Samuel Gawith Perfection

ORIGINAL August 3rd 2008

I wasn't going to bother reviewing this one as I have only gone through one tin in fact, I still haven't quite finished it, but having just read Tantric's review, I must fully agree, "Too much contradiction in flavours" although on ocassion, I have felt a need for "something-I-know-not-what" and perfection has helped if not cured.

May I just take a moment also to thank Tantric (and of course many others, far too many to name) for some sterling reviews, Ive read a goodly number of yours and you have pointed me in the direction of Old Gowrie and Marlin Flake for which you have my sincere gratitude, all of you.

UPDATE December 8th 2008

Now that the colder weather is here I've found that something a little tastier is required and although the likes of Golden Glow and Marlin flake, along with numerous others, will still be kept in rotation, I find myself starting the day with Skiff followed by Squadron Leader and now in the evenings, finishing of with a pipe or two of Perfection.

After so much Latakia, even I would have expected my palate to revert toward something a little less dramatic and perhaps mundane or "monochromatic" as some have refered to. On the contrary, I find this an excellent tobacco for the colder weather, which will give me a chance to age some of the virginia's I've been collecting over the summer months.

I can only assume my taste has changed, for where I once found contradiction, I now find harmony, and living on the coast, excellent "cold weather gear".

Can't say that I understand the negative reviews of this blend, because in my opinion this stuff is quite good. Great balance between the Latakia, VA's, and Turkish tobacco's. I'm able to taste a delicious hint.of vanilla sweetness that helps to mellow things out nicely. If you want a fuller English, this ain't it. This is just a tick above mild for me.

Just a well blended, perfectly burning, mellow, flavorful smoke. Well worth the coin!

As a virginia enthusiast, I generally don't fancy english blends more than a bowl here and then. I had a tin of Perfection cellared for a decade, and was not intending on opening it at all since I was sure it was an aromatic. One day my wife expressed some weird appetite for pipe smoking and wanted to try a bowl, so without even thinking about it, I cracked the old tin open. To make it short, I smoked it until the last strand and I can't remember my wife even tasting it. Vanilla ? Where ? I had tried EMP, Nightcap, London Mixture, Consummate Gentleman and many more, and none of those gave me as much pleasure as perfection. I will get back to this one, for sure.

I love this mixture. The english mixtures, in many cases are to much strengthfor mi, but this is not the case. Also I feel a good taste, seems wood and smels like grass. Totaly recommended.

This is a nice tobacco. Contrary to what others have said, the Vanilla is definitely there,very very subtle, but there. Its actually a vanilla like sweetness, rather than a strong vanilla flavor, but it is a lovely compliment to the light english blend. The blend is truly a blend, and it is a little hard to identify the different components. Very light, by the standards of one who enjoys very full Latakia blends, but not overly light. It taste like you would imagine a perfect light english blend tasting like, with some sweetness added in. Dont expect an aromatic type casing and terrific smells, the sole purpose of this flavor is to slightly sweeten the taste.

If i had to say, i would say the primary taste comes from a mixture of sweet virginias and turkish. The latakia is pretty light and the vanilla adds to the flavor slightly rather than dominating it.

If your a fan of Early Morning Pipe or Squadron Leader, i would recommend you give this a try.

I decided to buy and try this tobacco mixture. After opening the tin, a light and pleasant smell of tobacco, notes of oriental tobacco and virginia, is not very noticeable Latakia. The subtle smell of vanilla is present in this mixture. As soon as the tin is opened, the tobacco is ready immediately for making a smoking pipe. Smoking pipe with a 9 mm charcoal filter. I sat down. A cup of pleasant aromatic black coffee with cream in the fresh air. Only one match is needed and the process has started. A very pleasant process, a pleasant outgoing smoke around and a pleasant aroma in the mouth. A very slow and pleasant process of filling the mouth with smoke from a smoking pipe and blowing out of the mouth. I recommend it for beginners to feel the soft English blend. There are a lot of pipe tobaccos with added vanilla flavor, but this mixture is the most attractive of all the other mixtures I had to try. This mixture is suitable for everyday pipe smoking. I recommend trying this mixture.

This is a gift from a generous friend. A English blend with Latakia, Oriental, Turkish and Virginia. When I opened the bag I was met by a very pleasant smoky campfire aroma with a woody, musty, earthy background with a light grassy light citrus and very light vanilla hovering behind the main background. The tobacco seemed a bit dry so I loaded up the pipe right away.

Being a thin ribbon cut it loaded into the pipe beautifully. The charring light stayed lit for a couple of minutes and then I had to relight. Relights were less than normal. The smoke was heavy, hanging and long lasting and gave off a pleasant room note of a rich, sweet smoky campfire. This didn't even come close to biting and I am not sure it would bite unless one puffed like a locomotive. This burned into a dark gray ash and left very little moisture in the bowl. The taste was consistent from beginning to end. The tobacco burned at a medium pace and seemed very consistent in burning. This could easily be an all day smoke.

Upon lighting I experienced a wonderful, rich, sweet, smoky campfire taste. In the near background was a very pleasing woody, musty, earthy flavors backed up closely by very light sweet, grass, tangy citrus, spice with mildly tart and also light butter and very light vanilla. This left a wonderful sweet smoky campfire aftertaste. The flavors stayed in place and danced together well and none of them were overpowering but complimented each other beautifully.

This was a excellent smoking experience. Complex enough to keep my attention, but no changing flavors, just consistent great flavors that did not crowd each other out, did not drown each other out and together made a wonderful smoke. This is on my favorite list and will be in my regular rotation. a 4 out of 4 stars.

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.