of the finest smoking experiences imaginable. The combination of the unique taste of Best Brown and the blackberry brandy make this one very flavorful tobacco.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-06-21		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

According to SG, this starts out as their BBF, which in my opinion is one of the classic straight virginias in existence. It certainly looks like BBF but has a distinct blackberry tin aroma, with a little of what is claimed to be brandy in the background (sort of a slight alcohol-ish taste). I never picked up the vanilla, either in the nose or the flavor.

This was a nicely flavored flake, with the berry taste lasting throughout the smoke. Nothing earth-shattering, but certainly steady. Unfortunately, the depth and "color" that each bowl of BBF provides me was completely missing in action, as this was as nuanced as a brick wall. And once again, SG's flavored tobaccos seem to me to fall well short of their namesake G&H. It's hard to explain but while both are consistent with the flavoring down the bowl, the G&H flavorings seem to not only meld with the tobacco but they enhance it. SG's flavored blends seem to cover up the tobacco taste. Instead of the "merger" that the G&H blends accomplish, SG's flavored blends seem like just short of a hostile takeover. The berry flavor in this one was nice but it blanketed the tobacco flavor instead of melding with it. This is one I may smoke on rare occasions and anyone interested in a dry-smoking virginia aromatic with a low nicotine content and flavoring that doesn't go kaput from mid-bowl down should give this a try. It just doesn't measure up to the Lakeland process that is so masterfully accomplished by G&H, St Bruno and others.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Wibblefishofdoom (139)	2012-04-04		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

This is my latest foray into the quality jungle of SG tobaccos. Not a totally random pick, the idea of an aromatic flake intrigued me, nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say. So here goes.

The sweet blackberry aroma from the tin on first opening was, despite being a little artificial, a pleasant greeting to my erstwhile nose. It wasn't overly strong though, so i wasn't overly surprised when very little of it made it into the smoke, which turned a little more oaky and leafy, with hints of chocolate and stake, all with just a little sweetness. Packing and lighting are reasonable given that it's a flake, though the odd relight is necessary. The room note doesn't really stand out but is certainly not unpleasant. Now, I know my previous reviews that I whinge and whine about pipe tobaccos with flavouring in the tin aroma not delivering in the smoke, but in this case, it doesn't matter, the flavour in the smoke amply makes up for it.

On the whole the, a very nice, pleasant smoke. It doesn't really stand out amongst SG's fantastic tobaccos but is equal in quality. A lot of flakes, I find are very strong and, thus, probably only really enjoyable smoked once a day at most. This, however, can be smoked all day every day. It reminds me of those midfielders you rarely find in football these days, like David Mcreary or David Batty, someone who doesn't have a lot of flair but more than makes up for it in work rate. You won't realise they're there, but they end up playing a pivotal roll in the match.

So there you go, Firedance is the David Mcreary of the pipe tobacco world. It won't dazzle you, but it will pull out all the stops to give you a good smoke.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	A. Morley (97)	2007-03-31		Mild to Medium	Extra Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

People have said that English tobacco companies had best stick to making the styles of blends for which they are known, that is to say English blends. People have said that when the English try and make anything other than an English style blend that the blend will be bad or, if it was made in the Lake District, just plain weird. Those people are wrong. All that I need to prove this is Firedance Flake. I am not even particularly fond of fruit-topped aromatics, but I am inclined to say that Firedance Flake from Samuel Gawith may have everything that is required for the perfect expression of this sort of blend.

I have always found the Lakeland brown flake to be a bit on the bland and grassy side, but it does very well with the addition of aromatic top dressing, especially such natural and masterfully concocted aromatic agents as are used by Samuel Gawith. The flavors of fruits, especially blackberry, are just like the real thing and pleasant throughout the bowl, never becoming harsh or foul-tasting. There are two more subtle underlying flavors that I find particularly interesting. One is the toastiness from the Burley and Virginia flake; the other is a combination of essences that draw me back into my early childhood, being like unto Play-Doh or Crayola?s.

One can rub this flake out if so desired, but it isn?t necessary. It will burn perfectly with an entire flake packed into the pipe. Never once did this burn my tongue or even come close to doing so. Like so many Gawith aromatics, the flavoring agents are pungent and will remain in the pipe for a while, but I have never minded this and find that they burn off rather quickly. If you are an aromatic smoker, though, I doubt that you will have to worry, given that it may be difficult to smoke anything other that this tobacco.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-08-17		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

I recently purchased this blend as my first flake tobacco. First thing you notice about Samuel Gawith's tobacco is the pricing. Their 50g tins sell for €11 whereas a 100g tin of Mac Baren's Vanilla cream sells for a mere €13.

The flakes in this tin are somewhat moist, and I find them to smoke best if rubbed and let to dry for about 30minutes before actually packing and smoking.

Upon opening the tin, a very fruity scent immediately fills the room. The blackberry is very dominant in smell, with the brandy and vanilla as a noticeable undertone.

After drying for about 30 minutes, this tobacco is easy to pack and light. Being somewhat thicker (because it's a flake tobacco) it burns very slowly and evenly and smokes very cool. It requires little or no relighting in my Big Ben Bruyere De luxe, in which I smoke it the most.

I got no tonguebite at all from this, but it does tend to get a little too wet every now and then, causing the pipe to gurgle. The taste is what you'd expect upon smelling the unlit tobacco: fruity, quite mild yet complex, with a vanilla undertone. The brandy is a bit absent in my opinion.

Perhaps not really recommended for new smokers, this tobacco has become my absolute favorite blend so far!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-03-20		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

This is the aromatic that is not an aromatic. Perhaps because it is a flake, this tobacco is a little weird. On the charring light, it brings a burst of fresh blackberry... and I mean FRESH, with the tartness, the sweetness, and summer sun. However, the berry flavor diminishes almost instantly. The remaining smoke is very much dominated by a natural tobacco flavor. There is a subtle berry flavor and vanilla note present, but the topping seems to mostly disappear once this is burning.

The tobacco is first rate. The VA flavor is mellow and medium-bodied, and it is complemented by vanilla throughout, though mildly. I find a bit of a tart aftertaste from the blackberry on relighting, though this seems to fade quickly,

Firedance is unusual and enjoyable, It might not be the ideal smoke for the natural tobacco aficionado, or for the aromatic lover, but it is solid and pleasurable.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LiterarySmoker (143)	2021-09-08		Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

I like brandy, cognac, and the like, and after having recently tried apple brandy the room description for this blend sparked my interest. SG's Firedance Flake is their Best Brown 6" Flake with the addition of Blackberry Brandy and a light Topping of Vanilla.

The tin is simple but effective. Once I opened the tin and removed the cardboard insert I found a nicely colored Flake. The tin note smells of Blackberry, Vanilla, hay, citrus and grass. The flake was pretty wet out of the tin so I do my usual method of packing a pipe and leaving it overnight. Write a few people have said that this can be hard to light and keep lit, and I agree.

After the charring light I get an interesting blend of flavors. I taste the blackberry brandy for sure and the vanilla is just a hint in the background, but I do taste a lot of the original leaf shining through. The Virginias are citrusy, haylike, and soft. Don't be mistaken you will taste the toppings and I feel like this is an Aromatic in the truest definition of one.

The taste is a medium and has a pleasant aftertaste. The strength is a medium, and you time with Lady N will be average. The room note is very pleasant, and may garner a few compliments. All this being said it is a very finicky blend, don't pack a bowl with any intention of doing something else. A decent smoke.

Pipe Used: Nørding Freehand

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WillBrown (137)	2020-08-22		Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

2021 Update: and, it's a good one. It's rare I do updates, but this blend deserves one. After several months of sitting in a jar the berry notes have mellowed and now interweave brilliantly with the baccy. A very pleasant smoke. What's further, the baccy is bound to smooth out even more as time goes by. It's still a tad on the strong side, but no longer moist and much smoother; even the back end of the smoke smoothed out. Wonderful! When something improves, even over time, credit is due. So there you are.

Original post: Here's a funny story. Was in Denver, CO just before the plague broke. I ubered to Edward's Pipe Shop looking for a tin of baccy. They had tons of Sam Gawith on their shelves, a sight I had not seen in many a moon! I was impressed. Knowing I hadn't tried probably more than half of Gawith's line, I purchased several tins: an old fav, Squadron Leader, Best Brown Flake, Cabbie's Mixture and Firedance. Somehow, I mixed up Golden Glow with Firedance. I purchased Firedance by mistake (both blends were next to each other on the shelf, and didn't realize my mistake until after I got home). My bad!

Anyway, after reading about Firedance, here on TR, I thought maybe I wasn't going to like this blend, and, I must admit to being split on it. The flakes were moist, had to dry them out before smoking (took 5 hours!). I enjoyed the taste, right away, a sort of berry-taste came through, very interesting. As I went along the blend became increasingly harsh, until toward the very end, it verged on being foul tasting. The front end of this blend is good, the back end not so good. The in-between moments were average. So I'm going to give this blend a 2.5 stars, or a two, I always round down.

One last observation. I've been to oodles of pipe shops in my day, Edward's Pipe Shop in Denver, CO, truly impressed me. They sell tons of pipes, and had a LOT of pipe tobacco, both in bulk, and in tins. Very impressed!

Keep on Pipin'

Pipe Used: Roma Basket

Purchased From: Edward's Pipe Shop, Denver CO

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greekpipesmoker (201)	2018-09-18		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

After having a very pleasant experience with BBF i thought how would it be in aromatic version?once the tin breaks a tense blackberries and grass smell comes out.the flakes are heavilly aromated and vey moist so some drying time after rubbing is needed°wich also helps to reduse the topping tensity.packs and lights ok with several relights needed.while smoking the topping is dominant over the virginia flavours.blackberries in the front with some alcohol notes adding more strength.the vanilla topping is very soft most of the times barelly noticeable.virginias are grassy,fruity ,citrucy with some spices.generally though strongly flavoured it feels natural and nice quality.burns slow and medium hot to perfect ash with lots of moisture left at the filter.the nicotine level is medium, the aftertaste is nice if you like blackberries with no tongue bite.the room note is pleasant.an all day smoke.if you like blackberries you are gonna love it.if not don't bother buying it.i am neutral to blackberries taste so 3 stars from me.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	idbowman (26)	2015-03-23		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

There was a lot of buzz about this blend, and judging by the reviews it seems to fall in the "love it or hate it" category. I'm not sure I fall to either extreme, but it's certainly less than favorable in my book.

The tin note is exactly as advertised: blackberry, brandy, and vanilla. The flakes were typical of Sam Gawith - thick, meaty, and moist (don't take that out of context!). Fold-n-Stuff is virtually impossible with this stuff, unless you want to air it out for a decade or two. Rubbed out and left to dry, 24 hours or so drying time got it to where I needed it (you can smoke it without drying, but it's touch to keep going and mucks up the bottom of the bowl very quickly).

So the good news - the room note is fantastic. A true "aromatic" in that sense. This will certainly be a crowd-pleaser in that regard. Also, the aromatic casing/topping does not seem to burn off after the first quarter bowl or so, as is often the case with aromatics. The added flavors stick around for most of the smoke. Sadly, the experience falls off from there (and quickly).

The topping, sweet though it is, is fairly faint. So if you're looking for a super sweet aromatic, this isn't it. Blackberry is there, and so is the vanilla. I found the brandy hard to spot, and the vanilla is a lot more dominant than the tin description would suggest. I'd call it the primary flavoring with blackberry a close second. On the whole, the topping is relatively subdued, especially considering the intensity of the tin and room notes. This would all be fine and good (in fact, great) if the Virginia base was able to speak for itself. To my palate, the flake is nowhere near the quality of Best Brown - it strikes me as poorly aged, undeveloped, and generally flat. I'd age the tin, but by the time the VA sweetness has time to develop, the casing is sure to have gone totally dead, leaving me with a muted Best Brown Flake at best.

Granted, I'm not a big aromatic smoker - I'm no stranger to the stuff, but it's not my bread and butter. True aro folks might get a better experience out of this. To me, it was a middle-of-the-road aromatic that requires more work, drying time, and fuss than is required with others of its ilk.

