Samuel Gawith RB Plug

Tin note is sweet, fresh hay. I don't get any spices or florals. The plug I got was very solid. Cut slices easily with a very sharp knife, rubbed out OK with a few hard lumps. Took the flame easily and needs to be puffed slowly as it can be a bit hot. No real tongue bite. Once you get it lit properly it's very spicy on the tongue. Not perique spicy but more dry and peppery. The ginger wafts between the sweet grass and pepper and the taste on the palate is one of the most delightful I've had. Nicotine is medium and is apparent from early on in the bowl. The flavours don't really change much( but its not a boring smoke) throughout the bowl . It's quite similar to best brown flake although this is sweeter, and the mouth feel when smoking is quite dry: like a kentucky feel which you don't expect from the sweet Virginia's. I'm not sure if a novice would fully appreciate it because a gentle steady cadence is needed to properly enjoy it. I may try to rehydrate it a tad with some ginger wine to preserve the integrity of the spice notes. #2 I'm going to revise this review because I have been experimenting with the method of preparing the plug. I have found that if you take the time to thinly slice it and pull it into ribbons, then lightly pack it it turns into one of the best plugs I have ever smoked. The sweetness becomes more apparent and it smoulder beautifully all the way down the bowl. I think this would be a great plug to take fishing as a bowl lasts me a good hour. It could be one I would be happy to smoke all day. Has a lot of great nuances that wind in and out of the base tobaccos. I'm revising this to a 10/10

This is a very densely packed plug! It has a smell very similar to Peterson 3 p’s perfect plug it slightly spicier. I rubbed out the flakes this time around and I think next time I will cube to see if there is much difference. I don’t think I left it to dry as long as I should have, so it took a number of lights but nothing too drastic. A very sweet taste, some people have said gingerbread, it’s hard to put your finger on it, it’s more complex than just ginger bread. You get chocolate tones and followed by grassy floral notes. It is very pleasant though. It burn fairly cool, I had a little bite but I am thinking it’s due to not enough drying time.

I would certainly buy again, possibly a bulk pack because I do think ageing this would be beneficial

This is the second (new to me) plug I have tried, no flower garden smell here, mind you I have a mild touch of hayfever. This one presents a challenge when cutting, it's tough, but worth it, I don't get any florals or soap suds, just a good honest tobacco taste flavoured with something I can't put my finger on, but not unpleasant, again I'm surprised this is an aromatic, strong yes, but not an aro. The quality of the leaf is outstanding, par for the course with Sam Gawith, this is definately an evening smoke IMHO, wish I'd ordered more, still that's not a problem, what a wonderful thing the Internet is.

31/12/18

Just a quick update, now smoking this in the cooler months, I've lowered the strength to medium, some say the flavouring used tastes like gingerbread ! ? Not being a gingerbread aficionado, I'll limit my response to "it tastes fine to me" ok, so I'm a philistine, this is a great smoke in the cooler weather and is becoming an all day affair.

Lastly, on the "Aromatic" side, I've always thought of Aros as being those nasty cheap otc's that are loaded with flavourings to cover a poor quality leaf, full of chemicals and leaving all sorts of nasty crudd in the pipe, not so with this "Aromatic", I'm going to be smoking a lot of this between now and Spring.

It's hard to describe. Smell - very strong. Taste - very intensive. It's ok, good quality tobacco - but it's just not mine couple of shoes. Too aromatic for me. I can smoke it only from time to time.

Is it a good idea to order 250 g from a tobacco, that I dont know I would like? Sure it is! to be precise, the weight was 297 g after measuring. So, that was the first star for my review. Baccy came in a plastic pouch, that was in a paper box. The strong smell of stowed fruits hit me right after opening the plastic. Very pleasant and delicious. The plug itself is almost black and solid, but nothing a good knife could not handle. I cut the half of the plug into flakes and the rest was stored in a jar. Fold and stuff method did not work for me, the flakes I cut were too moist and too thick. So I left them to dry and rubbed them out. The tobacco caught fire easily. The smoke was spicy with lots of dark berry and stewed fruit taste. Reminded me of my grandmas plum jam. The VA never had a chance to dominate the flavoring. Adding pure perique to this blend creates a 5 out of 4 stars blent. Try it. A very special and satisfying aromatic on its own.

In 40 years + of pipe smoking, I have encountered very few blends that have left such a lasting impression as Redbreast Flake by Ogdens. It became a firm favorite of mine and I was deeply saddened when it was withdrawn from sale. It was in many ways my Unicorn blend, with just the right qualities to fulfil my need for a (just right) smoke. Nothing has ever come close, til now. I discovered that Samuel Gawith's RB plug is their take on Redbreast, hence the name. Armed with that knowledge, (thanks google), I ordered some from GQ tobaccos. There is something very special about plug tobacco. Preparing them in a time honoured way is a very satisfying part of the whole ritual of pipe smoking. It also allows you or I to have yet another level of personal control by tailoring the cut to our specific needs. Lets just say that I was very eager to try it and was all but salivating as it came through my letterbox. It did not disappoint and on opening the pouch I was met by a gorgeous scent of fresh gingerbread and hay. In mere seconds, I was busily carving flakes off the savory brick and rubbed them out ready for a good airing. In ready rubbed form, the aroma was even more intoxicating and the presence of a subtle floral element became apparent. I was tempted to stuff and puff there and then, but I'm glad that patience and experience prevailed and I let the tobacco sit out long enough to reach ideal smoking moisture. Sammy G blends can be a pain to light but this was going after about 3 charring lights. A little more dry time and/or a finer cut should help with that. The flavour was there from the start and it was (for once), not a disappointment after that phenomenal pouch note. Sweet and bready with a mix of fruit and natural tobacco taste with a hint of citrus and a woody backnote with a perfect baking spice topping. I chose a Falcon pipe for my test drive with this tobacco as I have been using it for St Bruno and the flavours wouldn't clash or ghost, but I need not have worried, as although it is in fact a Lakeland, it doesn't smell like Grandma. Smoking it was very cool experience, with the usual caveat that goes with a pure Virginia blend. Cadence is key to getting a cool rewarding smoke and boy was this good. Close to a Nirvana smoke right from first impressions. So good that I had a second bowl shortly after and the nicotine level was not an issue at all. In my book it is a winner in all respects and I can see myself buying a bulk order box of 250gms as it really is that good. A worthy 4* tobacco.