Samuel Gawith Navy Flake

I am a fan of strong tobaccos, I really like nicotine. But for the purists, I believe this one is a every day, all day smoke. Enough strenght and enough flavour. Quite pleasant, but nothing too fancy... If you smoke from morning till bed time, this one is a keeper, but if you like a strong taste and strong flavour do not expect an eye opener...

EDIT*** This has become my favorite tobacco of all. Best taste on the tongue and especially best blowing through your nose. If there is someone who hasnt tried it yet, please do. I agree, truly a masterpiece

similar to BALKAN flake, but with rum. almost buttery. more latakia, too. good amount of nicotine, very tasty. good after dinner smoke. amazing taste smoking slow. Regular tobacco in my rotation! For me the best navy flake out there!

Well, I didn't expected much, btw I'm not a great fan of Latakia but......... The flake are almost perfect , not too moist, not too dry. Smell & taste surprisingly good. Latakia is just enough to give you a little spice and rum is there blended with VA. However you put in your bowl burns evenly and well with not much heat. I don't know , but for me, they almost chose the best Virginia for this one.

First time on this tobacco for me. 25g bought loose here in the UK. Very powerful nose on opening the pouch, very dark flakes and very moist. I've had some bad experiences with "Rum Flake" in the past and I thought "here we go again".

Not so! A wonderful tobacco. Needs a few repeat lights but so very full of flavour and a good nicotine hit for those who want it.

Burns well once lit and a great alternative to Condor Long Cut which taints my pipes with it's bizzare taste.

Try a pouch is my advice. Great stuff

There is an expression in the United States where I live called "hem-haw". It means to be undecided about a subject. I'm hem-hawing about Samuel Gawith's Navy Flake. Not being much experienced in flakes I tried several different ways to smoke the blend. For me, they achieved the same results. For the positives on this blend, Navy Flake does smoke very slowly; much slower than I'm used to a pipe smoking, in fact. The Virginias are forefront in this blend, which is good if you're a Virginia lover. The blend burns even, with a nice white ash. It's pretty difficult to get it to bite. I've puffed it quickly in the past and it stayed pretty tame. The overall flavor is a medium to full taste, not recommended for the casual or new smoker, but for the dedicated smoker it will be a treat. Now we're going to get into the bads. The rum flavor that's touted on the tin is very rarely detected. That was one of my reasons for buying the blend, as I enjoy rum enhanced tobacco blends. The latakia is much muted, acting as a secondary element, not an equal one, to the Virginia. This is a problem to the latakia lover, as it isn't enough to satisfy. I'll give this blend a recommendation, as the elements of it come together quite well. Going into it for the right expectations, someone can get a nice smoke out of it.

This one promised a lot - on opening the tin there was a blast of spice and rum. But on lighting it just didn't follow through. I'm not sure whether to say "bland" or "refined" - possibly the latter and my taste is too coarse. Doubt about that gives it a 3 rather than a 2 star rating.

If six stars were possible SG Navy Flake would receive six stars from me. This is the first Virginia/Latakia flake I have experienced. I received a tin of this yesterday and tried my first bowl this morning and all I can say is WOW! FANTASTIC!! I opened the tin last night and was greeted with that wonderful (my wife calls it rotten gym sock)aroma of toasty Latakia. The beautiful bacon strip like slices were neatly stacked and the tin aroma was fantastic. I think I had my nose in the tin for thirty minutes just taking in the musty nuances of this great blend. Knowing I was going to try my first bowl the next morning I pulled a couple of slices from the stack and gently broke them up into rough and still fairly large chunks and laid them out on a piece of copy paper to dry overnight. Next morning I drove to a nearby state park and found my favorite bench and sat down with anticipation of my first bowl of flake tobacco. I took with me my medium size GBD sandblast billiard which I reserve only for English blends and proceeded to carefully load the broken chunks of slice into the bowl. With a gentle tamp to seat the load into place and a check for draft I proceeded to the charring light. I found it took two wooden kitchen matches to create a good char and then after allowing the burn to go out I followed up with a light tamp and a final third match that burned to the bottom. I found the tobacco to burn slow and cool and for nearly a full hour. I experienced no bite at all found the aroma and taste to be heavenly all the way to the bottom of the bowl. I could sense no topping of rum at all, but then again I am not a drinker so I really would not know what to look for. I found this to be a complex and interesting smoke with many subtle and creamy flavors. The flavor and aroma I experienced the most I would compare to the aroma and taste of warm chocolate milk on a winter morning. The aftertaste was nearly non-existent and smooth leaving my mouth feeling clean and light. Great tobacco!!

Harkpuff

Too heavy on the Latakia for my taste. I prefer MacBaren Plumcake.

This tobacco is one of my preferred flakes. It's smoky, full of the typical Balkan flavours and the hints of rum really bring it all together.

A stand up tobacco that lights, smokes and tastes great as well as being flavoured with my all time favourite spirit. My perfect partner to a good rum on the rocks