Virginia Tobacco » Samuel Gawith Bracken Flake Tobacco Reviews

Bracken Flake is Good Stuff

The tin aroma is a strong but sweet tobacco smell with a little smokiness mixed in and a tang in the nose. The moisture level is a little on the moist side and some drying time wouldn’t hurt.

The first thing that I notice is some pepper on the tongue. When the pepper would dissipate, it would leave a light sweetness behind on the tongue. The pepper on the tongue kept coming and going as I smoked the bowl. There is also a flavor and smell that took me awhile to place. I am pretty sure that it is Tonquin. The amount of Tonquin, if that’s what it is, is very light in Bracken Flake. It compliments the blend nicely. Whatever the flavor is, it kind of reminds me of licorice, but not quite. It’s a little hard to explain the taste. I wouldn’t say it is licorice, but it reminds me of it.

This is a pretty complex blend; there are a lot of flavors and flavor changes going on that keep the bowl interesting all the way through the end. It packs some strength and, like the description says, has a unique flavor that is very nice. I really like this blend and will be smoking quite a bit more of it.

I Highly Recommend it!

Lay-me-down-to-sleep blend

My flavour and tin aroma ratings do not seem to blend in well with my overall recommendation: let me explain.

The Bracken is, for me, a somewhat weird undertaking. There is rather a lot of KY in the blend, and Burley, and the overall strength is on the upper end of the scale of blends one can buy where I live. So this is strong stuff. I like that about it. The tin note on first opening, though, is rather chemical to most of my friends and myself. Reading that a "chocolate essence" is supposed to have been applied, I must shake my head and wonder whether they and I have a fundamentally different definition of "chocolate" than Sam Gawith does. Over the chemical smell, I can still make out the DFK in the tin note.

Peeling off a slice and a bit and folding/twisting/stuffing into my smallest pipes, I get a very satisfying taste (still no chocolate, though) and enough nicotine to make sure that I do use my smallest bowls; this blend is one I tend to use as my day's last, lay-me-down-to-bed smoke.

The room note, again, is rather chemical for my tobacco-purist friends and myself; I would not want to light this blend up in mixed company. But at home, alone, and late at night, I feel I can get away with the guilty pleasure this 'baccy provides, and so I can recommend. I still wonder, though, what this blend would be like without the sauce. I'd like to try that.