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.

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.

Fresh tobacco smells like dry fruits, mainly figs, a bit citrusy, hay like aroma. Not bad at all. Good for spring time. Standard broken coins in my sample was too wet to pack. Half an hour was enough to dry it. Burns good with accurate cadence without moisture. Taste is earthy, fruity, very tangy. Could cause tongue bite. Overall, this tobacco leave very specific experience, but too much spiciness is not for me.

Tin came with a year on it already, must have been some lost stock or a weirdness shipped over from Kendal. The average bowl, over the course of multiple tastings, seems to be presenting primarily with buttered peppery raisins with a sugar coating. There are herbal Lakeland notes, but a distant cousin to the Lakeland genre in general. Ripe plum emerges at times. The profile can get harsh and mildly acrid depending on the pack and cadence; this doesn’t want to be pushed. However, the harsher aspects can present even when sipped. It’s not a pepper bomb, but it’s definitely not in the stewed fruit camp. Overall a sweet, lightly fermented VaPer profile with a bit of an edge from the herbal Lakeland and perique.

The consistency of profile is moderate; some bowls are better than others, but they all generally follow the same meta profile. It can burn mildly hot, even when babied; very likely the high sugar content. The leaf quality is high and the tin presentation is good. Mild to medium nicotine for your standard VA tolerance; would be considered unnoticeable if you’re used to stronger fare. Repeatability is acceptable, one could smoke multiple bowls a day of this if so inclined, but I wouldn’t put it in the “all day smoke” category. The pepper and herbal edge can get tiresome if indulged in too frequently.

This is a Somewhat Recommended blend based on the 1y tin I received. However, knowing how LBF ages, and with its price point of less than half this VaPer offering from SG, I would feel quite confident in foregoing this blend in favor of LBF if you are budget conscious. Those who appreciate a bit of an herbal pepper edge to their VaPers may value this one highly enough to shoulder the premium and go deep on it. I personally could see taking a very conservative buying position on this and purchasing a single tin, perhaps two, a year. The age potential seems reasonable to good on this blend.

Nice artwork, nice smell of figs and tea and the coins are quite moist. No matter how you smoke it, the first part is a strong Lakeland essence experience as in soapy. By mid bowl, the dominant Virginia is grassy and hay with some pepper and dry prunes from the Perique. Strange as this was advertised as no flavoring, I guess it could be because of bad quality control from SG. The only positive thing is that I only ordered one tin of this.

I don't mind the British flavorings, I even enjoy them from time to time but as far as "natural" tobacco goes, this is a failure. Two stars as advertised as an unflavored tobacco, four stars as a Lakeland aromatic.

Virginia lover

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.