Samuel Gawith Black Cherry

As a novice pipesmoker with an initial (although admittedly fading) interest primarily in aromatics this offering from Samuel Gawith was the first aromatic to deliver taste that somewhat matched the room and tin note. It burns nice and evenly but in my experience benefits greatly from some drying as it is fairly moist. The room note is a real crowd pleaser and lets me get away with smoking in the presence of nonsmokers.

As far as taste goes I find the distinct cherry taste doesn't really appear until after the bowl is finished. Prior to that I mostly get a plum/fig-like taste along with the cavendish. Also, at the start of my session I get a acrid, harsh taste which disappears about 1/3 into the bowl. This may be due to user error but I have tried my best to eliminate any possible variables that may cause it, such as smoking it in different pipes, with a beard and without, pantsless and humming, during a full moon and whilst tapping my fingers etc. I cannot for the life of me get rid of the initial taste...

Having said that I find it a thoroughly enjoyable smoke but it is best smoked as a dessert-smoke as the cherry taste that settles in your mouth is sure to hang around for several hours. Which isn't such a bad thing, all things considered...

// Edit: I let a bowl full of Black Cherry sit out 'til it got absolutely bonedry and I'm happy to say that the issue with the strange initial taste is now gone. I had feared that packing a brittle and dry tobacco would be a nightmare but it actually performed flawlessly with no relighting issues and a cool 1+ hr burn. With that in mind I've decided to bump up my recommendation another notch.

Stunningly good, both in the box and the pipe, but be aware: this is a strong aromatic blend with average nicotine and good taste. It will be loved and appreciated by everyone around you, and you will have an amazing experience in smoking it, but for the love of your pipes choose one and dedicate it to this tobacco. The quite obvious reason is that the flavor is very strong. It will leave a cherry flavored ghost on the pipe that close to nothing will remove, not even time.

Apart from that, it's really a great tobacco. Differently from the Celtic Talisman, it does not smell "artificial" in the box. It is a wet tobacco, so it enjoys a little pre-smoke time outside the box unless you want to relight often.

If you love aromatics, this tobacco must be in your collection.

Samuel Gawith - Black Cherry.

Another one of my early reviews which didn't seem too helpful when I re-read it. So, here I go again!

The blend isn't as black as I remembered it being, dark brown yes, jet black no. I asked my wife for a description of the smell (she's much more creative with language than I am, ergo she has an English degree and I only have a GCSE!), and her instant analogy was Black Forrest Gateaux: cherries and cream. The coarse cut mixture looks like any mid-sized ribbon, and shock and awe for Sam Gawith, it's perfectly hydrated; well, this tin is!

Black Cherry lights up easily, and the presence of the cherries is unquestionable right away. But, although they're added pretty strongly they don't seem too toxic or false; there's a flavoursome sweetness, but it isn't too gloopy. There's also a gentle touch of vanilla from the black Cavendish, and this makes it perfect for a dessert smoke. The flavour seems consistent throughout a bowl: quite strongly aromatic, and it burns very well, delivering an incredibly cool smoke.

The nicotine's quite mild, and the room-note's lovely.

I used to smoke quite a lot of this, before I trailed off into VaPers and Balkans, but I think I'll re-introduce this into my rotation as my afternoon aromatic.

Highly recommended.

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.

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.

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.

This aromatic is nice. Let it dry a little before smoking. The Cherry flavour is very distinct and doesn't taste or smell artificial. Good begging smoke and one to keep in rotation if you like cherry.

I love it very much and it's very cool for beginner I recommend . No tongue bite And it's sweet I like it and I give it a full stars for it .

Beautiful and nice aroma of a classic black cherry. When u open the tin u fall in love with this one. When u smoke it u dont wanna live without it. When u light it its so delicious and mild that I inhale it. After the quarter of a bowl I dont inhale becoz it gets strong. the cool smoke stays tastes like black cherries right till the end. Its an all day smoke for me. I always smoke it in morning when I get up becoz I can inhale it. Nof recommended but prescribed for everyone out there.