Samuel Gawith Beginner's Luck

Samuel Gawith - Beginner's Luck (The Danish Pipe Shop).

A new Sam Gawith blend, can anyone guess the problem? That's right, it's too wet!

In comparison to the Virginia and Burley, there's only a tiny amount of Black Cavendish. The aromatic additions come through strong in the tin-note, with the whisky being the clearer of the two.

Joking aside, it's not the wettest Sam G' I've had, it lights ok without any airing time. Then, the aromatics come over as I expected from the tin-note: strong. The whisky, again like the aroma from the tin, is easily the stronger of the two. The vanilla struggles to contend with it, it's notable, but nowhere near as formidable. The tobacco's taste alright, what flavour can get past the casing, but there's nothing extraordinary about them. The biggest problem with B.L. for me is the bite; it's quite bad in that area.

The nicotine's mild to medium, and the room-notes quite nice.

I gave Sam Gawith and The Danish Pipe Shops first collaboration four stars, sadly though, this only gets two.

Somewhat recommended.

Fantastic blend. Incredible quality leaf processed with great toppings. Many reviewers have complained that this Toby is wet. Perfect! Who wants old dried up leaf. If you like AROs then you want the added flavors. These go away when dried. The complaints are unfounded. If it's too wet then dry it on a paper towel. If it's super wet hit it with your man-servants blow dryer for 22.865367766667 seconds. You buy it for flavor so enjoy that flavor. Pack your pipe in the morn and smoke at sunset.

Glad the others disapprove. More for me! Ack ack I come in peace.

I decided to try to give a chance to this blend, even though I’m not a big aromatic smoker. I enjoyed the product of the first collaboration between SG and The Danish Pipe Shop, so I was sure this blend would be made of quality leaves. And it is indeed.

Tin aroma is very powerful, with the florals notes being the main line here and also the sweetness of the Virginias. My tin came a bit moist, so letting it dry a bit may be a very good idea. After doing so, this blend is easy to pack and to light.

The first puffs are not so pleasant; it really hits you hard with the typical SG “soap taste”. I almost abandoned this blend straight away, but then I decided to be brave and keep going. After 5 minutes, it becomes really tasteful and sweet, with hints of vanilla and whiskey. Halfway through the bowl it reveals itself as an aromatic with strong personality. It’s a well-balanced blend, IMO, with the VA /Cavendish in the front and the Burley helping it to cool down and taking a way a little bit of the sweetness. Nevertheless it is still a very sweet blend.

Beginners Luck doesn’t pack a lot of vitamin N, so for me it is a blend I can smoke after lunch and does not make me sleepy.

It will bite you if you puff aggressively, and smoking small bows is recommended. Another important remark is: If you are not a fan of the Lakeland Floral stay away from this!

I like this blend for its experimental characteristics. The aftertaste is okay and so it’s the room note. A good blend to smoke in public.

I don’t know if it was beginner's luck or not, but the experience and savoir-faire of SG house is per se a good reason to give it a try.

The tobacco itself is quality leaf. The flavouring is quite nice, vanilla and whiskey. However, no matter what, within 5 minutes of puffing it will burn hot and wet and there is no recovery from it. It will just get hotter and hotter and you will get more and more frustrated......hardly a relaxing smoke. I wish I hadn't taken the risk of buying it. I normally don't like aromatics anyway. I like Orlik Green but that's it for aromatics and that is where I should have left it. Beginners Luck, well I don't think a new pipe smoker is going to have much luck with this one I'm afraid!