Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Best Brown #2

After having spent many years smoking hundreds of bowls of Gawith's Best Brown Flake, I was introduced to this blend of Virginias and Burleys by G and H. Being a confirmed Virginia flake man I thought, "how good can this stuff be with just added burley"? Well I was underestimating the fullness that the burley this flake brings to the party, while maintaining the rich sweet flavor of the Virginias I found the bit of Burley weed to be a great compliment to the overall flavor profile, the Lakeland presence was definitely noticeable but in a very slight way, kind of like Stonehenge flake but without the chocolate notes present in that top notch Pease flake. Very tasty stuff.

Here in November of 2018, with every vendor out of stock of GH Brown Flake (unscented), I finally opened a 2-year-old tin of BB No. 2. After the 1st bowl, it became quite good. Consistently very sweet blend. When Sam Gawith & Gawith Hoggarth blends came back in stock in the U.S. I purchased a 500 gram box of this and will buy again.

Another premium tobacco from Gawith Hoggarth. Beautiful looking flakes, wonderful smell, easy to pack, burns easily, no tongue bite or harshness. Can be all day smoke. Highly recommended.

Nice looking flakes that come in a baggie. Needs a little drying time (nothing like SG blends) or be prepared to relight your pipe several times. But once it gets going.....Oh boy is it great. Gently smoking this blend gives a sweetness like no other blend I've tried before. The burleys provide the backbone and the floral topping hangs in the background and is barely noticeable. In fact, sometimes I don't even notice it. Highly recommended.

Sweet and sour, tangy and delicious!

This is yet another one from GH&Co that just ticks all the right boxes. To be honest, this one took me awhile to figure out and really fall for. I remember tasting a light Lakeland topping when I first tasted this blend but I don't pick up on that anymore, at all. I'm assuming I just got used to the topping and I just don't taste it anymore. This is a very sweet, tangy Virginia blend. The leaf had some obvious age on it when I got it as I could see the beautiful sugar crystals (bloom) covering the flakes. I also pick up that vinegar, ketchup type smell that you will sometimes find with well aged, fermented VA's. When I say this blend is sweet, I mean it is sweeeeet. Not in the overly topped aromatic kind of way but in the all natural tobacco kind of way. I'm sure I'm picking up on some of the casing in this tobacco but overall it tastes just like a natural tobacco and it's absolutely wonderful! This one isn't too strong in the nic dept but it's strong enough to satisfy my needs and I'm a proud nicotine addict. What we have here is another winner from the GH&Co house and I rate it as an absolutely essential blend for the experienced pipe smoker, their tobaccos make me wish I were a Brit.

this is the only lakeland flake that i enjoy, i guess cause i don't get the soapy aftertaste from best brown #2. this blend is very much like rum flake only less soapy and much easier to dry out.

Package note of stewed fruit, raisin and vinegar. Tobacco flakes are a marbled brown and fairly dense, will require some prep either cubing or rubbing out. Tobacco is moist and may need some drying. Burns is slow with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is very mild and inconsistent, with notes of slightly sweet and even slighter Lakeland. Taste is medium and mostly consistent, with notes of wood, earth, tart citrus and tart dark fruit, grassy floral and a little spicy on the retro. Virginia is leading with burley supporting and the flavoring hiding in the background. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great too.