Samuel Gawith Golden Glow

This is all bright leaf in the tin. It rubbed out easily and took a little while to dry out enough to load. I get very mild flavor here. Notes of hay/straw, dusty earthiness, some citrus and it has a little zest to it. Nothing to get overly excited about and not complex. What you get with the first few puffs is all you get. To be honest, I grew bored with it by mid bowl and found myself wishing I had loaded something else. On the plus side it did not get harsh, bitter, or cigarette like although the room note was rather similar to that. I do wonder if it would make for a good roll your own but I did not try that. I can see no reason to repeat this one. Nothing bad about it just not as complex as I like and the nic is very very mild in this one. There are better bright VA options out there IMO. For example, GH&Co.'s Bright CR Flake, or their Broken Scotch Cake or Dan's HV all are better examples of mild bright VA for me.

As other SG's Golden Glow needs to be dried 4-6 hours prior to smoke as is packed very wet.

The broke flake packs and lights right, with a regular burning pace. For me this blend is too bland and too flat in taste with a total lack of the nuances that the opening of the tin seems to promise to my nose. Unbalanced in the strength/taste ratio, I'd not recommend this stuff for smokers, like me, who likes fuller and stronger virginias (Full Virginia Flake is one of my top 5 in rotations). And for those on mild smokes or looking for milder smokes in summer time, I think there are better options out there.

As Sir Walter Smiley said below, maybe it could be a good blending stuff, mixing with other blends tha give it the taste it lacks.

For my personal taste GG is a 1 star blend, but as its packing, lighting, burning performances are ok and its room note is good, I give it 2 thinking on social smokers.

Smoked out of a tin that was cellared for about 6 years. The tobacco looks nice, light and dark browns. The cut is a bit rough, like most Samuel Gawith tobaccos, which may difficult the packing a bit. Some people will need to rub it a bit, but you can also pack the pipe as is without much trouble. When you smell it you get the typical in virginia tobaccos: grass, fig and an overall sweetness; very pleasant. It may take one or two relights before you get it going, specially out of the tin. After it's lit it burns well to the end, but it may get a bit too hot if you smoke too fast. The taste is extremely mild, I wouldn't say flat, but it's close. You get some hints of grass and a bit of the citruss-y taste that is often described in virginias, but not much. The tast is better when you reach the second half of the bowl, a bit more intense, but don't expect a miracle. The nicotine content is also very low. The room note is pleasant, light.

It is not a bad tobacco in any way, but if you're into full virginia blends there are other mixtures with more taste, more rich. This one will have its fans, I'm sure of it, and it's a nice tobacco as an all day smoke or to smoke when you're working or doing things that require your focus, you can have it going without the need to fully relax to enjoy it.

Extremely broad "cut," actually appears torn (similar to some bulk Grousemoor I had a few years ago). Because of broad leaf "cut" I had difficulty getting this going. Required several lights at first, then several more as I smoked down the bowl. I would have done better to have diced the leaf before packing. Taste was lovely . . . sweet and grassy . . . I'm glad to have had a chance to try it . . . liked it but won't go out of my way to get more. Smoked it outside; wind was calm.

This tobacco reminds me of a white dry wine. Its flavours and aromas are disappearingly subtle but nice, fragrant and of a very high quality.

The strongest impressions I got from this blend were not gustatory or olfactory but visual. What a rich bright golden colour it was upon opening the tin! It was almost glowing, just like the name suggests! After two or three months in the unsealed box the colour has faded significantly and looks quite dull now.

No doubts the Pure Virginia admirers will love this delicate non-cased blend made of straight natural tobaccos. And for me, I'm after some bolder and more potent stuff. Anyway, you need to try this one if you want to explore SG Virginias, which are all very good.

I am a fan of many Samuel Gawith blends and flakes, this one is no exception. Yet: though this blend has a quality, natural virginia flavor; it is way too boring after the first bowl or two. As a blender, this is where this tobacco excels. I love this mixed with McClellands "Dark Star" or Cornell & Diehl's "Old Joe Krantz", with the latter mixture tasting very similiar to C&D's "Three Friars". It makes a better "Vaper", with some perique added, than Gawith's "St. James Flake". It should work in just about any blend you could try, as a background (rounding) flavor. As a "stand alone" tobacco, ahhhh...two stars. As a blender, it could save a blend that is too harsh, strong, dry or "over the top" with casings.

I suppose because SG baccy's have to cross the pond they are deliberately packed extra moist. Golden Glow has to be allowed to air out for a considerable amount of time. The long, rather wide ribbon negates a small bowl pipe otherwise it is all too easy to overpack the pipe.

The tin aroma is damp natural virginia tobacco scent with a hint of citrus. As a matter of fact I could have sworn I was smelling a virginia cigarette had I been blind folded.

Careful loading is necessary. I found it hard to light and keep lit as it really needed more time to air. The room note is quite simply tobacco cigarette, and so is the tastes except for a hint of lemon on the tongue. On it's own, it would make a very mild all-day smoke for someone content to smoke a very monotone baccy.

Too boring for me on it's own so I cut the ribbon shorter and added a bunch of latakia to what I had left. Once I did this, I could swear I was smoking Frog Morton.

No bite, smokes clean down to ash if allowed to thoroughly dry before lighting. I consider this a good "beginner's" blend. I won't buy it again simply because it is just too bland for me.

I would rate it with 3 stars but I think I could spend the time with a much more satisfying tobacco, like FVF for example. A high quality and easy to smoke tobacco. Can be smoked at any time of the day. But not enough to satisfy my taste buds. It is too delicate. After finishing each bowl I wanted to smoke something else.

Anyway, a good tobacco and worth a try.

To start, I consider myself mainly a VA/Per and VA Flake smoker (i always chuckle when someone who obviously disdains VAs writes up a review for one and gives it a bad ranking).

Out of the tin, looks like a standard top grade SG Flake, only THICKER. a LOT thicker.

Rubs out just as easy as all the other SG Flakes, packs almost as easy, burns the same. quality work, as always.

Flavor was lighter than i'd like, almost too light. There was some nice VA sweetness and soft tobacco flavors in the background to give it something. I will have to revisit this later, maybe the flavors have developed after airing out a couple more months.

I had to drink this with water or a weak tea, otherwise the drink would've overpowered the flavor of the tobacco.

*updated - not enough flavor for me. i'm not an "english smoker" writing a bad review of a light VA, it is simply the lightest VA i've ever smoked.