I've been smoking this stuff for a few weeks now, and I've discovered that this weed has two faces. Two very distinct personalities, and I'm gonna tell you how I can call on whichever one that I want to taste at the time.
Firedance Flake is an aromatic flake from Samuel Gawith. It is basically Gawith's Best Brown Flake with a topping of blackberries, brandy, and vanilla. So when you buy a tin, you're getting the best quality leaf that has been topped... not some crap tobacco that needs a casing just to be bearable.
So what are the two personalities? Depending on how you smoke it, this can be either a great Virginia or one great aromatic flake.
If you want a nice Virginia:
Rub the flakes out well and let them dry a bit before loading them up in your weapon of choice. When you first get the tobacco lit... puff like hell just long enough to get it kind of hot. Then put the pipe down for 20 or 30 minutes to cool down and cook off the fruity aromatic topping. When you relight the bowl, you'll be smoking a bowl of rubbed out Best Brown Flake!
It takes a little practice to get it juuuuust right with initially heating up the bowl without ruining the whole bowl with that bitter aftertaste, but you'll get it quickly. It's not that hard to do.
Now for a great aromatic smoke:
Smoke this as whole flakes. When smoked as a flake, this stuff burns nice and cool... and the berry flavors pop out at you. It really does taste like its tin aroma. But the amazing thing to me is how far down the bowl that it holds its aromatic flavoring. I can taste the berries in this tobacco nearly to the bottom of the bowl... as long as I smoke it in whole flakes.
One word of warning, however... it
WILL leave your pipe smelling like a potpourri bowl afterward. I have a pipe dedicated to this blend, and I think I could probably use that Meer as an air freshener if the wife runs out of Glade!
This is one blend that I'll always have around... great quality tobacco. And how often do you get to describe a tobacco as "versatile"?