Samuel Gawith Balkan Flake

Preface: I have been smoking Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium for near-on 30 years, believing that it has no equal anywhere on earth. But it is gone now, and so I begin a quest for my Holy Grail: A substitute to replace the standard on which all English tobaccos are based:

I am disappointed with Balkan Flake. I got really excited with Full Virginia Flake, and thought a touch of Latakia was all it needed to send me into nirvana. Sadly, no. The Virginia here is not the Virginia of Full Virginia Flake, but rather considerably milder. This, with a touch of Latakia makes for a very mild smoke. I keep puffing for more strength, but it never comes...

The tin states: Deliciously Cool. Which is a way of saying very mild and smooth, which it is. It is too mild for me and hence my rating. However, I think a lot of aromatic guys might love this stuff, but the term "Balkan" might chase them away. Don't let it. The flakes are gorgeous with little aged sugar crystals, and the tin aroma is divine.

We tend to think of any tobacco with Balkan in the name as being on the full side, but Blakan Flake is a contradiction to the rule.

BF would make a great way-station on ones journey to the truly great (and strong) Lakeland tobaccos. Even if you never get there, there's always the thing about the journey itself, and BF will (in this regard) not disappoint.

A bit of a long one, pull your parachute now or parse the paragraphs.

When an enthusiast of Balkan blends reads a name as such one assumes some Oriental leaf (of which there are many) would be contained within, not the case here. Although, splitting provenance-pubic hairs one could assume that all blends containing Cyprian Latakia are in fact Balkan, Greece is part of the Balkan peninsula and Cyprus both culturally and historically are traditionally linked to Balkan culture.

That said a number of years ago American growers and harvesters tried to make their own version of Latakia an experiment which failed miserably.

On with the contents at hand, my scalpel is dull and the microscope lens needs a good clean; too much Latakia wafting around:

The tin nose is very nice, definitely Latakia forward but not into the bombing zone at least for me. A dense and heavily pressed flake, many folks assume that flakes, cakes, plugs, ropes, and twists are soaking/sopping wet which is not the case. The density of such can make it feel and appear so. My rule of thumb with any of the above is to take your apportioned bowl(s) and resting for a quater to half an hour before packing providing you're in a drier climate, currently it's the middle of winter -40 outside and the wood stove in the combustion-cabin is a tad carnivorous. French Polynesia although green and floral lush would tell a different tale, mind you I would be combusting a cigar and quaffing Rum. Up here N 60° it's hearty Latakia blends for the winter often paired with a dram or two of Scotch whisky, either climes are wonderful life moments.

A simple fold and twist, usually my preferred method for this style leading to a long, cool, and pensive smoke; notwithstanding longer until full ignition.

Initially the palate is quite Virginia forward, stoved, pressed of course, and most likely some black too; interesting since the tin nose leans towards smoky although some Virginia does arise. The smoke is dense and thick, slight creaminess on the palate too. Slowing down does reveal more Latakia but I find I have to seek it out mind you my palate as of late, surfeited with Latakia. Not that it's a bad thing, akin to imbibing many peated Islay whiskies.

The first third of the bowl is rather uneventful, the middle third does reveal more depth, Oakiness and Hickory I find you do have to chase them down. I would caution against over-drying this one becomes a bit flat and mundane.

Combusting along at a good clip it behaves like a real gentleman in the bowl, never hot nor moist; gurgles. It stays the same all the way down not a lot of development and nondescript. 'Deliciously Cool' . . . 'Disappointingly Cool' perhaps my anticipation was high being a pressed flake Latakia blend, somewhat recommended.

All in all a competent smoke, alas not really for me I won't cellar this although I cannot find faults apart from my preferences, more Latakia please some Yenidje or Samsun would not go amiss either.

I enjoy Navy Flake quite a bit more albeit considerably more Virginia forward, the S. Gawith distributed Winter Time flake is certainly superior, and Commonwealth too.

Well this flake is a serious latakia player..with a high latakia content you get nothing else than woods coal and mud when you crack the tin.after rubbing your hands smell only latakia.from the first puffs you realize you don't wanna go hard because latakia it there with a dominant way and a medium nicotine level.the moist is proper with a cool burning.definitelly not an all day blend to me.if you are mostly on light english blends you won't like it.it's a flake fkr the experienced latakia smokers .

***UPDATED 11/22/09***

I've smoked only one other bowl of this, and find it much too strong for my palate. It's got a very strong leathery overtone that doesn't improve with age. For some reason, it doesn't agree with me nearly as much as the first try.

I've dialed my recommendation back to 2 stars from 3.

******

Although I've been a pipe "collector" (with about 30 pipes in my collection) and a smoker for 27 years, I'd never been to a pipe show. Some chaps in the local pipe group let me tag along to the show in Columbus, OH this last weekend. Not broke but badly bent, I made sure to have enough money in my accounts to purchase a decent amount of tobaccos while I was there.

There were two Samuel Gawith tobaccos I purchased, this one and their "St. James Flake".

When I cracked open this tin I was really surprised by the overly musty, almost sour smell rendered by the VA in the blend, and was afraid of what I was getting myself into despite the "Deliciously Cool" description on the label.

