Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader

This is a great blend at a great price.

I didn't find it to be as strong as I thought it was going to be. It was pretty much perfect on the strength scale for me.

As for the flavor, the first thing I tasted was a nutty flavor followed by a bit of spiciness that was very enjoyable. The flavor was consistent from start to finish and stayed lit throughout.

I smoked the first bowl a bit fast, but I received no tongue bite.

Highly recommend it. Pick up a tin.

I'm not a very big latakia fan, but I do like the thick meaty taste that comes with latakia. In this blend, I did not detect a meaty quality at all, just really smokey. Not terrible, just not very good. Definitely not worth what I paid for it. It's worth giving it a chance though.

I have recently returned to smoking a pipe after about a twenty-five year hiatus. Quite a lot of changes have occurred in the meantime, I must say, and not all to the good.

Gone is my local Pipe Shop, where one could try a bowl of many of the proprietors hand blends, or have one's own tastes met by a custom blend. Gone is Balkan Sobranie, and nearly all the Dunhill line, including my favorite tinned tobacco - Nightcap. My jaw dropped when I saw what a tin of the venerable Nightcap goes for on E-bay!

Enter the internet, and shopping by tobacco review. I purchased a smorgasbord of English - Balkan - Virginia based blends, with a couple others which included some burley for an alternative universe.

I must say that the only tobacco I ordered in any bulk was 4 ounces of Squadron Leader, based in no small part the recommendations of this forum. I regret to say it has been the most disappointing of all the selections I am trying out.

To my palate, Squadron leader is is too bitter, doesn't have enough Latakia smokiness, and the Orientals are too forward, leading to a flavor which is too arid. The flavors don't 'dance' for me, and after several bowls under different conditions, I just can't recommend this blend.

However, in contrast, I find GLP's Maltese Falcon to be extremely satisfying. Smoky, sweet, complex - now this blend 'dances' for me, with flavors developing intriguingly throughout the bowl. And very mild compared to S.L., despite arriving too dry in the tin.

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Update

Well, I have tried a few more bowls of Squadron Leader, and I have upgraded my opinion of it. I am now experiencing a sweetness that I thought was missing from it. This is disturbing - that there is so much variation in my experience from day to day, from pipeful to pipeful. But, I thought it would be good to send along my update.

Fantastic blend. I set up this account because 3 stars just didn't do it justice for me. I prefer this to the revered Billy Budd. It's become my everyday smoke. Great for the morning after the gym and great for the night to wind down. By far the best tobacco I've had.

This is a very good English blend--my first English, in fact. Upon smelling it I was reminded of Peterson Irish Flake--a tobacco that is too strong for me just yet--so I was hesitant to try it, as I thought I may not like it.

I was wrong! It's a whole lot milder than Pete's Irish, and boy is it a cool smoker. The closest thing I can describe the taste as is lavender, perhaps sage as well? I get no tongue bite at all smoking this, and it's quite relaxing.

Being a pipe novice, I tried some "off the shelf" tobaccos, but almost gave up until I noticed this website and started reading.

After trying some mild aromatics, I wanted to grow up and try English blends. First one i tried was Erinmore Balkan mixture, but that was too heavy for me and the nic sometimes made me a bit sick. The initial tastes and flavours however (after lighting and smoking for the first 10 - 20 minutes) still made me long for an English I could bare. SL does that for me. Bit mellower in taste, lower on the nic, it enables me to finish a bowl.

No tongue-bite but leaves me with a light tingling, zesty feeling on the tongue, feeling a bit like having sucked a tictac, but without the mint, if you know what I mean.

As for the room aroma : I occasionally smoke in the house when the kids are up (mostly not but when I do it is with the room ventilated - I don't want to force second-hand smoke on them) and the wife and kids actually appreciate the room note. Much more than the mellow aromatics I have lying around.

As a novice pipe smoker who enjoys mostly aromatics, I enjoyed this tobacco very much. It packs and lights without difficulty, and didn't require many relights. With careful smoking, I didn't experience any bite, or overheating in the bowl. This is definately being added to my preferred tobacco stash.

Edit 04/24/2009: Any tobacco I order 5 tins at a time, want wipe out my B&Ms stock every time they get it, needs to be upgraded to 4 stars. At the rate I smoke it, I probably have about a few year's worth, but I'm cellaring it like the ban is coming tomorrow.

In Autumn of 2008 I first bought Squadron Leader at J&R in Washington D.C. when I found out Dunhill London Mixture was no longer available. I liked it right off, and was able to purchase more from Iwan Reis in the 250 gram package which is more economical than per 50 gram tin. I find that right out of the tin the tobacco tastes like it has a bit of aviation gas in it, so I now open the package and let it dry out a bit before smoking my pipe. My prefered pipe shape is Canadian stem or a Savinelli Bing, and Squadron Leader makes a great first pipe of the day when I walk our Borzoi, Lara, before going to the office. It is also my last pipe of the day. There is a pleasant almost smokey/nutty flavor when my pipe is packed correctly and the tobacco has been allowed to dry enough. Since Dunhill London Mixture is essentially out of the question except for the 3 special occasion tins I have stashed away, Squadron Leader is my daily tobacco blend. Tomorrow another 250 gram package is supposed to arrive via UPS from South Carolina, and I am looking forward to opening it to dry...

WOW!!! I just had a bowl of this in a meer that was absolutely a sublime experience. I have a stash of this that is going on 5 years old and the VA's have become wonderfully sweet and have melded beautifully with the latakia. This is always a wonderful experience regardless of the blend. This is good quality tobacco that as with most blends ages into a mature marriage. Not a hint of bite, just the sweet wonderful smokey flavors that this blend can provide. Pipe smoking at it's absolute finest IMHO.