Samuel Gawith Cabbie's Mixture

I come to pen my review on this smoke as it was in my pipe at the time. What amazed me was finding it was a more simple mix than I had imagined. I was expecting some Kentucky or burley in the mix as the taste was quite a rich and interesting. So for that reason I have to give it four stars rather than the three I was thinking of.

The tobacco was light brown caramel in colour and packed with ease after some drying time. Lit and smoked with a standard three stage fill without much bother. The perique is obvious but not to dry to the mouth with its pepper taste. The virginias give a taste just as they looks a good sweet caramel which nears creamy at times but never so much as to become sickly. Overall a full but mellow smoke with vitamin N included. The tea like smell of the product unlit is nice but gives only a flicker of what is to come.

A great smoke that will only grow on me.

For me this is the epitome of the Samuel gawith range.

A fantastic straight up virginia and perique roll cut.

Opening the tin a lovely sweet and sour aroma from the Virginias emanates from the tin, then underneath that the spicy foggy tones from the perique greets us and marries together in a beautiful medley.

(For those worried about the "lakeland" essence, do not worry, none is to be found here.)

Easily rubbed out to the smokers preference, which is what I have done to my four tins for jarring purposes.

This does need drying time as trying to light up straight up straight out of the tin I would imagine it is easier trying to set asbestos aflame.

But with some dry time ignition is not an issue.

In smoking all them beautiful aromas from the opening of the tin transfer beautifully to the smoking which makes for a truly mouth watering smoke.

The Virginias are always centre stage with support and slight muscle from the perique. Although strong it is never overwhelming, and the flavours just keep getting better and better, as you go down the bowl there is a more caramelised note and a creamy after taste and Burns down to a fine ash, with minimal fuss.

This is a VaPer to be reckoned with, using perique as spice tobacco, if over done can lead to disaster, and I find less is more, which is the gawith has gone with this. At only 6% perique, it doesn't seem a lot but it is just right. A beautiful smoke and as already has been said this is the epitome of the Sam gawith range, and I dare say an absolute bench mark for those who like this type of tobacco.

Samuel Gawith - Cabbie’s Mixture

Recently I’ve found myself highly engrossed in the VaPer blends and I’m glad I purchased this one. I originally opened this tin around July 2019, upon first opening this blend it was wet and needed plenty of drying time it’s presented in a curly cut, think much much smaller coins like LBF without the cavendish, it smoked nice but wasn’t quite their yet.

Fast forward 6 months and this blend has had time to dry and age inside a mason jar, and I feel like this blend is truly starting to shine, it’s figgy Perique with a slightly musty note, the Virginia’s have a buttery sort of smell to it.

The mix of Virginia’s and Perique mix well, peppery but also sweetness which blossoms at the right time. I will say, if you smoked this fast it will burn hot, and due to my own negligence I was rewarded with a slight case of tongue bite.

I’m enjoying this thoroughly, this won’t replace Elizabethan for me, as currently that sits on a pedestal, however if this was as readily available as this blend and Peterson stops making them Elizabethan I will replace it with this.

I would say that aging this for a period of time will help make this blend even more enjoyable.

3.6/4 stars

All day smoke if your inclined. Coins load easy in a large bowl. Fit tight in my Stanwell Black Diamond,but smoked fine. Light on the Perique . The Virginia is as expected citrus and hay. Always on hand for me. Try it!

I'll rate this from a new pipe smoker's point of view - about 5 months into pipe smoking. I started off with the usual Aromatics and then to English. Wasn't too happy with the blends I smoked as none had that "I want this everyday" kind of feel/taste. Then I stumbled on GL Pease's Virginia Cream and liked that very much. Moved on to C&D's Autumn Evening, Peterson's Hyde Park and found these last three blends were more to my taste and preference. The common leaf in these blends - Virginia. As a beginner, I've read that we ought to steer clear from full Virginias and Vapers as they smoke hot. But since I now know that Virginia based blends are my calling, I proceeded to get a tin of Cabbie's Mixture based on the reviews here. The verdict? This is pure bliss for me. Smells of dried stone fruits and very moist to the touch. Dried it out for about 10 minutes. Needs a couple of relights in the beginning but thereafter stays lit throughout. Taste wise it's very fruity at the top but towards the bottom of the bowl it slowly changes to a nutty flavor. My favourite at the moment and it's highly recommended. This is definitely something you can smoke the whole day.

