Samuel Gawith Sam's Flake

Fantastic open-tin aroma. Hard to describe, rich raisin or perhaps dates or even figs.

Neat soldiers of flakes await. I choose to rub out. Smooth tasty smoke, well worth picking out every other day, when the mood arrives.

I've almost finished the tin and still can't really get a handle on this taste.

Certainly not a tobacco to smoke all day every day. Don't know if I'd buy another tin, but certainly buy 25g quantities if on offer.

Well worth exploring. Boring it isn't.

This is one weird tobac, it has an absolutely lovely tin note, but none of it comes out in the smoke. I don't detect any of the orientals, it burns hot and is prone to bite. Its a shame that all that the wonderful smelling casing does is cause it to burn too hot.

Delightful!

Upon opening the tin and peeling back the gold foil paper holding the dark slices of Virginia flake and Turkish tobaccos, I gave this blend my nose test, after all if you can't stand the smell why bother to continue. I was greeted with the aroma of ripened raisens with their tangy sweetness and honey mixed with a soft earthiness. Unlike the McClelland Virginia blends no ketchup here!

For my first pipeful I simply folded the slices in half and slid them into the bowl. Not allowing these slices to dry slightly made them rather difficult to light. After finally getting the fire stoked up I sat back and enjoyed a mild and sweet blend that I found most enjoyable with flavors of raisen, honey and a slight caramel undertone.

The next day I tried my second bowl only I prepared the leaf by rubbing it out but not fully. I don't know why but I decided to hold a slice in the sunlight coming into my kitchen to see the real colors of the tobacco and was surprised by what was revealed to me. Covering the slice were tiny granuales of sugar, leading me to believe I had recieved a tin that had a bit of age on it. They glistened in the sunlight like a fresh fallen snow in the moonlight. I prayed that these tiny specks weren't beetle eggs but what the hell any bug that can stand the heat of a pipe deserves to be taste tested! I found that rubbing out the flake made for an easier light and a more tastey bowl from start to finish.

Bottom line - A thouroughly wonderful smoke with great flavors and a gentle sweetness that fills the mouth. Not at all like the sweetness found in aromatics but the natural sweetness of a well prepared Virginia or maybe beetle eggs. Who knows?? I plan to get a few more tins to cellar for a few yars and hope that upon opening them I am not invaded by giant insects!! JOKING OF COURSE

Keep Da Faith

New trip to Kendal, it's now the time of SF. In the scale of Va flakes - at least those distributed in Italy, i.e. FVF, BBF and SF - Sam's seems to be in the right place as the milder one. One should have a "golden tongue" (I don't remember the name of the fellow reviewer at TR who coined this beautiful term) for appreciate the subtle differences among them, sure I haven't. In particular, the comparison between BBF and SF is very difficult. I have recently revised my opinion regarding the first, as I have finished the last flakes before they went to bone-dried, and have to say that BBF better opens its heart when completely dry ... maybe the same will happen to SF so I'm also leaving a couple of strips waiting months more (the tin was bought and opened before Christmas 2008). Well, first I would say that I don't trace any sign of orientals or it's a very minimal presence (just like supposed to be into CAO's Patriot Flake, which I find quite similar but stronger). Second: a sense of boredom is felt during the smoke, I really cannot deny. And again, I cannot allow this one more than two stars.

EDIT REVIEW OCT05/2009:

sorry, Sam has disappointed my expectations. Dry after months in the tin, the three flakes were waiting me for further essay. I knifed one of them into small cubes and stuffed into a group 4 Dunhill. Never experienced a boredom like that. Hot air is the closest thing I can say. I could not go further mid bowl and stop there. The rest went in the garbage.

I was seriously disappointed with this. A VA/Oriental flake sounds great in theory and is right up my ally. But this to me proved to be a pointless variation that is principly already present in the SG line. For this has the same casing as that of Kendal Cream, which has the impression to me of spice and honey. It is not that sweet in flavor but the aroma has a nagging sweet richness that is too much for me. The oriental componet was'nt that detectable but seem to add a slightly grassy character in the tin aroma. Mild in strength and flavor with very lights sweetness and pointless. If one likes that aroma Kendal Cream is far better.

Typical bacon strips packed side by side, but one side looked lighter and thinner than the other darker half. Hmmmm. A pipe shop told me the bulk version looked more uniform. I guess that's the price we sometimes pay for old fashioned techniques, but I simply ripped two flakes up at a time in half and mixed them toghther as I rubbed them several times hard to a ribbon/shag.

