Three stars for the bulk . . . 1 for the tin.

To those who love Grousemoor send me your address and I'd be happy to drop the better part of 2 ounces in the mail for you! I would like to verify that you are over 18 years old first.

There is a moderate amount of nicotine, and it is easy to come by. Since there is no tongue bite, the mild flavor tends to encourage over-puffing.

Like many SG light aromatics, it is an acquired taste, a taste I have no wish to acquire. But I can understand why a small number might become devoted to Grousemoor.

Update, January 2013: Now I know why this blend has been around for two centuries. The tin aroma is captivating. The mild flavor and moderate nicotine become pleasantly addictive. I'll upgrade to three stars and put in an order for more. A perfect morning blend. It is somewhat dependent on finding the right pipe for it, working better for me in a churchwarden.

When I cracked open that tin for the first time, I must admit, the scent was bizarre. It wasn't the same floral note of the more traditional Lakeland tobaccos, Kendal Flake and the like. I just couldn't place it. The tobacco was a beautiful bright golden color, lighter even than many of the golden Virginia blends I have smoked. I was quite excited, actually, because this looked like something I had never seen or imagined, and I was optimistic that the flavor would follow that uncharacteristic path.

I hated it! It was horrible...and foreign. What is this?? Who would smoke such oddly perfumed rubbish? Who buys this stuff? Now I know why it's always the last of the Gawith blends to go! I've been tricked...I will never finish this tin! I said all of these things, liberally spiced with more colorful language.

When I had finished that first bowl, I threw the tin in my smoking cabinet. I figured, if they ever outlaw tobacco, I'll probably finish that tin. It was, to me, the British equivalent of Mixture No. 79. An abomination.

Over the course of a few weeks I'd pull many blends out of that cabinet, and I would grow increasingly drawn to that beautiful tin art and that strange scent. I found myself popping the lid, and taking gentle whiffs of that odd Grousemoor aroma. Those gentle whiffs became greedy gulps of intoxicating air, and that led to the inevitable and more frequent "occasional" smokes. I started with bowls in my smallest pipe, nothing more than ten minute concentrated smokes. I swore I wouldn't allow this tobacco to ghost one of my larger pipes. But as I continued with greater frequency in my experimentation, I found that I required larger bowls--to explore the nuances of Grousemoor, and isolate this "lemongrass" note that people kept mentioning.

It became a guilty pleasure, like gorging on Halloween candy. That sweet, oddly addicting additive kept me intrigued. I didn't even care about the lightness, the lack of nicotine. Grousemoor became an obsession. I wondered what the hell a grouse was, and learned it was a very swift bird, hunted by the British for game. "Oh..." I thought. That's why there are hunting dogs on the tin!

Well, this has been an educational experience, and in my budding studies, I learned that the blend was also sold as a plug--an absolutely beautiful brick of bombastic blending! I will hunt this tobacco with the ferocity of a man chasing wild game. Stay away! I will shoot you with my shotgun if you people turn Grousemoor into an endangered species!

Appearance - bright virginia shag, medium cut, pale yellow to amber

Aroma in the tin - delicious - sweet, apricots, honey, liquer. Promising.

The smoke - lights easily, but the taste while lighting isn't so nice, quite ashy and thin. Once it gets going it's alright, a very mild flavour with a slightly soapy taste coming through, doesn't bite although it probably could if tempted. Smoke it gently so it doesn't become too hot. The flavour doesn't really develop, indeed it doesn't have much flavour to speak of. It's just there in the background. People enjoy the aroma - it's not vanilla or fruit like a Dutch aromatic, it smells like tobacco but sweeter and more pleasant to non smokers.

Aftertaste - soapy, slightly ashy.

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It's perhaps worth mentioning that this tobacco is not unlike the Erinmore mixture. A bright Virginia ribbon with a generous ammount of a sweet scent applied. Those who enjoy the Erinmore mixture will no doubt enjoy this, and vice versa, however if you find the scents overwhelming when applied to very mild ribbon cut tobaccos, perhaps best give this one a miss.

I pitched my first tin after only one bowl (half a bowl, actually). Vile stuff, I thought.

And then a funny thing happened. I began smelling Grousemoor in my mind's nose at random moments throughout the day. I began smelling it (I'm not joking) in my dreams.

I would fish the heavily ghosted tin (how is a tobacco heavily scented enough to ghost metal?) out of my desk, where I was using it to hold paper clips... and I would inhale deeply.

I bought another tin. And when I'd smoked all of that, I bought another.

Its scent haunts me. I love it. And Grousemoor has become a regular.

As pretty much every reviewer has said, Grousemoor is a very unique blend. While I have tried other Lakelands since, I really haven't found another like it. It is subtle and strange, with both perfume and grass flavors that do remind me of Spring. To me, the taste is a somewhat acidic (perhaps what other reviewers have better described as citrus) and has very little to no sweetness. It's a fairly light smoke and finishes dry in the bowl.

While I highly recommend this blend, it really is one of those you either love or hate. There doesn't seem to be much of a middle ground here.

The flavoring was subdued and the tobaccos seemed muted as well. Very unassertive. G&H's florals often make better use of both the flavoring and the underlying tobaccos than this one does. I got the feeling that SG used tobacco of lesser quality for this blend, and may have felt that such leaf would be lost when flavored. By comparison, G&H uses top drawer tobaccos that are robust and flavorful on their own. Consequently, this one seemed more dull than it could have been. The concept was intriguing to me, as a huge fan of a lot of G&H tobaccos. Then again, each blend should be taken on its own merits. So on its own, this one seemed mild, a bit bland, unfulfilled and unfulfilling. However, it does have a nice pleasant flavor and can be recommended for someone who finds Lakeland flavorings too heavy and prefers a more subdued version.

This the type of tobacco that only Samuel Gawith could blend.