January ToM: St. James Flake

[Quick_nick]

St. James flake edged out Golden Slices and Virginia gentleman to get the ToM honors. Have fun with this one guys.

[Bent Stem]

From what I've read this a great VaPer! I've recently laid back a pound of it for the cellar. Will have to get back with ya in 3-5 years!

[bigkev77]

Not quited FVF with perique, but close. It is good stuff with a generous amount of perique. I recomend giving it a shot if you haven't tried it.

[Slow Triathlete]

Here's the review for this blend that I did for the VaPer Showdown found here:

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=135387

Good morning everyone. Well after a long hiatus from reviewing I am back and ready to update with another review. This time the lucky tobacco is Samuel Gawith’s St. James Flake. One thing that I must mention about Gawith’s flakes is that I love how they basically fall apart when you take them out of the tin. Now I’ve never mastered the art of folding and stuffing flakes so I always break them up to some degree. Gawith’s flakes seem to be thinner than a lot of flakes and broken flakes (McClelland) and are really, really easy to rub out and pull apart. Because they are thinner, they also seem to dry out a lot faster before smoking them whereas a lot of the other brands take forever!! Another great plus in my book.

As a lover of Gawith’s Full Virginia Flake (FVF), I knew that they had the Virginia blending down to a science but I was curious as to their knowledge of throwing Perique into the mix. Here is how this blend is described:

A sumptuous blend of Virginias and Perique, this big, bold British style flake incorporates a generous proportion of St. James Parish, LA perique.

The tin aroma was typical fruity and spicy, maybe more on the spicy side, which is what I would expect from the description of this VaPer. The Virginia aroma is very reminiscent of FVF and I suspect that they might use a Virginia blend very similar to it. I took out a tin of FVF and gave them both the “sniff” test and they the Virginias were almost identical.

As stated above, I took a couple of flakes out of the tin and gently rubbed them out and let them dry for about 30 minutes before I loaded up the bowl. It was very easy to light and had a white ash right off of the bat. This blend burns extremely clean, just like FVF. During the smoke, the Perique dances along with the Virginias almost as if to a beat. It comes to the front then goes to the back and so on and so on. It was a great experience!!

Now I am going to go against what most people on tobaccoreviews.com have stated about this blend. A lot of people on there have stated that the Perique quantity in this blend is way over the top and that there is a high level of nicotine in this blend. I did not find either of these statements true for any of the bowls that I smoked of this. And I have smoked two tins so far. While the Perique is noticeable in this blend it does not come to the front and punch you in the face with its strength like other blends (Kajun Kake, Night Train, etc). Also, there is nicotine in here but not anymore than I have experienced in other blends.

This blend is very tasty to me and the price when buying in bulk really can’t be beat. Taste-wise, I enjoyed this more than Escudo. The reason is that the two types of tobacco (Virginia and Perique) seemed to be blended together with more consistency than Escudo. I have smoked Escudo where I almost didn’t have any Perique until I hit the bottom and then it came on too strong. St. James Flake is not like this. The Perique chimes in as if on cue every time. It’s a wonderful blend and will be a staple in my rotation and cellar from now on.

[Quick_nick]

I had slightly higher expectations for SJF than what I got when i smoked it. That being said it was a very satisfying smoke. Not being a fan of FVF I was curious to see what this blend was going to be like. I've had about a year of age on this tin and when I opened it I was greeted with an extremely sweet smell. In fact I almost thought there is a it of a topping on this flake. The flakes had developed some nice sugar crystals and I figured I was in for a great smoke. I decided to rub the flake out and let dry a bit, after about 90 minutes it was still overly moist so I decided that I will deal with it moist. I get alot of the same notes as FVF but the perique adds just a smidgen of another dimension. I really wish there was a bit more perique as the Virginia dominates this blend with the spice only dancing in and out.

I think this would be a great first smoke and a fantastic way to start the day but for an evening smoke it leaves me wanting. I don't usually talk about fruit and all that junk but there is defintely some fruity undertones taking place from the Virginia. I think there is defintely some better VaPer's out there and the lover of a strong Va Per may forego this one.

