Samuel Gawith Chocolate Flake

A slight burst of latakia initially upon lighting is followed by a softly sweet mushroomy flavor. Throughout the first third, the taste, oddly, continues to be of spiced mushrooms. Although not as intense as Just for Him's Shortcut to Mushrooms blend, the flavor is still strong enough to stimulate my appetite, and might be worth smoking between a heavy dinner and dessert.

By the second third, the taste is of a musty English latakia blend, remarkable only for its resemblance to the flavor of the fruiting body of a fungus.

Finally, in the last third, this blend settles down into something fairly enjoyable in its oddness, though for me, it's just not worth the journey to get there. But I must admit the aftertaste of smoking a bowl of this blend is luscious.

This dense very dark brown long flake smokes dry, producing a decent quantity of smoke of a medium strength with medium flavor and body. But contrary to my expectations, this is not a particularly good choice to accompany a cup of strong coffee.

This review was made possible by generous samples from pipesandcigars.com of both this blend and Gawith, Hoggarth, & Co.'s Bob's Chocolate Flake smoked in a few different pipes.

Now, I need to go fix something to eat.

After trying Bob's Chocolate Flake by Gawith, Hoggarth & Co, I was really curious to try this because I never thought I would like Bob's Chocolate Flake, but I ended up loving it. And since I like Samuel Gawith flakes in general, I thought this would be fantastic.

It is and it isn't.

Don't come here expecting any sort of chocolate. I mean there are some nuances in there, but you really have to struggle to pick them up. Like quarks, the chocolate springs in and out of existence within seconds, it's really quite strange. But think of it like this. You go to a restaurant and order a huge platter of cheese nachos. What you get instead is a huge platter of nachos with just a few drops of cheese sprinkled here and there. About a 2% ratio I would say. Oh and there's latakia in this? I honestly couldn't detect any, that must surely be less than 5% as well.

All that said though, it's a good flake. It's your typical murky, woody Sam Gawith flake. Mine came with the perfect moisture which I found to be odd, but was pleasantly surprised. It smokes easy and cool, and the flavour is deep and satisfying. The virginia and burley's are obvious but like I said, if it didn't say that this blend had latakia here on this site, I never would have even thought about it.

I find it a bit odd because I was really hoping for a good balance of chocolate and tobacco flavour. Samuel Gawith knows how to make fantastic blends, obviously, and I guess I was hoping for something like Firedance Flake - a blend where you can really get the tobaccos and the berries that they used in that blend. But here it's pretty much tobacco full on. While not a bad thing, it's just not fit to be called "chocolate" flake in my opinion. The tin says Chocolate Flake, not "Maybe, once every 20 puffs, if you focus real hard, may get a whiff of the faintest chocolate you've ever had" flake.

Still high quality tobacco and enjoyable to smoke. Just don't come here expecting any sort of chocolate.

This is another home run flake from Gawith. Some reviewers have commented on the lack of chocolate flavor, and they are correct. This is not "chocolate" in the typical aromatic sense, and if you buy it expecting to smoke a chocolate bar, you will be let down. What this is, to the contrary, is a very natural tobacco whose flavor just happens to be enhanced by the addition of chocolate.

This seems to be very similar to Best Brown Flake, with the addition of latakia and the aforementioned chocolate. This blend is extraordinary, and has quickly become one of my very favorites. I dry it a little from the tin after rubbing out, and pack it loosely. It lights easily and burns very coolly. With the most vigorous hard puffing it is only mildly hot, and when smoked patiently it never bites. If you are getting a hot smoke from this you really need to look at your packing and smoking techniques, because I assure you it is not the blend.

The flavor is singularly rich and enjoyable. The VA's provide the base, but in a very "Gawith" way. It is not tangy, bright, sweet, as is typical of VA blends. Rather, it is cool with a broad, deeply rich and slightly sweet. That, however, is only the beginning, as the subtle addition of latakia gives this blend a whole new level of flavor. The latakia blends perfectly with the chocolate. I would say the chocolate enhances the latakia flavor, so that you get an impossibly rich and sweet (but not in an aromatic, cased way) smoke with a subtle latakia flavor. The chocolate itself is only apparent by itself in the tin aroma, and is subtle there as well.

This is an extraordinary blend, and I would especially urge non-aromatic smokers to give this one a try.

*****So I have had a pound of this in a savinelli humdor for years now, and it has morphed from very, very good to insanely, out of this world incredible. The flakes are now covered in sugars and the flavors have deepened and intensified while also becoming smoother. It also burns forever, a bowl of this rubbed out in a medium sized bowl will easily last an hour or more, and it never becomes hot or unpleasant. I once had an opportunity to smoke a VA flake that had been sitting unopened in my tobacconist's basement for more than 40 years, and it was one of the best smoking experiences ever. This is like that. If you have the patience a decade or more of aging does wonders for good virginias, and this is no exception. A truly singular experience.

