Samuel Gawith Chocolate Flake

The chocolate topping is fairly light, and not present in every puff. It perks up some here and there, and pleasantly lingers when it does as it plays well with the tobaccos. The Cyprian Latakia is smokey, earthy, musty and woodsy sweet, and beefs up the blend without burying the other varietals. The Virginia offers grass and tart and tangy citrus, while the burley is mildly molasses sweet with a few nut, wood and earth notes in a lesser role than the Virginia. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is just past the center of mild to medium. Won't bite, and has no harsh or dull moments. Has a few minute rough edges. A bit moist out of the tin, it does a little better when dried some. Burns a little slow, cool and clean with a smoothly consistent, mildly sweet and more savory flavor. Leaves some moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. Has a lightly lingering, pleasant after taste and room note. It has enough strength to keep you interested while maintaining the ability to be an all day experience. It ought to appeal to those who smoke aromatics as well as non-aro smokers.

-JimInks

Beautiful very dark brown flakes! Way too wet from the tin to keep lit but drying it out does change its flavor significantly. I enjoyed it both ways.

After smoking a tin of Bob's Chocolate Flake last year, I expected a similar batch of dryer sheet flavor from this one. I was dead wrong. Fresh from the tin, the chocolate flavor and aroma is more intense... that is to say, it's noticeable. The latakia takes a backseat and really only pops in on occasion, but it definitely enhances the experience. Moist, this smokes like a lightly flavored aromatic but the tobacco flavor overcomes the cocoa flavor. This experience was consistent down the bowl to the bottom.

Smoked very dry, this becomes a classic burley/virginia flake with a more prominent latakia taste... that is to say, the latakia is more noticeable, but nothing approaching an equal partner. The cocoa flavoring becomes more faint and appears as the same wisp that the latakia does when the tobacco is at tin moisture. Again, this experience is consistent down the bowl.

So this is actually two tobaccos depending on how dry it is smoked. I thoroughly enjoyed it both ways and, assuming SG tobaccos ever make it back to the U.S, I plan to stock up on it in bulk and store half dry and half moist. I found the lack of Lakeland florals in this one made it far superior to Bob's Chocolate Flake made by G&H. This one was more naturally flavorful but also a bit more chocolatey when moist. In other words, it did everything it's supposed to better than the G&H and also kept out the soapy flavor I abhor in Lakeland blends. Well done, SG!

Just got in a few tins of the new Sam Gawith Chocolate Flake and after a couple of bowls I can say it is wonderful! Smells delicious in the tin. The very dark colored strips will need a bit of drying before rubbing out (if that is your preference.)

This tobacco offering produces thick, creamy smoke, so, you'll need to keep lots of pipe cleaners at the ready as the leaf does produce quite a bit of steam even when dried considerably. Rich tobacco flavor with hints of chocolate and a healthy dose of nicotine makes this blend delightfully savory.

I can detect a smidgen of Latakia as I smoke which compliments the other components perfectly. Beats the G&H version by a mile (IMO, of course.)

I believe I'll have the whole first tin smoked in record time!

First flake I've ever tried and, given the experience, won't be the last. After all, there's a certain charm to the ritual of preparing your tobacco, gathering your accessories and loading your pipe. Another two or three minutes is nothing to be worried over.

When you first open the tin, there's an air of fruit cake with the faintest hint of chocolate. Not a cloying, over-sweetened chocolate but not the other extreme of bitter cocoa.

The flakes are roughly a millimetre across and about 40mm long. Mine had endured a trip from the cold of the US winter to the heat of the Australian summer but had survived well. They're very sticky to the touch. Almost like a fruit cake steeping in a sticky mixture of booze before it's properly finished.

I rubbed mine out a fair degree as I'm more used to ready-rubbed mixtures but there were few larger pieces that needed a bit of a squeeze along between thumb and fingers. I left this on a saucer for about 15 minutes to help bring it down to a drier consistency as the stickiness I mentioned before remains a little despite rubbing out.

It loaded neatly into a bent dublin and a pre-light draw check gave less of the fruit and more of the chocolate that was apparent from the tin. Still a little more moist than I'd usually prefer but not unbearably so.

Lighting took a bit more than I've experienced in the past. A few waves of a soft flame and a mild tamp to get things ready and the real fun begins.

