It smokes cool and is very smooth and flavoursome, with a delicious (to me) side-stream smoke. I'm lucky in that my other half particularly likes the smell of Oriental tobaccos, including Latakia. But I think the room-note of this is probably a little easier than that of SL for non-smokers to tolerate. In fact a couple of times when I've been smoking this in pub beer gardens recently, people have asked what I was smoking, commenting on how nice it smells!

I buy this by the pound but I also have some tins that date back to 95 and while the "new" is wonderful, I open a tin every 6 months or so, and the creamy smoke and marriage of flavors, is quite wonderful and truly delictable.

I smoke this in a group 5 size straight billiard and enjoy it any time of day or evening. Excellent with hot tea, or a fine single malt.

...a pipe is to be savored.

Needless to say I am very glad I did. Although I still prefer the extra strength of SL, Skiff strikes me as a softer, perhaps more reserved blend. The Virginias seem to take the dominate position, while the Latakia provides body and flavor and the Turkish seems nigh undetectable. What makes this tobacco truly worth smoking, however, is how consistent and pleasant it is throughout the entire bowl. Even the last few puffs are quite enjoyable.

While I do not smoke it every day, I have dedicated a pipe to Skiff mixture (and find myself reaching for that pipe several times throughout the week). It is certainly worth a try for any fan of English mixtures.

In 1969, on the 2nd weekend in August, 500,000 kids gathered in the rain at the previously unknown farm of Max Yasgur in up state New York for a little fun. Afterwards, Max's farm would forever be referred to as Woodstock. Subsequent polling, many years later, had over 5 million respondents claim they were at Woodstock on that weekend.

I am reminded of Balkan Sobranie.

Why do we chase ghosts? It certainly must be disheartening to the new smokers here, for they will surely come to conclude that they missed out on the great tobaccos of yester-year and they've nothing left to smoke but wannabe leftovers. Like a painter who dies, a vanished tobacco takes on mythical qualities unachievable by todays blenders.

Drivel!

I, who lost my beloved SSM (superior to Balkan Sobranie IMHO), still see a bright future for tobacco.

For I have smoked Samuel Gawiths Skiff Mixture.

It has been quite an odyssey for me, all of these tasting and reviews. For I am a private and simple man. Not for me to have a rotation of tobaccos. No, I have always been content with one tobacco, when I knew it to be the best. Early on there were others sampled, not because variety tempted me, but because I worried I might not be smoking the best. But I was. To me, finding the right tobacco was akin to a happy marriage: contentment & fulfillment. Others need not apply.

But then they took it away from me.

In hindsight, seeking to replace the standard of all English tobaccos, it would have been logical to look to an English blender first. I failed to, and it took me a lot of different tins to get here. But here I am, and once more, I am contented. There are 3 or so more blends in the drawer yet to be tried (and a few from Comptons ordered over a month ago, paid for, but not yet shipped...), but its all right if they amount to less.

This tobacco is complex, but not in the typical sense of flavor. What is complex, or complicated (as it surely must be because it is so rare), about this tobacco, and SSM, is how much it develops as you progress down through the bowl. Initially you might light up, take a few puffs, and wonder about my 4 stars. I'll give you that. Patience my boy! For both SMM & Skiff have perfected the sneak attack. With the vast majority of all of these tobaccos I have tried, they grew worse as the bowl went down and when it ended there was always a feeling that it was time. Not so Skiff! Most of the time when I am about half-way through something magical happens, just like the old SMM. and you won't want it to end. It begins to beg your indulgence. It inspires an appreciation that compels one to suddenly take notice, - to slow down-, to savor, to abandon greed and to forget haste. To wish that it would never end...

Aye, this is the Magic of pipe tobacco.

Skiff is rich and smooth, but even so, strong enough to leave an experienced smoker satisfied. There is no harshness here, but no weakness either. The boys in the heather cry Soap! and Menthol! But I detect neither of these. There is a flavoring here that is unusual, but after several tins it still strikes me as neither good nor bad, and certainly not the main part of the experience: a perfect balance of the only tobaccos of consequence, Virginia, Oriental, & Latakia. Which ones are favored and how are the cured? I havent a clue. I only know that when they put these three together in the correct proportions and with the correct processes, we have a term for the result: English Tobacco.

And Skiff is currently wearing the crown of Best English Tobacco That Is Readily Available. (And -shish- it's dirt-cheap!). And Samuel Gawith ( and sister company Gawith Hoggart) are without a doubt the finest producers of pipe tobacco in existence today.

Years from now, hopefully after I have expired, Samuel Gawith will be no more, just as all companies sooner or later run out. And then the reviews will begin of the incredible brown & black ribbons that were good enough to eat, but even better to smoke. The claims by other tobaccos will begin, asserting to be the legitimate (but always lacking) heir. And the new smokers will consume all this information, lament their unprovoked loss, and the cycle will begin again...

Oh well: Hodiernum vive diem! And: Smoke Skiff Mixture!

Rdx score: up to 92.95.

My dear friends: I love this one.

I am very big fan of Orientals, and as Pipestud noted: "If you are in search of something mild, semi-sweet with lots of Oriental flavor and just a hint of Latakia, this is it" (I always orient my searchings with Pipestud remarks because he describes tobaccos perfectly well... even considering my tastes are quite different)

Not overwhelming but subtle Latakia in right proportions, nice Virginias (with very little Lakeland soaping)and gorgeous Orientals which are present the whole smoking experience.

As a matter of fact, I do prefer this one to Squadron Leader (against the most common opinions)Like Quick_nick, I find this one "much more complex and interesting" than the SL. Of course, it is just a matter of personal taste.

RdX score: 90.9 (obtained after smoking in 10 different pipes)

Subtle complexity, gentle strength yet fullness of flavour is what marks out skiff, and in my opinion, makes it stand out from the crowd. Cool as a sea breeze is the strap-line on the tin and it describes it perfectly.

What it doesn't mention is the subtle sweetness. This tobacco has a mild sweetness to it. this might either be a very light topping of something like vanilla, or just sweet virginias. But whatever it is, working together with a mere sprinkling of latakia somehow allow for the orientals to shine forth in all their gentle, full fragrance.

Skiff is a perfect smoke for the first pipe of the day. For me, EMP was too overpowering for this, tending to sear the pallet first thing, but Skiff gets it just right. For veteran smokers who require a little more punch, or for those later pipes of the day, Skiff may not hit the spot. But neither does it intend to. It seems that many tobaccos will be complex and strong, but this is the first tobacco I have found that is complex and interesting, and yet mild. Towards the end of the bowl the tobaccos really seem to synthesize and grow in character. The flavour grows fuller and a little more strength seems to be apparent, but this in many ways parallels what one would hope for in a first pipe of the day - a growing strength to welcome the sunrise!

If I was starting someone on the pipe, I may well buy them a tin of Skiff. Skiff can be happily smoked while working, causing no distractions, and smoked very well straight out of the tin.

A beautiful, light, interesting smoke. I happily give it 4 stars.

Update: April 2010 Still smoking this and really enjoying it. There are plenty of good "mixtures" on the market, but after going around sampling plenty, I truly believe this to be amongst the best. Simply stunning. 4 Stars is not enough.