I'm glad I tried it, but it's not something I'd ever buy again. For what it's worth, though, SG does produce this blend as a snuff - I've had that, too, and it's FANTASTIC. If you take snuff, it's worth checking out - but I can't recommend the version for the pipe smoker.

Pipe Used: Briars, Cobs, Meers

Age When Smoked: Fresh

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Motoyoshi (68)	2014-10-28		Mild	Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I am a big fan of most SG blends, especially BBF. But I was disappointed with this and ended up giving it to a friend.

Smells just like a fruit roll up or fruit by the foot out of the tin (Don't know if you will remember than from when you were younger). It looks like a standard Best Brown Flake but a hint darker due to the topping/casing. The flakes are very moist and need some drying time if you want to get any decent flavor out of this.

I can't explain it but while the flavoring is very direct, it's also thin in the smoke. Tastes just like Celestial Seasoning's Acai Mango Zinger. It can be a little too citrusy/furity at times and makes me think a little bit of white burley would round off this blend just right and flesh out the flavor a little.

This will ghost your pipes badly so please choose wisely. It also really stinks up the mason jar that you put it in as well. If someone is looking for a very berry flavored flake, this is the one. It's just not for me and will not buy this again.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Peter Piper (41)	2013-07-27		Medium	Very Strong	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

As I understand it, this blend is based on Best Brown Flake and then "subtly flavoured with a combination of Blackberry, Brandy and Vanilla."

If that means they have transformed a lovely tobacco into an unspeakable, sickly concoction then I agree.

The big question I would ask of the creators of this aberration is: "Why?"

Avoid.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	22yrsonthepipe (22)	2013-05-20		Medium	Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant

One of the best tin notes ever, but unfortunately, like msot aromatics, it does not translate into the smoke. Like all SG blends, comes far too wet to smoke. Even after airing it out for a month it is still too wet. I am beginning to think the 'quality' perceived in SG tobaccos comes from the waxiness imparted by the propylene glycol/humectant it is slathered with - up to 20 percent of the tobacco weight in my estimate - which can't be good for you. Considering the price of tobacco in New Zealand ($50-60USD for 50g) this is a damn ripoff and the main reason I will not be going back to SG.

I eventually decided to wrap the tin in foil and bung it in the oven for a couple of hours at 90c. The flakes darkened considerably and turned from waxy to stiff. The tin note became even nicer. Although still very moist, it smoked beautifully without constant relighting and I could actually taste the topping to the bottom of the bowl. In this state, it was perhaps the best aromatic I have ever smoked. Toasty brown flake married perfectly with blackberry pie. Unfortunately this did not last long (one bowl) and it reverted back to its original self i.e. tasteless, once cooled.

Even when sipped, which can only be done after baking, after the true light, it tastes like a medium quality brown flake with plain white sugar casing.

If SG cased this tobacco with the blackberry instead of a light topping (why do blenders do that?) and removed the unnecessary humectant, it would be 4 stars material.

Please SG and other blenders, stop trying to please non-aromatic smokers who only smoke aromatics to draw attention to themselves or please non-smokers, and who dont actually like the taste of aromatics.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stan (179)	2003-09-05		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

A true navy flake!

My 2 oz. sample, after opening the air tight wrapper looked, smelled, and even felt almost like candy. Fortunately it did not smoke that sweet. It did smoke a little wet, so a pipe cleaner is useful, as well as a system pipe or one that passes the pipe cleaner test. Now it's not that wet mind you.

After several days it became more managable. I found that folded strips of flake did not burn well; I had to fully rub out this blend for it to burn evenly in the pipe.

It is definitely an aromatic, but it is not that sweet. At times it tastes as much like sipping blackberry brandy as smoking pressed virginia. I didn't taste the vanilla or blackberry much, but there is some spirit essence blended in. Some natural virginia also breaks through to the taste buds.

This blend is based on SG's Best Brown (medium cooked virginia with some sweetener). However, the brandy essence distinguishes it from Best Brown -- FDF has more of a liquor smoothness to it, when smoked slowly. Best Brown is simplier than this one, but BB did start out a bit hot for me. This one is cooler. McClelland's Navy Flake, in comparison, has less liquor appeal to it.

It is more subdued in the latter part of the smoke. It is not a blend to rush (less it could bite), so you best smoke it slowly. It found it smoked smoother in a medium pipe than a small one.

Maybe too light for an aromatic die hard. (I found SG's Kendal Cream Flake sweeter and rounder.) A crossover blend of sorts (virginian flake to aromatic). I found blends like Peterson's Irish Whiskey easier to cope with. Still some like this new blend, and I applaud the effort to introduce a true navy flake to an American audience. If you crave a bit of liquor in your tabak, and have the patience to deal with the flakes, this may be it for you. Not bad; not bad at all.

The room aroma is wonderful!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2003-04-13		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Initial post-smoke review

An aromatic that has a great tobacco & aroma flavor is something I have never satisfactorily experienced, though I have tried. Firedance Flake isn't it, but it isn't bad.

The pouch aroma is off-putting, like a bottle of blackberry brandy. If it smoked like it smelled in the pouch, it would be disastrous. But it doesn't. When smoked, the top flavorings almost disappear, so fans of Blue Note and other heavily-cased aromatics may be disappointed.

I love Best Brown Flake, upon which Firedance is based. Occasionally, a flash of Best Brown occurs here, when puffing VERY slowly and carefully, with tiny sips; and on some of those occasional flashes, the blackberry and vanilla toppings compliment the tobacco. Most of the time, though, the toppings and the tobacco flavor diminish the other. (all of my personal attempts to mix great tobacco with nice aromatics have produced the same results). BBF's hay-like quality and brown sugar sweetness are muted here, and that is a loss. The promise of the toppings in the lovely room aroma are not met in the taste. The tobacco also causes some tongue-bite, but I can live with that. What remains is a decent tobacco with brief flashes of brilliance.

I will smoke my 4 oz of Firedance without regret, but I do not plan to re-stock.

(Please note: As with any tobacco, this is just my opinion; and is in no way reflective of the creators of this blend).

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Poodlejuice (51)	2023-02-08		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I just can't seem to smoke this stuff. Even when dried to a crisp my tongue is burned by the time I finish the charring light. Just doesn't agree with my mouth chemistry and it's as simple as that. I am sorely disappointed at Fire dance is one of my favorite Snuffs and I was hoping to recapture some of that joy in the pipe as well.

Beneath the overwhelming bite I taste what seems to be a well balanced sweet Virginia (nice hay, bread, & tangy citrus), the topping is very faint but leaves a nice bit of berry, but is nowhere near the level of complexity in the snuff (or it could just be my palate). Reminds me much of Peterson's university flake, but milder in body and much milder in nicotine.

Pipe Used: Various meerschaum & briars

Similar Blends: Petersons University flake.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Elfenbein (6)	2022-05-31		Medium	Medium	Mild	Pleasant

Somehow Samual Gawith tobaccos and my pipes (ahum, me) don't get along very well (the only exception so far is Cabbies mixture wich is excellent!). Firedance flake is no exception. Difficult to light up, difficult to keep burning. I don't like the taste, not even sure what its supposed to taste like. Don't get me wrong i am not saying this is a bad tobacco, but i have tasted far better. And yes i have given the tobacco time to dry. Well maybe i am doing something wrong seeing all these very positive reviews on this tobacco.

Pipe Used: several

Age When Smoked: 5 years

Purchased From: Edler tabak KLeve

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	canvas (337)	2021-04-13		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This was the second time I got a S.G. tin with a paper finger puppet inside. All kidding aside, I assume they all have this now to help add pressure to the tobacco for storing - I dunno. The open tin wasn't what I would call Blackberry, Brandy, nor Vanilla , more so it was their Lakeland spice with some berry infused sweetness, riding atop some Virginia (sweet hay) vapors. It reminded me of their Hansom Flake with a squirt of juice.

The flake was very soft from light dampness, and coupled with it's density, you impatient smokers ought to give it moment to dry out first, or else you will be joining me on a long initial light (the Firedance). Some time later I caught my first full puff, it was less Aromatic than the unlit product and packed a solid medium nicotine blast. The Lakeland essence wasn't as "soapy" as their other brews, yet add a kind of spice that hid some of the Virginia flavor.

This flake was a strange beast. Certainly not a dessert Aromatic as the advertised flavors would suggest, nor were the so subdued enough to just be a slightly juiced Virginia, so I can't say who this would appeal to. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't worth the time to keep relighting it to really care.

Purchased From: tobaccopipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tygar (2)	2020-02-25		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

This is my first venture with SG and with a Flake. The tin note was quite sweet and the flakes are moist. Not being familiar with the process of drying it out, I took a strip from the tin, folded it up and stuffed it in my pipe. After four matches I got a good char. I tamped, lit one more match and it’s still lit after about 20 min. This is a full flavored Virginia. The berry flavor comes out but not over powering. The flavoring compliments the tobacco so well. It’s a slow burn and a cool one. I have NOT experienced a bite at all. This will definitely be in my Aromatic rotation from now on.

Pipe Used: Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Fresh tin

Purchased From: The Storytellers Pipe

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stefanos (222)	2018-03-28		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Delightful tobacco! A bit of molasses/licorice together with a playful fruity aroma of blackberry on a background of real stoved tobacco taste.

Very enticing tin aroma. Rubs out easily and burns slow and evenly but needs some drying. Mild to medium strength, no chance of bite here.

A top quality aromatized tobacco which although more playfully scented than your typical Lakeland, does not lack anything in quality. If it were not for the blackberry aroma I’d compare Firedance with Germain’s Rich Dark Flake (some say similar to Stonehaven). This is how good I think it is… And apart from Lakelands this is surely the best aromatic I've ever smoked.

I do not find the tobacco similar to Best Brown Flake though, neither visually nor in taste. P.S. Just a small amount of Firedance to an English blend makes a very nice combination!! Something similar to Esoterica's And So To Bed.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	THROATHIT (38)	2016-01-28		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

ok it's best brown flake, it has a mild topping in my opinion others find it strong. Smoked ok once rubbed out and dried out. Nic level was higher than most subtle aromatics. not a bad smoke but not but not an amazing one either. I will give it one extra star as it is made in England but could well be Danish.

I found the topping diminished mid bowl and the underlying tobacco was somewhat muted by the topping. However the flavours were all in the smoke as advertised.

Pipe Used: stanwell bent brandy

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: g q

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	puss n' pipes (27)	2015-08-23		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Definitively not in my -best of- list despite the good reviews and recommendations ive received about it from different smokers. Truth is that Firedance is perhaps never distinguishable as a good, bad or regular quality smoke, at times is indulgent and allows you to get a good bouquet of brandy, subtle notes of vanilla and keep it for some time, some other times it just get horrible, it is like a bbq that went completely wrong, like having a mouthful of coal inside your mouth and a really awful aftertaste, the kind that makes you want to wash your mouth afterwards.

This flake is good quality but the moisture level is never quite alright, you have to find it, and thats a trick, especially for all those who want to smoke it inmediately right out of the tin and enjoy the smoke without much complication. It may also get extremely dry very quick, so give it enough time and it will be a bunch of sand which is equally disgusting. Temperamental, complicated, demanding, bitey and stuborn. You have to relight it several times, and it tends to burn hotter and hotter, no matter how slow you sip it and as result you get the nasty flavours i described beforehand. If you manage to level and administer the temperature with much luck, then you get the best result, which is not bad at all, strong fermented flake in the typical vein of the English-Gawith tradition with a subtle but certain lakeland accent. Never sugary or flamboyantly scented, always with the character of the virginias that were fermented, with a decent and pretty kick of vitamin N. I think this was a good try on an aromatic flake but the result is doubtful, too much trouble to get through it, ill rather keep my hands off it and pick some flake that is not so damn complicated and bitchy.

