Samuel Gawith Commonwealth Mixture

A real manly smoke. I personally love Latakia so a mixture of 50 percent Latakia and 50 percent Virginia would be a mix made in heaven. This blend is very smoky, leathery, and earthy, has some floral overtones as well. Holds a light. Burns clean and smells ever so lovely and stinky strong. Like I said a real manly smoke. Peace.

Samuel Gawith - Commonwealth Mixture.

The mixture covers the whole spectrum of tobacco colours, right from bright yellow to jet black. The aroma of the mixture is delightful, a very rich and intoxicating blend of smoky Latakia, a touch of raisins and an almost peaty quality. Moisture level is superb with this one, requiring no extra time to dry.

Due to the moisture it lights with great ease, giving a brilliant/even burn leaving a grey ash. I can't find a negative point with the flavour of the smoke, the Virginia gives it a very solid base with the smoky eminence from the Latakia really shining brightly. I don't get any dried fruit as I did in the aroma at all, but what I do get is pure brilliance.

Room note: full, but I like. Nicotine: medium.

I feel that if you like Latakia smokiness then this one is a must for you to try!

Four stars.

Medium cut. Powerful smell. Taste - rich, sweetish, dark, smoky, plum-pudding. Marked liquorice note - not unlike some dark beers, such as Theakston's 'Old Peculier', in that respect, and the two go well together. Despite the high Latakia content, it is well balanced by the Virginia. Pure latakia is strongly-flavoured but curiously lacking in body, as I discovered when I smoked some experimentally. This mixture, therefore, could have been a bit thin - but it isn't. The Virginia has been well chosen to beef it up. This is one of my four S.G. regulars. So far, I have only ever tried it new, but I have five tins of it ageing - 9 months old at the moment - and will open one every Christmas for the next five years, to see what happens to it as it ages.

A 50/50 mix of Latakia & Virginia hardly seems like a novel idea. I would assume that just about every person who has tried their hand at home-blending has attempted something similar to this with a varying degree of success. Commonwealth Mixture could easily be an average smoke, maybe even boring. However, the quality of the leaf, combined with the way Sam Gawith processes their Virginias for optimal sweetness, turns a seemingly simple blend into something that is way more compelling than I would have ever imagined.

The tin note is a full, smoky & just plain wonderful. Like Squadron Leader or Skiff Mixture, the tobacco is cut thin; it's easy to pack and requires very little dry time. When lit, the flavor is Latakia-forward with the Virginia adding a subtle influence of sweetness and there’s a touch of spice on the finish. As the bowl warms, the toasty flavors of the Virginias come forth and begin to harmonize with the Latakia, making for a moderately complex, perfectly balanced and incredibly tasty smoke. As expected, end bowl flavors are spicy, rich and focused.

In my humble opinion, this is a lovely English mixture. The tobacco flavor strength is a firm medium, nicotine strength is mild to medium. I prefer smoking this in a pipe with a wider & more shallow bowl, which helps to coax out some extra complexities. For me, a classic and an instant favorite.

A dark, rich looking blend of great aroma (Latakia mostly): Very smoky, leathery, and earthy. No Oriental, no floral or fruity notes, no complexity or sophistication... Pure "Good Tobacco" and nothing more. A noble one: Serious and generous. It lights very easily and burns clean. One of my favorites

I value my wife's opinion when it comes to Latakia blends, because I find that her nose is the best indicator of quality. She calls them my "leave him alone to smoke in peace and quiet" tobaccos because she hates the smell. However she is able to differentiate between them all with uncanny accuracy, for it seems that her reaction to the room aroma of a good stout English blend is inversely proportional to the actual quality of the smoke. She tells me English Luxury is "awful." "Erinmore Balkan is "shocking." Squadron leader "stinks." Frog Morton is "terrible." And she has always despised anything that came from the house of Dunhill. So, after loading my trusty Ashton XX Pebble Grain and setting it alight, I asked the good woman her opinion of Commonwealth Mixture. When she walked back inside the house, slamming the door behind her, I knew I was onto something extraordinary. If you like blends with a lot of Latakia, then Commonwealth is definitely worth trying. To my tastes it is cool, smooth and bite free. A one note song from start to finish, indeed it is, but what a note! Latakia all the way! Think coal tar, steam trains, leather, campfires, blacksmith shops of old, witch hazel, dust and old machinery. It won't save your marriage, but it might get you a bit of peace and quiet. In short, I think it is sublime.

I received a sample of this from one Friend, Brazilian Pipe Smoker. according to him, this was an aged, maturated sample. Since it not haves Oriental tobaccos, is is not a "complete" English Mixture, but a Virginia-Latakia mixture. Despite it not have Orientals, in the smoking, i remember the antique times, the antique mixtures, and i remenbered Engine 99, Pirate Cake and the antique (not the actual ones) Dunhills, as Standard Mixture Full. For me, it is not so strong in Nicotine, but is strong in flavour... Tobacco flavour. I enjoy this mixture. I'm one between few pipe smokers that enjoy both aromatic and non-aromatic tobaccos.

If this is a sample of the stereotypical English blend, count me in. I've heard some horror stories about the SG tins and not being properly sealed. Not the case with mine. My tin aged about 4 years. Upon cracking it open I was met with a strong smokey smell typical of English blends. The tobacco is pressed in nicely and has a beautiful black oily appearance. I felt like this was my stop as soon as I boarded the SG bus. Examining the leaf I found all good quality product. I let a pinch dry for about ten minutes to start. It settled nicely and took a charring light with ease. I was met with a full stout puff of smoke. I tamped and put the pipe down for almost twenty minutes to breath. When I came back to it, I relit and was off to the races. The flavor was creamy and sweet. Somewhat one dimensional all the way through the bowl. I was not disappointed by this as it was just plain good. Before I knew it my first bowl was gone. It burned nice and even all the way through wth a cool heavy smoke. All in all a very satisfying experience for this venerated blend. I smoked the remainder of the tin over a two week period in four different pipes with the same pleasing results. Never once meeting the over powering Lakeland soapy taste. No tongue bite either. It behaved like a perfect travel companion the whole trip.

Cool,smooth smoke from beginning to end. Maintained with very little attention, burns clean and dry. The right amount of flavor and strength, you don't need to sip or search for the flavor with this one. Nice spicy note on the retrohale. Very well done. 4*.