More like SG's Full Virginia Flake and in body than SG's Chocolate Flake. But with a bit extra spice (not bite) from the small amount of turkish added. Scented with typical english flavors (floral? musk?) that are not sweet but hard to identify. Flavoring is not heavy and you can still taste the toasty virginia underneath. Cool, enjoyable, some effort to light but easy to stay lite and puff after rubbing.

Good for a virginia or lakeland flake buff. Still has many characterestics of FVF.

A nice change of pace from straight Virginais. A slight top flavoring that doesn't overwhelm the flavors of the Virginias and Oriental tobaccos. Nice thick flakes with a good moisture content right out of the bag. Tastes delicious with a firm, dry ale, the slightly sweet taste of the smoke blending perfectly with the hops of a good pint. Also very good with strong, dark coffee. I've tried this in various shaped and sized pipes, and they all work fine.

I know this tobacco well enough, but it's one thing to know and love it, and quite another to try to do at least a fairly unbiased review on it.

As always with Samuel Gawith, when looking for the age of a tobacco, you can only look at the excise stamp. In my case, the package had the 2015 excise stamp on it. Even if I was a year wrong, the tobacco in the 100-gram, tightly sealed bag was still five years old. Certainly this had an effect on its consistency and appearance, but almost nothing on the flavor. The tobacco is unevenly sliced, as it usually happens with this British manufacturer, the flake plates vary in thickness. In addition, some of the plates are cracked and broken due to age. But the humidity was quite adequate for padding - only slightly drier than ideal. I have read in other reviews that fresh tobacco stored in a tin is over-moistened by the manufacturer and has to be dried. In my case, the humidity was fine. The plates are well fermented, some of them had to be simply cut and crumbled, as I could not separate them into individual fibers.

The color of the tobacco is a bright dark brown shade of well-boiled apple jam, almost monochromatic.

The scent is a lovely mix of dry hay, very sweet baked fruit from Virginia, a little bit of raisin, black cardamom and cinnamon from Turkish tobaccos. Added to this bouquet is a subtle note of tonka bean, which I love - it adds spice and sweetness to the smell. The overall bouquet is quite complex, despite the apparent simplicity of the blend. Let's say, the cardamom was recognizable only when smoking, and was barely noticeable in the tobacco itself.

I filled the new pipe about halfway, then lit it. I had to flick the lighter a couple of times to light it. The flavor of the blend was predictable: a good dose of sweetness, some wheat bread, raisins, mild spices - cinnamon and cardamom. Perhaps the overall taste was similar to a just-baked bun with raisins - in my childhood, such were called "Calorie Buns." It would seem to be a very simple product, but you can't tear yourself away until you've eaten the whole thing. Separately pleased with the fact that the manufacturer has considered spicy perique superfluous for this mixture - and not a mistake. The tobacco smokes cool, extremely soft and smooth from the start, doesn't bite, doesn't irritate the receptors. A simple and unhurried pleasure. As you smoke, the sweetness of the tobacco increases slightly, but that is the only change in flavor. The strength of the tobacco is medium, but the next time I filled another pipe full, I caught the nicotine hit. The tobacco burns into a fine light gray ash that doesn't leave much. Moisture is present after smoking, but does not remain in the cup.

The smoke has a sweet aroma with spice, my nose finds it pleasant, although some may find it a bit heavy.

Bottom line: just an excellent flake when aged. Just two ingredients, and a lot of fun. As a medium strength tobacco in the "Virginia plus orientals" category, I use it on a regular basis.

Two months after popping my tin of Samuel Gawith’s Sam’s Flake, I have about a pipe or two left over. The flakes are dark brown with some mediun brown and tan flecks and striations. Tin note is damped and low for the varietals, and it’s nothing to write home about. In terms of size and shape, the flakes remind me of stick type chewing gum. The flakes are also about the consistency of old chewing gum, which is to say, rubbery and tough, and they handle, load, light, and smoke down about that well for me, too. I’m guessing the tonquin is part of a soup, along with treacle, maybe some plum and some geranium, the blend is dowsed with at some point. It took about a month for the tonquin to fade away, but the flakes have remained sticky and they have resisted rubbing out to the present, even after drying them in the sun. I finally resorted to scissors, but it’s never burned very well for me. I hate to blame the steam press for problems, but I can think of aught else that might cause this blend to be so damped and the flavors so melded and merged, even muddled. I get some woody, slightly bready and grassy scents and tastes that include mild, savory roasting spices. I tried it in several pipes, to no advantage. Strength is less than medium, with the nicotine trailing. Tastes build toward medium. Room note is not bad. Aftertaste is like the late tin note: nothing to write home about.

I find Sam’s Flake to be rather boring, certainly not worth the effort for me. It’s not really bad, and it appears others like it fine. As for me, I’m done with it. 2 stars.