Samuel Gawith Cabbie's Mixture

The presentation is rustic, and simple. There are a mix of coins, and rubbed out, stringy parts. The coins themselves are similar to Mac Baren’s roll cakes, and Wessex Sovereign Curly Cut. You can pack this a number of ways. There was some plume on some of the coins. I find Samuel Gawith, and Gawith & Hoggarth flakes often have plume. I love it. The tin note was sweet, but sweet in the way that Lakeland Virginias tend to be. There is no Lakeland flavoring in the smoke (maybe a hint, but not enough to ghost your briar), to my taste, but the smell is always there because of the machinery, and the fact that all of the Lakeland tobaccos are produced using the same machinery. I got a similar smell upon opening a tin of Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake, but it dissipated after some time in the jar. There is a good amount of moisture in the tobacco. Before smoking, I give this some air time, and it burns just fine. No tongue bite. I usually take some coins and put them together and stuff them into the pipe, adding some of the ribbon pieces on top for kindling. How you orient the coins can vary depending on the diameter of the bowl on your pipe. You just have to make sure your draw is easy and enough air can pass. The bowl starts off with dried fruit notes, and farther down the bowl I get bread and pastry notes, cereal and honeyed grains, cinammon, dates, raisins, lemon cake, plum skin, actual plum tastes, prunes. I guess you could say there is a raisin bread note as well. I also get this fermented Belgian brown beer-like note (I mention St. Bernardus Abt 12 in my review of Escudo). I also got some cocoa notes and hint of nuttiness.

tobacco strength is maybe medium. The nicotine is there, but it’s not overwhelming. I would say that’s medium as well. The taste is medium. There is a lovely fullness and richness to this blend, but it’s not a continual thing throughout the bowl. I found this smoked and tasted best in narrow bowls with chambers of straight sides (Canadian, Brandy, Apple, Lovat).

The downside of this blend is the availability. It’s hard to get. It’s often out-of-stock. The price isn’t terrible. I think it’s worthy to mention that I find the taste to be similar to that of Escudo, and Escudo is always available, and produced with equal quality. I don’t think you need to go out of your way to get this blend, but if you see it in-stock somewhere, try it. You won’t be sorry. It’s delicious. I don’t know if I would ever get it again, but I would certainly recommend it. If you enjoy Virginia Perique blends, it’s an all-day kind of blend.

When opening the tin, you'll detect a ketchup-like aroma. Ignore it. This tobacco is packaged in the tin a bit on the moist side - so dry it out for a few minutes prior to loading your pipe. As far as flavors, this one seems to be Perique-forward in flavor with a subtle sweetness from the dark red Virginia tobaccos. After getting a third of the way through the smoking, the Perique seems to get even more attention as the sweetness starts to fade away. I would call this a one-dimensional smoke. Might be interesting to mix some Burley with it just to see what else it can do for the palette. I'll keep the rest in the tin and revisit this one in the future.

The tin aroma is reminiscent of those vinegary McClelland Virginias. However, this particular one smells like no other. If you want to get a glimpse of it, then I suggest mixing some vinegar with fermented tomato paste. Put on the stovetop and bring it to a boil, now bend over and take deep breaths. You will faint for sure, don't panic. When you gain consciousness again, you may think the Red Army passed through your kitchen without their boots on. And you'd be right because the tin aroma is unwashed sweaty feet.

That said, I simply rub all SG flakes before I pack them. It's better as Samuel Rub-it rather than losing time & nerve trying to smoke them in a flake form. This one was no exception. Packed the pipe, introduced the flame, and my first 20 minutes was one dimensional, bland, hot smoke, hot chamber, hot everything, and challenging to maintain. I was hardly able to take it under control. The curious thing, even though the size of the ember was too small to keep it lit, the amount of hot smoke coming through the pipe was enormous. I was about to give up due to bland taste and hot steam, just received a call, and eventually gave up smoking for 15-20 minutes. Upon relighting, it was surprisingly Escudo. Baffling but seriously, it tasted just like Escudo (well, I was never a fan of Escudo, it was an "acquired taste" type of smoke for me). After 20 or so puffs later I started thinking what else it reminds me of, because you see, now the taste was not as spicy as Escudo. Then it hit me, Mac Baren's Club Blend and Dark twist roll cake (I call them fake VaPers).