The smoke is cool all the way through the bowl; no acidic burning here. Although the Latakia in mixture is very subtly detectable if you concentrate, it never steps to the fore and allows the rich, nutty flavours of the Burley and sweetness of the Virginia be the main act. The chocolate flavour dances in and out with the Latakia to provide interest and contrast to the bulk of the blend which, I would think, would be as the blender intended. Despite a love of aromatics, I'd argue that this could be classed as more of a crossover blend. The tobacco is the foremost flavour with the chocolate providing a little "something extra" rather than wading in bold and brash and cloying.

It all burns down neatly with the tiniest amount of dottle and a medium grey ash in the bottom of the bowl with just a couple of relights needed. I think the next run will be rubbed out a little finer and maybe aired for half an hour just to remove the last bits of stickiness and reduce the relight requirements. Vitamin-N hit was there but quite mild and you won't be needing a full stomach to handle a bowl without feeling woozy.

The smell of my garage afterward (wife doesn't allow it in the house) was really very pleasant. This would really allow for those of us who enjoy a good dose of tobacco relaxation without the offensive mess of fumes that non-smokers would object to. None of the sharp tang of cigarettes or the earthiness of a cigar. Just a light, soft sweetness that sadly makes an exit after 30-60 minutes.

Overall, I'd rate this quite highly. A good, solid 3 - 3.5 out of 4. If you're looking for a Latakia bomb or strongly cased tobacco, this is not what you're looking for. If, on the other hand, you're in the mood for a decent tobacco that won't annoy others with the smell, allows for a good tobacco flavour without being sickly sweet and won't leave a syrupy mess in the briar, this could be just what you seek.

I am a big fan of GH's Bob's Chocolate Flake so I was quite interested in SG's Chocolate Flake. They are very different tobacco's in that I fully agree with Capt. in that this really is more of a cocoa flavor. Deeper, richer and less sweet than Bob's. Fresh from the tin I prefer this over my beloved Bob's, BUT....I am very much into aging my tobaccos (although I don't review aged blends unless noted) and I find that this blend doesn't age as well as BCF. I have smoked both with several years of age and to me Bob's wins hands down. So, if you want to enjoy an excellent chocolate flake, this one's the real deal. For me, when possible (rare these days for SG blends) I enjoy keeping a tin on hand. For aging, it's still Bob's for me. Recommended!

Nice dark brown tobacco flakes; too wet from the tin to keep lit but drying it out does change its flavor significantly. Fresh from the tin, the chocolate flavor and aroma is intense. The latakia takes a backseat but it definitely enhances the experience.

Smoked very dry, this becomes a classic burley/virginia flake with a more prominent latakia taste... that is to say, the latakia is more noticeable, but nothing approaching an equal partner. The chocolate flavoring becomes more faint and appears as the same wisp that the latakia does when the tobacco is moist.

Well done, SG!

I have wanted to try GHs Bob's Chocolate Flake and SGs Chocolate Flake for a good while now.

As with Bob's Chocolate Flake, I was off-put by Sam's version of Lakeland florals - way too perfumy for me to taste and appreciate the tobaccos within. Actually, both made me a bit nauseous and it took a while for the aftertaste of both to leave my palate. Not a pleasant experience for me.

Moisture content of both was just about right for a flake, although SGs was the drier of the two and the easiest to pack, light, and keep lit. I did get a bit of a nicotine hit with SGs Chocolate Flake, but nothing noticed with Bob's.

I intend to keep the lids off both of my tins for about a month to see if it minimizes (I hope rids them) of the soapy/perfumy tastes that made smoking these blends so not enjoyable for me. 1 star.

UPDATE 4-20-10: I had a similar experience as with Bob's Chocolate Flake (see 4-20-10 update under that heading). Deciding to re-visit since my original review, time has allowed all but a trace of the Lakeland presence to vanish, leaving a tobacco that was smokeable - and enjoyable - for me. After smoking both chocolate blends, I tend to favor Bob's Chocolate Flake more so than Sam's version due to a more pronounced (yet not over the top) chocolate flavor present throughout the smoke. Can't taste chocolate at all in Sam's version. I can definitely taste the Latakia in this one as it was minimal with Bob's (I'm not a big fan of Latakia so this was just fine). Sam's Latakia adds a subtle background presence and is more dominating than with Bob's. The soapy presence in Sam's was very minimal in the tin aroma, and nil while smoking this time around. Both are high quality tobaccos and I can now appreciate the 3-4 star reviews each has garnered. While perhaps never becoming daily smokes for me, both are definitely worthy of weekly rotation; but if I purchase any new tins, I will need to let the Lakeland presence dissipate off long before I smoke either blend. Sam's dries out quicker which was ok. The flakes were almost crunchy, but laden with beautiful sugar crystals adding a subtle, non-cloying, sweetness.

