Samuel Gawith - Westmorland Mixture pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 31 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
Clive Moses Apikouris	12/26/2012	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Westmoreland Mixture is both very pleasant and very strange. It is nice and moist in the tin and the tin aroma of the blonde weed is well, nice and unusual. Not really sweet nor perfume like, not herbal a unique scent of it's own, likely the dominance of the Tonquin bean. Upon lighting it sparks up easily, burns smoothly and really doesn't need a re-light. I've smoked it twice once in a nice smallish Danish Jarl and most recently in a compact vintage GBD Dublin. The first thing I tasted was an unusual slightly sour and musty flavor. The flavor then seemed to gently blossom into a mildly sweet flavor that matched the tin aroma with a light velvety texture. I experienced no tongue bite at all and in spite of the moisture level of the tobacco it smoked supremely dry. Whether it's a high nicotine level or the Tonquin, after a bit it I began to feel it in my head and so I rested my pipe. I picked it up a few moments later and puffed away and it had stayed lit. I found this to be a very enjoyable blend. I feel that a bit of a warning is however required here. Besides being an old fashioned flavoring agent, Tonquin bean is also the source of Coumadin a blood thinner. After smoking I flossed my teeth and experienced bleeding from my gums which was unusual. I am not on any any blood thinning medication but I believe that someone with a history of cardio-vascular problems or who is on Coumadin or Wafarin should take that into consideration before smoking this mixture. Otherwise I would rate in four stars as I greatly enjoyed the experience of smoking it.
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machinebacon	08/01/2012	Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant
Traditional Scottish blend (BC+VA+L) with a natural sweetness from the BC and minimal to no added flavour. Very forgiving when smoked hastily. Fresh yet malty. Not your typical English or Danish blend, very mild and light in N and flavour. 4 of 5 points, will keep this in rotation.
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Wibblefishofdoom	05/29/2012	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
I chose this one as another step on the pathway of trying to sample as many SG tobaccos as possible. I didn't have any real reason for picking it, just fancied the name as much as anything, it's worked for me before so worth trying again. The tin aroma was very mild, not sure what to make it to be honest, possible hints of latakia but little else. After a relatively easy pack of the pipe, found lighting this unpleasantly, surprisingly and annoyingly difficult. I see other reviews mention that this is a slow smoke so hardly the most flammable leaf by the sounds of it, not sure it's excusable for a tobacco this finely cut though. Once lit though, this proves to be a decent enough tobacco, if a little too mellow. It dances nicely between Grousemoor virginia and Squadron Leader latakia, maybe giving odd little hints of cavendish on the way, perhaps giving a little toffee or golden syrup. In summary, it's much like a Grousemour/Squadron Leader remix lite, perhaps a little too mild (and that's saying something from me who loves a mild leaf) but nonetheless blends two of SG's finest well. The major downside for this though, is that lighting problem. This is finely cut and should light pretty well even well damp. However, this demands almost constant attention, even more so than a particularly tricky flake. Ordinarily, I might be humming and harring a bit between giving it a three and a four, probably settling on latter due to my self confessed bias towards SG. Ultimately though, that lighting issue is enough to condemn it to a three star status.
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Beer	03/13/2012	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
Well, to give you a vague idea, take Grousemoor but with much less flavoring, add a very slight touch of cavendish and an even slighter touch of Latakia for just a hint of smokiness... Packs well, burns well, is quite steady in taste... but IMHO it's very boring. Ok, once in a while it might be plesant, but nothing more... I want more substance and taste from my pipe, and this one while devoid of faults does not excite me. And the combination of "very light Latakia + fresh and lemony flavoring" is not the best idea in the world for my tastebuds...
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SteelCowboy	12/18/2011	Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Off the top of my head, I can’t think of another tobacco that is similar to Westmorland Mixture. I would describe this blend as mainly a Virginia blend with some manually added sweetness and tonquin. There is just a wisp of Latakia, but other than the Virginia’s, the Cavendish is the only other tobacco that makes its presence known to me. I do get a very slight similarity to Grousemoor, but unlike Grousemoor, I would have a difficult time calling this an aromatic. Westmorland is best smoked slowly in order to get the entire flavor and to avoid being bit as this blend will bite if given the opportunity. There really is a lot of flavor to be had for those with patience. This would not be an everyday smoke for me, but it is recommended
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SMOKETSES	12/28/2010	Medium	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Westmorland is a very strange smoke. You cannot understand if it’s an English or an aromatic tobacco. It is however, light. There is no taste of the Cypriot Latakia and there is a sweetness that seems more artificial than natural. When you open the box and see this gold coarse mixture (this is good because it burns slowly), the smell that rises is a little confusing. It is neither natural smell of smoke nor the smell of an aromatic. It needs a lot attention both when filling and smoking, in order to avoid any tongue accidents. The aroma in the room did not bother me, but I certainly did not like it. I tried it because my friend “karg” suggested it, but this will be as far as I’ll go.
