Jesus is lord!

This ain't Squadron Leader. Less Latakia than SL, and the smoky stuff stays well in the background. Turkish and Oriental are the captain and first mate. The perfect mild English.

Personally I prefer blends with a bit more Oomph. However, this would be an excellent blend for all the purposes stated above and for anyone looking to segue into the world of quality latakia mixtures.

Type: English mixture ; Contents: Virginia flue cured, burley, turkish, latakia (Syrian probably) ; Cut: Ribbon ; Humidity: Wet and long time drying, but is better in this way ; Lighting: Simple and pretty constant burning, maybe a couple of re-lighting needed ; Pipe recommended: Medium bowl like the most of the EM, bent & half- bent in my preference but is very good also with a straight one.

I've owned this tin for nearly two years but put off smoking it. I'm guessing that not only did other blends get in the way, but I've never been too enamored of SG or G&H latakia blends for the most part, and I expected this to be more of the same middle of the road affair. I was quite surprised. This is not a powerful smoke but it's highly flavorful. Orientals are well in the lead, with latakia and virginia alternating as the sidekick. For some reason I was thinking this one might be a lat bomb, but clearly it is not. While this does not possess the baldfaced "wow" factor of many GLP blends, lovers of those should definitely find something to like here. Not as much complexity as most GLP's but I get the impression Greg would enjoy this blend. Reminded me a bit of Samarra in taste, but didn't have that one's sneaky complexity and sense of restrained power. Skiff seemed more of a steady eddie, but still a very nice smoke. 4 stars for this, although for my personal taste, it misses greatness by the narrowest of margins. But if you're a Balkan lover (and if that designation is at all meaningful to you), you definitely need to try this one. I'm going to grab a few more tins, just for fun.

Was relatively happy with the tin aroma, not the kind of stuff to inspire sonnets but did it's job well. The lighting and packing were in much the same manner. The Latakia does come through well, it might be a little stronger than Squadron Leader, but given my liking for smoking it pure, it's not really an issue for me. The only real problem for me it is a little on the, well, not the dull side per se but it does get a little samy, the smokey, tarry taste continues throughout the smoke without the virginia or turkish popping up to say hello. As for tonguebite, there's a little at the start of the tin and it hits the roof of the mouth a bit but these seemed to disappear about a third of the way through, not a major issue though.

I sound like I'm having a bit of a downer on this stuff, but I hope I'm not, it's actually quite a good tobacco but, unlike Squadron Leader seems have different tastes popping up through each smoke, this tends to be humming the same note through out. I'm sure Katherine Jenkins still sounds good of she just kept up belting out a C all the time, but we'd still all rather she belted out an aria or two. So I'll resist my SG fanboy urge and give this three stars - a well sung monotone tobacco that's more like a microphone test than one of SG's performances at the Royal Albert.

Two and a half stars.

Throwing out the tin.

Skiff is similar to Dunhill London mixture (not as much pungent as LM) which I had previously described as "the most harmonious blend I've ever smoked".. Move over LM, SM is in the house and it lip syncs to several national anthems all at once.

The tobacco in the tin is moist and needs a little drying but great quality tobacco. This is everything that you thought pipe smoking would be. Costs the same as Gold Block, St Bruno, Clan; no comparison.

Get some!