Pipe Used: Turkish Meerschaum Calabash, Peterson Tankard

Age When Smoked: 3 years

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pzzl (6)	2015-07-28		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Very strong smell of blackberry on background ketchup out of a tin. Pleasant, but intrusive. Flakes dark and very moist. When smoking, the taste is sweet, mild, creamy, but not fragrant as the smell from the tin. My girlfriend likes roomnote of Firedance. But my nose picks up some naughty notes, they distract and hinder enjoy the taste of tobacco. I could not finish smoking my 50g tin. Ketchup of SG is very strong for me. I'm not a fan of aromatics. If you, too, use a pipe for him not of your rotation. I give only two points, cause my pipe can't rest from the cologne of SG for several months.. And the smell from the bowl are a really unpleasant.

Pipe Used: HHB Attache

Age When Smoked: 7 years

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sagepipe (13)	2015-04-10		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

When purchasing this tin, I failed to realize it was berry flavored... maybe I was too distracted by the name "firedance" to realize it was a berry based flake. Not that I have anything against a berry aromatic but I already have some Devil's Holiday on reserve.

Regardless, when opening the tin I smelt a strong smell that reminded me of berry flavored vitamins... gross ones. Other than that, the smoke was just okay and the vitamin aroma lessened. This was defiantly not the worst aromatic I have smoked but if you're in the market for a nice berry smoke, go for Dan's Devil's Holiday.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Guillaume (15)	2014-12-21		Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Tolerable

Definitely not a favourite of mine: it is too close to BBF, which seems to be the basis of it. A drop of alcohol doesn't help to make a true character out of it.

It is not bad tobacco, however. Just boring.

Would not buy it again (but will keep buying BBF).

Pipe Used: Peterson Barrel

Age When Smoked: Fresh

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bluesmoke (75)	2014-11-29		Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Mild	Pleasant

I don't know what the hell I was thinking buying this. Well that's not true, I do...it was payday and I wanted to try the last of the SG line that my tobacconist had available. I ponied up my 12 bucks, got it home and though the tin note was sweetly pleasing, the light up was disappointing. I was hoping for a subtle flavoring like Chocolate Flake, but this was much stronger and tasted like charred incense. Needless to say this wont be one I try again. In fact I dumped the whole tin in the garden after finishing what I could of the bowl. I hope the shrubs forgive me. TLOGSPY

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darth Vader (110)	2014-11-11		Mild to Medium	Strong	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I didn't mind this at first, but by the time i was half way through the tin i was thouroughly sick of it. I was giving me headaches and i ditched the last 3-4 pipefuls. Not somthing i do often. I'll leave this to the aro smokers.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	russ (27)	2014-07-28		Mild	Mild	Very Mild	Very Pleasant

I tried this at multiple moisture levels, in different briars, and a cob. I tried it rubbed out and as folded flakes in the pipes. I really wanted to like this tobacco and can say no matter how I try it folded and stuffed, rubbed and at multiple moisture levels to include so dry it turns to crumbs--it has soft and subtle notes and has the lakeland going on also--I find this tobacco to be one of the strangest aromatics I have ever smoked. It is a high quality tobacco but I had tried it in the past and wrote it off and decided to give an honest and VERY real second chance and evaluation. It is just not for me as a matter of fact being it is a flavored Best Brown Flake--its a shame as I just cannot seem to like it. I have several flakes left and am undecided whether it will become among the very few tobaccos I actually literally disposed of on the lawn or I may finish it off. If a rating of zero stars was possible that's exactly what I would give it. I have been through several tins and can say I am officially done with this blend. Do not get me wrong--it's a high quality tobacco and there is nothing wrong with it as far as quality. For those that like it--I am happy with and for you. Me I will leave this tobacco for those who really like it. You will not have to worry about me fighting you for this horrid stuff. It's a blend I gave every chance in various pipes and moisture levels. I have smoked a lot of flake tobacco and I WILL NOT be smoking anymore of this--I'm done with Fire Dance.

Pipe Used: Briars & cobs

Age When Smoked: 49

Purchased From: Local B&M

Similar Blends: Nothing.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ACSilver (2)	2014-06-23		Mild	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

First time flake order, and I was expecting to be pleasantly surprised. I was surprised to a degree-I can definitely taste the berries to a very slight degree that everyone raves about. I found that it wasn't as heavily aromatic as I was expecting but I have come to expect that from the vendor I ordered from. I guess I will just have to keep searching for that perfect aromatic as this one doesn't fit the bill all that much-also this blend didn't pass the wife test which is would help to fit the overall perfect aromatic test....

Pipe Used: Maqueen Cherry Wood Churchwarden

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrumsAndBeer (217)	2014-03-20		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Altogether this is a worthy aromatic flake offering from Samuel Gawith. I almost hesitate to call this an aromatic, by English standards it surely is, but by American standards it's barely in the ballpark. With Best Brown at the core it's hard to go wrong here, unless of course you just don't care for the flavoring.

Like most Sam Gawith Flakes, especially from the tin, it is very moist and I'd recommend liberal dry time prior to smoking it. When rubbed out and dried a bit, the topping dissipates and the tobacco is left smelling a lot like a blackberry or raspberry scented black tea. The smoke is semi-sweet, soft, creamy and quite delightful. The high note of the topping contrasts wonderfully with the warm Best Brown tobacco tone. The flavor remains fairly consistent throughout the entire bowl, although some bitterness develops towards the heel. For what it's worth, I also taste a skosh of Kendal florals in this.

As others have mentioned, preparation is key and you’ll be richly rewarded for your patience. Firedance Flake is not quite a love affair for me but it's pretty darn close and I can definitely see myself putting a few tins away for later.

Pipe Used: MM Country Gentleman

Age When Smoked: 4

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	McKNooB (35)	2013-06-09		Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Very Pleasant

Ok, I get it...we smoke aromatics to please others in the immediate vicinity. Or do we? Where I couldn't taste the blackberry (at all), the War Department stated that the predominate aroma with this one, was berry.

Terribly moist upon tin opening (and for weeks to follow) and truly the first blend where I can actually detect the chemicals (that shouldn't be there).

There was a hint of something with the flavouring but I can't figure it out. Otherwise, the earth is flat. Requires some significant drying out. Lazy light but didn't require much attention after it got going.

Surprisingly, no bite. I was hoping to get more out of Firedance but it confirms, now, aromatics are just aromatic and nothing more. Just 1Q to try and then I'm certain, I'll have to find an organization to donate all my aros too.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe1000 (14)	2013-01-02		Mild	Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant

I'm surprised this tobacco is held in such high regard! Ok, it's pleasant, but in my opinion nothing more. Very moist from the tin and needed drying out, it did however have a very nice tin note. When I first lit the flake (rubbed) it was ok, nothing special just a slight berry-ish flavour with a pleasant room note. Happy New Year Pipers

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	krg1000 (183)	2011-12-06		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I have come to like this blend over the course of smoking the 50g tin purchased. It does have a nice blackberry aroma out of the tin. It was a little overpowering, so I figured it may translate into the taste. But I was pleasantly surprised to find it a fine tasting blend without the nicotine kick of some other SG blends. The flavorings and the tobacco married nicely into a fine tasting blend that smokes down to a nice ash at the end of the bowl. Highly recommended when it is available.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	marosi (70)	2011-10-07		Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Tolerable

I am still a little confused by what I found with this tobacco, and I will continue to try and figure it out, but I figured since I often wax romantic about the wonders of SG blends, I should be honest when I find a stinker, and to me that is what I have on my hands here.

First of all, I have smoked a lot of Best Brown in my day, and what came of out the tin for this was not Best Brown. Best Brown is BROWN. This came out of the tin a light reddish tan. It looked, smelled, and smoked a lot more like Golden Sliced than any SG flake I have ever tried. Second, it had almost no odor at all out of the tin. I was expecting something aromatic, with a berry smell, per the description. None of that was found. I made a buddy stick it under his nose to see if I was crazy, and he agreed that there was little to no odor, other than the tobacco. WTF?

I had ordered a second tin, so I cracked that one open to see if somehow I had gotten some strange defective product, but the second tin was exactly like the first. This sounds crazy, but I really thought that maybe someone had switched the tobacco with something else, or was selling fake SG tins, given the lack of availability recently. I am going to buy another tin in the future from a different source to see if I get something different.

As noted, this, at least from my tin, was moist flakes of a very light golden tan color, with no real aromatic casing odor. Perhaps they use the BB flake mixture, but do not steam press it like their other wonderful flakes. If so, than that steam pressing really works wonders, because this tobacco has little to no flavor, no aromatic flavor, and burns much hotter than a typical SG flake. It is hard to even find something to review, because it was just bland, bland, bland.

This is the worst SG tobacco I have ever smoked, and I have smoked Grousemoor, which tastes like you are smoking a prom corsage! If I got a ringer, and my tins are somehow not representative, then I will do a new review, with apologies to SG. If this is what they are claiming is a cased BB flake, than shame on them, because this is light years away from the venerable and wonderful BB, and besmirches its good name.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-08-04		Medium	Strong	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I quite liked the idea of a more interesting aromatic, but straight out of the tin this stuff may very well be poisonous.

After drying out it becomes just about smokeable. Yes, the flakes smell of blackberrys (well, blackberry flavoured sweets anyway), but it still tastes vaguely how I'd imagine belladonna to taste.

I don't know which "lady smoker" developed this, but I bet she wears too much perfume.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-02-07		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

I hate to give a tobacco full score on the recommendation, but this one definately deserves it. The flavoring here is far from subtle, but it's so tasty that I just cannot stop smiling when smoking this tobacco.

Aromas of Blackberry, liqeur, fabric softener, sweet-sour candies, floral incense and an underlying high quality Virginia that just keeps you diving into the bowl for more and more and more! :D

The downsides to this tobacco perfection: Absolutely boggy in the tin. You need to dry it out. I broke up the flakes and set them on a paper next to a radiator for three hours before reaching a smokeable consistency. Price... You are going to want to buy many many wonderful tins of this tobacco (spoken with a commndt Lassard-voice) and that is going to cost you a couple of bucks. Take out a second mortgage on your house, sell your kids or burn your wife's credit card... Then you start buying all you can! :D

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sweetbriar (14)	2010-12-18		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

whoa.. this stuff is crazy good too. just finished a tin and opened another. i sure didnt experience any bite and the flavoring is far far from overbearing. I gave this a whirl because i really liked the chocolate flake. I'm also a big fan of the gawith best brown flake which is used in the choco flake and firedance. well done samuel gawith and company.. thanks.!!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-06-16		Mild to Medium	Extra Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Holy tongue-bite-in-a-bag, Batman! There's a reason the first word is "Fire." Admittedly, I've been smoking since the Stone Age and I tend to smoke a bit faster than my tongue appreciates, but this stuff will burn the enamel off your teeth!

The tin description says it's "subtly flavored." Subtle like a train wreck, maybe. I kid you not, after storing this in a ceramic canister for a year, hoping it would mellow, the ceramic canister is permanently flavored with blackberry. When I still couldn't smoke it, my wife used it as potpourri for a couple of months. The flakes were still wet and sticky when I threw them away.

The best thing I can say about this blend is that if you like blackberry cobbler (and I do), you'll start salivating the instant you open it up.

By the way, lest I be typecast, I freely admit I enjoy a good aromatic. I'm puffing on Mac Baren's Vanilla Cream Flake right now, and I'll probably enjoy some Erinmore Flake before bed. But this "Fire" Flake gives aromatics a bad name! Not Recommended for anyone without an asbestos tongue.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BrSpiritus (18)	2009-07-31		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

At one point in time all I would smoke is aromatics. Then I discovered English blends and flake tobaccos. I turned my back on aromatics because I wrongly judged them to be of the same ilk as borkum riff and captain black... overly cased goopy garbage. I was wrong and to aromatics I owe an apology. Firedance is what aromatics are supposed to be. Flavoured with natural ingedients just to the point where it compliments the wonderful Va tobacco that is the base for this flake. The tin aroma is wonderful with a blackberry/brandy aroma and vanilla hiding in the distant background. This caries through with lighting and can be fully appreciated when gently puffed. I smoke this flake in a Bing's Favourite from Savinelli and I can say I've had a few 1-1 1/2 hour smokes from this flake with minimal relights. Yes the tin benefits from some drying before smoking. I am excited to cellar some tins and revisit them in a year to see what affect aging has on them.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	kg0mz (54)	2009-05-15		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This one grows on me.

