Samuel Gawith Cabbie's Mixture

I try to avoid new tobacco hype but this one kept coming up as being especially great so I thought I'd give it a try when I found it at a B&M. I wish I hadnt bothered. Not that its bad, but I dont consider it anything special. Nice presentation - the coins are delightful and really easy to work with despite being wet (less than normal SG but still wet). The tin note smells to me of stewed apples. But when lit its just, meh. Its not bad, there's nothing offensive going on, its just... meh.

I've heard it ages well so maybe I'll leave it and do an edited review at some point but for now its not something I'll be returning to.

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.

Soft coins of VaPer. Smells nice in the tin. Very moist. After a brief dry I loaded my pipe. Grassy, boring. No change in character as the bowl was smoked down. Tasted something strange. Couldn't put my finger on it. Few days later I rubbed some up for another go. Dried it out for 20 min or so. Pure soap taste. Couldn't smoke it. It is nice in presentation and feel but man did they get this wrong. I don't understand the reviews that praise this blend, but to each is own. Don't think I would even pass this full tin along. What a shame.

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? 🙂

Lakeland scent alert! I don't know if it is intentional, or just contamination from being processed on tainted equipment. It is very low intensity, so I suspect the latter case -- especially since other reviewers don't even mention it.

That said, it's a tasty 4-star VaPer -- if you can get past the floral scent. This is about at the threshold of my tolerance for floral scents, so I can still enjoy it and feel OK about giving this a somewhat recommended 2-star rating.

I was very excited to try this tobacco. Samuel Gawith Virginia with Perique? St James Flake is one of my favorites, so I had a feeling I’d love this offering.

First quarter of the bowl is a complete pepper bomb, which can be a plus for some smokers, but not for me.

Luckily, the pepper tones down quite a bit and I’m able to enjoy the sweet tangy virginia in the blend.

It really hits its stride halfway through the bowl. Yummy!

This is a fantastic tobacco, and I’d smoke it a lot more if I didn’t have to drudge through the pepper bomb at the beginning of the bowl.

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.