Samuel Gawith Cannon Plug

So, what the heck is Honey Dew ? Various definitions such as aphid excrement, melon variety, honey and even the biblical manna. Opening the 25 gram pouch........ Sweaty lady wrestlers, seventies Lebanese brothel, fake Channel perfume from EBay.........my mind wanders! Ripping it apart, I must say provided some tactile sensory pleasure, but that’s the best I can say about this abhorrent offering. So wet....someone poured a bucket of mixed styrax and rose water over the lump. Lighting up was painful. Five or six relights to get it going, which has never happened in my fifty years of pipesmoking. When I finally got it fired the taste was awful, like smoking stewed candy floss. This 25 g. pouch was one of ten or so samples bought from Gq in the U.K., who are brilliant. Used an old Meerschaum thank God, never again to see the light of day. Immediately after the onslaught, I tried Coniston plug, which was great. I like aromatics, don’t get me wrong. Used to smoke Clan and Holland house in the seventies...sacre bleu, but moved onward and upward since then. The reviews I have read are highly variable. I guess this must be a Marmite thing. No tongue bite whatsoever, even with my steam engine puffing to keep it lit. My wife, believe it or not, actually liked the room note. I’m filing for divorce next week. Smoked the whole packet, mostly because I’m a Jewish Scotsman and have to live up to reputation somehow. Anyway, if you like extreme Lakeland tobacco, go for it, but alas, it’s not for me. The good news, they found a Covid vaccine. The bad, they’re still producing this garbage.My dog likes to roll around in horse shite......my mind wanders.

"Cheviot"...This flavoring I simply do not like...whatever it is, it is not my idea of "honey-dew" or anything close to that flavor. Some have suggested patchouli, I do not like that scent either...so for me, this is the only SG plug I can't tolerate.

This thing smells everything but tobacco, the floreal scent is overwhelming. The plug format gives it a certain coolness, when smoked, but also a burning quality less than average. A fine blend for the aromatic-heads, but not my cup of tea.

To start, I'll add my two cents to the "honeydew vs. cheviot" debate. This is definitely not honeydew. And while it may contain cheviot, that is not the only or even the dominant casing. The biggest flavoring here can only be one thing - Patchouli. Yes, that shower-substitute scent for generations of Deadheads. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some rose essence here either. SG isn't known for its full disclosure (check out Tarek's site, where he was told that this was a natural Virginia plug!) Now, to my review.

I tried this early in my smoking career and couldn't take the intense incense flavor. Since then, however, I have grown to enjoy some of the scented Lakeland flakes, in particular GH Glengarry (which IS honeydew, and absolutely delicious), GH #7 Broken Flake (pretty good), and SG Special #7 Flake (which is Cheviot, and very good). So I decided to give this another try.

Many aromatics smell like vanilla or cherry or whatever, but don't taste like those things. Nor do they taste like tobacco, since the underlying leaf is weak and chosen only for its ability to soak up casings. Cannon Plug does not have either flaw. The patchouli-plus casing comes through at full force, and is supported by a full-strength tobacco.

I tried a bowl of this in a corn cob pipe (wise move), just slightly breaking up the cube. It was very difficult to keep lit, but it kept my interest. Next up, I loaded a smallish cube but filled and topped the bowl with some end-of-the-tin Reiner Golden Flake, hoping to use it as tinder. It worked, but the Reiner was undetectable. This tobac is a love-or-hate thing, because the casings are really distinctive. There is nothing else. Even the strong tobaccos are powerless to assert flavors, and add only an "oomph" and a slight edge. Unfortunately, I fall into the "hate" category. No amount of aging could change this one.

Vile. It does possess some aerodynamic virtues. When I "skipped" this across the surface of my pond, I got four perfect bounces before it sunk. A few minutes later the entire pond was awash in dead amphibian creatures.

How am I going to get the smell out of all those fish?

I get it. It's flavored with "Chevrolet" not "Cheviot". Or, it could be flavored with "Chevron"...about 90 Octane would be my best guess.

If we're to believe the esteemed history that this blend carries, perhaps this is one of those anachronistic tobacco oddities that you should enjoy in your confederate army officer uniform while camped out somewhere in Alabama, shooting muzzle-loading rifles at union army re-enactors.

Here in the present, though, this is another fantastic blend of quality leaf that is overwhelmed by the topping.

Out of the bag (bulk purchase), the plug smells like Christmas: Cloves, oranges, spices, children being chased by giant living nutcracker soldiers, etc.

But after a few minutes, that happy troop of scents is replaced by an irritating and cloying smell that lingers and begins to saturate everything in the room. Keep this stuff in the mason jar that housed your stinkiest topped flakes, otherwise it will creep into everything. And test it out in a cob or something bought for abuse until you're sure you love this stuff.

The taste is just too much to bear for me, and the nicotine punch is also serious enough to put it in the rope-strength category.

Worth a try if only for the historical aspect, but it is not for the faint of heart---or nose.

UPDATE: When ground up and sprinkled around garden shed walls, this blend may actually be more useful as pest control for ants and mice.

I love SG tobaccos, but, oh my, this is the most powerfully scented tobacco I have ever smoked. Warning: to try this stuff, use a pipe that you can throw away if you don't enjoy it; don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Now, I can see how this tobacco can be an acquired taste. I enjoy the Lakeland soapiness of SG tobaccos, however, the flavoring is just too strong for me to enjoy. It's powerful, perfumy, and cloying. To get an idea, mix several perfumes with body bath oil and scented dishwashing detergent and allow the mixture to soak into a tobacco. Not my cup of tea.

Be warned, pipe fellas, it seems like Samuel Gawith has used crumbled patchouli incense sticks as a flavoring in this plug. If you´re still stuck in the late sixties on your hippie trip, this might be for you, but all others should refrain from this terrible crap. Occasionally I like to have english or irish aromatics like Erinmore flake or Peterson´s University flake in my pipe but this kind of flavoring is definitely not for me. This is a love-or-hate tobacco and I guess you must have served for the British empire in India or been raised on porridge and Marmite to enjoy this stuff.

From the first light the smell and taste of patchouli overwhelms you until the very end. There´s no tobacco taste to detect. I´ve smoked Cannon Plug from a clay pipe(thank god) as I´d bet it would create an awful crossover to my briars.

Sorry, but I can´t say anything good about this tobacco. Samuel Gawith produces a lot of wonderful mixtures and flakes, but Cannon Plug is not among these.

0 out of 10 in my personal rating

It burns cool, slow and dry. The Virginias are cigarette like with some earthy accents as the bowl progresses. Make no mistake this is a strong aromatic plug, it's all about the Honey Dew flavoring. Too sickly sweet and perfumy, this smell and taste are not pleasant for me. Surely it fares better in the pipes of amateurs of strong aromatics.

Virginia lover