Samuel Gawith Perfection

뚜껑따자마자 올라오는 라타키아의 향이 물씬풍긴다. 발칸의 향보다 오히려 더 강하다고 느낄만큼 강하다. 불을 붙여보니 잉글리쉬라인의 특유의 입안박하향과 민트향이 섞인 맛이 입안을 시원하게 한다. 스트러스의 시원함과 동시에 버지니아의 단맛이 뒤따라 올라온다. 우디함과 너트함그리고 바닐라가 배합되어있다해서 그런지 후미에는 바닐라의 크리미함이 느껴진다. 리본컷이라 불은 매우 잘붙고 오히려 맛나다고 쭉쭉 빨다가는 파이프가 뜨거워질정도이다. 불관리가 매우 중요하다 왜냐면 리본컷은 불이 플레이크보다 잘붙어서 과열되면 그맛이 사라진다 그만큼 천천히 조금씩 나눠서 흡입하길 바란다 그럼 그단맛과 고소함에 황홀할것이다 라타키아인만큼 실내 환기는 충분히 시켜주길 바란다 그리고 병안에 오래보관하다보면 그향이 빠지질 않는다는것을 잊지말라. 처음보다는 후미갈수록 크리미함이 매혹적인 퍼펙션!! https://youtu.be/nIrGnGBXf0I

A nice crossover blend. Smokey with a touch of vanilla. Not a bad smoke. The Cyprian Latakia is present but not overpowering. Smokes cool and to a fine white ash.

Bought a tin of this by accident 8 years ago. Cracked open the tin last week. Im not much of a latakia bloke but thought it might make a nice change and especially heading into summer. I really like it. Pleasant taste and the vanilla is not overbearing nor is the latakia. The virginias are great. Bit on the milder side though but all in all a pretty good blend. If you like latakia blends then just try it. Wont be a waste of money even if it turns out it wasnt for you after all. Ill be smoking my tin and am enjoying it.

First - I am one of those who love latakia in periods, but I rarely smoke a tin without switching between it and something lighter on the palette. That said, I really enjoyed this one. Not at all a heavy aromatic, Perfection's added vanilla just smoothens the blend and makes it creamier, without being anymore in one's face than, say, the plum topping of Dunhill Royal Yacht. One of the best English blends that I have tried.

Taste: Really akin to other Gawith English blends like Squadron leader and Skiff mixture, the almost toffee sweet smokeyness with hints of hazelnuts and fresh cut grass greets the smoker as one would expect, with a savoury, salty note steadily present. But this one states that there is a topping of vanilla added. This is a sophisticated topping, not at all overly present or brash in nature, rather it lingers on the tongue on the finish. It adds a bit of sweetness, but this is still no where near as confectionery as McClelland's Frog-series. It is just well rounded and full flavoured. Compared to other offerings in the Samuel Gawith catalogue, this is a bit richer than Skiff Mixture and a bit less so than Squadron Leader.

Mechanics: Fine ribbon cut, not overly moist but could do with some drying, burns great with no bite. Mild to medium nicotine.

Someone feels the vanilla hint, someone doesn't. That's how the personal taste and feeling works! I feel it and to me is very pleasant. In fact, for some summer smokes, I used to add a little bit of Sweet Vanilla Honeydew to some EM. But ther is no need when we have SG Perfection. 4,0/5 in my personal rating system.

The name is misleading, this is not Perfection. It is something like a differently flavoured Westmorland, with a little bit more Latakia smokiness, and some natural sweetness. The casing is subtle but noticeable. The Orientals give it a slight Turkish Delight taste, a bit like Basma (?) though I doubt it comes from Basma indeed. Excellent burning qualities, easy to pack, very long ribbons and a comparably high amount of Lat in this tin. If classified as "English blend", Perfection is one of the worse at Gawith's. As an aromatic, it is excellent. As an "English Aromatic" I have smoked better ones. 2.5 of 5 stars, if you like Westmorland, you probably like Perfection too. Addendum (July 2013) -- now after some serious drying (half year!) it has become a great, musky, smokey blend. Very smokey, slightly bitter, and the vanilla is completely gone. Bumping to 3.5 of 5 stars.

Certainly this is an enigmatic tobacco and while the guess work and trying can be fun - I also am not sure if the inability to characterize this tobacco is not in some way a detriment, that said... I have been smoking it for about a week and am half way through the tin so perhaps five days with three or so bowls per day enough to form some opinions.I have noticed that the few larger bowled pipes I have have been a bit kinder to this blend then my smaller bowled pipes.I prefer the latakia content in my English style mixtures to be between 20 and 35% so for me this is right on the mark.It is smooth and I am secure in my judgement and feelings about Samual Gawith that it is a high quality tobacco.I like the moisture level and it is a consistent and honest tobacco.I will buy it again but will certainly not stock up on it or buy it more then once a year I see some similarity to a tobacco I remember from long ago Temple Bar from Druquer and SOns out in the Bay area.

Once you let this tobacco dry out, the "vanilla" flavor is gone......Forever.

The first few bowls I smoked was a nice, flavorful English mixture with a hint of sweetness. The addition of Turkish to this blend left a sweet, minty flavor on the palate, long after the bowl cooled down.

But after drying out, you are left with a regular SG English blend. But hey, that's not so bad!

A very nice blend from Samuel Gawith. Everything in this blend seems to come together nicely. It comes a little bit moist in the tin. But once it has been opened for a couple days seems to dry out somewhat. I can't really taste the vanilla, but what there is of it makes a nice addition to the smoke. This does seem to burn down nicely to a fine ash at the bottom of the bowl. It also produces a nice amount of smoke. I would recommend this when it is available, which seems to be an issue with Gawith blends of late.