Samuel Gawith B.S. Flake (Brown Sugar Flake)

This will be a short review as I'm doing this from memory, this tobacco is not available in England, sadly, I was a little unsure at first, surely a good quality Virginia doesn't need a demare sugar addition ? Well Sam Gawith is noted for the quality of the leaf they use so I was not too concerned and dissapointed I was not, this was a superb experience, and my attempts to find it online have all failed, apparently only available in Denmark. If you can get hold of a tin, buy several, even if you live in Denmark.

I am not very farmiliar with SG yet, this is my first SG. I found the scent as I first opened the tin to be very pleasant. Nice and mild scents. I let the Flake dry for 20 min as I enjoyed the aroma of the flake. The colors and the texture of rubbing it out. As I lit this up, it had a Nice flavour and texture. I really enjoyed the grassy tones of this virginia, and the cavendish and oriental really add to the whole experience of this tobacco.

Edit: After a busy time when I was not really able to enjoy my pipe from start to finish, I was forced to relight my pipe on several ocations. This blend Does not lose texture, or flavour from being relit. Still just as enjoyable through out.

Had high, high hopes for this one as I like brown-sugary, malty flavour, and while its not a bad one by any stretch and worth a go, it only ends up being a 2.5 out of 4 for me personally, but I can imagine some would absolutely love this tobacco.

I've heard various people say they can taste the brown sugar flavour in this, but I don't taste it (and I get it more in F&T CVP) -- and in fairness, the makers do not themselves make any such claim. I recall reading somewhere from them that the name was really just a variant on the usual "brown flake" and the brown sugar reference came for some other reason. The intent was -not- that it is brown sugar flavoured (and I knew that going into this one.)

At any rate, this review is based off only a couple of smokes of it, please note, so perhaps my sense will change with further use and after some time to age in a mason jar.

I think the main thing I found about this tobacco that prevents it from being a higher rating is that it has a slight harshness to it (to my palette anyway) that can be felt in the throat and nasal cavity that I didn't expect at all. Not sure where that is coming from, the burley perhaps? I know I've experienced this before with blends like Three Nuns. It is that quality which is making me not enjoy this tobacco quite as much as I think I otherwise might, much like tongue bite mars one's experience of an aromatic.

Flavour wise, there is a natural sweetness to this blend, no doubt from the Virginias. There is also a grassy-hay like quality, and the tin note carries that as well.

Room note smells like it would be reasonably nice. Not aromatic nice, but traditional pipe tobacco nice.

First bowl I dried for an hour, but it was still hard to light as is usual with those thick, moist Gawith flakes. I dried the second bowl for 2 hours and that seemed to work much better in terms of the tobacco staying lit.

I will say this though. I'm not sorry to have bought a few tins of this, even if I'm only giving it 2.5 out of 4 stars. All that means is that while it won't be a regualr part of the totation, it will be one that I'll toss into the mix now and again when I'm looking for a change from those.

There are definitely aspects of this blend that I enjoy and I'm looking forward to keep working through the tin to see how things evolve, and that right there says something.

Some aspects of this blend remind me of F&T CVP.

Gorgeous stuff. Cracking a new tin permeates the air with a sweet, rich aroma not unlike that of dry figs. Taste is rich, sweet and complex. A better version of Full Virginia Flake for sure!

Superb. I guess both Gawith houses are my desert island brands(well, along with McClelland virginias). I cant imagine my pipe life without them. And while I love many of their blends..FVF, Ennerdale, Louisiana Flake, Sam's Flake, Cut Boson plug, and Cabbie's Mixture...this might be the best. Its not an overpowering taste, but actually rather subtle. Smoke it slow. The virginia and cavendish are perfectly balanced to provide a sweet sugary and tantalizing taste. Nic hit is medium, and it burns slow and evenly. A little dry time will help but even right out of the tin its just fine. Just absolutely a treat.

Just a really nice Virginia Flake. There's not much more to say about it other than yes, it does have hints of brown sugar in its natural sweetness. It's also hard to find in the U.S. where it is still labeled "Brown Sugar Flake".

Aged, dark-fired Virginias with a very faint touch of Balkan plum-y sweetness WAY in the back pushed forward by the Orientals.

Brown Sugar is more of a suggestion, as I was hoping this was an aromatic, but in my opinion it is NOT. Pure tobacco, and aged, earthy, woody, and a hint of sweet reminds me of what was described as very old style, Civil War era tobacco when they added a pinch brown sugar to enhance pipe tobacco a little with fire-cured dark leaf. Some decent amount of fullness and body, the flakes stuffed offer good, fine ash and burns cool. Not unpleasant. Burley and Turkish round it out and offer a hint of plum/spice "Balkan" suggestion.

NOT an aromatic, but a decent, solid, fresh-cut hardwood tasting smoke.

Discontinued but coming back very soon. Found it hard to keep lit and the flavour didn't blow my mind. Middle of the road blend for a premium price.