Samuel Gawith Chocolate Flake

Chocolate Flake's name may be a bit deceiving. The flavor is more of a pressed Virginia than chocolate. The VA is sweet and the latakia is light, so it might be a good starting point for a novice English smoker. The Chocolate taste is present at about mid bowl and is always in the background, never overpowering but ever present. I would never smoke it every day but it is a nice after dinner smoke. This tobacco also does not require a lot of attention two matches and a few tamps and you are set to go. Enjoy.

Update: It has been over two years now since my original review, which was based on the tinned version. Since that time, I have been smoking the bulk version and find it identical and slightly more economical. I still enjoy this from time to time, especially in the cooler air of Autumn in seasoned pipes dedicated to it.

Original Review: 04/28/2005 - This is a medium brown to light tan flake, with a tin aroma of carob and natural cocoa that takes some effort to get going, even when rubbed out. Once the bowl is underway, it burns cool and clean down to a nice dry white ash. Its flavor continues to intensify in a pleasant way throughout the entire smoke. The natural carob and cocoa flavor is always present and semi complex, definitely not monochromatic, without ever dominating the natural Virginia flavor. The Latakia element is so subtle it does not come through in taste instead it adds smokiness to the aroma. The overall flavor is rich, smooth and balanced. No floral Lakeland scents or soapy taste. Smokes cool and dry, never nips, bites, gets steamy or becomes astringent. Recommended for those that appreciate rich Virginia tobacco.

rlaw had it nailed. SMOOTH!! couple of matches, a light tamp, and your off to the races. Puff as hard as you like. No bite here. Nice flavor thats not a latakia overdose... Chocolate never really came through. More like adding cream to coffee type of a smoothing the rough edges effect. At 40.00 bucks a pound this stuff is not that cheap.. but still cheaper than GL Pease and a few others.

I am not a big fan of Latakia blends at all but this one is done right. Just a good smooth mixture. Goes great with a cup of coffee of the evening. Has just a very slight bite but I am a pretty aggresive puffer. Stays lit good, did not burn hot. Certainly worth the money to try.

First of all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all! If you are looking for a post Christmas dinner smoke you could do a lot worse than Chocolate Flake - it is quite simply delicious and extremely satisfying. Yet another four star tobacco - we need more stars to differentiate all this brilliance in the tobacco market.

No syrupy topping here, more like (as others have said) a very good dark cocoa applied with reserve. The chocolate weaves in and out and makes for an excellent room note. The smoke still has real tobacco presence though, and is rich like a good cigar. This tobacco produces an enormous amount of smoke - half a flake could last an hour if you were deep in thought...

A friend of mine bought this and I liked it immediately. His seemed to have a "dusting" of topping and was quite dry in the tin. I experimented with the dashboard stoving (it's summer here in New Zealand) and the results were excellent. Two days in the sun and the contents of the tin had merged into a damp chocolatey block. After some drying out the flavour was sublime...

Great stuff.

Like most on this board, I avoid anything with "cherry", or "chocolate" in the name. Reason being, we've all had our foray into the flavored stuff, and our tongues were singed, and our pipes soaked. I love most everything Samuel Gawith makes, and bought a tin as a 'change of pace' for the Xmas holiday.

After 1 tin, its now a member of the rotation, with more in reserve. This is one of those magic tobaccos for me, and I've been smoking it exclusively. It isn't chocolate, but more cocoa. The flavor is extremely natural.

Neither the Latakia or the flavoring is overpowering to the smoker, or the bystander. The flavor is as pleasurable as the room note.

It came pretty wet in the can, so I gave it some air. It burns cool and dry.

I really don't see how anyone could find fault with this blend.

Not to be confused with Bob's Chocolate Flake, SG's Chocolate Flake is in a class by itself and unlike anything else I've ever smoked except perhaps to a chocolate burley I used to purchase in Manhattan some forty-five years ago at a small midtown shop. Unlike that tobacco however, SG's blend is not a burley blend at all, and burns clean down to the bottom of the bowl. It is cool burning without a hint of bite.

This is for me, at least, too rich in flavor to be enjoyed all day, but to be smoked for a change of pace.

Is this an aromatic tobacco? Some say yes while others say no. I really don't know and frankly don't care. It clearly is flavored and the flavoring is magnificent.

This works surprisingly well with DGT.

If I had only three word for this blend, they would be: flavor, flavor and flavor.

Let me just add that whether or not you like aromatic tobacco's, you really ought to give this one a try.

Tin Aroma: Cocoa and must. There's nothing here that I would identify as a ?tobacco? aroma.

Preparation: I?m of the fold and stuff school when it comes to flakes. One-and-a-half of these wide, thin flakes folded and stuffed is enough for a bowl in most of my pipes, whick tend to be on the large side.

First third: As the match hits the weed, the first flavor is that of a quiet Virginia. This is followed by a distant Latakia taste. The Latakia combines with just a hint of chocolate, bringing forth an earthy, sausage-like flavor. Fresh from the tin, the flake is difficult to light. Like most flakes, it benefits from a little drying out.

As the bowl progresses, the very pleasant tang of Virginias is at the forefront. The Latakia continues to lend its sausage-like flavor in the background. This is a very tasty blend!

Mid-bowl: A re-light brings a whiff of very pleasant cocoa flavor, and the smoke settles quickly down to a somewhat delicate Virginia flavor, deepening as the bowl goes on.. My palate is not educated enough to pick out just what Virginia, alas, but it is well-mannered and smooth. There is some small sweetness here, but it is not at all cloying. I wouldn?t be surprised to find that a major component in this blend is Burley. I?m betting that there?s some Turkish in here, too, playing into the sausage-like note, which is there if I look for it, but it is very un-obtrusive.

Final Third: This blend develops wonderfully, with the flavor of the smoke becoming deeper and the individual flavors melding together to the point where it is difficult to pick out one over the other. Here in the final third of the bowl, the flavor becomes quite rich.

Re-lights continue to bring the cocoa flavor to the fore before the tobacco settles down again. Exhaling through the nose amplifies the Latakia leaf, and makes me a bit more certain about the Turkish addition.

Overall: This tobacco is quite the gentleman. It behaves well, doesn?t bite or over-heat the pipe. It is very tasty and never boorish. It never lectures and is always engaging, developing a very understated, slightly sweet richness by the final third of the bowl. Like all gentlemen, it is rich enough to stand up to a cup of strong coffee or a splasheen of whiskey, but goes particularly well with a cup of tea. The room note is quite pleasant with a hint of chocolate, but not at all aromatic. It makes a wonderful all-day companion, and is not picky about the pipe it likes.

Highly recommended for the English or Virginia smoker. Highly recommended also for the Burley and aromatic smokers for a change of pace.

This is a great tobacco,Im not much for latakia but in this one its not overerpowering.You can really taste the sweet virginia and the chocolate flavoring is exceptional.I love this tobacco.Try it you wont be disapointed.Sammy the bull Gravano used to smoke this.I know he's a rat but whatever.