Samuel Gawith Perfection

I see the ratings for this mixture are all over the place. Perfection? I think not. But to some one it apparently was. None the less this mixture seems balanced to myself. The Latakia is pleasant and noticeable throughout the smoke I would say that the Virginia and Turkish are the stars in this mixture. Vanilla? Not that I could detect. But over all a very nice smoke. I would buy this mixture again. Peace

I am a huge fan of Samuel Gawith Blends. I find their tobaccos to be of very high quality and are always complex or very rich. I'm guessing some would consider this a "cross over" blend but I'm gonna call it an Aromatic. It was something that I was very interested in trying from a brand that has brought me FVF, SL, BBF and Firedance Flake.

The tin has a wonderful presentation of dark blacks and browns with specks of beige and gold. I got a top note of sweetness/ vanilla. I was a little surprised to hear that others didn't detect any casing when they opened the tin. The Vanilla seems to smooth out the Latakia and Oriental's scent from the tin. It's very refreshing.

The tobacco straight out of the tin is a little moist and can definitely use some drying. Packs like most other ribbon cuts but is a little thicker than some other blenders. It is definitely not an overly gooey tobacco and won't leave your hand with excessive flavoring residue.

Lighting this tobacco there is a slight hint of vanilla. It's hard to call this a vanilla because it's an overall general sweetness. It does a great job of pushing the flavor of the orientals with the latakia into the forefront while providing a nice undertone of sweetness. Pipeline hit the nail on the head comparing this to a softer version of Squadron Leader. The VAs don't seem to do much in this blend, or at least not in my experience with it. But the first half of the bowl has some nice interplay between the "vanilla" topping and the other tobaccos (mainly latakia and turkish/oriental). There does seem to be a bit too much of Turkish taking the spotlight away from the other tobaccos. It doesn't tend to bite too much but does leave a funny feeling in your mouth. But I have had this reaction to some English blends.

Now, the remaining half of the bowl is something that's frustrating and disappointing. It seems that the topping wears off (or potentially compounds on itself) and gives off a very ashy flavors. One of the reviewers, Sirloirn, aptly put "cigarette taste towards the bottom". I don't know if it's just too much Turkish or what. But, without fail almost every bowl, of every material that I have, of various sizes of pipes, the latter half just turns into an ashy flavor with the occasional hint of Latakia. The one positive about finishing a bowl is that there is a clean white ash and no gooey mess.

If this tobacco could maintain that gentle balance that it has for the first half, this would be an easy 3 star blend if not bordering on a 4 star. But, since I can't have a positive latter half of the bowl, it's only good for 2 stars.

Alas, I could not enjoy this blend as much as I wanted to. I have found Glynn Quelch's Chocolate and Vanilla to be the Aromatic Latakia blend I was looking for. Though it is nothing like Perfection.

I usually like my English blends on the light side, I find Latakia heavy blends can also have a tartness to them, perfection really is sweet tasting but with plenty of smokey flavor. The Virginia still takes the main stage and the Turkish is a nice additive. I wish there were more Latakia blends like this, middle of the road, in a nice way. I preferred it to squadron leader. I agree with reviewers, the vanilla really goes unnoticed. Great entry level English blend for aromatic or va lovers. A nice early morning English blend. I've found its great for blending, adding a little spice to OTC blends without altering their intended flavors.

Tried several Samuel Gawith blends and this is the one that works for me. A proper english blend that can be smoked any time of the day, and all day long if I get lucky.

Tried the small tin as well as the carboard package and they both seem the same to me. The "vainilla hint", as many have pointed might as well be a typo: this does not smells or taste like vainilla. Still, I have to admit that there is something that do give this blend a nice round finish.

Ok, I was sceptical about this one. A vanilla flavoring on a Latakia blend?

Actually, it is very very subtle: only barely perceivable in the tin aroma, and even less during the smoke.

It's not a bad tobacco, provided that you let it dry quite a bit (like many other SG offerings). It tastes natural, it has a nice medium body and taste, and it smokes very well. It reminds me of Squadron Leader, but perhaps less dominated by the orientals.

It isn't a tobacco that one can rave about: nothing particularly striking, but it's a fine all-day smoke. Tasty without being too heavy, with a nice balance of nutty, spicy and sweet. Ok, maybe if I actually smoked this all day long I would quickly grow bored with it.

