Samuel Gawith Navy Flake

I love most Latakia blends, so of course I had to try this one. I'm a big fan of Gawith Tobaccos, so I was hoping this would be a good choice.

I'm on the fence with this one. I like both Commonwealth Mixture and Squadron Leader, more than this offering from Gawith. My biggest con on this tobacco, was that I couldn't keep it lit. I must have relit this stuff 8 times, and even as I type this message out, I have to relight my pipe again.

On the plus side, it has a nice flavor, though I'd like a bit more of the Virginia's to come through. This is a rough cut flake, and took a bit of doing to get it broken up, in the way I like to load tobacco into my pipes. There were also quite a few pieces of stems and twiggy stuff mixed in as well. Maybe I got the floor sweepings on this tin?

The bowl I'm smoking, was loaded and left out over-night, before firing it up this morning, and it still doesn't want to burn.

I'll finish this tin, but I don't think I'll be buying anymore of this one...

This is a very good tobacco, the rhum flavouring is clear but not overwhelming, you can still taste the virginia and latakia notes. To be a flake it's unbelievably easy to pack and light, and it burns evenly and really cool. Pay attention because its sweetness hides a strong nicotine content that becomes perceptible and maybe disturbing by the end of the bowl.

This tin has definitely improved with age and drying. I wasn’t that impressed with it when I bought it, so I put the tin in a canister and ignored it for several years (3 to 5 years?).

The flake nearly fell apart when I folded it for stuffing. The smoke was cool, dry, sweeter, and less grassy. There is just enough Latakia to keep it interesting. I won’t go as far as saying it was blissful, but I might have imagined a foghorn and the sound of seagulls about halfway through the bowl. Smooth sailing.

My first ever vaper and flake. This blend should be carefully contemplated and meditated on for it to reveal its true colours.

The tin note is dominantly perique; strong scents of pepper and wood. A friend's opion stuck with me on the room note, an old wooden ship. Upon smoking it, the virginia is very prevalent with a sharp hay taste. The peppery perique is consistent in the lead with the virginia. There is absolutely no rum present in my taste buds. While I fear my opinion will not be shared by non smokers, I really enjoy the room note. It is a clean smokey smell found in any barbecue.

This tobacco burns hotter then the fiery depths of hell. I would only be satisfied with a dry system pipe and filter crystals to bring down this immense temperature.

Navy Flake is more akin to the aged Virginias of House Gawith than the traditional English blends (Va/Or/Lat) despite the Latakia on which it is quite mild. It lacks the high tones of bright Virginias and Oriental which the English blends contain and is more monochromatic, but that is not to say less interesting. Actually, it is an elegant blend where one can taste the aged and cooked Virginia with the addition of the smokiness of Latakia which as I said is mild and sweet. I think I can even taste the rum but it is discreet, it just adds a nuance and does not overwhelm the natural tobacco taste. There’s also a note of alcohol but very slight, also some notes of burnt caramel. Strength is medium at most and it does not contain much nicotine. Navy Flake has a mild and smooth flavor that needs a serene atmosphere to appreciate fully. Room note is not bad at all and I experienced no bite. Lastly it burns much more easily than most Gawith straight Virginias without the need of much preparation and drying.

My first impressions of this tobacco were not good and I left it for a few months before trying it again. I'm not overly fond of blends with alcohol toppings but given it's reputation I wanted to give this one a try. Trying it a second time I like this a lot more. The rum is there but the virginias are forward and the run does not seem has strong as my first smoke. There is a sweetness present that could be from the topping. Its a fun smoke that produces heavy smoke. The first half of the bowl I get an aftertaste that I'm not crazy about and it's ever present in my mouth. If you are typically an aromatic smoker you may not mind it. I like this tobacco but it's not going to be part of my regular rotation. I'll likely keep some for an occasional smoke when I'm looking for something a little different.

Well, my first sampling of Samuel Gawith and my second Latakia blend. When I opened the tin and stuck my nose in, I couldn't smell any Latakia ! Upon handling it I do get a light odor. Nice flakes, a bit moist, but by the time I had finished the tin it had dried out considerably. I smoked it folded, cubed, and rubbed out. It burned well regardless, and no bite. I was surprised to see a bit of plume although it was just under a year old. I like it quite a bit. The rum is very subdued, as is the Latakia. I think this is a great intro to the "big L". I have a lot more to learn, but I could definitely see getting more of this : 3.5 stars

First off, it came a lot less moist than most SG tobaccos. So the tin goes into a baggie. So, yeah... Dark. Dark flavors of Virginia and latakia. Very little sweetness. Couldn't really taste any rum in it through the smoke.

The first quarter of the bowl, I thought it had too much latakia, but I haven't had a lat blend in almost two weeks. By the halfway mark, I thought that it had just enough latakia to keep it interesting and burning cool.

The virginias have to be well stoved or even fired. I could definitely taste charred steak and spice. It burned a little hot near the bottom, but I slowed down and that helped. Good stuff, in my opinion. Sam Gawith, you got a winner in my book.

I find this flake to be something of a paradox: With a solid backbone of Latakia and a rum topping, one would expect a strong flavor. (Based on tin description, one would expect it to be comparable to C&D's "Black Frigate"--it is not.) So on an initial smoke, one is likely to be surprised. The Latakia is there, certainly, but it is truly used condimentally and supplies only a subtle backbone of flavor. Likewise, the rum flavor is so far in the background that I'm not convinced that I can actually pick out its flavor consciously, although I am confident that I would notice a difference were it magically removed. Despite these two seasonings, it is the Virginia that ultimately wins--that blending component that is so often noted for being so subtle as to be overwhelmed by even the ghost of another tobacco remaining in a pipe ultimately defines the character in this blend. The result is slightly sweet, subtly smokey, with a hint of a floral character. Every now and then I'm sure I'm tasting lavender--a remnant of the rum, or a tiny dash of Lakeland? I don't know, but it makes for an engaging and fascinating smoke.

The flakes are thin and uneven and arrive in the tin more than a bit too wet (someone on this site needs to produce a button for a macro that inserts "benefits from drying" into reviews--this would save time, I'm sure). An hour or so out of the tin and they're good to go, however. I find that I like this in a deep, narrow pipe. It takes the match well and in the smoking one gets a very rare treat: Here is a tobacco that burns easily, produces copious amounts of flavorful smoke, and still burns so slowly that one can easily get a full hour or more out of a single pipe. I've never gotten a bite from this tobacco, even when I puff harder than I ought, which is punished by a bit of unpleasant bitterness rather than bite. A failing of the blend is in nicotine content, which is very low: All of its other features make this a nice complement to a morning coffee or an evening whisky, but there's no "kick." This isn't a terrible thing, but it does leave me wanting something more, just a bit.

All in all, a pleasant blend that is worth a try. I wish I could give fractional stars--this isn't quite at four stars, but three seems too low. Let's call it 3.5.