Samuel Gawith St. James Flake
(3.44)
Genuine perique is added to an already delicious and flavoursome blend of fine bright Virginias to give St. James the light peppery characteristic enjoyed by so many pipe smokers. Medium strength.
Details
| Brand | Samuel Gawith |
| Series | Kendal Mayor's Collection |
| Blended By | Samuel Gawith |
| Manufactured By | Samuel Gawith |
| Blend Type | Virginia/Perique |
| Contents | Perique, Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Flake |
| Packaging | 50 grams tin, 250 grams box, bulk |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
3.44 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 02, 2012 | Medium | Strong | Mild | Pleasant |
I bought a couple of tins of this as I generally like Virginia/perique blends, and it seems to get generally good reviews.
On opening, both tins were stacked with various sizes and thicknesses of sopping, wringing, dripping wet flakes. The interior of one tin was actually rusting from the moisture.
After closing the tins and leaving them for a month the tobacco was still dripping wet, so I left the lid off one tin for four days. I do not exagerate.
After four days drying, I reckoned the top couple of flakes were just about dry enough to take a light, so I tried rubbing one out. It didn't so much rub out as break apart into brittle chunks.
I stuffed it into a cob and applied a light, and kept trying until it caught. My first though was "nice, mild Virginia, but not much perique. No bite at all though - that's good".
About 1/4 of the way down the bowl the sugar started. Sweet, sticky, clinging sugar. And the more I smoked, the more the sugar came flowing out of the stem, like smoking vapourised candy floss. By 3/4 of a bowl my mouth felt so sticky I needed to rinse it out, so I tried a mouthful of diet Coke. The Coke tasted sour and bitter compared to the tobacco.
I gave up in disgust and emptied the bowl into the ashtray. The next day, the cob's cake was full of sugar crystals, the ash in the bowl looked like charcoal and smelled strongly of caramel and the dottle could be snapped like bits of toffee.
I hate throwing tobacco away at UK prices, but both tins went in the bin. As, a week later, did the cob. Nothing I tried could begin to exorcise the sugary ghost.
I may have had a couple of bad tins - going by the rest of the reviews I guess I did. But the poor standard of these tins makes me wonder about SG's quality control.
So, based on my experience, my advice is to avoid unless you like taking chances - and don't try St James in a pipe you don't mind throwing away.
There's no aromatic flavouring in this tobacco by the way - I've marked the flavouring as "strong" because of the overwhelming sugary casing.
Quick update:
In plug form, this is supplied much, much drier and with a better texture, plus you can slice/whatever it as you like. St James plug is absolutely superb.
On opening, both tins were stacked with various sizes and thicknesses of sopping, wringing, dripping wet flakes. The interior of one tin was actually rusting from the moisture.
After closing the tins and leaving them for a month the tobacco was still dripping wet, so I left the lid off one tin for four days. I do not exagerate.
After four days drying, I reckoned the top couple of flakes were just about dry enough to take a light, so I tried rubbing one out. It didn't so much rub out as break apart into brittle chunks.
I stuffed it into a cob and applied a light, and kept trying until it caught. My first though was "nice, mild Virginia, but not much perique. No bite at all though - that's good".
About 1/4 of the way down the bowl the sugar started. Sweet, sticky, clinging sugar. And the more I smoked, the more the sugar came flowing out of the stem, like smoking vapourised candy floss. By 3/4 of a bowl my mouth felt so sticky I needed to rinse it out, so I tried a mouthful of diet Coke. The Coke tasted sour and bitter compared to the tobacco.
I gave up in disgust and emptied the bowl into the ashtray. The next day, the cob's cake was full of sugar crystals, the ash in the bowl looked like charcoal and smelled strongly of caramel and the dottle could be snapped like bits of toffee.
I hate throwing tobacco away at UK prices, but both tins went in the bin. As, a week later, did the cob. Nothing I tried could begin to exorcise the sugary ghost.
I may have had a couple of bad tins - going by the rest of the reviews I guess I did. But the poor standard of these tins makes me wonder about SG's quality control.
So, based on my experience, my advice is to avoid unless you like taking chances - and don't try St James in a pipe you don't mind throwing away.
There's no aromatic flavouring in this tobacco by the way - I've marked the flavouring as "strong" because of the overwhelming sugary casing.
Quick update:
In plug form, this is supplied much, much drier and with a better texture, plus you can slice/whatever it as you like. St James plug is absolutely superb.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jul 07, 2007 | Mild to Medium | None Detected | Medium | Tolerable to Strong |
SJS desperately calls out for balance in an otherwise quality blend. I hope aging brings out the sweetness that could counter the overly assertive Perique pepper-power. I like Best Brown Flake better without the capsicum. Despite the Perique dominating this blend, the flavor is medium with a little extra. I will reseal the flakes to mature for a few years and see what happens, but there is nothing to recommend here presently, given the VAPER classics and neo-classics readily available. Also, the room note will not make you any friends. Escudo, Fillmore, St. James Woods are just superior choices for me.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Aug 12, 2020 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
A most unsatisfactory smoke.
This is my second tin of this. In both tins the presentation has been poor consisting of broken flakes rather than whole flakes. The tobacco itself is too moist to be used directly and would probably benefit from drying before smoking.
High maintenance smoke; difficult to light, difficult to keep lit and puffing enough to keep it lit results in tongue burn. Requires frequent tamping. For me this tobacco is not a relaxing and pleasant experience.
