Samuel Gawith Firedance Flake

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.

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'

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.