Samuel Gawith Balkan Flake

When opening the tin I notices that the flakes were a bit moist for me... After about a day of drying things looked good enough for me to give them a try. I hate it when flakes do not rub out easily, and fortunately for me the rub out went very well. The tobacco packed very nicely and burned very, very well. Two matches was all it took to get this to burn all the way down to the bottom. The tin aroma was my first disappointment. When I saw that this was a Balkan blend I expected loads of Latakia and some Oriental to keep things interesting. What was coming through in the smell from the tin was high quality Virginia tobacco ONLY. Upon lighting the blend I noticed that my highly trained nose was not deceiving me, there was just enough Latakia to consider this blend an English. The Virginias were very nice, almost a McClelland Christmas Cheer quality. What Latakia was present was very nice but absolutely understated. For a flake from SG it was very cool burning and really a pleasure to smoke. My big disappointment was that if this is a Balkan like the tin said it was, bring some more Latakia or rename the thing. As a light English blend, this was exceptional. As a Balkan, it reminded me of C&D Winthrop.

I have only purchased Balkan Flake in the tin. From the tin the flakes are around 4 inches long and tend to have a somewhat inconsistent width. It takes some effort to fully rub-out the flakes, and I usually fully rub-out Gowith flakes. After drying out Balkan Flake burned unusually well for an SG flake. I can easily produce a volume of smoke with Balkan Flake and I have never experienced tongue bit.

Balkan Flake afforded me just about the smoothest tobacco smoking experience of my life. The Virginia and Latakia seem to meld together to produce a unique sweet earthy leather flavor. This is easily the best pure Virginia/Latakia blend I have smoked.

I have read on line different explanations of the composition of a ?Balkan? verses an ?English? blend. I understood that a Balkan was an ?English-type? blend with a heavy (non-Latakia) oriental tobacco presence in addition to the Latakia and Virginia typical of an English blend. Recently, by way of Pease?s web-page, I have changed my mind. Pease suggests that ?Balkan? is really just another name for an English blend.

I am certainly no authority on English vs. Balkan tobaccos. My reason for mentioning the issue is two part. First, those looking for the tangy-sour flavor of oriental tobacco will find none in this blend and may be disappointed. And, second, somewhat ironically, I eventually grew tired of Balkan Flake because it lacked the complexity and nuance that probably would have been provided with some oriental tobacco!

I recommend Balkan Flake; however, my recommendation is tempered. If you like the straight Latakia/Virginia genre of English tobacco I think you will really enjoy Balkan Flake. I have never smoked a better representative of this genre: Lancer?s Slices, Commonwealth Mixture, etc. Those looking for more complexity would probably still like Balkan Flake; but many may find it just-misses excellence.

Thankfully my first taste of Orientals was not with the specific smoke. I would never smoke Orientals again.

Balkan Flake is a mature tobacco with various flavors, very heavy and with a very strong and bad taste of Latakia. It is very moist, considering I kept in the cellar for a year and a half. It has a pointless complexity that will ruin your palate roof, especially if you are not very careful and calm during smoking.

I forgot there are some good points in this mixture. The flakes are easily rubbed, the smoke is easily packaged in the bowl and it burns evenly from beginning to end. It was generally a bad experience, especially for my wife who for the first time expressed her negative feelings for one of my smokes.

It is not one of the worst tobaccos I have smoked, but definitely the worst Oriental.

Incredible smooth, rich and elegant in the Gawith's style. Not complex, sure not a "balkan", but delicious and impeccable. In my opinion this may be a perfect every day winter time blend.

Without a doubt this is not a Balkan of any kind, but exceptionally good nonetheless. A perfect combination of flavorful Virginia and woodsy Latakia pressed into a dark flake. A bit wet out of the tin but smokable. Mild enough to be an all day smoke. I will continue to keep a tin on hand for when the mood strikes me. A perfect autumn time smoke.

Curious tobacco. I taste virginia, latakia, menthol, and no orientals whatsoever. Menthol is definitely part of the recipe. Breathe through your mouth after a few puffs and taste the "deliciously cool" menthol. Not a Balkan blend per se, but Pseudo Nim's assertion that the tobaccos used are from the Balkan region was indeed a revelation. It all makes sense to me now.

I don't mind this tobacco. In fact, I'm in the middle of my second tin, but I give it 2.5 stars for its slightly misleading name. Who here bought it not expecting orientals?

I feel it's worth a try to break things up in your rotation.

A very pleasing tobacco, easy to rub out, pack and light. Nicely sweet but not overpoweringly so. Really smooth and mellow. I'm not that bothered if it is a Balkan or not but I do know that this is good stuff and will be my second favourite (after Mick Mcquaid.)

Lakeland Tour stop 7

I really liked this one. It was very user-friendly as opposed to some of the Lakeland virginia flakes. Perhaps because of the latakia, it dried out faster, and smoked pretty good even when wet. Also, it kept its flavor longer than FVF and BB2, but not necessarily more than BBF.

The virginias here are not as sweet as those in Squadron Leader or Commonwealth, but sweet enough and more rounded, richer. The latakia was definitely present in the smoke but by no means overwealming.

This is definitely mentholated. That makes it smoke cooler, and the added minty essence is definitely there, not overpowering and not really unpleasant either. It makes me wonder whether this might not be better, meriting 4 stars, without it. It's impossible to know. I don't know if I'll come back to this one, but I definitely enjoyed smoking it.

I'll leave the Balkan or not debate alone... As to the tobacco I find this one a good example of a Latakia/VA blend. Smokes cool and lots of flavor. A nice change from Navy and VA flakes. Real tobacco taste without flavoring, room note is OK for me but then I don't really care! As with other SG tobaccos I like it and will buy again, not an everyday smoke for me right now as I seem to be in a Navy rut with a VA flake switch off. Balkan is my special treat for a change up.