The flakes in my tin have a pleasant aroma and are thick and hefty with moisture. I rub out the flakes or fold them, but I never dry them, and I have no problems. The berry/brandy/vanilla flavor is not syrupy, but delicate to elusive. The tobacco is sweet and combines with the flavoring to produce a cool burning, expansive and rich smoke. I frequent many Lakeland tobaccos, and I do not detect any "soap" in Firedance.

I have experimented by tossing in a wee bit of Brown Bogie or #4 Twist, and while the addition ratchets up the strength I think it also disturbs the balance. Firedance is a mild to medium Virginia with a subtle aromatic counterpart. I think it works when you go slow. If you like a mild to medium tobacco and are not put off by a dash of flavoring, then I recommend you try this.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe4ever (204)	2008-10-31		Medium	Strong	Full	Very Pleasant

The VA Tobacco in pressed flake is top quality, however, the topping is unrefined, kind of heavy casing of Blackberry shewing gum.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RMBittner (66)	2007-04-25		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

While I enjoy Best Brown and other flavored blends from Samuel Gawith and Gawith & Hoggarth, I'm not a fan of this one.

Fire Dance Flake smells delicious in the tin, and the flakes pack beautifully. Upon lighting, there is an initial whiff of light berry flavor, then the brandy and vanilla step to the front. . . and their combined taste in this blend was not at all appealing to me. (Frankly, "sweaty feet" was the mental image created by the aroma.) While I don't doubt that there are fine Virginias here, they never really have the chance to shine on their own. I like everything in this blend; I just found the end result to be much less than the sum of its parts.

I had picked this one up thinking that it might be a good compromise between being a pleasant-smelling tobacco for passersby and an enjoyable pleasure for the actual smoker, much like Bob's Chocolate Flake is for me. After making my way through an entire tin, though, I felt that it missed on both counts. Hopefully, your mileage will vary and you'll find something here to enjoy.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-02-16		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

A truly odd smoke. On the positive side, the flake texture is lovely, albeit way too moist out of a fresh tin. As for the smoke, it is odd in the same way that an orange milkshake would be odd, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. There are conflicting notes everywhere, in the casing itself and certainly between the casing and the tobacco. A peculiar citrus note seems to dominate which is not completely unpleasant but I felt it should have been far less obvious. The room note went down in a similar way, with most reactions along the lines of "What exactly IS that you're smoking?". Once again, more down to curiousity than revulsion. To sum up, Fire Dance is neither fire nor dance and would make a respectable entry in the Gawith R&D log, but a poor product on the shelf.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-12-23		Mild	Very Strong	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Smells strongly of berries in the pouch. Mostly tastes like soap in the pipe. Had three bowls, traded away the rest. Yuck. Had to salt and acohol the pipe twice to get rid of the floral taste.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Danno (106)	2005-06-28		Very Mild	Strong	Mild	Pleasant

I cannot be counted as a fan of this offering from Sam Gawith. The flakes bear a physical resemblance to Best Brown, but sadly, the similarity vanishes upon consumption. Berry flavor, not unpleasant in pie, is less than ideal in my pipes. Not much in the way of flavor of any sort, very little strength, unremarkable finish, it rather reads like a summary of British politics...

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pip'n'Piper (54)	2023-01-02		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant

Tin note is like those Fruit-To-Go bars. Tastes like a decent grassy virginia with a pear brandy caseing. Quite moist. Bites like a pirannah. Will ghost a briar, or in my case a cob, in short order. Erik Stokkebye's 1982 is a far better vanilla blackberry aromatic with no bite if that's what you're after. If you're an SG fanatic working through their catalogue, have fun, I'll pray for your tongue. Disappointed, but it'll make a great potpourri for the porcelain office. 1 star. All there is to say.

Pipe Used: Cobs

Age When Smoked: Fresh

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Boatdock (38)	2022-12-03		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is a unique tobacco. As the description states, it's made with Best Brown Flake and topped with the blackberry Brandy and vanilla. It's a pleasant smoke and worth to trying.

Pipe Used: Cob

Age When Smoked: Unknown

Purchased From: Just For Him

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stah (151)	2022-05-10		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Not all tobaccos age the same way... I don't remember how I got a 40-gram bag of Firedance on my shelf. Of course, there was no date on the package. But by the look of the warnings about the dangers of smoking, I could tell that the tobacco was released before 2013. The excise stamp, which indicated Q3 2012, also spoke in favor of this. So this Virginia blend had aged a fair bit, which was supposed to do it some good.

It looks like a pressed brown flake with an uneven cut and yellowish flecks. The tobacco has been very well fermented over the years of storage and has dried out somewhat. However, the moisture content remained quite acceptable to be able to stuff a pipe.

The smell of the tobacco has changed over the years when compared to the manufacturer's description. It is claimed that the flavoring that was used contained brandy, vanilla and blackberry. In reality, however, I was met with a bouquet consisting of dominant citrus notes and sugar as well as vanilla, faint remnants of berry and a small amount of Lakeland essence containing clove and rose oil. Together it gave off a strange but pleasant smell, somewhat like orange jam. I broke out the flake and stuffed it into a pipe, a billiard with a fishtail mouthpiece designed for Virginia.

Some disappointment awaited me. Despite the fact that over the years the Virginia was supposed to give more sweetness, the tobacco turned out to be frankly sour on the palate. Well, I mean, there was sugar in it too, but it clearly wasn't enough to interrupt the sour lemon note. It additionally had the taste of yeast dough to it. To top it all off, the tobacco turned out to be stiff - at the slightest warming it wanted to bite my tongue. In my memory, this was the first time in many years that I almost immediately put out and shook out the pipe. It didn't have time to heat up much, so I immediately stuffed it with another virginia blend to kill the rest of the smell it had time to absorb.

The next day I picked up another pipe, with the same cup size, but already bent, and with a P-lip mouthpiece at that. To top it off, a filter could be inserted into it. I filled it with a portion of Firedance and smoked again. The flavor situation changed considerably for the better. First of all, the tobacco was no longer so stinging. Yes, it was still stiff (I partially solved this problem later by adding a filter), but the flavor has "picked up" and become more interesting. The yeast disappeared from it, a berry note appeared, and somewhere on the far approaches a drop of brandy was felt. However, the orange jam, lightly spiced with vanilla, dominated. When I added the filter, the flavor became more muted, and the tobacco could be smoked without fear of the tongue, but as a result, the berry and brandy notes disappeared - the tobacco turned into the usual (and very mediocre) aged Virginia of medium strength, which is clearly overdue.

I won't write anything this time about the smell of smoke, the humidity, and the amount of ash, because I'm convinced that this tobacco shouldn't be aged as long as it's been on my shelf. It should be smoked fresh, and I'm sure you'll get a pretty good European aromatic with just Virginia.

Pipe Used: Peterson 69, POTY 2013

Age When Smoked: 2012

Purchased From: Online

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sangagor (79)	2020-06-06		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild	Unnoticeable

I had bought 10 grams sample of this modern Samuel’s blend. Fresh smell was after some fruit, maybe blackberry or forest fruit. But what was surprise for me, also something like cinnamon or spice. After light smell was only a bit noticeable. Burns well. Mayor taste is sweetness from virginia. I had only little moisture on the bottom of bowl. It cause sometimes a tongue bite. Overall, I have already smoke much better aromatics.

Pipe Used: BPK, Stanislaw

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: etrafika.cz

Similar Blends: Mix of FOUR SEASONs series from Samuel Gawith & Stanislaw.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Majster (2)	2019-07-17		Mild	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Firedance from Samuel Gawith is highly flavoured tobacco, so tasting the Virginia used in this product is nearly impossible, but visually I can only suppose, that base of this product could be a Best Brown.

As producer quote, the tobacco is flavored by blackberry, vanilla and brandy. Vanilla with blackberry are clearly perceptible and the blackberry give the tobacco a gently consummate character. In my opinion blackberry also could taste like other berry fruits e.g.raspberry etc. Vanilla flavoring emphasize sweetness of Virginia, but personally I must make a push to feel brandy taste - the alcohol don't fizz in nose, it's gently subtle.

The room note is the biggest asset of this product. I smoked this tobacco a lot of time in company of non smokers and anti smokers, and they was delight and fascinate of amazing fruity (berry fruits) and sweet aroma. Some of them also think, that this is smell of electronic cigarette, so if you are a beginner pipe smoker or aromatic tobacco smoker I can highly recommend this product.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Cobbit Shire

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Similar Blends: Best Brown.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BriarBoyo (5)	2019-04-02		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

I'm normally an English Blend and pure Latakia smoker. I was bought this as a gift. I would go out of my way to buy this myself!

Opening the tin my nose was fulled with the distinct smell of pickled pears and dried currants. This brought back two childhood memories of making Welsh cakes with my Welsh Nan and enjoying roast pork and pears with my English Grandmother. So this got 5 stars before even lighting it!

Smoking it was heaven, though it did need two relights due to the tobacco being so moist. The first part of the bowl had a spiced pear flavour. Second was a bitter-sweet blackcurrant. Towards the end as promised on the tin was the warming taste of brandy.

I smoked it with my girlfriend. We took flavour notes and they matched up near word for word... though she (being Swiss) put "cassis" instead of blackcurrant.

Whatever you smoke you must try this.

Pipe Used: Keyser Hygienic System no1

Age When Smoked: New

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Briar Piper (89)	2018-11-18		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is one of the best flakes I have ever smoked. You can actually taste the blackberry brandy in this one, all the way down, which is never sticky, never overdone. This has a lot going on in every puff. Vastly superior to most other blends on the market. Made for ladies but mostly smoked by men? I think so. This tobacco reminds me of the old lord of the rings blends. It is an otherworldly smoke.

Pipe Used: Several

Purchased From: Tinderbox

Similar Blends: Most lakeland flakes..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2017-10-06		Medium	Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I was browsing through the reviews on this blend and was surprised to see that I never reviewed it despite finishing off a tin quite some time ago. I liked this one, but more so after it had some time to shed off some of the topping.

The flakes arrived in the tin not unlike FVF or BBF, but with a heavy fruity, berrylike topping. I really don't pick up any floral/soapy notes on this one at all. The topping was not bad, just too much for my tastes. Otherwise another fantastic Virginia. Also, like the two aforementioned flakes, it was very moist upon opening and required some dry time.

As these SG square flake tins offer such a loose seal, my standard MO is to just leave them in those tins til near crispy and then transfer to a jar. This strategy worked well for Firedance as it also allowed some of the topping to flash. As the topping got lighter I really enjoyed it more.

As an aromatic it is nice. When properly dried it will take a light just fine and perform well to the end. It smokes dry and even after some of the topping has flashed it is still a refreshing aroma offered up by the topping. The closest thing I could compare to would be Solani's Tropical Mango Flake even though the toppings are a little different. In all other ways the two are very similar.

Overall I liked the blend. I don't think this rises to the level of my love for Dan's Sweet Vanilla Honeydew or C&D Interlude, two similar types of Virginia Aromatic blends that I have awarded 4 stars, but it is still a little better than 3 stars in my book.

Purchased From: Ash Tobacco in Gaylord, MI

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Davetopay2 (16)	2017-09-03		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Digging about in the tobacco chest turned up this tin I bought some years ago, back when it was first released. So, maybe about 2009?

Pop the tin and the aroma of blackberry jam and booze wafts about the room. Vanilla was no where to be found.

With age the flakes were loaded with blooming crystals and sparkled in the sun light. A bit leathery and moist to the touch, the flake rubbed out easily to a nice pile of ribbon. I gave it 10 or 15 minutes to adjust its humidity.

It loads and packs easily enough. A bit springy and takes to the flame easily.

At first light I can't find the topping. The leaf is mildly sweet, subdued, and gentle. The smoke is lightly creamy, a bit toasty, bringing to mind biscuits and scones. Maybe graham crackers. Basically, it smokes like SB brown flake. That's not a bad thing.

What I was hoping for was that great SG flake cross bred with some of the fruity ari kick you get from University Flake. That wasn't the case. Uni Flake will stand up to coffee, most likely due to the VaBur nature and heavier topping.

