Samuel Gawith Scottish Autumn Flake

While I prefer McClelland Virginia's to SG, Autumn Flake was a really nice surpirise. I agree that AF is much closer to BBF than FVF to my tastes. Not as heavy in flavor as those two in body and strength but has a lighter citrusy taste. This flake is actually hard for me to characterize since my usual McClelland favorite blends aroma and style of processing is so different and I think that's why I really enjoyed this one. A slow burn is ideal, almost letting the bowl go out brought a medium strength and cool smoke which would indeed make for an enjoyable sunny Fall day strolling companion. AF is a solid 3 star blend and may even mature with age leading to a 4th star, I bought three tins so it will be interesting to check back in a year. Awesome artwork too!

A great selection box of fine virginias. The tobacco to my tastes has a topping of some kind. I get a mildly floral honey taste but the wide spectrum of virginias which seem to cover most tastes the tobacco can offer is only enhanced by it. The flake is a nice cut and not wet at all. I simply pluck and roll in the hand and this is all it takes to make a pipe load. Lighting is easy and burning is consistent. The tobacco is robust and nicotine is in good supply. I do rate this tobacco as It has never left me wanting. If you like sweet earthy virginia with citrus and grassy fruits then give this a go. I got a ten gram sample from GQ Nottingham and was pleased that I had four nice smokes with ease.

I think this is the blend that made me realise that I am probably not the biggest fan of Gawith virginia blends. Like Full virginia flake, this is lacking that something that makes me love virginia pipe tobacco. I think it is the sweetness that's missing. Aptly named though: the sweet summer is gone and autumn is here. Its great mechanics push it to three stars. Most probably discontinued, but you can still find it in stock here and there.

3rdguy

Just finished a full tin of this Virginia. Required very little dry time, easy to light, hardly any relights. Smokes down to a nice ash. For what it is, it was a nice alternative to FVF, Best Brown and other similar blends although I like the former blends more. This was a bit too....uninspiring for me. While an enjoyable smoke I can’t see reaching for it often. It left me wanting a bit more. Low in nic, light to medium in taste. I am glad it is still being made and readily available from Europe but not a bell ringing for me.

This is not a flake but a broken flake. Before smoking: opening the tin, the scent is the natural one of lemon Virginia. Very pleasant. The flake color is brown and dark brown and it is mottled with lighter streaks and strips. Sign of the presence of red Virginias. After lighting the taste is very good, typical of Virginia. Sugary and with a good body. Medium strength and taste. Satisfying, with a pleasant to tolerable room note. Extremely mild flavoring, almost imperceptible. Quality tobacco and the taste is pure Virginia. In the Four Season series Scottish Autumn Flake is probably the best one. Anyway, it is a matter of taste. Recommended for Virginia lovers. In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 9 and three stars.

The collaboration project of Josef Stanislaw, Dan Tobacco Manufacturing and Samuel Gawith is a smart marketing gimmick that lets Mr Stanislaw to sell Dan Tobacco blends under a more respectable Samuel Gawith branding. Don't buy into the Samuel Gawith pedigree boasted here in the description, this product has little to do with the UK and SG. Like any other Stanislaw blend, it's made in Germany by Dan Tobacco. Actually, it's a rebranded Hamburger Veermeister, with exactly the same flavour and exactly the same cut. Which leaves a question of what Samuel Gawith's contribution to the collaboration has actually been (probably, just the trademark).

If evaluating Scottish Autumn as another Dan Tobacco blend, it's a fine tobacco. It's sweet, citrusy, gently sprinkled with Dan's signature honey essence, unobtrusive light blend. It's better than other Virginia blends by DTM. So, as a Dan product, it well deserves 3 stars.

If I were, however, naive enough to take for truth the Samuel Gawith pedigree myth, I won't give this blend more than a single star. Comparing to other SG flakes, it's sharpish, flavourless and very thin-bodied, made of noticeably cheaper leaf than any Samuel Gawith Virginia flake. It's far from being a substitution to BBF or FVF (I was hoping exactly that when buying this blend, and was really disappointed). I don't mean it's bad. I just mean it stands far behind any real Samuel Gawith's flake.

So, as long as I don't buy into Mr. Stanislaw's marketing ploy, I give the rebranded Hamburger Veermaster 3 stars. For a German product, it's a fine tobacco. For an English one, it's a joke. Luckily, it isn't English.

Try this if you chain-smoke and need something cheap and light to smoke a dozen pipes a day, back to back. You won't be overdosed with Nicotine. You might get tired of its citrusy tanginess, though.

Me, I won't buy anything Stanislaw anymore. Every time I do, I find something weird about its marketing. Any Stanislaw blend I've ever tried turned out to be just a rebranded Dan Tobacco. Why should I smoke through this "poor man's Gawith" while I may enjoy the real thing?