Samuel Gawith Navy Flake

SG Navy flake was my first of this kind. I was hoping for a VA with just a hint of Latakia. Nope. Not in this case. I like Latakia, but also sensitive to it somehow. But lets see.. The tin note is awesome. Sweet and smoky. Reminds me of a barn. I could not detect the rum topping in the smell, nor in the smoke. A bit moist out of the tin, the flakes are beautiful dark brown. (yes, I have a crush on flakes :)) After 20 minutes of dry time I stuffed my pipe with the fold method. The tobacco lights easily, but needs a few relights. The smoke is rich and cool. Sweet and smoky. Burning campfire is what it reminds me. Regrettably this blend has too much Latakia for me and dizziness comes after a half bowl. Still, its a quality blend, that I use for spicing up other blends. 3 Stars

I had to smoke quite a bit of Samuel Gawith's Navy Flake to get a good feel for it. Upon opening, the tin note has an almost Oriental spice scent, and not much else. The flakes are long and rugged looking. I rubbed out a bowl's worth, which was a bit too moist, so I let it dry for 15 minutes. First few puffs... sweet and savory. There is very little rum flavor. I expected it to be quite rich, but it's actually fairly mild. There's Virginia sweetness, a little bit of smokey, musty Latakia, and a very light molasses sweetness as topping. The flavors are hard to describe, and hard to get a hold of. It makes me want to smoke faster as I keep trying to catch this really nice flavor that doesn't linger. No bite, and it burns to a fine grey ash.

Bottom line: It's a nice, contemplative smoke. Good, but nothing spectacular, 3 stars.

I burned through a tin of this in no time flat. I was kind of curious as I cannot recall ever smoking a rum topped Navy flake with Latakia. These flakes are very moist in the tin that require drying for several minutes. I like to put some flakes on the cool ledge of the woodstove to delicately dry these in about 15 minutes. Rubbing out takes a bit of effort, but well worth it. Initial light reveals a slight Latakia flavor, but is in perfect harmony with the Va. The rum is there, but barely noticable. Small sips brings this out the best. Definitely a flake to keep around.

Interesting blend of Va. and latakia with a light topping of rum. I like the concept of adding latakia to the mix in order to beef up the flavors, however, in this case I feel that SG overdid it a bit. Very flavorful flake and I enjoy it as a nice detour from my regular rotation of straight Virginias. Definitely more kick than MacBaren's and less sweet. Rum note is weak but present. Moist like most Gawith products so rub it out fully and find something else to do for an hour before packing and lighting up.

Lakeland Tour stop 18

This was pretty good. It's in the same vein as Balkan Flake and Chocolate flake--virginias much like Best Brown or Full Virginia with some latakia and a discrete topping. Like Balkan but unlike Chocolate flake, the latakia in Navy is noticeable enough to merit smoking this in latakia-dedicated pipes. Chocolate Flake seemed at home in virginia dedicated pipes and clashed with latakia pipes.

Of those three, Navy is, to me, the most immediately enjoyable, though perhaps not as interesting as Chocolate. The rum flavoring is discrete, and adds only a nice sweetness. This flake dried out very fast and had to be significantly re-hydrated at one point. Otherwise, not too distinctive but always enjoyable.

Navy Flake is a sweet tobacco with rum casing and some top flavoring, Latakia isn?t strong, it?s here just for support, the smoke is sweet, honey like, nicely flavored with some perfume, mild tasty and enjoyable as dessert smoke.

Good quality Navy blends for sweet and top flavored tobacco lovers.

Many companies offer a Navy Flake and they generally smoke hot with a bite if you're not careful. Not so with SG. This is a smooth smoke with no bite. The rum adds a faint sweetness that is very pleasant with just a hint of latakia. An excellent well balanced flake that can be enjoyed by many.

Another winner from Samuel Gawith. If you let this dry out for a week it will greatly improve your experience with this blend. A European version of C&D's Black Frigate. A little less Latakia and a bit more European in character. This is a good one. 3 stars.

I'm updating my original review. Initially I found the flavor to be a little flat, and wasn't overly impressed with this flake. I have since found that, in the right pipe, it is quite a wonderful smoke. I have a Peterson tankard and an Irish Seconds zulu with a long stem, and these pipes are just the right size for a smallish, delicately flavored flake like Gawith's Navy flake. The dark brown, leathery flakes rub out to just the right broken consistency, and stuffed in a small pipe just so, light right up and stay lit. The latakia is almost a little overwhelming at first light, but fairly quickly fades into the background, there staying just as a lingering presence. The flavoring is mildly sweet, but not at all spicy like one would expect with a traditionally cased rum or navy flake. The trademark lakeland flavor just barely makes itself known ocassionally, but after one or two bowls is unnoticable. I will definitely be smoking more of this in the winter months to come.