Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader

Being a pilot,I was of course,drawn to this blend for obvious reasons but I seem to be in the boat all alone with this one! Maybe I got an old tin or something but I did'nt like this at all. Just plain drab to me. Nothing really special stands out. Sort of left a,for lack of a better word,"funky" taste on the old palate. I left it alone for awhile and tried again with the same result's.

It pains my heart to write this review.

I really, really wanted to like this blend as it's got such great reviews and is supposed to be some kind of a representative example of the english blend.

But somehow, this just does not come together for me at all. The pouch note promises a good english experience and there's nothing bad in it except maybe for a certain harshness/coarseness in the taste; smoking it, I tried hard to find some redeeming qualities that I could write about... And then it hit me: Could it be that it is such a book-example, so middle of the road in every single respect for an english blend, that it ends up lacking any character of it's own, any particular notability? Perhaps.

I love Old Dublin and Nightcap, I like Aperitif and EMP, as well as some Balkans. Alas, Squadron Leader will be one english blend I probably won't be buying again.

PS. Mine came in a foil pouch with the label pasted on it, not a tin.

I predominantly enjoy English blends, Love Artisans Blend, hooked on Royal Yacht. I smoke this when I fancy a lighter smoke, the lat seems to be very mild and It has just a touch of spice. It definately needs to be allowed to dry for a bit, 15-20 mins at least, before packing. I think it could do with a bit more lat in it, or slightly less spice, as it sometimes tastes a little bit peppery to me. It burns well and is a pleasant enough smoke, but just needs that little someting adding ! Worth a try though, and a good starter if you want to try English blends.

An iconic brand and possibly the coolest-looking tin out there. Unlike Gawith's FVF, I was intrigued by this blend's appearance and tin note. A nice black and tan ribbon cut, and an enjoyable sweet-and-spicy, leathery aroma. This can use a little drying time, although it's not as fussy as, for example, McClelland's English blends.

The smoke itself was uninspiring, both on its own and compared to other English blends I've enjoyed. It's not bad...but I won't go out of my way to replenish this one. I'm probably not making any friends panning another product of such an iconic purveyor (maybe it's a Yank thing?), but it seems to me that other blenders are running circles around the folks from Kendal.

There are other Gawith tobaccos that I'm still planning to try. I'll also let this one age a bit and give it another go.

Squadron Leader appears to be a favorite for many, and as I work through my first tin I am still pondering the attraction that such a mild smoke seems to hold. It is smooth and nearly biteless if sipped. The hint of latakia is almost the only taste that appears, but is far from prominent. The virginias and orientals are equally underwhelming to my taste buds. This might be a nice first step away from aromatics for those venturing towards a latakia based smoke - but who only want a whisper of taste. As noted elsewhere, the tobacco out of the can needs a bit of drying to retain the light. I find this makes an okay first smoke of the day, nearly on par with Dunhill's Early Morning. Nice for rotation, but not my Holy Grail...

I went into this fully prepared to not like this blend. In fact, because of a few things I had been told abut it, I wouldn?t have even tried it. Luckily, someone included a generous sample of nicely aged Squadron Leader in a box pass I did. The bag that the sample is in says that it came from a tin that was purchased in 1998-9, opened 04/04. It is now August 2004 when I sampled this blend.

When I first lit it, SL had a bit of a sharp taste. I set it down to go get a cup of coffee, and when I re-lit it on my return, it was a different tobacco! The sharpness was gone, and a nice light, slightly spicy Turkish flavor had replaced it. The Latakia was very light throughout the smoke, and the Va never really asserted itself, but remained in the background and lent a hit of sweetness as only Va can.

The first bowl was in a small meerschaum. I went with a small bowl, because as I said, I didn?t expect to like it. I had been told that it was tasteless and that it bit something awful, hence the meerschaum. There was no need to have worried.

Subsequent bowls were smoked in larger briar pipes. The complexity that I found lacking in the initial bowl was a bit more evident in the larger bowls.

Following the guidance set forth on the website of a certain tobacco blending genius, I would place Squadron Leader in the Balkan category, as I found the focus of the blend to be the Turkish leaf with the Latakia in a condiment role. Further, I would class it as a medium to light Balkan.

I am glad I tried Squadron Leader. It was a very pleasant smoke. I am not sure I will replace it when it is gone though. There are other blends in this category that I prefer ? but this is in no way meant to detract from the blend at hand. It?s good pipe-weed. It smokes cool and dry, stays lit and is generally well-behaved.

A nice quaint little smoke that may open the door to a broader spectrum of blends to newcomers. It won't knock you down but won't leave you bored. I wasn't too fond of this blend, found it to bite a bit too much for how much I like to puff. Ready out of the tin, super easy to pack and should require very few lights. I tried it a handful of times and got the same results as before, so it sits until I wish to give it another chance!

So in the main I am primarily an English guy I've determined -- with a secondary enjoyment of a sweet Virginia like FVF and English crossover blends. To give a sense of my tastes, I enjoy Mixture 965, Father Dempsey, Frog Morton and Frog Morton Cellar, Plum Pudding, etc. I tell you that to give a sense of my palette.

So... Squadron Leader. My initial impressions of this is that it has all the key points for an English, though to my tastes, while I could get used to it as an everyday smoke, I find it a bit bland. I seem to like that added layer of an additional condiment somehow and I think the blends I mention above all have that.

Some might call this a "meat and potatoes English" -- and I'd agree with the best way of explaining that it is a bit like boiled potatoes and meat without any butter, salt or seasoning. In other words, it has the main substance (the "meat and potatoes") but where I personally find it lacking is that it needs that proverbial bit of "salt and butter" to add just a bit more interest to it; a condimental quality.

On the other hand, if you're not after that and really just want something smoky and without anything much else complexity wise, you might be a big fan of this.

Personally though, I'd much rather reach for a bowl of Mixture 965 and Father Dempsey if I want something in this vein -- smoky blends which also add a incense-like condiment to the finish.,

Squadron Leader is one of the best known examples of the Balkan style: very mild in nicotine, sprinkled with just a bit of Latakia and heavy in Orientals. Within that category, Squadron Leader is, in my opinion, quite a unremarkable blend. Far from exuberant exotic symphony of Durbar, or from noble spicy tones of London Mixture, or from soothing mellowness of Early Morning Pipe, the only remarkable thing about Squadron Leader is it's overwhelming acidity. It's acrid and acidic, it's tangy and sour. Which I don't care for.

I guess, it's not a failure but an intended feature. Many people love sour dry wines and tangy black coffee while others don't. It's all about inner chemistry. It's good that Samuel Gawith tries to cater to everyone (for those who don't like sour flavours SG offers an array of less acidic choices, like ropes and dark fired tobaccos). However, even given that, the Squadron is still quite a weak example of its type as there are far superior alternatives to it in the world of Balkan blends, which usually combine trademark Oriental tanginess with some flavour, complexity and a bit of strength - all of which Squadron Leader lacks sorely.

Samuel Gawith is unmatched in making pressed Virginias, while not so much in making Orientals. Their another Oriental-rich blend, Sam's Flake, is another failure in my opinion - again, because of its poor acrid Orientals that spoil the good Virginia base. That's why in rare cases when I crave a Balkan, I better go for a Dunhill rather than for a SG.