UPDATE 2-18-21: Recently revisited. I think the Lakelands have been toned down a bit. Either that or I'm just used to them by now. All in all a very pleasant smoke..enjoying more than Bob's Chocolate Flake and raising to 4 stars.

I bought this tobacco partly on a whim, partly as a continuation of my ongoing search for the tobacco to end all tobaccos. For General day-to-day smokes, I use Dunhill Nightcap. That's sorted the go-to end of the spectrum. Now I want something with room presence, flavour, and subtle nuances to savour. Sadly, this is not it. Upon opening the tin, the most delicious aroma of Belgian chocolate. Not just 'chocolate' but top quality, rich, slightly bitter, meltingly smooth chocolate from a chocolatier of distinction, supplier to the Crowned Heads of Europe. I could merrily sit and smell this stuff all evening. I did, in fact. Now the downsides. The flake is cut quite randomly, thickness-wise. Not really a 'downside' I suppose, but it makes drying out harder to judge, as you need to dry out some flakes more than others. The drying out.... oh yes, you do need to dry this out well. Direct from the tin, it is stickily moist to the point of being almost unlightable, and certainly not in a fit state to rub out. Gentle or firm rubbing, it just sticks together in chunks. So, after several hours of gentle drying out (made my boat smell like Willy Wonka's factory, but that's no bad place to be) I tried it in a deep bowled briar, first rubbed out, then with whole folded flake. Both proved hard to light, and impossible to keep lit. But that could be me, I'm still learning. Given the heavenly aroma from the tin, I was expecting a chocolate overload in my bowl. Disappointing. No discernible chocolate flavour at all. Not an unpleasant flavour, by any means, and not sickly sweet either. But chocolate? I finally found some chocolate, but that was in the aftertaste, an hour after smoking the tobacco. Don't get me wrong, this is not an unpleasant blend, by any means. I shall soldier on through the tin. But the quest for the all-time favourite must go on.

I found this to be such an unrefined product from the prestigious Samuel Gawith company. It reminds me of my own adventurous failures in flavoring tobacco with liqueurs and such. In the tin the flakes are overly moist and need to be dried out. It has somewhat of an alcoholic aroma which I'm not sure is from the casing but suspect it may be a processing agent of a neutral spirit to preserve the tobacco (inhibit mold)as I have noticed with other Samuel blends, even english ones.

As others have stated, this isn't like smoking a chocolate bar, in other words those flavors don't come through the smoke but do add a deeper semisweet character more so to the burning aroma. I seemed to notice the vanilla component a little more than the cocoa. Flavor is rather mild, almost bland and undistingwished much of the time with occasions of more natural virginia character assserting itself momentarily. It is a cool smoke; Some small amount of burely being blended in along with as stated Latakia which I could not detect.

As I mentioned before with my own experimenting, anyone could make a facsimile by soaking a virginia flake like SG's Best Brown Flake with a chocolate liqueur and dry it out and that's about what you get wtih SG's Chocolate Flake; A total failure and waste of good leaf.

Samuel Gawith - Chocolate Flake.

I reviewed this years back and wanted to re-post.

Opening a tin reveals a set of flakes that are a little darker than medium brown, with yellow specks, there's an absence of the usual Sam' G' moisture issue, and the chocolate is easy to identify in the aroma.

I don't find it as 'sticky', or sweet, as Bob's Chocolate Flake. The chocolate adorns the tobaccos, but doesn't dominate the smoke. The Burley and Virginia are about equal in weight, with the Latakia giving a 'touch', rather than a blast of smokiness. The burn from C.F. couldn't be better, being even and cool. The actual smoke? Dense, thick, heavy, and bite-free.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: Pleasant enough.

Easy, highly recommended:

Four stars.