Samuel Gawith Irish Spring Flake

I found this one a little disappointing in a way. It had a very bright flavour with definite citrus notes, and also a bit of bitterness you catch at the sides of the tongue. So the taste was fairly nice, the only thing is this tobacco had no backbone - it was all soprano with no basso... it was salad without the steak. I'm sure some will love this so don't let this review put you off, but I just crave something a little thicker and stronger. It would be nice to try all of the seasons - this one definitely has the feeling of spring, so I'll give them that!

This tobacco is delicious! I had my problems with VaPer-mixtures, because i'm more into aros and englishes but this flake is awesome. My local dealer didn't recommend it. He said: "...to simple, to flat, nothing special." He was right. I mean it's not a VaPer-bomb. The tobacco is very mild and still has a lot of flavour. If i had to choose a VaPer-alldaysmoke, this would be it!

After the rather disappointing experience I've had with the first blend from this series, English Summer Flake, I didn't know what to expect from this one. I knew only too well the high quality tobaccos and skill that SG puts in their blends, so I thought that English Summer was simply a blend not for my tastes. Plus, I was eager to finally smoke a true VaPer.

Even after first opening the tin, I had a few surprises. The flakes have the typical appearance that one might expect from SG, but they were surprisingly easy to work with, from the rubbing to packing to lighting. Also, the moisture content was excellent, perfect for smoking right out of the tin. And as a side note, at least in my particular tin, the flakes were absolutely huge. One flake in particular was pretty much the same size as the tin (typical SG rectangular tin). I had to break the flakes apart in order to put them in a jar.

The smoking experience is very enjoyable. From what I could detect, the Virginias seem to be of the bright type, as they have a pretty fresh, grassy and rather sharp taste to them. And then there's the Perique, which stays more in the background. The sherry flavoring amplifies the fruity character of the smoke, toning down the Perique's spiciness considerably. Even in a retro it didn't seem to tickle. Thus, coupled with the bright Virginias, makes this a suitable blend for a nice spring day.

While I was somewhat disappointed with English Summer, this one felt right at home with me. It's not exactly strong, nor particularly complex, while the relative ease of working with the flakes makes this suitable for a wider range of smokers.

I will certainly buy this again, though its availability seems to be a mystery. Even though this is technically discontinued, it is still easily available where I live, so I'm not sure of the exact status. Maybe they have a large stock of unsold tins, or maybe they are still being blended and sold under the Stanislaw brand. Regardless, this is something that I will eagerly smoke again in the future.

Another nice surprise from the Four Seasons series. After opening the tin, beautiful, very wide flakes appear stacked, more or less like the Scottish Autumn Flake, but in this case they appear without fraying, with a straight cut, impeccable. Does this mean that "Uncle Samuel" has replaced the old slicer with a newer one? The moisture content is perfect to load the pipe immediately, and in that it also resembles the aforementioned SAF, from the same Four Seasons series (I later read the criticism -which I recommend- of "the_german", which explains why these "novelties ”). The color of the tobacco is dark brown, dotted with bright virginias, and some darker streaks of the perique, but in small quantities, which explains why the perique is so discreet both in the tin aroma and after lighting the pipe. The aroma in its tin is very pleasant. In the pipe it is a very rich tobacco, fresh, slightly spicy and with a fragrance that seems as if it had some oriental tobacco added, but I suppose this is due to the light coverage of what should be sherry. It burns perfectly and does not create humidity. I really liked it and I would like to get some more tin...

This is a mildly topped virginia flake with a little perique. I don't know how much perique is in it, but I hardly sense it, so it can't be a lot. On first light there is a very typical Samuel Gawith sensation of warm bread, spices, something like a vegetable broth. It settles into a very floral virginia flavor, bready, sweet, no dark fruits and no grass or hay. It is not complex like FVF or BBF, it has the bread notes, a little acid and an undercurrent of a peppery tingle on the tongue, which may or may not be from the perique. Virginias can do that as well. The floral flavors come through as something like apple juice and elderflower, but it's all intertwined and I find it hard to distinguish any unique flavors from this very well melded concoction. The name is apt, it is spring like with its floral, apple, elderflower on bready virginia flavor, and it is consistent to the last puff. It is presented as a flake, very much like FVF and other SG flakes and requires the same prepping. I give it 4 out of 4 stars. On my personal score board, it gets a 5 out of 6 possible. It's very good, highly recommended, but I have a few that are better.

I received this tin in a trade and just recently opened it, however it is now almost gone. Like most SG tins, this comes fairly moist, and needs some time to dry out before packing. The tin packaging says nothing about the make up of its contents, but its quite obvious by the tin aroma it is a Va, with a touch of Perique. I smoked several bowls of this, and detected something I have never came across in a VaPer. It wasn't until I read that the Perique in this blend is aged in Sherry barrels did I realize what that flavor was. No detection of Lakeland essence in this blend, just a great Virginia flavor with a slight hint of peppery Perique. I enjoy that back-sweetness from the Sherry. Leaves a clean sweetened palate. I see no reason not to smoke this all year around, not just spring time!