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p4p4	11/23/2010	Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant
A high class virginia-based-blend. Just little cavendish and very little latakia. A natural nutty aroma counterpointed by a discret and enteresting mentolated flavouring. A elegant, smooth, tastefull, and , in my opinion, very underrated tobacco.
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Fellow traveler	05/28/2010	Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
This blend is predominately virginia with some cavendish. The flavoring is Tonquin Bean, and smells like fresh hay in the pouch, very nice, with the slightest hint of smoked latakia. The smoke is sweet, mild and light bodied. The flavor is very special, subtle and elusive. The tonquin bean and latakia weave in and out if you have a clean palate and the time to relax and enjoy. The flavor is there but not there, if you know what I mean. All the while a nice mix of quality virginia and smooth cavendish relaxes and soothes your soul. A morning or first pipe of the day. Lighter and milder than Squadron Leader or Skiff. The side stream is extremely pleasant and is a joy in itself. As ivycap mentioned, it is the fragrance of the forest after a rain. The aftertaste is mild tobacco with just a little something else that must be experienced since it cannot be described. My dedicated pipe developed a bowl aroma that is nicer to smell than most unsmoked tobacco I have tried. This is a great smoke if you have the time and patience to enjoy it. It resets your taste buds with a mild freshness that is so very enjoyable. However, if you are looking for a nic hit and smoke fast, like all virginias it will burn but not bite your tongue. Slow down, relax, this to shall pass.
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ivycap	04/08/2010	Extremely Mild	None detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Very Pleasant
I agree with the majority of reviews below, both bad and good, and here's why: I was tempted to hate this tobacco for the extreme smoothness and mildness in the taste, which Latakia by definition normally does not have. Then, as I smoked this pipe weed and stared off into the rain from my front porch, it occurred to me that Latakia lies on a sliding scale similar to that of beer. Oak is like the smooth, mild malt beers. Pine is like the dry, (pleasantly) bitter hops. Westmorland is all Oak and no Pine. It tastes mild to a fault, yet... that smell. That beautiful smell of the woods comes off of it. The taste was so mild and so smooth that I was able to puff away mindlessly without worrying about bite, and let the beautiful Oak aroma take me to places in my childhood, when things were simpler; to camp fires and stick fights and games of capture the flag, and in that moment, smoking westmorland and staring off into the rain, I felt free. Conclusion: If this tobacco were a little cheaper, I'd say go for it, but at $11 for 50g of no flavor, I probably won't order more.
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Pipesrevisited	03/19/2010	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
Update Jnauary 2011: I find it now just a little bit too sweet for me, but still I recommend you try it for yourself, it is IMO a very underrated tobacco... Initially a little disappointing, but after the tin had been opened for 2 weeks Westmorland surprised me by having become absolutely first class yummie! Update: a woman friend entering my smoking shack was pleasantly surprised by the roomnote!! Update: during finishing the tin it grew on me and became one of my faves
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The Full English	02/16/2010	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
A surprisingly satisfying blend, this, which has drawn some undue criticism, in my opinion. Truth be told, I wouldn't have given it a second glance, had it not been given to me as a Christmas present. At the time, I was rather more excited about scoring a Dunhill 965 from the last batch to go on sale in the UK, so the Westmorland was the first to be consumed, on account of it looking the least impressive option. This offering is obviously an homage to the old English county of Westmoreland (with the 'e'), which was one of the original 39 counties, now swallowed by Cumbria, and the ancestral root of Gawith tobacco. If you went to the Lake District today, this very prosaic label would not look out of place next to the shelves of mint cake and postcard-backed packets of bland fudge in one of the many tourist shops. Indeed, it's very reminiscent of a tin of overly-priced mints, and that's undoubtedly off-putting for your host. If ever one had been given a stern lesson in the morality of judging books by their covers, then I'd have been made to have this label - complete with barcode - tattooed on my arse. This is, unmistakably, a VERY good blend, with the earthy, peaty goodness of a quality Highland malt. It's smoking properties are also extremely forthcoming and forgiving: smoke it quickly and hot, or slow and cool, it always behaves and rewards accordingly, and remains consistent to the finish. I have to agree with members like EAL, who summarized this tobacco so succinctly, and would urge others to scroll down accordingly. This is far from an aromatic; it's merely sweetened, which would seem to take the harshness out of the mixture, whilst retaining and elevating its generous wealth of flavour. Westmorland is mild enough as an "everydayer" and also rich enough for those needing their Vitamin N kick. It IS rather monotone compared to many, yet strangely more-ish all the same. You'd better prep two pipes, as you may well want a second bowl. And NO floral signature presenting itself should ensure that this particular Gawith blend sees some action across the pond. Absolutely worth a pop.
