Samuel Gawith Perfection

I hoped for more and got much less. Perfection arrives way too moist and the cut is very rough requiring (for me) a lot of rubbing out. The flavor is bland and the vanilla....no vanilla to be found. It really needs some vanilla because as an English blend, it lacks badly. When I want and English with some Vanilla, 4 Noggin's "Britts Balkan" is the go to blend for me.

I was pretty excited to try this mixture after reading the tin description. I was even willing to look passed the fact that it stated it had vanilla in the mix. In my opinion true English mixtures do not include casings.

I popped the tin, and found the aroma to be, eh, flat. Not a whole lot going on there. I could not detect the vanilla which was not a terrible thing.

The moisture content was very good, and the consistency was perfect. Too bad the "perfection" stopped there.

I loaded this up in a small Peterson billiard, and got to puffing.

The first thing I thought of while drawing on the pipe was where is the tobacco? I did not detect any vanilla, nor did I detect anything that resembled an English style tobacco either. This was simply bland. I got a hint of Latakia in the aroma, but I really wish that would have come across in a little bit more of a full flavour. I understand this tobacco has been marketed as a light English, but this was like the ultra light of pipe smoke.

I can say that it burned evenly, though a little quickly. No strange goo left in my pipe, but I was most disheartened by the lack of complexity in this blend.

Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe is advertised to be a light English, but it is extremely complex while not overloading the taste buds.

I might recommend this to someone who is a casual smoker of aromatics, and might wish for a change of pace. If you are a dedicated hardcore English tobacco smoker, I would say you will be disappointed by this.

I just never thought about trying this blend due to the hugh variance in revieews. BIG MISTAKE. The gentleman that had SG create this blend has a very similar "palate" to mine I guess. I find the name of "perfection" PERFECT.

I cannot believe just how wonderful the taste and burning quality of this fine blend. My initial order was for one 50g tin. I'm going for more right away and I will be less likely to let others steer me away. One thing is clear the pallets of humans are as different as personality. You just got to try one when the inspiration hits.

*****

This is the second SG blend that I have found to react oddly with my tongue and taste buds, leaving my sense of flavor diminished after a bowl. Not exactly tongue bite but something akin. That aside, the blend is pretty mild in flavor but a worthy SG product for a piper seeking an all day light English.

Being a big fan of S.G. Tobaccos, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed with this one. Everything about this blend is subliminal. You think you might be getting ready for some kind of flavor burst, only to have it disappear as quickly as it started. It took some effort to keep this stuff lit as well. Very moist just out of the tin, might want to let it sit out a bit before putting a match to it. Nothing really stands out with this blend, IMHO it's just too bland for my palette. I don't think I'll be wanting anymore of this in the future...

Reading the mainly positive reviews below I'm wondering if I got a dud tin.

Not impressed. The supposedly light vanilla flavouring is totally overpowering, both on the nose when sniffing a newly-opened tin and on the palate when smoking. It also tastes suspiciously synthetic. I have tried leaving the tin for a few weeks and coming back to it and am not much mollified.

All a matter of taste, I suppose, but I find this pretty much unsmokeable.

Zulujerk says it all. The only difference is that Perfection will never again see the inside of any of my pipes. A couple of bowlfuls or this is enough for a lifetime.

Now hold on a sec...don't think that you are buying an aromatic if you purchase a tin of this mixture. The tin smell, as I could discern, was that of an english...there was no vanilla aroma present...but there was a faintly peculiar smell I could not perceive singularly. Upon lighting this there was no vanilla to be noticed as well...what the?? I think whatever was added is so slight or not typical vanilla topping that it goes without notice. That, or, I got a bad tin?

This smoked well after some drying time, produced a nice volume of smoke and had a little bite to it, the Va's were assertive but not in a sweet way...more like an atringent type effect. The latakia content is less than most english blends and the turkish seemed most prominent...this reminded me more of a balkan blend without the latakia showing itself prominently. It was a nice medium smoke, burned well, stayed lit well but just didn't impress me as much as the oft mentioned Squandron leader. I guess since this was made for one man's idea/perception of perfection it stands to reason that it may well not be perfection for many others....it wasn't mine...but its not a bad smoke...definitely not what I expected.

This blend was a huge deception, considering Samuel Gawith's reputation...

The tin aroma was Latakia Oriental, with a very distinctive vanilla aroma in the background, just nicely floating there. Nice long cut of gold, brown, medium brown and black. The moisture level was rather high, so I let it dry oput for 4-5 days, then I smoked.

To my most utterly surprise, the taste was flat, which didn't tie in with the tin aroma, which promised a rich, satisfying smoke.

I still suspect i got a bad tin, but I hesitate to order some more. i will eventually, though. Just to confirm/infirm my first impression.

A pity!