This is one of those tobaccos that I regret smoking, not because it bad, on the contrary but because it is so delicious yet so rare to find that it is frustrating. It is by far one of the best tobaccos I have tried. Excellent tin note, well pressed flakes, rubs easily and packs nicely. It takes some work to get it to light well but once it does, no need to maintain it a lot. Its flavour profile is quite nice. Feels like having a cup of coffee with dark chocolate. The virginia play the dark, earthy coffee like notes and the hint of chocolate tops it up. Overall, if you can find it, get it. it is worth it

I do love this tobacco! I have seen many a review that states this offering is too moist on opening but I have not found this to be so. I buy my supply from one of the largest on line suppliers in the UK so I am not receiving old stock but have always found it to be fine straight out of the tin. I have rubbed it out and used the fold and stuff method and have never had a problem with re-lights or burn. This is the tobacco responsible for my conversion to flake tobacco. I tried it on a whim and have never looked back! If you are looking for a full on chocolate aromatic hit then I would suggest that this is not for you..... However if you are looking for a well balanced, well behaved, cool smoking tobacco with a suggestion of chocolate then this might just be what you have been searching for. As for the sam versus Bob debate I have tried both and in MHO sam does win hands down.

This was the most boring Samuel Gawith product that I tried. I have smoked a lot of their products in bulk over the years, having long bouts with their navy flake, best brown, firedance. St. james etc.

There isn't much cholate to be found here, just the occasional whisper. Latakia is present but not enough to keep my interest. The rest of the tobacco is nothing to write home about either. Can get bitter if allowed to smoke too hot.

This might be your pick if you prefer a one note tobacco in which nothing really stands out, and in which the flavors are not very pronounced.

The most disappointing thing about Sam Gawith's Chocolate Flake is that I found it harsh and disagreeable to my senses. I agree with reviewer anixi, smoking this also left me feeling unwell and it wasn’t for the nicotine. Anyway, whatever Gawith cased this with, as discreet as it may be, just doesn't agree with my constitution, so I'll make this short.

The tin note is fruity and sweet with a subtle trace of smoke from the Latakia. The room note was nice, the aftertaste not so much. Throughout the bowl, I got very subtle hints of the Latakia but could not detect the cocoa. Altogether, I found the flavor to be somewhat dull, which was also a disappointment. I expected a far deeper flavor, especially after listening to an interview with Bob Gregory who mentioned that Chocolate Flake is derived from Full Virginia Flake, which I love.

I can't recommend this flake, but considering the quality of the tobacco, I'll give it two stars because nothing that Sam Gawith produces, at least nothing that I have smoked yet, deserves my one star rating.

Perfect flakes that light easily and burn evenly to a white ass. Exquisite aroma and flavor, but more of a VA/BUR than an aromatic. Not exactly chocolatey in taste, more like a medium strength Nicaraguan cigar, although with no cigar leaf characteristics (if that make sense). Moderate sweetness. No tongue bite. Latakia in the background (not a "smokey" tobacco). Moisture content a bit on the high side.

Better than GH's Bob's Chocolate Flake because it has almost none of the Lakeland floral essence that GH is known for, and because the SG flake has a more subtle and complex top note.

If allowed to dry completely, the top note flavors mostly disappear but the tobacco remains extremely tasty. So, as one other reviewer noted, it's like having two tobaccos in one.

I would put this tobacco on my Top 10 list, maybe even in the Top 5.

EDIT (23.04.2012): A month of rest in an airtight tin does wonders on this. cheap alcohol and artificial cocoa gone to be replaced with milk chocolate taste. But unfortunately I was down to 2 flakes when this change occured. Last 2 flakes were phenomenal, so I'm indecisive if I should buy more and test. If that's the case then I'll have to change my rating.

Dr. Scott was right about this, it reminds me a bit of Kendal Cream Flake too, which I hate hate hate hate hate (I can go on and on and hate forever)

Lets insert some Samuel Gawith cliche here: inconsistent cut, wet wet wet, few tobacco lots of empty space, dense and dark flakes, hard to rub, relight relight relight but no delight

tin scent was alcohol mixed with something pretending cocoa + vanilla but no chocolate there. it's as if someone poured ultra cheap copy of tia maria liquor over it.

it's supposed to be lightly cased or a light aromatic but I had difficulties tasting the actual tobacco. Also ghosts your pipe big time. Latakia? No, there's fartakia in it but not latakia. even if there was, I guess at some point latakia couldn't bear this stinky cheap liquor odor and took left to its mom's house.

Somewhat recommended because additional balkan flake to it makes it palatable. Otherwise not recommended.

And strange enough, people compare SG- CF to GH-BCF but it has nothing to do with bob's chocolate flake which I had liked very much, even though lakeland flavors do not appeal to me.