Samuel Gawith Navy Flake

On top of everything good that has been said about this weed, it has a very pleasant and distinctive tin aroma. I filled an empty tin of this with balkan Mixture, a week has gone now and every time I open the tin I still smell Navy Rum, rather than Balkan Mixture! A smell to die for.

I've gone through several tins of this now over the last few months, and my views have changed, what I felt was a rather strong evening smoke, has now moved into a daytime one. The first time I smoked this, not being used to Latakia, I wondered what I was setting fire too. It seemed a bit strong but very pleasant, with just a hint of rum, so I kept this for an evening smoke with a book. As time and tins progressed, I now find I'm burning this earlier in the day and it seems quite mild and very pleasant. This is one of several Sam Gawiths Flakes I will not be without, and I keep a number of tins on hand. Four Stars.

This is by far and away one of my favorite tobaccos. I cannot stress how good this blend is. To me it is the perfect mix of Virginias and Latakia. You get a constantly shifting flavor profile out of this blend. It's fades in and out of Latakia and Virginia, and then a perfect marriage of the two. Not very strong Latakia (which I'm not a fan of anyway) but enough to keep you interested. It's the blend I load up when I want to sit out on back porch, watch the sunset, contemplate the universe, and relax before bed. I drift off and 45 mins later I realized I have snorked the whole damn bowl cause it's an amazingly simple, yet deeply complex flavor profile. This was the blend that made me finally understand Latakia. Sweet Smokey leather/meat fig pudding

Smoking now.

Tin from 2012. In my experience even 10 year old tins of SG blends are still too wet to smoke and this is no exception. After a long dry time this was ready to be smoked. Dark, formerly wet, flakes well formed and playable. Smells faintly of Latakia, more of a Virginia and fermented ketchup aroma from the jar. Packs and lights with some extra effort but it was well worth it.

The taste is definitely like the smell. The Latakia is in a distant second place to the Virginia. Now this is 10 years old so I suppose that is a major factor too. The Virginias are fermented, dark, woody, some lemon tartness, a tad sweet. The rum and age tones this down as it’s pretty mellow for a Virginia flake. The Latakia is herbal leathery and musty but it is faint. Adds some nice body and depth to this.

A Virginia navy flake with some character from Latakia. The retrohale is nice but may make you sneeze. The after taste was a bready flavor. No bite, slight back of the tongue tingle. As the bowl continues I thought it got better and better picking up some vegetative and floral notes. Had trouble keeping it lite so don’t be afraid to just let this dry and keep a fire source near by. Burns cool and as slow as can be. This burns so slow that I put my pipe down can came back to smoke it later.

Take a good English blend and a great navy flake. Put them together and you get a gem like this. A solid dose of Latakia. Love it. Sweet and smokey.

What a pleasure to smoke this ! I'm now having a great time with this tobacco ! In my opinion, this is the best flake I ever tasted. Although, it's a bit strong, the little dark chocolate aroma is excellent. It's a very well balanced tobacco. Very pleasant to smoke, I'm sure flake's amateurs will be delighted ! It shows well Samuel Gawith's experience in tobaccos.

tin aroma reveals no rum, imo. only virginia and latakia. i rub the flakes out, as i find they light and burn too slowly i don't. the taste is rather different from the tin aroma. or rather, a lot of notes are added. this is a very spicy and complex tobacco. quite amazing, given it's simple contents. i wonder how the people at samuel gawith achieved this effect, as i don't feel that it's just the addition of rum.

anyway, this tobacco is a joy to smoke at any time of the day. bite free and lightweight, it's fine in the morning, and it's still got enough of interest to do fine in the evening. highly recommended.

Out of the three flakes I tried from SG, the others being Bracken and Balkan, this is my favorite. Navy Flake is very similuar to Balkan Flake, but with less latakia and real rum. The VA's are dark brown and the rum flavor is light and provides a nice sweet background. Don't get me wrong, this does not taste like a aromatic. Burns cool and down to a fine grey ash, with no tounge bite.

Fairly moist in the tin, so it needs some air time. My flakes had beautiful sugar crystals on the VA's. Unfortunetlly, since SG does not put any dates on their tins, I don't know how old my tin was. Nice price for Smoking Pipes. I will buy this in bulk on the next order.

Highly Recommeded

I just love the taste of the tobaccos used in Sam Gawith flakes. I assume that it is a combination of where they are from and the processes used to produce the flake tobaccos. Almost a meaty flavor. Superb!

I have to leave a tin out for a couple days to dry a bit. I really don't mind, just wish they would pack a full two ounces per tin to make use of the space. But I have also been stocking up with pounds.

Rubs out easily, packs well. Navy flake smokes as cool as other Sam Gawith flakes. No tongue bite waiting here. Plenty of latakia and a nice chosen flavor. Yes, that could be rum, but it might just be good Virginia's and the process that makes a sweet tasting flake. The latakia is present and not overpowering. This could be an all day smoke for most.

This Podunker gives a thumbs up.

Enjoy, Carlos