Today I finished up the last of a sample of Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake an online friend sent to me for Christmas. At first I was a little skeptical about this blend, because I haven’t really been a huge fan of Virginia flakes before. I’ve tried a few that were just too strong for me to handle as everyday smokes, or they had flavor profiles that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy. However, Full Virginia Flake has turned around my opinions of Virginia flakes.
The flake in its bulk form is presented as long strips of tobacco, densely packed and slightly moist. It resembles beef jerky in look, weight, feel, and texture. The flakes are hardy and don’t crumble in your hands. The smell of the flake is one of pure bliss. When you smell it you get a sweet, grassy, and slightly citrusy flavor. It’s light and very pleasant.
I picked a pipe with a tall bowl for this to accommodate an entire flake. Folding over this flake results in better flavor, so I’ve heard, so that’s what I did. Instead of rubbing the tobacco between my hands I folded it in half twice, then rolled it into a cylinder and plopped it into the pipe. Doing it this way gave me a decent draw without being too loosely packed, which helps bring out the flavor more.
I didn’t dry out the flake before lighting it up, and it didn’t really matter. The flake lit nicely and remained lit through my smoking session, with only a few tamps along the way. The flavor is very similar to the smell: it’s light, sweet, and grassy. The smoke matures halfway through matures but doesn’t change much in taste profile.
The room note is a bit darker in quality but still very pleasant and quite a different nasal sensation than the room note of a heavy latakia blend. This one you can smell and enjoy as opposed to wondering if your car’s tires spontaneously caught fire.
Overall, this blend is solid. It’s not the most complex, nor is it one that will completely wow the seasoned pipe smoker, but it is one that would have a very welcome spot in your rotation and in your tobacco cellar. I like it quite a bit because it doesn’t have a very strong nicotine kick to it, nor does it have the tanginess present in other stellar Virginia blends such as Orlik Golden Sliced. It’s just a simple, well-executed Virginia.
It kind of upsets me that I’ve finished all of mine, because Samuel Gawith pipe tobaccos have become rather rare in the USA lately. Sources tell me that their small production runs cannot keep up with the growing popularity of their blends. They ship what they can to the USA as they prepare it, but it is usually snatched up rather quickly. I’ll be waiting eagerly for the next shipment to stock up on Full Virginia Flake for certain.