Take out the spiciness of Escudo, insert in some roll cake and Club Blend there, slightly sugary but all over very YOUNG, almost like this unripened/raw taste. All that is said, I am 100% sure this will benefit from a long rest (minimum a year) then some more airtime after aging in a tin. I can see myself buying another tin or two for the future, but not for smoking now. Also, just in case you're wondering, it has nothing to do with st James flake, not even close, no similarities at all. SG st James remains as my no 1 VaPer.

This is good! Was suggested as replacement for McClelland's St James Woods but it did not have nearly the sweetness to be a good sub for SJW. I would put this on more toward spicy than sweet, it definitely has some VA. sweetness but just not the level that I look for. Somewhat on the darker side for a VA. as opposed to the brighter. Moist out of the tin, rubs out easily, packs well, lights easily, smokes to the bottom of the bowl if allowed some drying time before smoking.

Before and after opening the tin, I couldn’t do without thinking that Cabbies is something to re-create the Three Nuns of old. The recipe and the look are both there. But that’s all, and since my self confidence in my memories is quite low, I don’t want even to attempt any (un)objective comparison.

After the first of two tins I can say that this is bit strange VaPer combination. The Virginias are kinda “dry” in the sense that sweetness is pretty much subdued. The Perique adds a small dimension, more on the piquant-spicy side than the ripe fruit, which on the other hand can be mildly found in the tin aroma. The result is a herbal, slightly fruity, salt-and-pepper flavour. No trace of Lakeland essences. Mildly piquant to the nose.

Cabbies is good, and I could see myself smoking this all the day. It’s a consistent smoke that does not go tiresome, and has an appropriated nic hit. Plus it smokes cool and no way to be bitten . But, no sparkles here…

Tin held the slightly messy roll cut coins along with some loose ribbon virginias, mostly golden pieces. Starts off pretty smooth, figgy and stewed fruit which evolves quite a bit and is enjoyable. Also some grassiness and citrus.. further spice from the perique, and I get this toasty almost bread like quality which touches on caramel or molasses. What keeps this blend at 3 stars is the floral / soapy like flavors that come in and out during the bowl, which tend to morph into a more enjoyable flavor that would make you swear some type of burley is present... definitely calls for drying time, I enjoy the blend a good VaPer with a nice sweetness but due to the soapiness (that I cannot stand, and an element that is present usually in aromatic blends) I am skeptical and it is not as good as I'd have hoped...

Little coarse-cut mini-rolls or 'coins' with a nice level of moistness that could stand a few minutes drying time after being rubbed out. A Va/Perique blend but it seems to have a little something extra... it has a tin aroma like figs or stewed prunes that give a little added fruity sweetness to the spicyness of the perique. Not bad at all.

This is sort of the neglected blend from Gawith. And I think that's too bad. It comes in curly disks, and is medium strength in all regards. Though that doesn't really do it justice. Its a rich quality blend.The perique is clearly present but not overwhelming. It provides a nice bottom spice, but doesnt take away from the Virginias. Like all Gawith tobaccos the quality is top notch. It bears some comparison...slight...to the old 3 Nuns. But this is a bit more rustic and with a tougher edge to it. It is also comparable to Dunhill Navy Rolls, but richer and deeper. I really like this blend. It is a good all day tobacco in fact if you like Perique. It is maybe not a classic but I think should age well. A little dry time is advised. 3 and a half stars.

I'm a fan of Virginia/Perique blends and I always like to try something new, so Cabbie's Mixture made it's way into my pipe. I bought the 50 oz tin and cracked it open. The aroma was fantastic and was too wet to smoke, as I had figured. My first bowl of Cabbie's was great. It was something new and interesting, however, it got to be a bit of a chore to smoke it after the first few bowls. Cabbie's has the bright notes of Virginia, but much more of the dark Perique. In fact, I would say that it has too much Perique for the amount of Bright Virginia it contains.

Cabbie's is not a bad blend, by any stretch of the imagination. It would be just so much better with less Perique. At least, for my tastes. I'm not one to shy away from Perique, as Bayou Morning is one of my favorites. I just think that there needs to be more balance between, brights and Perique. Bayou Morning contains a good deal of Perique, but the Virginias used are Red and stoved Red. Escudo has brights, but does not contain overwhelming Perique; there's a good bit, but not at Cabbie's levels.

At any rate, Cabbie's Mixture is worth trying. It may be your desert island tobacco. But for me, it just contains too much Perique for the Virginia constituents that are used. I vacillated between 2 and 3 stars, so 2.5 will be the final verdict.