A little tamping at mid bowl concentrates the flavors of the tobacco and it still hasn't needed a relight. No gurgling either. Bowl temps have been easy to control, there is zero bite, and it is a pleasant smoke. I thought there would be more vitamin N.

End of bowl experience is without drama or fuss. Still narry a gurgle. Not bitter or ashy, not hot, and no bite. Leaves a tidy grey ash and no goop.

I want to give it a big 3.5-4 star rating, because it is great tobacco and smokes great. It will only garner a 2.5-3 star vote because it is intended to be a flavored/aromatic Flake, but doesn't really deliver that for the smoker. Room note is tough for me to discern.

Maybe this needs to be fresher?

Totally worth a try if you have been a heavy aromatic puffer and would like to venture off into British flakes.

Pipe Used: Unbranded sav second

Age When Smoked: 7-8 years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Right Wing Piper (11)	2017-02-24		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

This is a unique blend that I really enjoy. It tastes exactly like what it is. The presence of Best Brown Flake used in this blend is very evident. The topping is very much blackberry and vanilla. Simply put, it is exactly what it claims to be. It requires a bit of drying, but it provides a positive pipe experience. If you enjoy a good aromatic made from quality ingredients, this would be a good pick.

Pipe Used: Briar, Meerschaum and Cob

Age When Smoked: 6 months to 1 year

Purchased From: Just For Him

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nwpipesmker (27)	2016-09-23		Medium	Medium to Strong	Full	Very Pleasant

Bought my first tin. Popped it open was really impressed with the tin note of blackberry and brandy can't detect the vanilla but not disappointed about that. Too the flake fold and stuffed in my pipe and enjoyed the bowl.

Pipe Used: Missouri meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Fresh tin

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kreisi John (4)	2016-04-02		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This one is in between a raisin and a mudcace. There is several round, spicy tastes, on this aromatic tobacco. They are hard to pull together here. Warm, pleasant, rich smoke. Perfect with a black coffee and an ice cream. Very good snack. Salty too.

Pipe Used: Savinelli 2614, Danish billard (Holtorp)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	initials SG (29)	2016-03-06		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

In the immortal words of Thomas Pynchon: "Friends, she bit him."

Psyche!

Nah, the bite potential is there and it did nip a tiny bit when puffed hard, but didn't bite.

Anyway, their description cited on this site is spot on. And it works. Best Brown is the perfect base, it delivers oomph and a great tobacco taste that compliments these kind of flavors. Plus just the right amount of nicotine for my constitution. Finally, an aromatic that I can enjoy! Good stuff!

Pipe Used: various

Age When Smoked: Fresh from new tin

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Schnootypooch (10)	2015-12-07		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Full flakes of lush, lightly pressed tobaccos that will leave you impressed. Firedance is a must in any pipesmokers arsenal with its lighter flavouring. Darker in nature than its appearance, and complex, but also subtle. Quite a soft aromatic, Very light rubbing to lightly bruise the strands will improve taste and texture, but greatly lower combustion, meaning that a brief drying may be of assistance. I always love showing pipe newbies this variety to showcase different cuts of tobacco, always astonishing those who view its full flake size and uniformity.

One that leaves the smoker entrigued and the witness curious, A brilliant all-rounder and great with a fresh cup of tea, it is one for companionship, and best enjoyed with friends.

Happy piping

Pipe Used: Hand-made bent aged briar, no filter

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Tobaccoblends.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrT999 (318)	2015-11-25		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

While a fan of Lakelands, I am not a fan of traditional aromatics, but I thought I'd give this a chance. On opening the tin, the blackberry is quite strong, and the vanilla is hinted at in the background. While not the easiest flake to get going, it's not bad compared to 1792. Once lit, the vanilla only adds a touch of sweetness, but the main flavors are the blackberry and the VA, usually in that order. To my surprise, they balance each other fairly well, so that the fruit doesn't overwhelm the tobacco flavors after the first few puffs. While I am more likely to reach for a floral Lakeland or GH's Rum Flake when looking for a flavored or sweet smoke, I wouldn't turn this down. Of course, if you dislike blackberry, stay far away from this!

Pipe Used: various briars

Age When Smoked: 1 month after purchase

Purchased From: 4 Noggins

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Badmedicine (51)	2015-06-17		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Never have I had a 'baccy confuse me this much. Admittedly, this was my first step away from drugstore aromatics (ok, it's still an aro, but much better quality). For starters, the tin note is amazing. Everyone who has smelled it has commented upon how delicious it smells, and even my notoriously tobacco-hating fiance likes the room note. The flakes are very well-crafted (if a little ragged), and it only required about 30 minutes of dry-time after rubbing out. Charring light and initial light brought the berry flavor out in force, and then it slowly receded into a very nice nutty "burly-ness". But what is that in the background? Did m'love spritz some perfume on this to spite me? Now, after a few years and more experience, i know the taste: Lakeland. I seem to have a knack for spotting even the tiniest hint of it, and I- for one- do not care for it in the least. I had unpleasant flashbacks to a high school girlfriend who covered up her poor hygeine with various mixed perfumes, applied ad nauseum. As a parting shot, it ghosted the pipe something fierce. Thankfully, it was a misshappen handmade (what other forums would call a "pipe turd") so I had no problems trashing it. That tin has sat untouched for two years; I am afraid to release that kraken upon another pipe. Maybe another dud pipe will warrant a re-examination. Maybe.

Pipe Used: Handmade "pipe turd"

Age When Smoked: unknown

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	reedsteve (7)	2015-06-15		Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This offering stretches several laws and neologisms. Yes, surely it is very much an aromatic, made from a very seriously purist form and recipe of flake. The inverse square law that has filled many an evening in need of mouthwash or memory eraser, happily is transcended with this offering. My informal inverse sq. observation is "twice the additive, flavorings, casing, etc. produces four times the bite, residue, and confused results. Not in this case. Better dining menus may someday successfully offer vegan short ribs with arugula oil infused creme fresh. If this example of maximal variety produces minimal synergy, you get my point. If you marvel at a wine connoisseur's willingness to celebrate discerning $3.00 worth of evolving berry hallucinative hints in a $50. bottle, ditto. When you first load your pipe with Firedance Flake, the flavorings instantly travel to your senses. When lit, something happens to those three additives that is personally useful in defining quality. They evolve and morph into some other descriptive food combinations, or even a here to fore non-existent one. I will leave you to describe this for yourself, should you try this flake This moist product smokes clean and gurgle-free down to the bottom. Now that alone deserves a special category. There is so much opinion about drying this stuff. With respect, I ask, do you really want to blot or alter natural oils on chemical paper towel before trying a less invasive 2 day open tin wait?

Pipe Used: French medium small 1930's

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: Pipes and Tobaccos

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	jonoz (14)	2015-02-14		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

First the good news.A pleasant, inoffensive smoke. BUT- it is built on Best brown and IMO does not add to it and actually detracts from BBF's delicate tobacco flavour. I will smoke what I've got, but I'll wish it was BBF

Pipe Used: various

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Abadakus (9)	2015-02-04		Mild	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I must warn you that I'm not a great fan of aromatics. Well, usually it's enough for me to have just one of them ready at hand. My main interests are VA/VaPer and Latakia/Oriental blends. But I've come to really like this one.

Like so many other SG tobaccos, it usually comes too moist in the tin. Just let it dry out a bit. Once you get used to it, you'll have no trouble with packing and lighting. It comes in the form of really thin, often partially crumbled just like their Best Brown. So it's easier to rub it out than other SG or even Peterson flakes. Once lit, it might take a few matches to relight. But don't worry, it behaves good enough unlike many other blends that need much more effort to pack correctly and keep lit.

The taste is basically that of a light fruity VA flake, much sweetened. Casing, though quite prominent in the tin aroma, does not interfere a lot, producing a pleasant room note. It seems much more natural and neutral than in most popular Aros out there, letting all the beautiful nuances of the base tobaccos come through. Never had any troubles with it like tongue bite or unpleasant sourness which some other blends tend to produce, especially when overheated. Nicotine content is well below average, might seem not quite enough to you FVF or University flake smokers.

Overall, a pleasant, light, sweet blend. Matches well with tea. Goes well on a summer walk in the park. Or can be a go-to light morning smoke. Three stars not for being something overwhelming or revolutionising, but because it posesses most of the merits of aromatic blends, but little to none of their drawbacks.

Pipe Used: Savinelli, L'Anatra, corncobs... pretty much any

Age When Smoked: New

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bonneville (52)	2014-08-13		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I bought this stuff to smoke when I'm craving a Virginia but the occasion is better suited for a more aromatic smoke (like being around non-smokers). Maybe I had too high an expectation but I was let down with this one. This surprised me as I'm a HUGE fan of SG's Virginia flakes.

I got a dull tasting and almost bitter note in the smoke. The room note was great, however. I suspect that perhaps this will get better after it has some time to age a bit. I will pull this out again at some point and will update if it gets any better.

If you're looking for a VA with an aromatic tinge, Mac Baren's Vanilla flake is better suited for the task.

Pipe Used: Aldo Velani Milano

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Beehive Cigars, Salt Lake City, UT

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	natibo (169)	2014-07-30		Medium to Strong	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

If you are looking for a strog tobacco that has a slight topping to it, ths fits the bill. The flakes are a good size. It has a nice "blueberry" flavor to it. I would not smoke it all the time, but once in a while is OK.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Elm0 (5)	2013-12-30		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Not a lot more I can add to the already great reviews on this tobacco A very nice virginia using one of my favourite tobaccos as its base Best Brown Flake, if you like Peterson's university flake or other virginia's with a light casing but with the beauty of the virginia you will love this one

Drying out, lighting & staying lit - As everyone has already stated it can be a fiddly tobacco to master & like the majority of samuel gawith's flakes no 2 tins will be the same, my love hate relationship with FVF is no secret

Drying times, from baking in the oven to open air drying I have tried them all, my experience with this flake is to not let it dry out too much, too dry and you can have a battle with tongue bite, too wet and you battle with it staying lit

There is a sweet spot where this flake comes to life, too dry and you will lose the lovely flavors, I air on the side of caution and would rather have it more towards the moist side and relight more often, I also deal with the goop gurgle by simple running a pipe cleaner in & out to remove any moisture buildup & believe this is a small price to pay to maintain a fuller flavored smoke

Pipe Used: Parker Super Bruyere

Age When Smoked: 2 months

Purchased From: Smoke King UK

Similar Blends: Samuel Gawith - Best Brown Flake, Peterson - University Flake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-06-11		Mild	Medium	Mild	Tolerable

This the last cased tobacco I tried in this line and all I have to say is farewell and SG. There were a few good offerings (Squadron Leader for one) but all in all a disappointing adventure. You live, you learn.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Arkie (129)	2013-06-06		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

The casing/topping is subtle and pleasant. Actually, I can't taste the blackberry brandy and vanilla at all but they do add an elusive quality to the flake and they make it interesting and flavorful. Room note is similar to Celtic Talisman and nice. I wouldn't want a steady diet of it but it does make a nice change and I'll likely keep a tin of it in my cellar. 3 stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	irwanFahmi (4)	2013-05-15		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

It taste like burning rubber, but agreed with FlatCapMatt ( For the 2nd attempt I rubbed it out and let it sit for 30-45 minutes to dry out a bit.) that make a change.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	FlatCapMatt (59)	2013-01-20		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Tolerable

Bought a 10g sampler of this. First try was awful. Couldn't get it lit, tasted of chemicals and was gurgly. Obviously it was too moist. For the 2nd attempt I rubbed it out and let it sit for 30-45 minutes to dry out a bit.

MUCH better results. It still took a few tries to light, and required several re-lights. The taste and smell were pleasant, and I didn't taste too much chemical nastiness.

Wife says room note was pretty "meh", and "Tolerable" was a good rating.

