Samuel Gawith Cabbie's Mixture

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.

Tin note tart stewed fruit and spice. Tobacco coins are black with a little brown and dense, rubs out with effort. Tobacco needs a little drying time. Once started, burns slow with relights. The strength is med and nic is mild-med, both getting stronger toward the end. No flavoring detected. Tobacco taste is full, notes of sweet lemon raisin, grassy and quite peppery. Virginias and perique are neck and neck mostly throughout, maybe perique leads in the beginning and Va's in the last 2/3's, but I'm more inclined to say they are working well supporting each other. Room note is non offensive, and aftertaste was excellent.

Smoking now:

Jar from 2019 that sparkles in the light.

Aroma of sweet and tart Virginias. Lots of barn yard hay. Dark fruit and vinegar. Delightful. Soft broken apart coins. It’s a SG blend so expect this to be wetter than a whale in a rain storm.

The taste is sweet tangy citrus Virginia. A helping of yeast bread. Dark tangy fruit and a pepper spice especially on the retrohale. The perique is pronounced enough to add some depth, strength, and flavor. There’s pepper spice but it is not overwhelming. There’s a decent amount of stewed fruit, plum, fig, ect flavor to this. It’s medium in its flavor. I was expecting this to be a fuller body and flavor vaper but it’s very doable and repeatable. Not a sweet vaper per say but it does have a bit of more sweetness to than others. There’s also some floral elements to it similar to a Lakeland. It’s no where near Ennerdale levels but it is slightly noticeable in the background. I don’t mind it but I could see how this would be a deal breaker for some.

Little aftertaste and little mouth tingle from the perique. Does need more relights if not dried out. Drying this like all SG blends helps. It’s a decent vaper blend with lots of stewed fruit flavor. Would recommend to vaper fans especially if you like perique.

This is good! The red and stoved VAs marry nicely with the Perique, bringing a natural sweetness with hints of dark fruit and a hint of smoky goodness. V well balanced, easy packing, easy lighting, easy smoking, with enough nuance that it's good for multiple bowls -- too bad it is now so difficult to get in the US. I only wish I had bought a few more tins.

My first Va/Per. A quite delicious blend that won’t let you down. When compared to St. James Flake, there is a clear difference. Cabbie’s has a lower amount of perique and a more fruity flavor, while St. James is the opposite: more perique, more of a robust, spicy flavor. Cabbie’s mixture has an ace up it’s sleeve, however, and that is the nicotine level. While it’s hard to initially notice, cabbie’s is slightly stronger than St. James.

Edit: After deep consideration, I will step this down a star. I like it, but not to the extent of Kajun Kake, St. James Flake or Haunted Bookshop. Just my opinion and you should still try this and see what you think.

By golly this is some awfully good tobacco! The tin is full of little raggedy coins of russet brown leaf, a beautiful sight. The aroma from the tin: dried figs, hay, bready Virginia, Perique pong.

You can rub it out with ease, it also works well with the coins rolled into balls and stacked, or even just folded and crammed in. With a bit of "kindling" on top it lights with two matches and burns well, with a couple of relights, to a pinch of dottle.

Flavour is lovely, rich, sweet, bready Virginia with a strong figgy taste and progressive spice from the Perique. There is no bite, and the smoke is rich, full and satisfying. Nicotine content is medium.

There isn't much more to say. This is an outstanding Virginia & Perique tobacco, I motored through the tin in no time at all and have ordered more. Samuel Gawith have concocted another winner: recommended in the strongest terms.

-------Update 2023-------

Sad to say the move to Gawith Hoggarth has not been kind to this tobacco. I've had a couple of tins of the new production, it's rather wetter, has less Perique than it used to, and overall has a damp, steamy quality that I don't much care for. If its dried out well its a little better, but sadly still a shadow of its former self.

The first English style mixture I tried, the coins of Virginia and Perique give a initial smell reminiscent of blends my grandad smoked. Very little noticeable dampness when packing my pipe. Upon lighting my first bowl I was in love with the grassy lightness of the Virginias and the peppery, almost spicy hit of the perique with a fantastic billow smoke cloud giving a very pleasent room note. One that's going into my rotation.

I've only been smoking for 16 months so still finding my way, but I find virginias & VaPers rather bland. So I'm not going to be a big fan of Cabbies. I dont detect the soapy flavour that other reviewers have. I just find it a bit boring overall. Probably good for a lunt, where you're concentrating on walking & not all the complex flavours, because I don't detect much. I've not tried many VaPers or full virginias but Petersons De Luxe Navy rolls is a better VaPer than this one.