I was advised by the person selling this that it was absolutely necessary to fully rub the flakes out, and I was a bit shocked at how moist, almost sticky and pasty the flakes were to rub out. I've put this in a full-bent style pipe, and am thrilled with the taste and burn. It's no fault of the tobacco that I'm getting a fairly gurgly, wet burn. (This particular pipe has a wet smoke problem that I'm trying to solve).

Do I care whether or not it's a "true" Balkan, or a VA/Lat blend or whether or not it's got any Orientals in it? Not one wit. This is an amazing tobacco with a consistent flavor and one I've no doubt I will continue to purchase and smoke as long as tobacco can be had and is legal to consume!

THIS a BALKAN? Someone is pulling a trick on us, because it ISN'T.

Either someone forgot the orientals or they don't have the definition of Balkan very clear in their minds. Orientals aside, this is a flat, unidimensional, monotone flake.

If you desire a stoved Virginia, quite cool, with some Latakia which only makes its presence felt as a slight smokiness... this is the flake for you.

It's moist, dull, without nuances or complexities. Slightly better and tastier than the duller Navy Flake by the same maker... but that's not saying much.

Some drying helps in recovering a little taste, but it remains monochromatic and it does never become as refined as GLPease offerings (or a true Balkan like Gawith & Hoggarth's Balkan Mixture).

If you want a nice pressed Latakia-tasting tobacco, get Penzance instead.

I’ve had this blend fresh, and have some that’s been aging since 2013. Both taste about the same to me. The flakes are small, sopping wet, and sliced thick. For me at least, it’s a huge struggle to keep any of Samuel Gawith’s flakes going for more than a few minutes. I’ve dried them till they crumble to dust, and they still won’t keep lit. It tastes good, but It’s not worth the effort.

This one is tough for me. As love it Is, I don't receive alot from it. Very cool, crisp smoke for a hot summer day. Maybe too much Latakia for me, but in small bites it sure is a tolerable gunner.

I bought this stuff in a shop around Nashville and judging buy this tin and a tin of Best Brown Flake, my conclusion is nobody buys these blends too much at all from that shop.... because there was plume on the flakes....... Oh yeah buddy! Nothing better then buying aged tobacco for b&m prices 😄.

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Me and my wife went to downtown for the evening while I smoked a bowl of Balkan Flake. I just have to say this is some pretty good stuff. Smoky and salty with a slight sweetness. Burnt cool with no bite and for me not overpowering. To me it's kinda like Frog Morton but not nearly as sweet to my taste. I did find that this blend along with most heavier Latakia blends has a burnt wet log kinda taste after the halfway point. Not saying that I've ever smoked a wet log before lol just won't have this but every other blue moon. Not an all day smoke for me

12/22/15 I'm down grading this to a two star. This flak has become unbearable to me now. One of the most stinky Latakia blends I have smoked right next with HH Latakia flake. Needless to say I have more tobacco to get rid of.

(tin opened three days ago- Partially rubbed out to a broken flake) Very smooth, unlike " Lancer Slices", that I find harsh and is the same tobacco makeup ( Virginia/Latakia). Hard to dry/ light and keep lit, typical SG moisture problem. Tin contains 9 large 1"x 2 1/2 " flakes, these seems skimpy by volume, but after SG adds their typical 30% water, it probably makes 50 gr. by weight ! ANYONE ELSE ANOYED AT THIS ???

This tobacco is very hard to keep lit, produces only a smoldering smoke. Some reviewers claim that this is a "cool" smoke. I'm not really sure if they meant it doesn't burn hot, then I agree, IT DOESN'T BURN AT ALL ! Wait a minute while I relight this bowl for the 5th time , oops out, 6th time, 7th time. "Pipers", I'm not making this up. 8th, changed to a torch lighter ! Out again, dumped the bowl. I'll report back after a week of drying. ( Flakes coarsely rubbed out three days ago before packing pipe)

Day 4- Spent a 1/2 hour to fully rub this flake out, spent extra time and effort working on any larger flake pieces . Tobacco is now only damp and is still a problem keeping it lit, dumped another half a bowl.

Day 6- The tobacco has had a total of about 12 hours of an open tin and the tobacco is finally getting very dry. What do you know , I was able to smoke a bowl, but it still required a faster cadence than I'm used to in order to keep it burning.

Day 7- The tobacco is bone dry ( had to gravity feed into pipe). I still can't get this to burn properly . The flavor is very acceptable and smooth but doesn't knock me over.

Day 10- I rehydrated this tin slightly and smoked my 5th bowl, the burn was very good , along with the flavor. HOWEVER, I now have only about 3 bowls left !!! I've only been using medium size bowls and I generally pack using the "air pocket method". Wow, a total of 8 medium bowls per tin , talk about PRICE GOUGING !

This is just too much work ( rubbing/ drying/ attention) for an OK blend. Even McC's Dark Star wasn't this bad with burn issues. And the price per smoke, WOW. 2 stars

I feel reviewer "Aussie-man-die-as (13) 2012-03-11 " also had problems with keeping this lit