Samuel Gawith Navy Flake

I taste a bit of cocoa, a sour grassyness, some oaky woody notes, and dark dried fruit, but what really brings this blend together for me is this musty, earthy, dank-basement type note that the light bit of Latakia seems to provide. All of that held together with a creamy finish.

This one is definitely a biter, and If I'm not prepared to fully relax and slow my caedence it tends to be rather unforgiving. It is, however, well worth it. Very low nicotine content, burns clean and dry, and makes for a lengthy smoke.

This is quite a well done and unique blend. I quite enjoy having Latakia as a condiment for VA's without any added oriental leaf. It has me on the hunt for other VA/Lat blends but nothing quite compares.

Having smoked quite a bit of Macbaren's Navy Flake, I was a little sceptical about a 'navy flake' with Latakia, but this Samuel Gawith offering is an outstanding tobacco. The Virginas hold center stage, with the rum flavoring and Latakia a distinct but not overdone presence. It smokes consistently all the way down the bowl, and burns cleanly and slowly, leaving behind no unpleasant dottle. Fold and stuff, with a little rubbed out for kindling at the top of the bowl is best, I think. It needs a bit of drying time - it's not a bad idea to fill your pipe and leave it overnight before smoking - but, having been dried a bit, it's a well behaved smoked that does not need constantly relighting.

A top quality tobacco, this; it reminds me very much of Samuel Gawith's Bothy Flake. It rewards a slow and leisurely pace. Excellent: very highly recommended.

SG Navy Flake - The Virginias are very fruity and tangy . I get a little citrus at times and some very minor hay and grass . I get some smokey bbq from the Latakia . There is a little bit of spice in this blend . The Rum is perfectly applied and with the Virginias give it that fruity plum sweetness. Rum goes great with Virginia tobacco for me . I bought in bulk and aged only 6 mths . I only dried it maybe 20 minutes from the jar . Smokes great fairly moist . Lots of deep rich flavor . Most SG blends need a year or so of age for me but this one I think can be probably smoked fresh . Nicotine is mild-medium . Highly recommend

This blend is sweet and very well balanced. The rum flavour is subtle but present. And when it pops out of a puff while you're taking a walk and it's snowing, you know you're not alone. (Montreal can be cold.) The latakia is as subtle. They work together to bring the taste a step ahead. They simply dynamise the virginia base without being too present. Not smoky. Grassy and sweet. The flakes need to be dried as they come quite moist in the tin.

Presentation: A nice light blue tin with a silhouette of a colonial sailing vessel.

Cut: Comes in somewhat neat, somewhat long, thinly cut flakes. This blend was Gawith level moist (that means the highest level). And with the rum topping, you need to devote substantial drying time to *attempt* to avoid it biting you in the ass.

Tin note: Smells earthy, figgy and a sharp note of that I assume is the rum.

Tasting notes: Smokiness intertwines itself with all other notes but is not overwelming in the slightest. Slight grassy sweetness, some earth, some creamy sweetness, figs. High complexity, hard to describe.

Mechanics: This blend smokes like a glass of water, even after several DAYS of drying time while rubbed out. This blend is very difficult to light. I must have made 6 or so charring lights before it finally gave me the smoke output I desired. This blend also definitely bites, beware for that if you're willing to put your tongue on the line. Also expect it to need a couple relights throughout the bowl.

Extra Remarks: I feel like I dragged my tongue through shards of glass. This blend mechanically, is absolutely atrocious; but flavorwise, is absolutely excellent. If it smoked as easily as Old Joe Krantz, being dry with zero bite, this would EASILY be 4 stars. Alas, it fails miserably at that. Try if you dare. There are other blends you can smoke without sacrificing your tongue or sanity. I might dry it out for a month and try again. Perhaps then it would be the blend of my dreams. As of now though, it is not even close. 2 stars.

Update: After drying for 14 whole days (336 HOURS), the bite is extremely reduced to a minimum. In its current state, the blend is smokable, although I feel like I have lost flavor for a mechanically better smoke. Be sure to dry this one enough or your tongue will pay! But like it is now, the blend is somewhat enjoyable, albeit on the mellow side. Still 2 stars.

This one that I just can’t get along with.

I’ve had a tin, jarred up, for over a year and, unless there is a subtle nuance too subtle for me to get, it isn’t offering anything to me.

I don’t get any rum from the pouch note or from the smoke. I guess, it being a navy flake, that I should be getting some rum, from somewhere, somehow?

It is very moist so maybe my jaded pallet is missing something?

The test of a good tobacco to me, is how quickly you need to restock and this one has been sitting on the shelf - alongside some Gold Block and some Kentucky Black Cherry - for significantly longer than some other blends that have been smoked and repurchased.

Once every so often I’ll try one, to see if they’ve changed in the jar but they don’t seem to have matured in the least.

The room note doesn’t smell pleasant at all; more like you’ve been smoking a pair of old wellies you found at the bottom of the garden - a 3) on the wife’s “you aren’t smoking that in here!” Scale.

This is, of course, only my opinion and I don’t doubt for a second that for some this will be the tobacco at the end of the rainbow, but not one for me.

Maybe I’ll leave it a year or two more and see if anything changes.

Disclaimer: If you are looking for an in-depth review of this blend then keep on scrolling. I have reread some of my reviews and my sense of humor is not always the best, please continue to read. I actually only had two bowls of this at the pipe club, jarred and dated 8/12/19. Thanks friend. I smoked the two bowls consecutively and did the fold and stuff method in my brand-new Mark Twain Corn Cob. It took me about a quarter down the bowl both times to get the fire going at a nice steady rate. This has a pleasant lightly topped rum flavor. It was good but something I would need to revisit to give it more of the justice it probably deserves for a proper review. If my friend brings it again and if I remember I will hit him up for another bowl.

My first impression after opening the tin was that this tobacco is way to moist to be smoked directly. So, this tobacco needs some hours to dry. Usually, I am to impatient with the drying time and then it’s hard to keep it lit.

The tin note is sweet rum and a bit smokey. Furthermore, I smell a hint of wet earth.

After lighting the tobacco, I can taste a mix of all ingredients mentioned on the tin while none of them is dominating. It’s just perfectly balanced. The Virginia got a taste of earth, grass and sometimes a bit of wood. The Latakia adds from time to time some smokiness. And finally the rum adds some fruits and sweetness. In some puffs I even get a faint alcoholic taste.

What ever happened to this tobacco, that used to be among my favourites? I bought a tin two months ago, and the wonderful big thick dark flakes were gone, replaced by what looked like FVF. Also, the tin aroma was something in between FVF and Balkan Flake, a pure not the best Virginia aroma! No traces of Latakia or Rum. No moisture... I smoked it, after having rubbed the flake, only to get warm air. No strenght, no N vitamin, nothing. I thought it was a bad tin. So I tried a new one, and another... today it's the 5th tin with the same results. Probably, reading all the enthusiastic comments, it is a bad stock SG sent to us here, I don't know.

Update: I mixed 50/50 Navy Flake and 1792. The result is a smooth and creamy VA-KE, bringing down Vitamin N. Still, non latakia was detected.