Samuel Gawith Black Cherry

I have to admit I did not make much of this tobacco at first. Despite a very strong (but nice) tin note of cooked cherries, I could not elicit any sort of flavour out of it. I put it down to the excessive humidity level in the newly opened tin; something that seems to be common for all SG tobaccos. When I smoked this again a few weeks after opening the tin I had a real surprise. Very nice sweet, slightly sour, old fashioned cherry candy flavoured smoke billowed out of the pipe! This is now easily my favourite aromatic, in fact the only true aromatic I can even bear to smoke. Room note is a nice slightly woody, slightly burnt cherry and chocolate tinted smoke that is even hard to detect as smoking aroma. To top it off, easy to pack and burns from char to heel without problems (ones dried out properly). All in all an excellent tobacco from SG, who can be a bit hit and miss in my experience.

This is a lovely aromatic . As mentioned in another review the tin art is uninspiring . On opening the tin I was surprised at the lack of cherry aroma - not sure if this was just my tin . The tobacco is dark and very moist out of the tin - too wet to smoke I found . The initial few bowls did not inspire me- although the room note is fantastic and will convert even the harshest anti smoking zealot . As the tin dried out over 4 weeks so the real qualities of this tobacco revealed themselves. This is a perfect after dinner "pudding smoke". Sweet and smooth and aromatic in the best sense of the word. There is little complexity here but then it isn't trying to be complex. It gives no tongue bite and leaves a delicious sweet texture in the mouth. Whilst I wont be stockpiling this I will certainly return to it at some point in the future.

i have to confess, I am not a passionate aro smoker, but sometimes I try some of them, even though it might be just one bowl. This time I managed to smoke a tin - the coarse cut makes the difference I guess - the pipes I used kept a cool and delicious smoke, down the entire bowl. The cavendish was easy to smoke the cherry aroma became a bit lighter then out of the tin within the process of smoking. But there was no delight for me. A good smoke while you work or read, good amount of nicotine in every kind of bowl as well. A good change of pace though, but not a rotation tobacco. Good quality of tobacco. But not my world.

I like Black Forest gateaux but I don't eat it at every meal. I enjoy a good aromatic but I can't smoke them everyday but when I'm in the mood for a heavy-sweet smoke with a reasonable nicotine content this is my go to choice.

It is an out and out aromatic (no subtle "hint-of-cherries" here) but, like a fresh, hand made, sticky cake from an excellent baker, this is a high quality guilty pleasure. The base Black Cavendish tobacco is of good quality and the topping tastes natural, not chemical.

The allusion to cakes is deliberate as I think it's probably best not to think of the flavour in terms of fresh cherries, instead I would liken it to cherry jam (jelly, to our American friends) or a rich dessert.

Straight from the tin it has a very high humidity. I believe this is to keep it alive through long aging periods but it does have the side effect of making it bite like an angry ferret until you dry it out. Leaving the lid off the tin and mixing the contents regularly to achieve a uniform result is my prefered method but I have known people bake it in a low oven, spread it in a thin layer over a sheet of kitchen roll or leaving it packed in the pipe and sat on the radiator for a while. Why not devise your own treatment. The most bizarre wins a tickle on the toes from a tiny ptarmigan (Reviewer takes no responsibility for administering this reward).

I think almost every pipe smoker has a soft spot for one or two aromatics and this is one of mine.

A harsh cherry blend that may require more drying than I allowed.

I love a black cavendish, but a bit too much on the cherry for my liking, but then what did I expect, it is, after all "Black Cherry" ended up mixing it with Golden Glow (see review) I smoke a lot of Sam Gawith's offerings and if you fancy a cherry black cavendish, this would be a good one to try.

To be able to smoke this heavy aromatic I had to tame it down with some squadron leader. After that it rocks! On its own though is more than I need from an aromatic.. If you are into aros and like cherry or you have a sweet tooth do buy it! If not, do look elsewhere. A pure Black Cavendish, very sweet..

I have a lot of time for this tobacco.

I’ve got through a few ounces of this and it is a lovely, “refreshing” pipe of tobacco.

Black Cavendish with the correct level of subtle, cherry flavour.

Like most SG’s blends it is on the moist side but that’s nothing to stress about. I have dedicated a bent stem, corn cob pipe to this one and all I do is fill a bowl, let it settle in there for half an hour or so, then fire it up and all is right with the world.

Compared to other tobaccos, it does burn relatively quickly. The first three or four pulls are exactly like you would expect from the pouch note, before the flavour subtly meanders, like a woodland stream, into something different - at no point is this a disappointment. The tobacco walks you down the meandering stream like a tour guide would, pointing out all the things to look at and notice - at one point sharp before the cherry reappears to let you know it’s still there.

The room note is lovely. A 1) on the wife’s “yeh, you can smoke that one in here”.

The only thing I find that makes this not an all day smoke for me, is it’s subtlety- it is mild beyond reproach but, at the end of a long day, I need something with a bit more, oomph to end the day.

I always have some of this on hand - there isn’t much else in the cherry department that comes close to this - and I would recommend it to anyone who looks likes aromatics or just the occasional aromatic. This one won’t argue with you.

Very mild taste taste from the cavendish. The sweet/sour cherry is evident primarily in the exhale, also has a bit off cherry aftertaste. I like this blend because it's not sickly sweet or artificial tasting unlike similar blends where the flavouring is at the centre. But it is very mild and not very exciting.