Samuel Gawith Chocolate Flake

Lakeland Tour Stop 14

I tried this alternating with Bob's Chocolate Flake from Gawith and Hoggarth. I liked this one better overall, principally because it was more interesting to my palate and had no soapy flavor to it.

Some reviewers say this is Best Brown with the addition of latakia and chocolate flavor. For my money, I think Best Brown is better by itself. This was ok, once it had aged enough. At first, though I gave the open tin a month to mellow before smoking it, it was a bit bitter and, for lack of a better word, "muddy" in flavor. This subsided finally, especially after I had to rehydrate it, leaving a nice rich virginia flavor.

I never noticed any latakia or chocolate. That was ok; I probably would not have wanted something that tasted like a chocolate bar. But I do think just a bit more sweetness would have done wonders for this tobacco, bringing out the flavors and taking the edge off. This smelled very sweet in the tin, by the way. Certainly worth a try if you're looking for a nice virginia tobacco. Aromatophiles and latakia junkies will definitely be disappointed.

Nice smells come out of the box when you open it. It is liquid enough even after a long and strong drying. You have to empty the hydrostatic pipes system after each smoking, obligatorily.

First of all, although it has nice smells, I couldn?t discover neither the chocolate or Latakia. I would say that it is a wonderful tobacco with creamy and ?semi-sweet? flavor. Very good burning, that leaves a very clean white ash in the end, together with some bitter.

But I cannot compare it with the clear flavors that, BOB?s Chocolate of GAWITH HOGGARTH, gives me. I guess that in this point, Samuel didn?t manage to make the combination that he had in his mind, but this doesn?t mean that the specific mix is not a good tobacco. In the end of the box, Latakia appeared. Chocolate never.

Three stars for the very good quality of tobacco.

I've been smoking quite a bit of this lately, given the recent dry spell in bulk Full Virginia Flake stocks in the States. It is, I'd say, Best Brown with maybe 5 to 7% latakia added, and a light dusting of cocoa. I think Best Brown itself is a pretty persnickety flake. BBF always seems ready to bite just before it unloads the goods. But, with the Latakia and chocolate additions, this is a fine smoke.

As for the latakia, it's not really enough to taste. Like the burley in some of the Gawith Hoggarth blends, there's just enough to change the body of the smoke, and add a subtle dimension to the flavor.

I buy this in bulk, and it's always been extra dry. Too dry, in fact, to smoke without disaster. (read-thin and very bitey smoke) So I rehydrate it a little, let it sit in a jar (under the bed) a few weeks and it's fine. No different from the tin. Like a lot of Sam Gawith flakes, this can take some abuse and still give a good smoke. Something to be said for that, I think. (Try doing it with Penzance!) Still, I recommend a little caution; a slow approach demands this flake.

A solid, lightly flavored VA flake.

Nothing seems to dry this one out, so I smoke it in a Kirsten and literally pour the moisture out of the stem after smoking.

If this has anything to do with chocolate, I can't taste or smell it and envy those of you who can.

What I do taste is a medium bodied, pleasant blend with a hint of sweetness.

This is a good but not great one-of-a-kinder.

The tin aroma is akin to opening a tin of Hershey's Cocoa powder. At first puff, the smoker is greeted with a cocoa or baker's chocolate flavor. The latakia is subdued. This continues through until the bottom third of the bowl, where a fuller tobacco experience finally emerges. If you're attracted to cocoa, you'll likely enjoy this pipe-weed. While there is a dry sweetness, I do not find it cloying. You'll find a typical VA bite to Chocolate Flake, so smoke accordingly. I find the blend a bit unrefined, but enjoy it from time to time.

This is different from Bob's Chocolate Flake, which is Gawith's collaborative effort with Hogarth. CF is a deep, dark, lovely flake with hints of speckled birdseye. The chocolate is hardly detectable in the tin. I think the chocolate moniker might be referring to the color & texture of the flake rather than the amount of cocoa bean in the blend. There appears to be some sort of stoving process here. Try it if there's an open tin or jar, but don't go out of your way for it. Like other Gawith blends I've tried, I suppose it has to fit your particular taste. The few that I've sampled don't do a thing for me. This is smoke in a bowl as far as I'm concerned. Nothing memorable or earthshaking about this, though nothing offensive either. Again, it might be that I am getting to the point that there are only so many blends one can try & ultimately stick with. It's like smelling 100 perfumes at the retail counter. They all smell the same after awhile. For a deep, dark, chocolaty flake with subtle complexity, try the superior McClelland Dark Star instead.

Two of five stars

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update - april 5, 2006

I apologize to Gawith Chocolate Flake. Perhaps my tastes have changed since the last time. Or maybe some of the blends I once loved have been slipping in quality - Strathspey, for one. In any case, this really is a fine, subtle blend. It smokes cool, has just the characteristic sonorities of Virginia and Latakia, neither of which overpower the other. The chocolate provides a comfortable, inconspicuous sweet element. The burn is slow, patient and definitely English. I decided to turn to Gawith again after reading a very nice article about that blending house in a past issue of the venerable 'Pipes & Tobaccos' Magazine. Now with greater respect for the blending house, its history and people, I have graduated to an appreciation for the finer things in tobacciana. I'm proud to add GCF to the honor roll of fine tobac. This is now a regular.

Four and a half of five stars

This actually tastes more like chocolate and has less floral elements than GH's Bob's Chocolate Flake, though it also has a little less character and I find it somewhat bland.

The blend creates nice flavors that are consistent throughout the bowl, and has a nice unoffensive room note, yet lacks anything really memorable to encourage me to come back to it very often. But it is even-keeled and smooth, and worth a try if you like the lake flakes.

Average, slightly aromatic (chocolate) tobac. Has no bite, burns a bit wet, has a slight virginia tang, and poor DGT. Good for a change but not a regular daily smoke.

This blend was a let down for me. Of the Gawith blends i've tried all were of exceptional quality. And this one is no different, except I didn't like it. I didn't like the room note nor the flavor of the smoke. For a chocolate taste I prefer G&H Bob's Chocolate Flake. It's probable because it's less aromatic and more Latakia English that was the problem for me.