Samuel Gawith Sam's Flake

Another very nice tobacco from the Kendal Mayor's collection. The flakes, as it is customary with S&G, do come in different lengths and thickness+ they need some drying time (the moist content is absolutely ridiculous), but they pack quite nicely in your bowl and are easy to crumble. You will find very nice orientals in this blend with spicy/piquant qualities. The flavour is quite rounded with sort of a creamy/buttery flavour to it. As I am smoking it, I get the impression of a well aged tobacco, and seeing those sugar crystals forming will give you the same idea too. The alleged tonquin beans flavouring seems to give this blend sort of a sweetness to it which is quite different from the Virginias but not in a bad way. I am not usually for cased tobaccos, but I guess I will make an exception with this particular one. The smoking experience is quite mellow and I cannot detect any tongue bite at all. Even though this is not a proper VaPer, or a straight Virginia for all that it matters, it is pretty much in line with many Virginia based tobaccos that will fall into those categories. This tobacco will develop different undertones and nuances as you progress in your smoke, but I advise to smoke it slowly so as to not break it. Don't worry if you find yourself relighting it. Just let your tobacco rest for sometime in your bowl and come back to it when your pipe cools down. I don't mean to imply this tobacco will smoke hot, which it doesn't, but I can see how it will benefit from it if you give it a rest every now and then. I don't see any flaws or loose end in this tobacco, so I will give it a 4 star.

Once thoroughly dried out this is a really nice smoke.. also, like many gawith blends, completely unique.. not dominated by Virginia, Turkish, or tonquin but a nearly seamless combination of the components.. not a very full virginia.. definitely more light and upper register.. but soft.. the Turkish really comes through if dried out.. and mostly on the back end or through the retrohale. The tonquin is noticeable but never overtakes things as it does in 1792.. fruity, floral, soft.. very pleasant.. curious to try it aged.. this would be a 'mood smoke' for me.. in the same league as regents flake.. but the tonquin definitely sets it apart..

When the tin is opened, elongated and irregular flakes appear, as is typical in other blends of this brand, composed of bright and dark virginias, in addition to the oriental ones based on Izmir leaf. The aroma is remarkably fruity and spicy and corresponds to the flavor that we will find during the smoke. It comes very wet and requires a long drying time, in my personal case this time cannot be less than two hours.

The first charge by folding the flake required several re-ignitions despite having allowed it to dry for just over two hours. The experience was better by letting it dry for about four hours and shredding it later, since it is tasty enough so that this operation does not make it lose flavor. Maybe it just softens it a bit.

Of the tobaccos that compose it, the Orientals have the leading role over Virginia, but I very much agree with the user DrumsAndBeer when he says: “However, the primary top-note tastes fruity to me, and somewhat in the realm of Firedance Flake”. Indeed, both in the cold aroma and during the smoke it reminded me a lot of Firedance, but personally I like this tobacco more. In my opinion, the experience when smoking Sam's Flake is that of a slightly aromatic tobacco, although unlike those, here the fruity flavor not only does not disappear but also increases as the smoke progresses, ranging from sweet to salty and often both at the same time.

Although it is a mixture that is smoked smooth and without cloying, it has not seemed to me to smoke it every day because although it is a rich tobacco, its flavor can be somewhat repetitive. In addition, it is convenient to smoke it slowly so that the flavor does not diminish and because this tobacco heats the pipe and can sting the tongue if it is smoked carelessly, regardless of the drying time. These two reasons make me leave my score at three stars, but I think it is a recommended tobacco to intersperse with those of the usual rotation, for from time to time ...

For me, this is a very good medium-strength (in terms of N, taste, etc). The flakes were fairly thin and easily worked, and a nice relaxing smoke. As for the flavoring: Orientals? Just enough to believe they are there, but I'm sure they add to the mild complexity of the blend. Tonquin, really? It must have been applied with a fairly light hand. If there had been just a touch of Latakia (which there wasn't; of course sometimes Latakia is considered an Oriental) this would have tasted much like a slightly darker version of the various Revelation replacements. I've hesitated between scoring this 3* or 4*, but decided if I had to think about it this much, I should rate it a 3. I will certainly consider buying this again.

SAM’S FLAKE: You may be wondering what is the difference between this blend and a simple Virginia/Oriental mixture. And actually I agree with JimInks when he writes the tonquin topping is very mildly applied. This does not mean that it isn’t a good mixture; on the contrary it is truly a refined high quality blend of medium strength. With the tonquin flavor appearing here and there. If you really want to taste the tonquin bean flavor try in this way: first – before smoking don’t eat anything and smoke on an empty stomach (or eat only some bread); second – before smoking don’t drink anything but water. You will be able to taste this specific aroma very well. Samuel Gawith is one of the few to offer the tonquin flavor and it is worth trying it (especially this one and 1792 Flake). For these reasons in my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 8 and three complete stars.

General Impressions:

Sam's flake is a solid Virginia forward Oriental blend. I like the light tonquin topping and the smoke itself is a simple light and go. The strength is on the mild side, and that is the one thing that keeps me from adding into my regular rotation. However, I will be keeping some jarred tobacco on hand when the occasional fancy strikes.

Initial Light I can taste the high quality Virginia's at the forefront, I think the may have used Best Brown as the Virginia base for this. You can barely taste the fruity/vanilla tonquin topping, it peeks in and out lightly playing with the Virginia. The tang of the Orientals reside firmly in the background.

Mid Bowl: The Oriental tang starts ramping up, but the Virginia still resides in the forefront. Tonquin is still playing peek a boo with the Virginia.

Finish: Orientals move solidly to the forefront, tonquin topping is barely detectable on the finish. Smokes down to fine grey ash with little dottle.

This is an easy going and very enjoyable smoke. The first portion of the bowl is quite straight-forward in flavor, but as the bowl progresses a tasty sour note comes through adding a much welcomed contrast to the sweetness. Around the same point a bit of spice from the Turkish develops bringing forth a nice layer of complexity creating a sweet/sour/spice combo.

As for the topping, there's a bit more going on here than just tonquin. The tonquin sweetness is present, especially at the beginning of a bowl. However, the primary top-note tastes fruity to me, and somewhat in the realm of Firedance Flake.

On the negative side, I do find that this blend turns a bit bitter if overheated and as another reviewer mentioned, it's a poor candidate for those who have a tendency to practice DGT.

While I love VA/Oriental blends, due to the topping I would probably only smoke this on rare occasions. Nonetheless, I find this to be quite good and I will definitely keep a tin on hand for such moments.

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.