All the other reviews sum up this great tobacco accurately but none mention the presence of a whiff of menthol which I clearly detect, in the smoke as well. So, is it like the old Three Nuns? Virginia and Perique in a cut coin, how could it not be? 🙂

When you open your pouch or tin you will see a mix of coins and broken coins semi rubbed out. The smell is a fantastic mix of earthy hay and stewed fruit. There isn't the musty vinegary scent I associate with lakeland VaPers in Cabbies Mixture yet the tang from the perique is present from the charring light and consistent throughout. There's a great sweetness that underlines the experience which manages to not be cloying or artificial.

In terms of the mechanics due to how the coins come semi rubbed out the ratios of the blend can vary from bowl to bowl depending if you rub out the whole coins or take a pinch of the loose ribbons. Personally I like that you can mix things up a bit but I can understand why that would be a negative aspect for some. There is some significant drying time required due to the nature of spun rope tobaccos but nothing too crazy. There is often quite a bit of moisture with the odd sodden ribbon or two at the bottom of the bowl.

What this VaPer does that many others don't is the mix of strong sweetness and strong pepperiness from start to finish which remains consistent throughout with subtle grassiness and earthiness which prevents this blend from being boring. The type of smoke you want to keep going all day.

I have finally got around to reviewing this, and I would like to mention that I remembered to do so because I came across bulk. I didn't know they were selling this in bulk, and quite frankly until I lit it up, I thought there was no difference between tin and bulk. Well, in this case, the bulk version sure does seem to have less Perique than the tin, in as far as it seems less peppery to my taste. Overall, it's a good quality tobacco. The coins are less in diameter than what I am used to, well defined, but with some loose strips available also. Now I am not sure if this is what it is originally, but I did receive like so in the green pouch that the tobacconist used - some coins may have fallen apart during transportation in a suitcase. I might add that it is also a tad moist as I have received it. Taste wise, we have a forefront of sweet bright virginia, that resembles a combination of hay, honey and a bit (just a very bit) of flowery something. The pepper complements the smoke to the point it is not an overwhelming sweet, but in my case and in contrast with the tin version (which I have previously smoked and have not reviewed) I think I would have preferred a tad more perique. Over all I find it a very decent smoke, it could be an all day smoke easily for a Virginia lover, not for me though because I cannot easily restock - so I keep it as a treat.

Va/Pers are a little elusive for me. I find things like Beacon pretty peppery, and I find Escudo a little flat, a little medicinal actually. And a lot of va/pers are like that. Scottish Cake and Navy Rolls tread a nice middle ground for me, with enough sweetness to balance the perique (but both obviously "fuller" than a straight Va).

Not a great lover of the Gawith virginia family, I didn't hail this Cabbie too quickly. More the fool me. Beautiful tobacco. Smells rich in the tin, and the taste follows up with all that promise. Deeply sweet, and just enough perique to be constant, but not overwhelming. There are flavors in this which I can't describe except to say that they are delicious and really represent to me what pipe smoking is or should be all about.

The first bowl I smoked, I detected the "lakeland" sort of sauce not strongly, but there for sure. This was in a pipe that gives that up pretty readily (but which does indeed seem to smoke other va/pers true, Navy Rolls, Club Blend, etc). So I was a little put off. I haven't really had that experience in other pipes - so the cake taste in your briar may be enough to ward the "ghost of sam" or it might just be that with a little air and time, it fades. My last bowl walking the dog with a large Castello Dublin I got nothing at all in terms of the lakeland essence, but I did marvel a bit at how if I pushed the bowl, the spice became dominant, and if I relaxed, it sweetened up again.

Really a top class tobacco. I don't smoke a ton, and when I do I want to enjoy it at a top-flight level, and this delivers. If you see Cabbie's, buy it. It's that simple.