Samuel Gawith Firedance Flake

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.

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.

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).

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.