This is my second tin of this. In both tins the presentation has been poor consisting of broken flakes rather than whole flakes. The tobacco itself is too moist to be used directly and would probably benefit from drying before smoking.
High maintenance smoke; difficult to light, difficult to keep lit and puffing enough to keep it lit results in tongue burn. Requires frequent tamping. For me this tobacco is not a relaxing and pleasant experience.
Pipe Used:
Peterson and Chacom
PurchasedFrom:
Smoke-King
Age When Smoked:
New from tin
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Sep 05, 2013 | Strong | None Detected | Full | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Gave this one a few tries because of the reviews it has received and also because I like perique. Actually, I purchased a new Caminetto business billiard for this tobacco alone because I was certain I'd love it. Nope. I give up.
The smoke is just terrible. Flat pepper that's dense and heavy mixed with moldy moss. Typically, I try to get through the whole tin when trying something new. However, only half of this tin was burned and the other half just hit the trash can with a thud.
At the last third of this bowl I said to myself "Why? What's the point?" There's no sense in trying so hard to make this work for me.
If this was all there was to smoke out there, I'd have to quit. It's just that bad.
This one is thrashed and trashed.
The smoke is just terrible. Flat pepper that's dense and heavy mixed with moldy moss. Typically, I try to get through the whole tin when trying something new. However, only half of this tin was burned and the other half just hit the trash can with a thud.
At the last third of this bowl I said to myself "Why? What's the point?" There's no sense in trying so hard to make this work for me.
If this was all there was to smoke out there, I'd have to quit. It's just that bad.
This one is thrashed and trashed.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Mar 18, 2013 | Mild to Medium | Extremely Mild | Very Mild | Tolerable |
I can't say much about what comes in tin's but the 2 ounce bulk came very wet and even after 24 hours of drying it was like leather or beef jerky. Would not rub out properly and require many relights. Much more hassle then it's worth for a flavor that was too mild for me. I won't waste my time or money buying it again.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 29, 2020 | Very Strong | Very Strong | Overwhelming | Tolerable |
This was the only one of the SG blends I hadn't tried.
The tin aroma was lovely, like a Best Brown with something like treacle or maybe toffee in the background.The flakes were in a mass, though not as damp as some SG's blends can be. Me and my son have a theory that SG might be making their blends less moist througout the range.
Whether there is any substance behind that thought is debatable, but even so this flake, when some of it was allowed to surrender to my attemps at extracting some from the wedge of flake, went dry very quickly. Certainly if I actually liked this blend I would be decanting it into a jar.
It was an utter swine to light and even when dried it was still burn resistant. No chance of lighting this up straight from the tin. My briars didn't like it, neither did my Meerschaums, and it made no difference to the different bowl sizes I tried it in.
The smoke was, at first, strong, earthy and rather pleasant, and then the perique cut in, which left me with a mouthful of smokey, fiery, peppery after taste. I couldn't smoke anymore than a few puffs and that was enough. I tried it again several days later and the result was the same, although a bit of tongue bite was thrown in for good measure.
I've tried blends with perique in before, and enjoyed them but this one is just too strong for me. My son has benefitted accordingly. I will be somewhat wary of perique after this experience.
The tin aroma was lovely, like a Best Brown with something like treacle or maybe toffee in the background.The flakes were in a mass, though not as damp as some SG's blends can be. Me and my son have a theory that SG might be making their blends less moist througout the range.
Whether there is any substance behind that thought is debatable, but even so this flake, when some of it was allowed to surrender to my attemps at extracting some from the wedge of flake, went dry very quickly. Certainly if I actually liked this blend I would be decanting it into a jar.
It was an utter swine to light and even when dried it was still burn resistant. No chance of lighting this up straight from the tin. My briars didn't like it, neither did my Meerschaums, and it made no difference to the different bowl sizes I tried it in.
The smoke was, at first, strong, earthy and rather pleasant, and then the perique cut in, which left me with a mouthful of smokey, fiery, peppery after taste. I couldn't smoke anymore than a few puffs and that was enough. I tried it again several days later and the result was the same, although a bit of tongue bite was thrown in for good measure.
I've tried blends with perique in before, and enjoyed them but this one is just too strong for me. My son has benefitted accordingly. I will be somewhat wary of perique after this experience.
Pipe Used:
All
PurchasedFrom:
Smoke-King (Greens Leeds)
Age When Smoked:
New
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 11, 2013 | Mild to Medium | Mild to Medium | Very Mild | Tolerable |
I had found that the SG line of flakes were very inconsistently sized. The cut would be thin for one flake and then thick for the next flake. Also the flakes were a little difficult to rub out. Lastly, I had trouble keeping this stuff lit and producing an acceptable amount of smoke. These flakes had really nice flavor though. Eventually dropped the whole line of flakes due to these drawbacks. For this flake I really did not like the flavor profile...some odd casing I can't put my finger on.
Smoke in peace, brothers and sisters of the leaf.
Smoke in peace, brothers and sisters of the leaf.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 13, 2022 | Medium | Mild | Medium | Strong |
Realmente este tabaco no es una experiencia agradable y relajante para mÃ. Necesita mucho tiempo de secado, si te pasas con el secado, pierde sabor. Es difÃcil de encender y difÃcil de mantener encendido. Requiere muchos encendidos y jugar continuamente con el atacador. El savor no es nada especial. Hay muchos VAPER mejores que este. No merece la pena tanto esfuerzo y concentración para fumarlo.
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