Samuel Gawith Navy Flake

like old dublin, but with rum. almost butterey. more latakia, too. good amount of nicotine, very tasty. good after dinner smoke. amazing taste when blown out the nose. ill buy it again from time to time.

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

Well, I agree with Wibble on this one.

To be honest I have got fed up with SG's poor track record. I've had quite a few tins either not sealed and/or rusted inside. Tobacco so unevenly cut and soaking wet that it's a pain to get them to smoke evenly. I've even found mouldy tobacco on opening the tins. Sad to say it because I love Bracken Flake and 1792, when I could get a decent tin that is.

As for Navy Flake...I've had one or two tins where it's been a tolerably nice smoke but on the whole I have had the results Wibble has had.

I go to G & H now in the main...always good in cut, taste and flavour...and value for money.

03-06-2005 Not a bell ringer for this piper.

Appearance and Tin Aroma: Smell sweet in the tin. Not sure what type of Rum that was used, but it is not overbearing.There is a slight odor of Latakia. The flakes are stacked neatly and look dark and feel sticky.

Packing and Lighting: even though the flakes are sticky, I just stufed them lengthwise in my pipe and let her rip. Surprisingly, it lit fairly easy, 4-5 lights max.

Initial Flavor: Sweet rum, Va tastes on the mature middle to low end flavor spectrum.

Mid-Bowl: A slight increase in strength. Not nuch complexity. Burns cool. Is there Latakia in here?

Bottom of Bowl: Just a slight increase of flavor. Nicotine is there but not overbearing. Definitely enough nicotine to require a good meal before smoking, though.

Overall: Where's the beef? This is a smooth no-nonsense Navy Flake, but it just did not do anything particularly exciting flavorwise for me. It is just a smooth middle of the road smoke. For some, that is enough. The leaf used in this blend is of high quality. I much prefer C&D's Black Frigate over this one.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Points

Similar to Blackbear Queen Anne's Revenge (the Knoxcigar flake made by Gawith), perhaps lighter in Latakia and overall punch... Read my review for this other tobacco, and you'll have an idea.

This Navy Flake is even duller, more monochromatic and boring: not smooth and delicate, just dull.

You can't almost feel the Latakia, and get less Virginia sweetness and richness than in Gawith's pure Va flakes.

I really can't smoke this stuff: not unpleasant, simply in the category of "why should I waste my time with it?".

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.

Now this is an interesting one. Navy Flakes are one of my favorite types of pipe tobacco. The length of smoke, the soft spice from the rum and simplicity of it all adds to the experience. I credit smoking Navy Flakes for moving my taste from purely aromatic tobacco to more straight tobacco blends. This one in particular though is quite unique with the added addition of Latakia.

The tin is a classic, there is no need to guess what thus product is, or what sort of experience might be contained therein. When I opened my tin and removed the thick cardboard insert I found a nicely packed, and sort of firmly pressed black and brown flakes. The tin note is English forward: soft, sweet, smokey, tangy, but there is an inherent brown sugar sweetness and distinct spice from the rum. You may think that these flakes are not that wet, but they are. If you pack this in right out of the tin you may find that the muscles you use to light a match or lighter are quickly growing larger than a pro-wrestler's biceps. I left my tobacco in my pipe overnight as I do when it's usually way too wet for my liking, and it has drastically improved the amount of time it takes to get this lit.

When lit this tobacco is really engaging and relaxing. The soft woody and smokey Latakia is what I taste first. This isn't as light as Skiff Mixture but it isn't as heavy as Nightcap. It's more smooth and lingers in your mouth pleasantly. The Virginias are pleasant, sweet, slightly tangy, and very slightly bready. The rum is identifiable but if you are looking for an through and through aromatic topping you won't find it here. It tends to float through your smoke and soften whatever it touches.

The taste is a medium. This is a simple smooth blend that pleasantly lingers on your tongue. The strength is a medium, I don't notice any identifiable nicotine hit. The room note is pleasant and you may get a few compliments in public. A nice and slow burning blend to relax with. Easily recommendable. It does what it sets out to do.