Overall it was OK, but not something I'd be in any hurry to purchase more of.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	machinebcon (50)	2012-03-30		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Firedance Flake doesn't fit my body chemistry. I find it to be an artificially tasting, tingling, sweet-sour (as in sherbet/kali) smoke, though the tin aroma is absolutely pleasant (blackcurrant, gooseberry, vanilla). Tobacco quality excellent, though my tin was slightly moist. I'm sure many people love this one, it is a different aromatic than the typical Danish ones, with excellent room note and low to medium Vitamin N. I won't buy it again, but it was not that bad.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-08-23		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Like the quality of the bacci as in all SG blends, this one has an odd taste/after-taste not to my likes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Capt (339)	2011-07-17		Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

A very high quality flake offering from Samuel Gawith. Ships a bit moist, however after a few days in an unsealed tin, this is ready to smoke. Thick clouds of blackberry smoke make for a pleasant indoor smoking experience. Never hints at biting.

Pairs well with a ruby port.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	meerkat (64)	2011-05-20		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

A great tobacco for those of us who occasionally want an aromatic but don't want to compromise on the quality of the tobacco.

The bramble aroma really comes across in the taste and tastes of real brambles; rich, sweet and tart.

Do not apply if you want an unadorned tobacco flavour or a simple candy sweet aro, but if you want a more interesting aro with some quality tobacco strength and a taste which really relates to the fragrance this could be just the thing you are looking for.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dk-piper (25)	2011-05-17		Medium	Strong	Medium	Strong

puhh...very strong casing. The tobacco is S.G.-style top notch. BUT the casing is not my cup of coffee. Smells artificially intense. After lightin up it doesn't get better for me. It tastes like burned rubber. Eventually the true tobacco taste gets a chance to linger through this artificial candy-bubble-gum-like flavoring and my hope in not dumping the pipe-load rises.

i'll have to pass on this one.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	derlict311 (71)	2011-04-16		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This has a nice flavor to it and burns well but it is just OK overall.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	p4p4 (59)	2010-11-23		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

smooth and creamy tobacco, with an interesting flavor. Round taste and good burning quality. Slighty sweet and tastefull. A very well done aromatized. Like every Gawith product, it's a winner !

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Burner (8)	2010-10-26		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I held off trying this for a long time expecting it to be a harsh aromatic - but I should not have waited. This is a topping which is not overwhelming and compliments the tobacco. I like University flake and this is a similar although obviously all virginia smoke with extra berries. Smokes slow and easy, needs to be dried a bit first! This is one to stock.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrDyson (148)	2010-06-20		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

Being a fan of most of the Lakeland flakes (with the great exception of Ennerdale), I wanted to like this one – especially since so many other people think well of it. In the event, I found it a disappointment. As always with G & H and SG tobaccos, the leaf itself is of high quality, but the casing is (to my taste) just plain odd, and certainly not subtle. It comes very moist in the tin (the besetting sin of SG flakes) and I found it a very hot smoke that needed a lot of relighting. The suggestion is that FF was blended to suit the female palate. I didn't know that there is such a thing as a specifically female palate; but, if there is, it's very different from my male one. This stuff is worth a try – all SG flakes are – and it all depends on what you like, of course; but I couldn't recommend it more than somewhat. I'd looked forward to trying it, but I won't be getting any more in. Cellaring will probably calm it down a bit, though.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Susanna Hoffs (74)	2010-05-08		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The flavours aren't massive here, and are more subtle than expected, a little vanilla spice here and a noticeable blackcurrant overtone there. These pleasant aroma's waft from a medium strength virgina that doesn't bite..

Smoking Firedance is at times, reminiscent of catching the 'occasional' whiff of someone baking a blackcurrant crumble (cobbler to the yanks) as one stroll's along a country lane in England during the height of summers eve.

Still not as nice as the real thing though, and this could have been better..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kilmarnock Piper (251)	2010-03-27		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I was a little put off at first by the description of the lady pipe-smoker's "blackberry, brandy, and vanilla." For one thing, I once had a bad experience tasting a blackberry brandy, and was lucky it was only a taste. I saw tins for a good price on an internet retailer's site though, and since the price was right and also because so many Samuel Gawith tobaccos are unavailiable at the moment (back soon, they say!), thought I would give it a chance. Glad I did. The flavorings create a lovely tin scent, and are present at the first lighting up, but only for a few puffs. Henceforth, the sauce is relegated to the background. This is my second SG tobacco based on topped Best Brown Flake, the first being Cannon Plug. The topping on that one remains throughout the smoke. Strangely enough, I have not had BBF by itself, untopped. I will have to get some, as it is obviously a quality Virginia, and it is even more evident that this is so with Firedance than with Cannon (a fun flowery patchouli concoction). The trio of toppings in Firedance Flake do not cover up the fine SG Virginia flavor at all. They make themselves known in a subtle way, more in the room note and "nose" than on the palate. If you, like me, are missing your Gawiths and don't feel like waiting any longer, you will not go wrong with this blend. The tin is pretty cool as well.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-03-17		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I have started using the ball method of rolling the flake in my palm until I have a fluffy tobacco ball and I push the ball in leaving an air space at the bottom. This was a little moist out of the tin, but after a few lights it stayed lit just fine. I loved the berry smell. The last half of the bowl transitions into a more natural and smooth virginia and the berry aroma all but disappears. I like this a lot. It is the best of both worlds to me. Starts out a bit aromatic and ends with natural tobacco. If you are not liking traditional aromatics, but not wanting to go fully into all natural tobacco, give this a try. If you do like this, you might also try Luxury Twist Flake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ynrozturk (62)	2010-03-16		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

I enjoy an aromatic smoke from time to time, and for me, this one is the best. Generally a fan of everything Samuel Gawith, this flake has never done me wrong. It's of course not your typical American aromatic doused in flavorings, but a very subtle berry/vanilla taste, which I think works brilliantly with the virginia's here.

As with most SG tobaccos, this will come a tad moist out of the tin. You could pack it and fire it up straight away, but it will really benefit from some drying. I find that half an hour is enough to get the most flavor from the flakes, and to handle them comfortably.

This tobacco for me means balance. Just the right amount of flavoring, and natural tobacco flavor. The berries aren't over powering, and truthfully, it smells delicious. I could smoke this all day long as the nicotine level is just right (medium), the smell is fantastic, and it tastes wonderful. Burns to a nice fine ash and doesn't require any relights for me.

Quite possibly my favorite aromatic ever. Thank you SG.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bibster (7)	2010-03-12		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

My overwhelming preference is for English blends and I haven't smoked an aromatic mixture for several years. But, I bought a tin of this stuff on a whim and I was quite impressed with it.

The tin note is strong, with a very intense and pleasant scent of berries. As has been noted before, the flakes are unevenly cut, but I find a certain "rustic" charm to that. They are quite moist, so I elected to rub them out, fill my pipe, and let it sit for several hours.

The berry flavor definitely takes the lead for the first two-thirds of the bowl, with the brandy providing a smooth back note. The tobacco burned very well and required no re-lights (and this was in a cheap, unsmoked Czech-made "basket pipe" I had lying around). I puffed deliberately, and found it to very cool smoking with absolutely no tongue bite. Towards the end of the bowl the vanilla finally made its presence known, and ultimately overtook the berry flavor. The Virginia leaf was also evident through the entire smoke. The tobacco left a very clean and mellow aftertaste.

Although this isn't something I could smoke every day, I will keep a few tins around for an occasional change of pace. All in all, another high quality product from Samuel Gawith.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	renwardhoop (177)	2010-02-03		Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Not only was this my first encounter with Firedance, but also my first with flake. Think I was more concerned with the packing of the pipe than with the tobacco attributes.....

A simply delightful scent assails you out of the tin. Smells like one of my late mother's fruit pies. The tobacco is soft and pliable and packing the old pipe couldn't be easier, even for a rook like me, with whatever method suits you. I used the sort-of-stuff-and-ram method !

The smoke is flavoursome as has been reported by other posters. Blackberry-ish. Could even pass as Blackcurrant or perhaps Blueberry. Couldn't detect anything else. Vanilla ? Nope. Brandy ? Nope !

That's ok with me, I'm an aromatics fan and to this rather dulled palate it's a far cry from the neutrality of Peterson's mixtures.

Needs quite a bit of relighting, but of course bear in mind that this is my first experience with a flake. I'm hopeless at assessing room note, but I've had no comments either way so far.

This blend is certainly going to feature prominently in my rotation along with the excellent Celtic Talisman and ideal for your first aromatic flake. I'm really enjoying SG's blends and look forward to opening a tin of their Grousemoor !

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	newmission (14)	2010-01-08		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

The flavor description kept me away from this blend for a long time, but I broke and decided to try it. Great smoke, real nice and full. The sweetness does not stay very long, just a nice early smoothness followed by a firm, pleasent, robust smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	USA_Traveller (7)	2009-10-02		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

First there were aromatics. And She Who Must Be Obeyed rejoiced. But the man grew tired and weary. "Surely there must be more to life than these?" he thought. So he began to explore. And soon discovered the pleasure of Full Virgina Flake, Perfection, then Dunhill and soon other fine Virginia flakes, VAPERs and all manner of English. The Man was happy. But She Who Must Be Obeyed was not. "What is that terrible smell!" she exclaimed. And the Man found himself banished to the screen room, alone and forlorn.

"What shall I do," he cried to his trusted confidant, the tobacconist. "She Who Must Be Obeyed has decreed - no Latakia in her presence." The crafty old Sage winked his eye, and wisely produced a tin of legendary renown: "Firedance Flake!"

And so the man carefully pried open the lid. A strong scent of berries (blackberries - oh sweet memories of youth) and brandy greeted his senses. "But I've tried other aromatics, only to be crushed by the fickle flavor that is not true to scent." "Do not fear," said the Wise One. "This one is far truer..."

So the Man returned to his domicile. With fear in his heart and trembling in his fingers he loaded his trusted bent billiard with the flake called "firedance". A light - a puff -- and a smile!

Even She Who Must Be Obeyed was convinced. This is one aromatic that is true to its form. A fine Virginia with a sweet, lingering scent that will enhance any room. And peace and contentment returned.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-06-02		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I do not care for this tobacco. I bought it at a B&M based on a recommendation from the shop owner. I like the tin aroma of this more than most aromatics (which I do not really appreciate in general), and I like the consistency of this flake. But I can offer no praise beyond that. I find the taste to be acrid, sour, and unpleasant. Further, this leaves a sticky, foul residue on my pipe. Thankfully I use a clay pipe for such tobaccos so this did not present an issue, but I strongly caution against smoking this in a briar unless you already know that this tobacco is suited to your preferences.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mouse (7)	2009-02-06		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I bought a lb. of this, which arrived fairly dry. Burns well, very light aromatic. Perhaps my order had been sitting on the etailer's shelf for a while because I have no problem with it being too wet or overpoweringly scented. BBF with a light top note.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bazsup (13)	2008-11-23		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant

I am reviewing a bulk purchase that came with appropriate moisture levels and a strong fruity smell when openning the bag. The flavor doesn't come close to the tobacco aroma. It gives an inconsistent flavor; sometimes full of blackberry sweetness and then the Gawaith soapy flavor comes through.

The flakes are inconsistent in thickness with some slices almost becomming slabs. I will say that a quick fold and it is ready to pack, I had no problems with keeping it lit or with the moisture content. One match will most often do the trick.

All in all a decent smole for the aromatic smoker, though I tired of it before finishing the bag and I have moved on to other things right now.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beaupipe (102)	2008-10-31		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I wish I knew what to make of this strange tasting, strange smelling tobacco. I've been on a bit of an aromatic binge lately for some strange reason and thought I may as well explore my feminine side with this "ladies' tobacco."

Things went awry from the getgo. I'm usually impressed with the flake quality in SG tins, but this one looked like wet flank steak slices arranged by a blind man. It looked, actually, vaguely chewed.

The disconnect between the advertised "Blackberries, Brandy & Vanilla" and the real tin aroma has been mentioned by everyone. I was looking forward to the berries and though they were there, they were buried beneath more intense smells. This tobacco is floral for sure, but it's a vaguely unhealthy smell, too, something like a rose consumed by powdery mildew. My first instinct was to sprinkle some garden sulfur on those mangy flakes and fill a bowl with something else.

