June 2008: Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake

Regular in the rotation for me. My preference is for at least a few years of age on it.

Regular in the rotation for me. My preference is for at least a few years of age on it.

Full VA Flake is the best of the best. Sweet. Like smoking a hay field. Bite free. Ages to perfection. There is just none better. Its a staple here at my house ... believe I'll go pop a new tin just for the fun of it. Yummy. Absolutely yummy in every way.

I am about to finish that pound I've bought about year and a half ago. Most part of that pound was put in jars with and smoked around that time and only about 2 oz were left in a bail top jar. Somehow at some point the tobacco lost his appeal while I already smoked around half pound and I did not smoke it for a while. Apparently one day I forgot to tighten the lid and the the jar was left practically open for a few months. The tobacco, of course, dried out completely.

We all read about and experienced those lucky moments when the abandoned tobacco is rediscovered and bum. Alas, did not happen this time. The tobacco became very harsh and I had to humidify it a bit to make it smokable. The funny thing is that I cannot say anything bad about it (when it was in the better shape, of course). I liked that delicate herbal taste and it indeed is bite-free. It's just somehow it's not completely in sync with my current preferences.

I blame having too many tins simultaneously open. I need to add a tin or two of FVF to my next order and pop one when I'll reduce the number of open tins to only a few. Or will open one of the jars when I will be ready to 4 oz commitment.

I used to have as many as 15 different tobacco tins open and laying around in rotation. Years of that got quite expensive and, I must admit, wasteful. So, when I started blending and saucing my own, I created so many of what I liked that I had to start giving it away so it would get consumed. Thus, I would make even more and have the fun of creating blends. Now I have it down to several instead of many. Some of my own, and a few of others I always enjoy (C&D of course). Yes, arguably, variety is the spice of life. On the other hand, arguably, "less is more". One thing for sure, I am wasting little, if any, tobacco. However, my pipe cabinet is chuck full of expensive flavorings instead of tobacco's. Somehow, I have to get that under control to make room for more tobacco. For what it's worth, none of what I have said here really sounds much different from what other's have to say. It is all an investment in pleasure. Now, I am wondering if these sauces will age well like some tobacco's?

Oh, yes, what I started out to say is that SGFVF is an excellent tobacco, but these days I need a bit more spice and tend to include perigue and turkish. But, without a virginia base, I'd be lost. Thank God for Red Virginia!

This was the blend that made me a fan of Virginia's. I was a burley fan for a long time, but now I'm an english lover and love a 50/50 of virginia and latikia blends. But FVF is always in my rotation. Yummy stuff...

I missed the bus on this one. I still have two tins sitting in the cabinet, waiting for my undivided attention. I'll have to take a rain check and give it a puff later on.

A milestone in the Virginia flake range. I love it everytime: morning, afternoon, indoor, outdoor. In Italy is possible find only the tin and it's very expensive!
I'm smoking 1 Kg/year and I buy it in swisse bulk version (500 gr.)

I just ordered a tin of this, based on the comments here alone.

I keep it around it has great taste burns the coolest of any tobac I have
No bite you cant ask for much more

This is one that I have never smoked. I probably have smoked almost every other blend. Best Brown being the fav. of the Virginia Flakes. I will order some on one of my future tads. Most all baccys that are given the green light here have been keepers.
Regards,
Dave