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Kilmarnock Piper	02/04/2010	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
Picked up a 5 1/2 year old tin on Ebay, then looked at the reviews and saw they were somewhat mixed. After smoking this tobacco for a couple of days, I have decided to throw my four stars into the mix, and if I enjoy the rest of the tin as much as I have enjoyed the beginning, may very well get a few to cellar. Has a sweet topping (sweetener, not flavor), but to me it is unobtrusive. Pretty mild, but to me at least, very pleasant. The Virginias seem top notch, as do the burning qualities. Gawith has not let me down yet; I gave my lowest rating of the Samuel Gawiths I have tried to Golden Glow, but maybe I'll even give that one another chance. Do I dare try Firedance? This has a nice balance of Virginia and cavendish, and a light application of Latakia, which to my tastes goes along well with this style. Update 3-31-10: Firedance is great! See my review and others. So is this blend, which I am smoking as I type, in a Night & Day churchwarden. Way to go, Samuel Gawith, and hope to see more of you around these parts soon! 3-9-11 Struggling to remember this one, but I must have liked it as I smoked it all pretty quickly. I'll try it again sometime. I love Golden Glow now: someone sent me a sample which proved beyond any doubt that I judged it too harshly the first time I tried it. Question is, will Westmorland still seem like a four-star when I smoke it again? 12-19-11 I have so much tobacco I still have not bought this again, here at the end of 2011, even though I'm thinking this one has remained avaliable throughout the SG shortage. I'll revisit it someday, GWATCDR.
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Rodrigo de Xerez	08/15/2009	Very Mild	Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant
Well, this is a kind of aromatic by SG. Not my cup of tea, at all. The latakia is pretty absent and the smoke quite uniform and boring. In this kind of experiments I feel Perfection has more punch (even not liking completely the "vanilla killing" of very nice leafs) Just recommended as a change of pace (once in a week or once in a month) RdX score: 82.70 (10 different pipes) I never repeat with scores under 85 and I regularly smoke with scores over 90.
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eichenlaub	04/05/2009	Mild	None detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
I really wanted to like this and tried it in various pipes hoping to find the perfect one, however I could not. This was less flavorful than I hoped, though that flavor was of some very good Virginia as you would expect from SG. If I want that though I can just smoke FVF which is a great deal better than this offering.
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Sasquatch	09/15/2008	Strong	None detected	Full	Pleasant
Hmm, I was expecting something a bit sweeter and easier.... that said, this is another Gawith winner. It has a real deep earthy smell - stick your nose right in there. Yum. Just a little smokey too. You want candy? Go up the block. Tobacco? Right here, friend. In the pipe, this smokes with a slightly harder edge than I was expecting. I would suggest that this has a pretty good amount of something very like Dark Kentucky in it. The blender's use of words like "cavendish" with the description of "flue cured" kind of makes me think I'm in the right ball park. Shades of Mac Baren Vintage Syrian, which has a right good dose of Kentucky as well. Anyway, this is a very full bodied smoke, a nice mixture of flavors yielding a palate which intensifies throughout the bowl, but never really varies too much. Smooth, smokey, a little sweet but not anything like as sweet as I was expecting. This is what Scottish Cake should have tasted like. Watch the nicotine - I had to put the pipe down. This is a velvet hammer, very sneaky. I detect no flavoring, no soapiness, no "lakeland essence" (which I DO detect in squadron leader). This is a straight shot of good weed.
