Samuel Gawith Chocolate Flake

[EvanS]

Had my first ever bowl of this tonight from a freshly opened tin. I'm not a great reviewer but here goes. Maybe somebody will get something from this...

The flakes are about 1" x 2 1/2" and very jerky-like. Almost chewy looking with dark golden VA dominating but streaked with the latakia shreds. Rubbing this out was easy to control. That jerky-like texture seems to lend itself to taking a good rub but not suddenly falling apart. Tin aroma is one of the best I've experienced. Nothing overbearing or dominant but instead the VA, latakia and chocloate scents seemed VERY blended and complimentary.

Please excuse me if I use the word "smooth" over and over. This is truly a sit-back-and-relax kind of smoke for me. VA & Latakia with a chocloate topping, by what I read. I never truly tasted chocolate but the only way I can think to describe it is, well, chocolatey. The VA seems fairly bright yet not in your face. The latakia is dark but very smooth and muted. You can taste latlakia all day long in this flake but somehow it is pushed back from the forefront without at all seeming diluted. In thinking back I'd have to say it was like the latakia had been perforated and then quickly passed thru a cloud of vaporous chocolate cream. That's it.

But having said that, this blend has a bit of a back of the tongue tang ... mostly after you are a few minutes away from the smoke. I like that a LOT. My favorite tobacs are the ones that stay with me after smoking yet don't smother my taste buds. I'm now 30 minutes past the end of the bowl and it takes nothing for me to conjure up the exact enjoyment I had during the bowl.
I tried puffing this a little more nervously and the beauty of the blend quickly fell apart. Simmer down and we're back in business. Even though I did not air this as much as I'd normally like the burn was good and it barely thought about biting. All in all I found this very easy and relaxing to smoke.
I suppose I'd call the nic content maybe towards the low end of medium.

I'll have a few more bowls this weekend and will update but so far this is a winner for me. After one bowl I'd likely buy more.

[cquon]

Nice review!

[EvanS]

just a quick update....
had another bowl this morning and all observations from last night hold true. But this is really a great 1st bowl of the day. Man it goes with coffee just great. I normally hold that to be true for cigars where, for me anyway, pipes go better with tea.
It's also more complex than I first thought, sometimes giving a VA/lat flavor and other times leaning towards a hint of Old Joe Krantz-type burley. And that back of the palette after-spice is still there.

very nice indeed

[Mad Hatter]

Great review. Sounds like a winner to me. Have to add that to my Christmas list.

[omowasu]

Had to bump this oldie but goodie. Had a couple bowls of the Chocolate Flake this weekend, and the review is spot-on. I found it to be medium-bodied, lots of VA flavors, but what really struck me was the chocloate flavor that passed through to the taste buds. Not a milk chocolate, more like an 85% dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate. Lots of cocoa without much sweetness, and that was fine with me at the time!

So, yeah, this is a Gawith, but it is nowhere near as strong as the Gawith ropes, so give it a try!

[dls]

I had my first bowl of SG Chocolate flake this morning, with coffee, thanks to Evan. I usually don't care for latakia (I can hear the "heretic" crys now) but this one was delicious. It really complimented the flavor of the coffee, and as Evan said earlier it wasn't overpowering, but did have a nice finish on it. I'll be ordering more!

[IHT]

heh, i stand corrected. this does have latakia in it.
i have "bobs chocolate flake", which doesn't... if it does, they must've forgotten it in my tin.

lol, now i read reviews of bobs chocolate flake, and they say latakia as well. i don't know where, but my tin, the latakia is not present in the least bit

[EvanS]

Originally Posted by IHT

heh, i stand corrected. this does have latakia in it.
i have "bobs chocolate flake", which doesn't... if it does, they must've forgotten it in my tin.

lol, now i read reviews of bobs chocolate flake, and they say latakia as well. i don't know where, but my tin, the latakia is not present in the least bit

I find the Bob's actually has a fair amount of Latakia in it...that's what darkens and almost over-richens the chocolate for me. I liked it for the first half of the bowl but it got a little gaggy towards the end

[Mad Hatter]

I thought this was so-so when I first bought a tin of it. Last week I ordered 8oz. You just can't go wrong with Gawith

[jgros001]

Tried my first bowl of this today. Just rolled up a flake and packed it....may need to dry this out more or rub it out because I had a hard time keeping it lit. I did like it a lot but the flavors aren't overpowering which is good.....but will take a few more bowls before I can pin them down. I did however note some cocoa flavors but not sweet chocolate.

[Alyks]

This is truly wonderful stuff. I have to say so far this is my favorite tobacco.

[oa457]

found this to be very relaxing and the chocalate to be very subtle
great smoke

[parris001]

I tried this for the first time today and found it to be very nice. This is the first time I've folded a flake and I had no problems at all. The chocolate was very subtle and at times was completely transparent. Very enjoyable. Gets my vote.

[Griffis]

Just to clarify-- are we discussing Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.'s Bob's Chocolate Flake, or Samuel Gawith's Chocolate Flake (Kendal Mayor's Collection)?

Because, despite the similarities in name, these two blends are really nothing alike.

I very much love Sam Gawith's Chocolate Flake, and strongly dislike G&H Bob's Chocolate Flake.

Oh, nevermind. It looks as if this thread IS about the Sam. Gawith and not the Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.'s

In that case,

[dmkerr]

Not a great reviewer??? You're a natural! The main point (IMHO) of a good review is not to simply tell others what you think - it's to get others to try it based on your description. It's to make them want it! I never thought I'd try anything with the word "chocolate" on it - and I just ordered some! Great review! You see?

Now... if I find it tastes like crap, I'm gonna send Guido over to visit you! LOL! Maybe you're TOO good a reviewer.

Seriously, you should try a few more reviews.