Not necessarily a blend I will stash in my cellar, but I'll gladly buy a tin of it once in a while.

Tin: Abundant, smoky, spicy Turkish bouquet, mix of tans, brown, and blacks. Medium ribbon cut. Supple but not sticky.

Taste-Aroma: Nice soft, tasty, sweet, with a spicy effect, a nutty tone, with the Turkish fragrant herbal taste and aroma predominating. A stoved sour cigarette taste develops towards the bottom. Classic tongue bite develops with consecutive bowls.

Nicotine: moderate

Room Note: Turkish cigarettes

Overall: The nice initial oriental taste at the top, followed by classic tongue bite by the bottom of the bowl, reminds me of Balkan Sasieni, which I recently tossed out. Two stars.

Well, Sam Gawith struck out on this one. Mixing Captain Black and Standard Mixture Mild does not yield anything that excites me. I just could not get this blend to taste like much of anything. Room note is all right. Maybe a transitional mix for some - it's easy enough to smoke, and quality is high.

For me, I'd rather sink into some Commonwealth or Squadron Leader if I want an English, and if I want an aromatic, I'll hit the Captain Black or Argosy or something. Once again, a tobacco tries to do it all, and comes out flat.

Appearance: The 100-gram pouch, packaged from a bulk, had an excise stamp that read "Q2 2020". I couldn't find any other information about the date of production, but I'm willing to believe that the tobacco is at least two to three years old. The fine, almost cigarette-cut ribbon of light-colored Virginias, treated with steam, has turned from yellow to wheat. And the rest of the tobacco, cut with a slightly coarser ribbon, had also darkened. Despite the age, the blend is somewhat moist - I had to dry it out for a while before stuffing it.

Flavor: Smoothed leather and wood aroma that brings to mind an old armchair, a touch of peat and dust, a faint but noticeable citrus sourness from the aged bright Virginias, a touch of sweet wildflowers from the same, spiced with the lightest whiff of vanilla. Orientals? Perhaps they are there, but their smell hardly participates in the overall flavor, creating something like smoked paprika in connection with the latakia.

Taste: very smoothed out, well assembled, with a slight density. Wood and hay notes play a major role, being framed by a very carefully added smokiness, there is a slight sweetness with a creamy taste. Orientals give a light sour note to the palate and are also felt on the retrohale, bringing a slight spiciness to the overall bouquet. Slightly harsh initially, the tobacco flavor becomes more balanced towards the middle of the pipe. The tobacco burns slowly, evenly and cool enough, but does not like overheating, quickly losing taste, although it does not bite. It is quite hygroscopic, leaving some moisture in the pipe even after drying, so I would suggest a straight pipe for this tobacco. The strength of the blend is low - I didn't get a nicotine hit even from a very large pipe. The blend burns out into an almost white ash, giving no lumps. It has virtually no aftertaste.

The smoke from the tobacco is quite light, with a barely noticeable aroma of peat and wood.

What's the bottom line? "Perfection"? No, not at all. I prefer the name the Chinese gave the tobacco after looking at its label - "Blue Dog". Calm, dozing at the feet of his master, who’s sitting in an old armchair with a pipe in his hands. I prefer other accents of English blends, but I suppose that, as an everyday tobacco, this dog would never be left unattended. 2.5.

This “Perfection” tobacco is a mild-Latakia forward blend with bright and brown Virginias and supposedly with added vanilla. There is little to no Nic-hit, no bite and the forward aroma is a mild Latakia. This is a mild English blend with no complexity and no vanilla you will detect in either taste, nor tin-note. Think of a very weak Sillems Black without nearly as much taste or aroma.

Perfection can be an all day smoke if you don’t get bored with it. If you are starting out on Latakia blends, this is a perfect intro. Don’t expect any aromatic experience from vanilla because it’s really non-existent. I don’t think this ever was a Vanilla topping tobacco, but rather vanilla extract used to alter the sweetness of the existing Virginias only - used more for chemistry than taste or note. A very nice light intro to Latakia forward English blends you can build upon. I would suggest you buy Sillems Black if you enjoy this one.

Give it a shot, but don’t expect too much.