Samuel Gawith Firedance Flake

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.