Since then, I've pushed through a few bowls of this stuff and every time I smoke it, I feel like I'm doing myself potential harm. Maybe I've just learned that I don't enjoy smoking something that looks like a half-chewed flank steak and smells like a sick rose.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-08-03		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

One might be turned off by the first smell. It has that famous SG tin smell of potpourri but just fill a bowl (after drying!!) and enjoy a fine combo of flavor. My favorite SG blend for an aromatic.

1/3 of the bowl is heavily flavorful with heavy vanilla casing.

2/3 of the bowl is still heavy in flavor with some tobacco flavor coming through.

3/3 is burnt ash, but thats aromatic for you.

If you are in to VA/PER or ENGLISH,stay away from this blend. It is to aromatic for me at times and I am an avid aromatic fan.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Croaker (13)	2008-08-02		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

My tin of Fire Dance Flake came moister than any other tin I?ve ever purchased. The tin has a heavy yet still pleasant blackberry aroma and the flakes were so moist that they pulled apart when I tried to remove them from the tin. It took little effort to fully rub-out the flakes as I usually do with most SG flakes anyway. After drying out Fire Dance burned well and, unusual for an SG flake, required very little attention. Considering this tobacco?s Virginia base and added casing I was impressed that this didn?t easily bite my tongue. It also remained relatively dry. Still, Fire Dance will bite if smoked too fast, and I found it?s rich flavor best released with relatively slow smoking.

I find the natural sweet Virginian tobacco taste is well augmented by the rich berry and vanilla casing. I like Fire Dance quite a bit.

I seldom smoke aromatic tobaccos: it took me two months to finish the tin. Fire Dance was much better than many aromatics I have tried. It maintained its tobacco taste while satisfying my sweet tooth. And it didn?t flavor my pipe! If I were a regular aromatic smoker this would be in my rotation.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-06-23		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

When I first opened the tin my first thought was Woooh! I am an aromatic smoker so I am used to sweet aromas. But you do not even have to smoke the tobacco to get a decent room note! I was afraid the taste would be way too much. But it turned out to be a very balanced blend. The quality tobaccos are still there and not at all conquered by the topping. And this tobacco actually tastes the way it smells. The tobacco needs to dry for a bit before smoking it. Accompanied with a nice glass of Tawny Port it's even better! I will definitely store some tins for ageing.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sylvian (28)	2008-04-24		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Village-baked brown bread with butter and berry jam is what Firedance Flake tastes like. No surprise it finds a perfect fit for me as a morning smoke. As most Samuel Gawith's lighter offerings, it forgives even most aggressive puffing, but when savoured slowly Firedance gratefully unveils its whole (even if not really sophisticated) taste range, providing for a satisfying but never too aromatic or too nicotine-heavy smoke. Best when dried out for about half an hour when smoking a freshly opened tin. A calm, fragrant and tasty flake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-03-20		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I will start by saying that BBF , and FVF are two fo my all time favorites. So far all S.G. blends have been very good with the exception of 1792...I guess it's a Tonkin thing. I find that there is considerable berry fragance in the tin. Nice...clean, not overbearing. As with all S.G. blends drying is a must. Rubbed out lightly, stuff, and light. Nice tobacco flavor, with a hint of berry. With a little effort you can keep this blend "in the zone" through the entire bowl. Burns cool, clean and completely. It will flavor you pipe somewhat, but to me thats not a bad thing. I try to reserve == for the very best so I guess I will rate this one =. I just bought a new Ser Jacopo Rowlette Maxima and two pounds each of BBF,FVF, and Firedance from smokingpipes.com.... good prices,selection, and the VERY best people to deal with. By the way the first bowl in the new pipe was Firedance.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-01-05		Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant

I was looking forward to tasting blackberry with brandy and vanilla. Except there isn't any.

You get a faint whiff of berry from the tin but that's about it.

I guess it's cheaper to sell water than tobacco, considering how soggy the flakes were in the tin when I opened it.

It's got a sort of floral aroma and taste, like a straight virginia with a weird top note.

Hugely better than Devil's Holiday, but that don't make it great either.

Won't be buying this again.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-12-26		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

Merry Christmas

Although I have just taken the decision to stop the experiments (because of Bob?s Chocolate and Campanille Mixture), this amazing mix came up on 25/12/07.

Blackberry? and something more. I can surely smell the blackberry but there is a British element in it. I left a dose out in the fresh air to get dry for one hour before I try it. It is not heavy and I don?t want to discourage anybody who has addicted preferences. It has something different which I don?t know whether it is the tonquin for which I read and I don?t know what it is or a very real flavor of vanilla.

They say that Samuel Gawith uses natural flavors?.. Hmmmm? this tobacco makes me believe it. Dry and easy to be smoked till the last gram in the bowl and it does not warm it up.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-09-14		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Usually i smoke classic English mixture with tons of latàkia and sometimes (usually after a good coffe) a full virginia. Well a friend of mine just suggests to try once this flake and so,i've bought it. Well i really don't like aromatics in general so as soon as i opened the box the smell was quite gentle it reminds me rasp-blackberries. well the smoke is so fresh, sweet and thin,you can easily feel the virginias mixed with a mild taste of soft fruit very pleasant and tolerable.room note is similar to the FVF. i really enjoyed it it's a valuable choice and i suggest it as an alternative to the other natural-aromatic tobaccoes. you should try once!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-06-03		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Once the flakes are allowed to spend a little time drying out, the tobacco packs well weather rubbed out or folded. I find this blend will likely appeal to those who enjoy the flavor of Best Brown, which is the base for this blend. The berry topping only adds a sweet, aromatic element to the blend which although apparent, does not entirely mask the predominant flavor of Best Brown. It smokes cool and has little if any bite potential for the experienced smoker. I encountered no problems with dottle.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-05-12		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

If you enjoy Lakeland Flakes, Firedance is a very satisfying treat for both the nose and palate. Akin to Grouse-Moor in the trait that it tastes like it smells, this Samuel Gawith offering is deeply seasoned with a dark berry essence that is very strong and over whelming in the tin. It lights easy and the berry taste and aroma are present from the charring light to the last draw. It is not sweet; the strength rushes forth in the aroma more so than the flavor, but it is always subtly present in the flavor. It sometimes reminds me of blackberries and at other times of raspberries, combined with the natural tobacco flavor of Best Brown. It becomes quite creamy and marshmallow like around the middle of the bowl when the vanilla begins to come to the fore. It finishes rich, smooth and creamy. It behaves very well and burns even, dry, cool and clean all the way down the bowl. In a word, ?unique? describes this flake best. A dedicated pipe is a must with this one.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dualkarnain (75)	2007-03-31		Medium	Strong	Medium	Pleasant

Gawith's aromatic tobaccos are an anomaly in the world of flavor. Whether it's the floral/herbal or the tonka 1792 extracts, the tobaccos rarely sacrifice strength for artificial flavor.

Once opened, the tin was too moist to smoke. Nonetheless, I tried anyway. Gurgly blackberries requiring a pipecleaner every 10 puffs.

The blackberry flavoring comes across as alcoholic to me for some reason. This is a unique blend that "aromatic experimenters" should try. Following this tin I'll jump back to the Bogey ropes!

Images evoked include a monsterous red-black demon stabbing a pitchfork into the backside of a sinful, deceased orchard maid.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-02-27		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I've had a tin of this around for awhile and decided to have another offering of Firedance. I smoked it in a larger bowl, and it was fairly nice. Do keep your palette moistened as a helper. Actually, when a blend such as this has a revealed recipe of flavorings, one should know that this will be a what it is... a fragrant pipe tobacco. It's a bit like ordering desert at a fine restaraunt. The quality of leaf is good, as all Gawith is top notch, but the disclosed ingredients of berries, brandy and vanilla is a clear notice to all who partake. I would treat it for what it is, and enjoy the good quality dessert that it is.....and it is less filling. I prefer the naturals but once in a while it's nice to go elsewhere for just a change of taste.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-02-23		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Firedance Flake.23/02/07. This did not disguss me at all,though I think if you like abit of fruitiness in your tobacco then you'll most likely love this. Don't get me wrong its flavour is not overly done by any means. I do think some newbies to the world of pipe smoking would definitely appreciate this offering more. It behaves itself very well throughout the bowl and doe's not cause any trauma while smoking it. Easy to light after leaving it sit and air on paper for ten min's before smoking.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2006-11-17		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I don't see why this tobacco is getting the bad ratings. This is the only tobacco I've smoked thus far, that actually tastes the way it smells in the tin. It is purported to taste like blackberries and it does very nicely; not an overpowering sweetness, but the subtle taste of blackberries all the thru the bowl. The room note is pleasant and it burns pretty well considering it is a moist flake. I smoke it by bending the flakes and inserting in the bowl with sprinkles on top. It puts out a real creamy looking smoke (just like their Kendall Cream Flake). No tongue bite noted, just a smooth,creamy, blackberry tasting smoke. I give it 4-stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Philo Beddoe (221)	2006-09-24		Mild	Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable to Strong

I smelled figs and berries in the pouch, but got no flavor at all when smoked. I cannot say that this is a bad tobacco, but it will not be revisited by me. It seems a waste of some good Virginia. My wife said the smell was awful as well.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RCUSElder (244)	2006-01-18		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant

Imagine Best Brown Flake with Brandy, and Blackberry. That's it. This is a high quality aromatic, but not in the flavor spectrum I enjoy. I could only get myself to try it in a cob for the rest of the tin, which did remarkbly well. This aromatic flake will flavor your pipes as I found after trying a bowl in a Peterson, so consider yourself warned. See my review on BBF for its burning and smoking qualities. Yes, it has a wonderful room note. Well done, but not my cup 'o tea...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-06-25		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I like best brown, so it's rather difficult not to like this for me. Best Brown Flake + Blackberries and Creame liqour scenting, essentially.

CAUTION: This -will- infect the briar. You will be tasting blackberries forever, so load this in your aromatic pipes/cobs, NOT your precious VA/flake pipes.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-05-04		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant

I absoloutely love this tobacco!

From the moment you unleash the raw, gummy strands of flake packed with their jammy blackberry aroma to the first mild sizzling at the top of the pipe this is a satisfying treat for nose and palate alike.

I generally smoke latakia blends and am not a huge fan of aromatics (particularly disliking overly cased "candy shop" blends) but this is something altogether different. For a start, the blackberry taste is not particularly sweet, but subtle and warming, the closest equivalent to smoking a well mulled wine.

No offensive floral overtines for me here either (if they are here you must forgive my jaded palate!). To sum up this is a fruity aromatic for those who don't like fruity aromatics - and that sublime paradox is at least enough to drive me back, again and again for just "one more bowl".

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Spike (296)	2005-03-24		Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Not really one of my favorites, I don't want to down-rate a high quality offering such as this Blackberry Flake. If you like Flakes and Aromatics, give it a whirl. Three stars of four in the Aromatic/ Flake category.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pounder 5000 (178)	2005-01-31		Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This is certainly something different. A variation on the berry aromatic- Lakeland style! I have to give high points for originality at the least. This blend is a bit of a biter as the Pipestud points out. Since I'm not a huge fan of Best Brown, I have to say this is a step up on the merit of interest alone. If you like the Lakeland Perfume (some would say curse, however I love it!) and are into aromatics, especially berry flavored ones, then this is your bag! Myself? Not so much!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2004-12-04		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I'm not the world's biggest fan of aromatics, but this one is rather good. On my last trip to the tobacconist, as I was looking around, the proprietor offered me a whiff of this. I associated the aroma with the delightfully fruity smell that I always noticed in a relative's house (even though neither she nor her husband smokes).

"Best Brown Flake" is one of my favourites, so it wasn't with much surprise that I found myself liking this. There was a noticeable "soapy" note on the tongue and palate, but nothing overwhelming. In fact, I found it to be pleasantly astringent. And the aroma, even though I can't find the words to adequately describe it, is heavenly.

