Me? I love it, I was hooked from my very first whiff upon opening the tin to my very first sip. And my infatuation with it deepens with each bowl.

It's a very curious flavor, difficult for me to put my finger on. It's subtle and subdued, yet simultaneously prominent and distinctive. Perhaps A Morley Jacque, in my favorite review on this site, captures it best: "floral and herbal and fruity in delicate balance all at the same time." Sceny, in his review, says "It is very interesting, with many different flavors to enjoy on the palate; I'd call it a 'brown' taste", which seems oddly correct. For me, an aromatic garden in a sun-dewed meadow on a hot summer afternoon comes to mind while smoking it. I'm also reminded a little of Oban, a delicate, complex, slightly floral and fruity aromatic single-malt scotch.

Indeed this blend has more than a few paradoxical qualities: it's a generally bright and hi-key blend that has depth to it; the casing perfectly complements and brings out the virginia flavor rather than masking it; and it's an aromatic that has a remarkable amount of complexity and nuance. Ultimately, it's an aromatic virginia that is somehow both less than and greater than these two components taken alone, but when combined create a unique smoking experience. But this blend will only reveal its delicate mysteries if packed with care and smoked slowly, for it can turn harsh and bitter if you're not careful. (For some reason I find this a tricky blend in which to find a good smoking rhythm, but once I find it I'm nicely rewarded.)

I'll give A Morley Jaques the final word on this blend: "The specific flavor notes of Lakeland aromatic essences serve to heighten and exemplify the nuances of a fine Virginia and even cut out some of the excessive sootiness to be found in many examples of the leaf... The Virginia leaf is not only of the finest quality, but also quite strong. The affect of the top dressing is perfect if approached with an open mind. This is a tobacco for real men, and by that I don't mean John Wayne and Mike Hammer, but guys who truly deserve the title like William Wordsworth and Thomas Hardy."

Well said, A Morley Jaques.

UPDATE: Since writing my review three months ago I can state that this tobacco has single-handedly changed my smoking habit. During this time I believe that more than 85% of my bowls have been this weed. There's something about Grousemoor's flavor that I crave, and which I find *almost* perfectly satisfying to the point of frustration: the flavor is alluring, yet mysterious, always just outside my grasp, like trying to focus on something in your peripheral vision that disappears when you look at it. It's like the coquette who obsesses you precisely because you can never possess her. Never has a topping complemented a leaf so well. (Perhaps that's why it's been around for a couple hundred years.)

I now find, when needing a different flavor once in a while, that I'll grab the straight virginias more than my beloved english, balkan, and VaPers. I attribute this change in taste to this blend.

I hope someday my predilection balances out, since I've invested quite a bit in cellaring english & oriental blends. But for now, I'm very much enjoying my immoderate infatuation with Grousemoor.

Grousemoor definitely has a slight soapy and perfumy smell to it. It's very strange at first. I'm used to english blends which smell like varouos tobaccos, obviously, or aromatics that smell like vanilla, cherry etc... But apparently, back in the day, the old smokers didn't want a "candy" like flavoring. So they got this kind of strange flavoring.

I reminded myself the taste of scotch was at first strange too but I got over that. And I got over the strange taste of Grousemoor to the point I really enjoy it. I willl be comparing it soon to Peretti's "No name" which has a similar soapy etc.. description. Grousemoor a very nice change of pace.

I am very disappointed. It's like watching Tottenham on a Saturday afternoon at home : all the right moves, no goals scored.

In other words it's totally and utterly tasteless. Samual Gawith's equivalent to Petersons equally tasteless and insipid Sweet Kilarney.

Shame. Gawith's make some really great blends like Celtic Talisman and Firedance with taste and aroma to die for, but this is a total letdown. I just don't understand how people are getting all these flavours from.

I can't detect any room note (and no-one else in the house has either) and it has no particular attributes when burning.

A poor blend then, but one I am going to smoke to the bottom of the tin as I've convinced that I have missed something....somewhere.

Edit. A few days later after it had dried out a bit in the tin I filled a bowl and really quite enjoyed it. Never said it was bad, but then never saids it was good either.

On reflection a tasteless, but oddly satisfying brew, though where on earth these folks are getting 'perfumey' from I really don't know.

Yeah there's something about this one, just can't put my finger on it.

This was my first try of an SG brand. The tin I purchased seemed to be old as it had rust around the edges of the tin (From Black Cat Cigar in Philly). The tin is very attractive and appears very “old school”. Nice sweet, light aroma upon opening. Pinched easily from the cake and loaded nicely into my Savinelli Bing’s Favorite. Easy to light and burned smoothly to a fine white ash. Packed lightly it was smooth and mild from the start. It did get a little stronger (but still pleasantly mild) about ¾’s of the way through the bowl. The room note was very light and pleasant. The sweetness of the smoke was not overpowering so that you can still enjoy the tobacco taste. I experienced no bite with this tobacco and was ready for another bowl almost immediately. Tobacco smoked smoothly with no moisture buildup all the way to the bottom of the bowl. This tobacco is mild enough to smoke all day and strongly recommended new pipe smokers. I found this an enjoyable light smoke great for the first bowl of the day for all pipe smokers. I plan to keep some of this tobacco in my normal rotation.

Absolutely wonderful. I suspect that I'll be buying this in bulk soon...very soon...

Overall impression- Grousemoor is a mild smoke with a predominate sweet tobacco flavor with light berry overtones from start to finish.Light to nonexistant room note with enough flavor to be an all day smoke.

For me, I belong to the group of those who do not like this blend, although this I feel a great respect for the "burden of history" and the "concept", so I recommend you try it at least once in your life.

EDIT: Local Michigan stores have been out of SG blends and I just found a tin of Grouse-Moor and am smoking it now. One suggestion to all. Give this stuff a litte more time to air out than most. In my excitement to smoke I planted it a little to early and its too moist. Suffering from a bit of bite and cant seem to keep it lit. Still a GREAT smoke... even on a damp rainy day.

This blend stayed consistant all the way down with a refreshing flavor on my palette and was in no way overwhelming with the added flavors as many aros are. It has a sweet taste yet one can taste the tobaccos in it. It started mild and stayed that way, never threatening tongue bite at all. I smoked it down to a dark grey ash with very little dottle and once done, immediately wanted another bowl of it. It is light on the "N" and would be a great smoke for newbies or an all day blend for those whom like aros.

I give this four stars as it is as promised and from beginning to end was a delightful smoke. I do recommend trying this.

This blend comes quite most both in bulk and tinned versions. The cut is not one of my favorites, but packing is not a problem once you air it out for a while.

The flavoring is rather unique and hard to define. I'd say it's refreshing, lacking a more specific definition. Tongue bite is not an issue, as long as you don't overpuff (which I usually do due to its mildness).

The only drawback is the price, considering that this type of tobaccos are usually in the lower end of the price range, but it's good and recommendable.

I tend to smoke this in the spring, it makes a nice stepping stone from the latakia bombs of the winter and a prelude to the promise of sweet virginias in the summer.

An excellent companion when mowing the lawn............... I'm not allowed anywhere near the flower beds.

In the pouch it smelled wonderful. Notes of tea and herbs, but once you load your pipe and put flame to tobacco, look out! My wife thought it smelled great, but couldn't smell the over powering perfume. Have you ever accidentaly walked by your wife with your mouth open right after she sprayed on perfumed? That would be preferable to smoking Grousemoor. What was even worse was for the next month, no matter how often I cleaned that pipe, every time I smoked anything in it all I could taste was cheap perfume.

If you care for you pipes at all please avoid Grousemoor.