Samuel Gawith Firedance Flake
(2.69)
Developed with one of the U.S.A.'s lady smokers, FireDance is Our Best Brown 6" Flake subtly flavoured with a combination of blackberry, brandy and vanilla. The smoke is a mild, cool experience with the blackberry the predominant flavour, the brandy in the background and rounded off with the vanilla. A mild and fruity smoke with the strength of Best Brown and a very pleasing room aroma.
Details
| Brand | Samuel Gawith |
| Blended By | Samuel Gawith |
| Manufactured By | Samuel Gawith |
| Blend Type | Aromatic |
| Contents | Virginia |
| Flavoring | Blackberry, Brandy, Vanilla |
| Cut | Flake |
| Packaging | 50 grams tin, bulk |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Mild to Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Medium
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
2.69 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 11 - 20 of 33 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Aug 17, 2010 | 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!
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!
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 25, 2020 | 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
PurchasedFrom:
The Storytellers Pipe
Age When Smoked:
Fresh tin
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 2018 | 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.
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.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Feb 07, 2011 | 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! 😀
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! 😀
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! 😀
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! 😀
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Dec 18, 2010 | 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.!!
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 2009 | 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.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Dec 03, 2022 | 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
PurchasedFrom:
Just For Him
Age When Smoked:
Unknown
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Apr 02, 2019 | 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.
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
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Nov 18, 2018 | 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
PurchasedFrom:
Tinderbox
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Sep 23, 2016 | 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
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