Samuel Gawith English Summer Flake

I'd nearly have to call this a lighter flavoured version of Peterson's Uni Flake. To me it has a very similar taste profile Blueberries. Not as sharp as the UF, and in my opinion a better structured and burning tobacco.

This is the first of "the four seasonal" blends that I have tried. I have to say I was not impressed. It looks rather nice in the tin. Light brown flakes with some yellow strands mixed in. It smells good to me. Almost like golden sliced. It came fairly dry compared to other SG flakes I have dealt with in the past.

Upon first light you get a subtle but somewhat sweet Virginia flavour. As the bowl progresses this flavour comes and goes. Every now and then if I really concentrated on my cadence I would get a mild sweet almost citrus flavour. Mostly I got hot air and no nicotine. I have put the remander of my tin in a mason jar. Maybe some time will help this blend. As of now I would not purchase again.

If you like really mild Virginias, this may be for you. I need more strength.

While the Virginias are of good quality, I was not convinced that I should buy this again. This is a great blend to smoke in the spring or summertime, but there are better Virginias from Sam Gawith, as these are quite sharp. If you want to try to discern the difference between the Old and New World Virginias in this blend, then by all means smoke and contemplate it. However, I'd recommend picking up something else from Gawith.

First Impressions: When you crack the tin, you can see uneven sized, bright and medium brown flakes. They are a little moist but not as much as other Samuel Gawith flakes. The tin smell is a mixture of Virginia hay and a light floral/fruity topping.

The taste; I can feel earthy and grassy Virginia notes but not much sweetness or fruity tones. A complex floral, fruity light topping rounds up the taste but not exactly in a good way.

The tobacco burns a little hot and if you are not slow and careful it may bite your tongue.

Verdict: This is an interesting straight Virginia flake. It's different from classic SG offerings. However, i expect a little more sweetness and natural dark fruit notes in my Virginia and don't care the "exotic" topping much. There are much better straight Virginia flakes around.

Note: After finishing half of the tin, i mixed the remaining with half amount of C&D Izmir Turkish. The summer flake proved to be a good base for the mixture as its earthy and hay tones, brings out the sweet-sour Izmir leaf.

A nice easy going flake. Easy to pack and light, but not very remarkable. I guess the colaboration of Stanislaw and DTM in this appears on the flakes being not so thick, uneven and moist as are most of SG. Still, not as thin, elegant and perfectly shaped flake like OGS.

All in all, I liked this, but it's not something that I will buy again.