[Quick_nick]

I smoked this a couple more times in a slightly smaller bowl and that seemed to help the Perique out quite a bit and make the overall smoke more satisfying. The Perique is not constant to me and can become really strong for a couple of minutes then mellow out. I'm upping my opinion just slightly.

[RJpuffs]

Samuel Gawith's St. James Flake. An excellent VaPer, made with quality VAs and of course, quality Perique.

Tin appearance is a dark flake of varying thicknesses, apparently the factory uses a very old machine and the odd sized flakes are their trademark. I've been lucky with (reasonably) aged tins of this one, most have the crystaline deposits of a well aged baccy. Soggy as sin out of the tin - I make it a habit to leave a freshly popped tin alone for a week or two (closed back of course). A little air drying is required before smoking, its too flexible when wet. I find Sammy G's flakes almost impossible to smoke stuff-n-fold, they are too elastic and try to leap out of the bowl when lit. Rubbing out is easy, with a bit of drying time. I rip it into small chunks rather than fully rub.

St. Jimmy is a slow burner. I tend to use a smaller bowl otherwise it becomes a ridiculously long smoke. Easy to pack, even when chunky. Three step pack; pack, pack, pack and takes the charring light well. Grassy sweetness, similar to FVF but muted. The perique sticks its head up on the char as well, ya know its a VaPer. Tamp down the frizzlies, light up. Damp or not, this baby burns real well.

The perique strength tends to vary from flake to flake. Its a very cool smoke, but if you really huff and puff it gets the classic "angry perique" spicyness. Sip and savor this one.

It does age very well, I have ... ohhh ... about two dozen tins hidden away. Like a squirrel, I often can't find things I hide until years later (I just found the lens cap for the camera I bought in 2000).

Burns down all the way to a fine light ash. I usually tend to leave it a little damp, overdrying it will mute the flavors. The periodic swab with a pipe cleaner takes care of any drools and dribbles. All in all, an excellent VaPer. Lakeland detractors may complain about the classic "soapy" or "floral" aroma, but that is the signature for that region (jolly good show and all that) so quit complaining and smoke it already!

[Senator]

Originally Posted by RJpuffs

Samuel Gawith's St. James Flake. An excellent VaPer, made with quality VAs and of course, quality Perique.

Tin appearance is a dark flake of varying thicknesses, apparently the factory uses a very old machine and the odd sized flakes are their trademark. I've been lucky with (reasonably) aged tins of this one, most have the crystaline deposits of a well aged baccy. Soggy as sin out of the tin - I make it a habit to leave a freshly popped tin alone for a week or two (closed back of course). A little air drying is required before smoking, its too flexible when wet. I find Sammy G's flakes almost impossible to smoke stuff-n-fold, they are too elastic and try to leap out of the bowl when lit. Rubbing out is easy, with a bit of drying time. I rip it into small chunks rather than fully rub.

St. Jimmy is a slow burner. I tend to use a smaller bowl otherwise it becomes a ridiculously long smoke. Easy to pack, even when chunky. Three step pack; pack, pack, pack and takes the charring light well. Grassy sweetness, similar to FVF but muted. The perique sticks its head up on the char as well, ya know its a VaPer. Tamp down the frizzlies, light up. Damp or not, this baby burns real well.

The perique strength tends to vary from flake to flake. Its a very cool smoke, but if you really huff and puff it gets the classic "angry perique" spicyness. Sip and savor this one.

It does age very well, I have ... ohhh ... about two dozen tins hidden away. Like a squirrel, I often can't find things I hide until years later (I just found the lens cap for the camera I bought in 2000).

Burns down all the way to a fine light ash. I usually tend to leave it a little damp, overdrying it will mute the flavors. The periodic swab with a pipe cleaner takes care of any drools and dribbles. All in all, an excellent VaPer. Lakeland detractors may complain about the classic "soapy" or "floral" aroma, but that is the signature for that region (jolly good show and all that) so quit complaining and smoke it already!

Excellent review...and I agree!!

Thanks to you (for sending me a sample of this fantastic blend), I'm a huge St J's fan.