If you like Virginias and you can at least tolerate the soapy flavour that many English flakes seem to have, you owe it to yourself to at least try it. It burned clean to a fine ash with no dottle or goop in the bowl. I doubt I would want something like this often, but it does make for a nice change of pace.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2003-11-17		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Smoking Firedancer Flake you notice first the light berry flavor, not bad, then some Lakeland "perfume," also not bad, and thereafter a neutral, slightly bitter taste only vaguely reminiscent of smoking a Virginia tobacco. For me, this tobacco smokes "soft" and cool and tongue bite wasn't a problem. The flakes are also beautifully made and have a wonderful texture. Oddly enough, the nose, so aggressively "berry" in the pouch, dissipates almost entirely when you smoke it. My wife found this tobacco's smell unobjectionable, but not at all aromatic. I don't care for the underlying taste of this tobacco, and won't restock it, but someone looking for a tobacco that tastes very Turkish, but with fruit overtones, need look no further.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2003-11-08		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Firedance Flake is truly an odd S. Gawith offering. It is truly an aromatic, being fruit flavored and all, but not an aromatic as most people know them. Since this is a strictly virginia blend, it cannot be heavily cased with a sweetner, so the resultant flavor is fruity without being especially sweet. It was uncharacteristically moist for a Gawith flake and needed several hours of being spread out on a cookie tray to dry out enough to not be steamy.

My first bowl of FF was hard to finish. I found the fruitiness almost chemical in taste (OK, everything is "chemical tasting" in the literal sense), kind of like sprinkling rasberry Koolaid on top of the tobacco. With subsequent bowls, however, I found that this flavor quickly receded into the background, with the other scents dominating as the bowl progressed. There seems to be that floral "lakeland scent" hovering in the background, but this may be the consequence of smoking in a pipe dedicated to scented flakes.

The jury is still out in my mind as to whether this is an improvement on Best Brown or a slight degradation. Still, I found it worth trying, though my 2 oz sample will probably last a long time. It will be interesting to see how this blend ages...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	NEWMAN (305)	2003-06-02		Mild	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Gawith presents nicely prepared 6"x2"x1/16" pressed flakes in this bulk blend. They are quite pliable which results in easy packing without rubout which is generally my approach. Blackberry dominates the pouch and room aromas and is present from start to finish in the taste. Although it becomes more subdued as the smoke progresses, I tasted very little natural tobacco flavor. The initial moisture content is also rather high and results in numerous relights with no rubout. Drying for several hours solved this and reduced some of the berry influence. The room aroma got + reviews from family and associates which makes this flake a better choice than many others when in company. However, most of the time, I'm selecting tobaccos for my own pleasure and in that case, the only time I might choose this mild blend would be when I was smoking outside in the hot weather.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (221)	2023-04-15		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Samuel Gawith Firedance Flake - Popped a 3 yr old tin that had a nice whoosh to it when opened . The flakes were not that wet really . Rubbed a couple out and let them air for 20 minutes. The blackberry and brandy are right there up front but fade some as the bowl smokes down . Can’t detect any vanilla . The Best Brown Virginias are bready grassy and a little floral and citrusy. The toppings seem to negate any tongue tingle I usually get with BBF of late . I detect a tiny bit of floral essense here but hard to tell as SG Virginias all seem to be a bit floral anyways . I like the brandy topping . This finish is more tobacco forward than topping . Not so bad . 3

Pipe Used: Cobs

Age When Smoked: 3 yr tin

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	willie b (37)	2022-10-25		Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

needs a little drying time. High quality Virginia flake. being a native of the tobacco region of Virginia it's in my DNA. Aroma is awesome. can bite a little as with any tobacco with alcohol. biased cause I love anything blackberry. an aromatic with some girth. vanilla is light as well as the brandy. a kiss of sweetness. only smoke aromatics on occasion but I do like this one.as an English/Balkan fan herd for me to get one with backbone. this on delivers for me. does need a few relights but that's ok. sip it. can bite Ya if you get rough with her.

Pipe Used: sherlock Holmes

Age When Smoked: fresh and aged.

Purchased From: tobacco pipes

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bumble (65)	2021-11-10		Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

As a newer pipe smoker, I am mainly exploring the different blends (I favor aromatic blends, although I am dipping my toes into the non-aromatic blends now) to find what I like. Opening the tin, what I smelled was a strong berry smell at first, then a bit of the liquer. The flavor I tasted was berry with a small bit of the brandy, I could not really taste or smell the vanilla. I could taste the Virginia in the background. I did have a bit of tounge bit when I first started smoking this. After drying it out, rubbing the flake out and slowing down I did not have this issue again. I was very pleased as this tasted like it smelled and I appreciate this when tobacco prominently states flavor in its marketing.

Pipe Used: Nording Signature Black Freehand

Age When Smoked: tin was 14 months old when received

Purchased From: justforhim.com

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greybeard (66)	2021-09-28		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Firedance by SG: Not bad...not great. Blackberry is evident in the tin note, and dominates the early part of the bowl. There is a slight vanilla in the background as well. The flavors do become more subtle in the latter half of the bowl, as the Virginia taste comes through a bit more.

Definitely needs dry time before smoking as it can be difficult to keep lit, and will bite while trying. I also recommend breaking up the flake into finer pieces before drying.

Overall it's a decent smoke with some good flavoring, but I wasn't really wowed by Firedance either. Had some harshness at times, and being Virginia based, I think some time in the cellar may help this blend. For now, somewhat recommended as I will smoke the tin, but doubt I'd add it to my regular purchase list.

Pipe Used: Cobs

Age When Smoked: Fresh from tin

Purchased From: Governor's cigar lounge (Columbus OH)

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Antonius Blok (192)	2020-09-13		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Contrary to what you might think being a Samuel Gawith mix, when I opened the tin the flakes were quite dry. It was summer and after a few days they all broke and I had a tin full of Firedance's broken flake with no need to rub or crumble. The pipe got overheated when i smoked it the first few times and I had to hydrate the tobacco to get it back. All this despite the fact that I bought it in my tobacconist and the tin came wrapped in a bag to pressurize it. I deduced that it was a precaution of the tobacconist due to the already known deficiencies of the cans of this brand at that time. With a tin of Chocolate Flake from the same brand that I bought at the same time, something similar happened to me.

Once hydrated, the tobacco is an aromatic with reminiscences of blackberry, quite soft, but it does not convince me. They say the base is Best Brown Virginias, which is one of my favorite SG tobaccos. I cannot affirm or deny it, since in most of the aromatic (and this is not an exception) I am not able to appreciate the tobacco under the topping, although in this topping is not too strong.

I will not repeat the purchase but I understand that there are people who might like it, so it is up to each one to try it and then judge for himself.

02/12/2023: Nearly three years later I find myself in the right spirit to give Firedance another try, optimistically hoping to include what's left of tin in my rotation. I load a low capacity Chacón (optimistic yes but also prudent) and with all my good will I turn it on. But reality is stubborn and the bad experience is repeated, in addition to beginning to notice that my tongue is beginning to suffer, with the consequent risk that it will prevent me from enjoying the rest of the day with other pipes. So I empty my pipe halfway and say goodbye to this tobacco, as I'm not willing to be a martyr for science. I think that maybe with a filter it would work better but why bother with a large number of tobaccos that I can easily enjoy?

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Scottaylor (13)	2020-08-01		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

I am not sure where to start with this one! I want to like it, I really want to like it but some how I can't quite get there. Just on looks and tin aroma alone it deserves to be loved but for me that might be the problem. The flakes are lovely in both colour and presentation. Neat but slightly rustic not too perfect. Tin note is sublime, soft, fruity and fresh, almost edible, the promise is so great that it is a little hard to live up to. I have made my way through a whole tin in 6 weeks before writing this review and smoked it in three different pipes in an attempt to give it a fair crack of the whip! To me this flake has a slightly sweet and sour edge to it that is not unpleasant but fails to deliver on what the tin nose promised, the underlying tobacco flavour is of good quality and is enjoyable to smoke but then so are many other flakes and in here lays my problem. It is not that this is a bad flake it just does not stand out enough, the addition of the flavouring has not lifted it enough for me I'm afraid.

To sum up not a bad flake at all but that said I have never had a bad flake from Sam yet! Some how though not the mind blowing experience I was hoping for.

Pipe Used: small bowl briar, chacom calabash ,plumpton poker

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: My smoking shop

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-06-28		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I have just finished a 25g pouch of loose tobacco and I was pleasantly suprised as to how good it was. It arrived relatively moist but was easy to keep lit and was great for a long and relaxing smoke.

The flakes were very thin and rubbed out well. Overall an easy, if somewhat different smoke.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-12-26		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

A very nice smoke very slow burning with no bite great in a large pipe it has a very pleasant room note the blackberry comes through very well

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-04-23		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Initial tasting reminded me of Lakeland florals, but it dissipated quickly into a fairly pleasant berry-ish flavor. All in all, a pleasant enough smoke.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-03-15		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Cotton....brandy???

Yup, reminds me of cotton candy. I like cotton candy, so no problems there.

A quality VA, mildly topped. Can be nippy, but not if you take your time. I enjoyed every last flake.

I would love to find a way to rate this, and other Lakeland scented flakes critically in relation to each other, but I seem to like them all! They all fit my original notion of what I thought an aromatic would taste like. Tobacco, mainly. While I prefer all day weed to be untopped, any of the scented versions make great changes of pace for me...Firedance included. Maybe one day I'll have an epiphany, or grow a discerning palate one. Until that time, I rate Firedance Flake the same as its brethren...

Three tasty stars.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-06-03		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

Gee, this lady (from the USA no less) must spend her time at the local dump plinking rats with a 22, when she is not in the trailer. Subtle this is not, it is heavily cased and needs a metal tin or glass jar to contain the blackberry smell. Six plies of plastic will not do it. Overpowering, and like number 44 (43 was a Bush), an embarrassment.

The flakes in my bulk sample look like the contents of the bags the dog owners in our gated community carry. Wet, sticky and not visually appealing. If you are used to the perfect flakes in a tin of Orlik Golden Slices, these are going to be a real let down.

Perhaps if I were "Two Years Before the Mast" (by RH Dana), and had the smoking lamp lit once each month, this blend might be enjoyable. To those of us with the finest tobacco in the world available, this is a curiosity only.

I might enjoy the underlying best brown flake, but this topping is terrible. It starts out very sweet and becomes cloying quickly. The blackberry smell is like a cooked Pop Tart. Try it outdoors first, in a cob, then if you don't like it you can trash the pipe and the memories. If you exhale through your nose it will stay with you for at least a day. It does not leave the pipe.

Worst of all, the flakes need drying out. However the smell is so strong it stinks up the whole area. I tried putting some flakes out in the garage but they attracted cock roaches. I am going to send my 4 ounces to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for Christmas, that place is full of cock roaches and thieves, so they should enjoy it.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-06-18		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I purchased a sample of this a few years ago. When I first took it for a spin, I found it to be wet, bitey and over cased. My wife loved the room note. Not all bad. Enter today.... This sample has about 3 years of age on it. It grew those nice "crystals" that sweeter tobaccos can develope. I dried some for a couple of hours and all I have to say is WOW! Age is good for some blends, GREAT for this one. Age it, dry it, smoke it, love it. This blend rewrites the book on what an aromatic can and should be. The VA's shine through, the casing is subdued and married well with the Best Brown. If you like Best Brown, and are in the mood for an aromatic, give this one a try. I plan on adding a half dozen tins to my cellar.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-02-10		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Best Brown by itself does not agree with my tongue, but this blackberry brandy and vanilla topping sure takes the sting out of it while adding a unique flavor when combined with the unique taste of the flake. Perhaps not something that I would smoke daily simply because of other preferences, but a good tobacco as evidenced by the many positive reviews of real pipe smokers.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-10-24		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Smoked a tin of this a while back and must say There wasn't any problems with it.PACK IT AND LET SIT FOR 15 MINUTES(TO AIR OUT?DRY) AND puff away.NO OVERPOWERING aroma, taste,or moisture.Tobacco packed fine, lit well and smoked fine.ALL TOGETHER MY TIN WAS PERFECT,plus the people around me enjoyed the aroma.IF you want a change of pace try this aromatic,you might like it as much I did.

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