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kenneth	07/19/2008	Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable
I have reviewed Skiff Mixture by this Kendal based blender which I gave full marks to as my hands down favourite but for some reason best known to myself I bought 50 grms of Westmorland Mixture. I committed the cardinal sin of mixing it with the Skiff Mixture because of the distinct acidic content of Westmorland Mixture which means I have now rendered unsmokeable half a jar of tobacco. I assume the acidity comes from the Cavendish tobaccos but I don,t know
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Kegworth	02/01/2008	Mild	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant
I've enjoyed a number of the Gawith blends over the years,so I was curious about Westmoreland Mixture,not having tried it... The strength was medium and the flavoring more subtle than I had expected. I can taste a touch of the Gawith trademark which is a full taste but here is tempered down.I shared some with my neighbor and waited for him to light a bowl first so as to get an objective whiff as the tobacco began to burn. Pleasant--kind of old style. I've smoked a few bowls since I bought this tin, and I'm delighted with the consistency and flavor throughout. At the finish, there was hardly any dottle and the pipe was clean . I like this very much and would recommend to pipe lovers everywhere.
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EAL	12/29/2007	Mild	None detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
After reading some of the previous reviews, I have to wonder if everyone who has written on Westmorland Mixture has bothered to at least smoke a bowl of it. Aromatic? Nowhere that I've seen has Samuel Gawith Co. even hinted that this might be aromatic. Not on the lablel, not in the description. But the proof is in the puffing. No added flavors detected. None. I wish the previous reviewers who boggled over this being some kind of aromatic would have indicated just what kind of aromatic flavoring they taste. I taste VA, and possibly the VA cavendish of the style used in Danish blends. There is black cavendish, but its obviously unflavored. Sweetened? Maybe. But not flavored. The VA and cavendish base is laced with a modest amount of Latakia. And that's it. That's the blend. If Westmorland Mixture was a beverage, it would be a glass of iced tea with one lump of sugar. Mild and refreshing - great for a hot day. This is not a Latakia dump. It is nothing like a common V-O-L English blend, and wasn't intended to be. I recommend this blend to anyone looking for a mild blend that isn't heavy on the palate.
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dallaspipehead	11/20/2007	Medium	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I was a little unsure wether or not I would like this, due to the mixed reviews it has been given. However, I am a collector of Samuel Gawith products, and I believe they all deserve a fair chance despite what others may say. The tin aroma suggested that this would be another fine latakia mixture, with very little (if any) toppings detected. The colors of leaf were a full range display, from black to dark brown and red to bright yellow. I chose a shallow Alpha pipe to help me put this new blend on trial. My verdict: innocent. Westmorland is a pleasant crossroad between the bold and smoky turkish/oriental types and the realm of natually sweet brown cavendish and virginias. It also contains just the right amount of their notorious unsweetened black cavendish. If you've ever tried X Blend or Scotch Cut, then you can recognize the touch of this tough guy, and you know how strong it can be when used in larger amounts. I actually bought some of their black cavendish just to say that I have it, and after tasting it straight, I nicknamed it "Bitter Black". This blend is NOT a waste of time, as some others may describe it, nor is it pointless. On the contrary, it is quite to the point. Not exactly an aromatic to be sniffed at by wary onlookers. This is a blend with a rich but mild taste to be quietly enjoyed with a book by the hearth. I think that smoking Westmorland in a smaller pipe is also a wise choice. It never gurgles, never bites, and the level of latakia in this grouping of tobaccos has proven to be spot on. I enjoy it more than Perfection, which was hard to match up with the right pipe, yet similar in nature, considering the fact that the more I smoke these blends out of their chosen pipes, the better the experience becomes. It is hard to describe the characteristics, but the presence of all its components make themselves known and burn well in harmony. Do not simply try this blend once and give up. It might not be easy to categorize, but once you find a designated home for it and smoke it several times, the fine properties of Westmorland will reveal themselves to you. I highly recommend it for those intervals between balkans and virginians.
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oldmanpipe	12/05/2006	Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant
Samuel Gawith has been producing pipe tobaccos for centuries and can boast of many fine results, which, with Westmorland, begs the question: "Why?" I did not even know this bizarre weed existed until today, when I received an ample sample from my tobacconist. Though appreciative of the gift, I shall not purchase a tin. He also gave me a sample of Gawith's Squadron Leader, which is quite good, but since that blend has innumerable comments there is nothing I could add that has not been already said. Squadron Leader notwithstanding, I have always maintained that the Lake District does not know how to produce a decent Latakia blend. Westmorland confirms my old prejudices; this odd mixture is neither fish nor fowl. Yet, it is both foul and fishy. Anyone who describes this as an "American English" or an "English American" is giving Westmorland dual citizenship when it deserves none at all. It is just weird. Someone had to have dreamed this one up on a trans-Atlantic flight after a few too many nips from the crash cart. It doesn't bite; the aroma offends no one; there are both strength and piquancy here. But such virtues are offered in far more pleasant forms.
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