Samuel Gawith -- Best Brown Flake

Brand: Samuel Gawith
Blend: Best Brown Flake
Style: Virginia
Pipe Used: Savinelli Oscar #313
Price: $26.76/16oz.

Appearance: 9
Taste: 9
Room Note: 8
Value: 10
Overall: 9

As a big fan of straight Virginias I've been purchasing tins of various blends to sample for the past few years. I figured I would have plenty of time to find my favorites and stock up but the perfect storm of further taxes looming on the horizon and the increasing scarcity of popular blends led me to do something drastic -- I purchased one pound of Samuel Gawith's Best Brown Flake even though I had never even tried the tobacco before. At just over $25 bucks it was cheaper than any of the so-called drugstore blends that come in 14oz. tins and since I've yet to be disappointed by a Sam Gawith offering I figured I would take my chances and get it while the getting was good.

The medium brown flakes arrived in a cellophane wrapped box and were quite moist. I left one flake out to dry for a few hours and cellared the rest in half pint Mason jars. The flakes looked great with various swirling birdseye patterns made up of contrasting light and dark tobaccos. The aroma was that of sweet dried fruit and fresh-cut hay with just a hint of sandalwood incense.

Normally I rub out flakes before smoking but since this one was still pliable I cut it in half, folded it up, stuffed it into my Savinelli Oscar, and sprinkled a few bits of loose tobacco on top to get things burning. My normal pipe lighter wasn't up to the task of igniting this damp flake so I turned to my trusty Zippo with pipe insert and it had no trouble with the task.

The initial flavor was that classic Virginia sweetness reminiscent of slightly burnt caramel. While lighter Virginias often taste of sweet hay the Best Brown Flake was a little more robust and had undertones of freshly roasted corn on the cob.

As the tobacco continued to smolder a bit of tingling spice began to emerge and the flavor reminded me of sesame oil and a hint of pine resin. But at no time did the prevailing sweetness abate. Rather, these other flavors served to enhance that primary Virginia attribute.

I have to admit that I was enjoying myself and smoked the pipe hard and fast but at no point did the tobacco bite or take on any off-putting flavors. It was just sheer tobacco bliss from beginning to end.

The fact that the tobacco was fairly damp did necessitate a few extra relights but the flake did burn nice and slow until the dottle got too wet to smoke any further. In the future I'll try to let it dry out a bit more before smoking.

The room note was nice and smelled of musty, leather-bound books. The smoke did have a sharp edge to it but was in no way disagreeable.

Samuel Gawith makes some of the most popular tobacco blends currently on the market and as a result it can often be difficult to locate your favorites on a consistent basis. With that thought in mind I just couldn't resist the chance to grab some Best Brown Flake at an insanely low price and boy am I glad I did.

I have a few tins of Full Virginia Flake in my cellar and while many consider that to be the penultimate Virginia flake I have to say that for a day in, day out type of smoke I actually prefer the Best Brown Flake. It provides a milder smoke without sacrificing any flavor and I can easily see myself merrily puffing it all day long which would put me under the table if tried with FVF.

Samuel Gawith's Best Brown Flake has taken its place in my list of favorite tobaccos and I still can't get over the fact that it costs less than blends like Captain Black. This is a premium, classic Virginia flake and the only question in my mind now is whether I need to buy a few more pounds post haste.