Samuel Gawith Balkan Flake

Recently I ordered a tin of everything SG makes and some bulk Full VA flake. ALL their flake ships with ridiculous moisture content so their reasonable pricing is deceptive. Dried to any smokable state, the tobacco is 20% lighter. The Balkan has a muddy tongue coating effect. There is no burn and the smoke is cool. Either the VA is not bright enough to balance properly or the latakia is of low quality. The muddy flavor fades in the 2nd half of the bowl but its not worth the wait. Their Commonwealth Blend did not have the muddiness issue despite the higher latakia content so I suspect the VA is not up to its task in the Balkan. Its not bad but its not great. There are so many great latakia blends out there, this one won't be missed by me.

This is a very rich and complex virginia with a touch of latakia to spice things up. A pleasure to smoke. 3 out of 4.

I'm going to keep this short: This is not a Balkan at all, but rather a straightforward Va-Latakia concoction that is smooth, extremely sweet, and nice to look at. The room note is unusually pleasant for a latakia mixture and there's not a hint of tongue bite to be found. After going through a tin, however, it simply failed to hold my attention. It was kind of like a ramped-up, all-natural version of Frog Morton, which isn't really a bad thing but isn't exactly spectacular, either. I'd recommend it in a heartbeat for those wanting to get their feet wet with latakia and those who enjoy a restrained English-type tobacco, but I don't plan on buying anymore.

Opened a tin of this last week without any anticipation of what it would be. I'm still not sure and I have smoked the entire tin in three different pipes. Three inch long strips of slightly too moist but attractive tobacco. Balkan? I don't believe this comes up to what my expectation of a balkan blend would be in the tasting.Pleasant? Yes, but not what I think of as Balkan. The tobaccos used are very good and result in a mild to medium smoke of the English variety. I perceived no bite from the VA's and all-in-all it is a pleasant enough smoke but nothing I'll buy again. Balkan smokers don't waste your time or money. It's nice but it ain't a Balkan. Were it not for the really fine grade of VA leaf, I'd only give it two stars.

I was looking for something a bit stronger than Balkan Sasieni when I picked this up and boy did this disappoint. It's not even in the same league. Let's see, where do I start. At first I thought I detected a nice Virginia taste, but that disappeared after the first bowl. Now I get nothing but this faint minty menthol taste. I couldn't in good conscience recommend this to anyone. It is simply a weak tobacco that requires constant puffing to keep it lit. Who would like this tobacco? I guess if you are trying to give up Salem's, Kool's or some other menthol cigarette this might be better alternative(healthwise, though it won't taste as good), but if you like the mint taste you'd be better off eating a mint or brushing your teeth. I left the jar open for a night but I'm not that hopeful that it will improve much, though it might burn better. This one is probably destined to mulch my shrubs.

UPDATE 11/2/07 - I tried to doctor up the rest of this just for grins. I boiled some water, then mixed in a bunch of salt and soaked the baccy in it. I poured off the mixture, baked it and put it in the garage to dry. Although this succeeded in nixing that weak menthol taste it didn't improve it enought to raise this a star. Per the other reviewer's suggestion I did buy this in a tin so no mistake there.

Ah! The blessed leaf! This is a truly balanced and tasty tobacco. Many blends, or should I say blenders, claim balance, this one really does deliver. I walk freely between the virginia and latakia smokers camp. Balkan Flake satisfies on so many levels. It is rich without being overbearing, smooth without being boring, enjoyable to the last puff. This is a keeper for me and will never be far from reach!

Buy some. On second thought don't. I don't want popularity to drive up the price!

UPDATE 5-01-13: I smoked a bunch of this and at some point either my taste changed or subsequent tins were off. It began to have a bad chewing gum flavor similar to stale wintergreen.

I confess that I share both Sasha's and Beer's reviews. Sure this is not a balkan. Small quantity of slices and quite moist. They MUST be dryed and rubbed out, otherwise your pipe will not stay lit. The smoke is very cool, slow and sweet, much more pleasant to the nose than to the palate, but there's nothing else to drive me crazy. If You think that SG's products are on the very top pricing list, and this one is priced EUR. 17.50 per 50grms ... Cannot give more than two star, and just because of the quality and tradition of SG.

EDIT REVIEW OCT05/2009:

during the months passed after my review, this Balkan Flake has never called me again... I even tried to mix it with something could bring it some life. I tossed the rest of the tin in good company of Sam's Flake. Never again.

The wonderful gents at Iwan Ries let me try some of this and I was pleasantly surprised.I thought it would be similar to "Commonwealth Mixture" due to the fact that it was from the same blender and neither blend has orientals in it. To quote a gentleman who spoke Lithuanian when asked : Is Lithuanian similar to Polish? His response was "Not even Close"! That is the case here with Balkan Flake. Where Commonwealth Mixture is rather mild, this actually has some spice to it.It is nothing like Penzance, Old Ironsides, or Karl Erik's Flake. It really is a simple, full English mixture, that has been pressed into a flake. It will appeal to both European and American tastes. Definitely worth a try. 3 English stars.

This was much more enjoyable than Bracken Flake. Even with 30% latakia, the flavor of the VA comes through and provides a nice touch of sweetness. There seems to be no Lakeland essence flavor (tonquin) in this tobacco. Smells like latakia and VA. I know there are other Balkan tobaccos that are fuller, but for my tastes, this flake is perfect.

It was very moist in the tin, and so was the Bracken Flake. I leftthe tin opened for a day, and the mositure level was just fine. The flakes fold up nicely, and can be put right into the pipe. Smokes very cool with no bite, and burns down to a fine grey ash. Very enjoyable!

Highly Recommended.