Samuel Gawith Firedance Flake

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!

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.

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.

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...

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.

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

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.

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.

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.