Samuel Gawith Westmorland Mixture

After reading some of the previous reviews, I have to wonder if everyone who has written on Westmorland Mixture has bothered to at least smoke a bowl of it. Aromatic? Nowhere that I've seen has Samuel Gawith Co. even hinted that this might be aromatic. Not on the lablel, not in the description. But the proof is in the puffing. No added flavors detected. None. I wish the previous reviewers who boggled over this being some kind of aromatic would have indicated just what kind of aromatic flavoring they taste.

I taste VA, and possibly the VA cavendish of the style used in Danish blends. There is black cavendish, but its obviously unflavored. Sweetened? Maybe. But not flavored. The VA and cavendish base is laced with a modest amount of Latakia. And that's it. That's the blend. If Westmorland Mixture was a beverage, it would be a glass of iced tea with one lump of sugar. Mild and refreshing - great for a hot day.

This is not a Latakia dump. It is nothing like a common V-O-L English blend, and wasn't intended to be. I recommend this blend to anyone looking for a mild blend that isn't heavy on the palate.

This is a very strange blend. And once again, as is common with so many SG blends, the reviews are both polarized and all over the place.

My first sensation was shock at how dry it was -- I didn't know tobacco could taste so very dry, almost like it's topped with dessicant since it practically felt like the moisture was being sucked out of my mouth. It also has a very distinct yet subtle sweetness so deftly applied it's easy to believe that it's not a casing. That sweetness is not fruity nor floral nor minty, nor do I detect the tonquin others have mentioned; the sweetness seems to me more like candied hay, if that makes any sense. It's actually quite nice. But it's not at all the usual soapiness we've come to associate with lakelands. And I definitely detect the latakia, unobtrusively holding the flavors together in the background.

I think dallaspipehead put his finger on it: the flavor of this blend sits somewhere between a balkan and a virginia, with a bit of sweetness added to it. I can easily understand why pipers wouldn't like this blend, but Westmorland is a unique and unusual and flavorful smoke that's worth a try if you think a super-dry balkan/virginia hybrid with a dash of something subtly sweet and subtly smoky sounds good to you.

A surprisingly satisfying blend, this, which has drawn some undue criticism, in my opinion. Truth be told, I wouldn't have given it a second glance, had it not been given to me as a Christmas present. At the time, I was rather more excited about scoring a Dunhill 965 from the last batch to go on sale in the UK, so the Westmorland was the first to be consumed, on account of it looking the least impressive option.

This offering is obviously an homage to the old English county of Westmoreland (with the 'e'), which was one of the original 39 counties, now swallowed by Cumbria, and the ancestral root of Gawith tobacco. If you went to the Lake District today, this very prosaic label would not look out of place next to the shelves of mint cake and postcard-backed packets of bland fudge in one of the many tourist shops. Indeed, it's very reminiscent of a tin of overly-priced mints, and that's undoubtedly off-putting for your host.

If ever one had been given a stern lesson in the morality of judging books by their covers, then I'd have been made to have this label - complete with barcode - tattooed on my arse. This is, unmistakably, a VERY good blend, with the earthy, peaty goodness of a quality Highland malt. It's smoking properties are also extremely forthcoming and forgiving: smoke it quickly and hot, or slow and cool, it always behaves and rewards accordingly, and remains consistent to the finish.

I have to agree with members like EAL, who summarized this tobacco so succinctly, and would urge others to scroll down accordingly. This is far from an aromatic; it's merely sweetened, which would seem to take the harshness out of the mixture, whilst retaining and elevating its generous wealth of flavour. Westmorland is mild enough as an "everydayer" and also rich enough for those needing their Vitamin N kick. It IS rather monotone compared to many, yet strangely more-ish all the same. You'd better prep two pipes, as you may well want a second bowl. And NO floral signature presenting itself should ensure that this particular Gawith blend sees some action across the pond.

Absolutely worth a pop.

I can see where Latakia lovers might find Westmorland Mixture to be a little to..... different.

It is an unusual English/Aromatic that is light and sweet with little bitter or leathery undertones commonly found it straight up English blends.

A nice try by the blender to do something different and maybe it'll please your taste buds.

A solid milder English blend from Sam Gawith. The primary flavors are woodsy & sweet with just a touch of earth along with a pleasant toasted cereal finish. The Latakia adds character, however it's much more of a nuance than a presence. The thinner cut insures an even burn and the flavor and tobacco strength are both mild to medium at best. Nasal exhales provide a solid hit of spice and finish and room note is a bit musty and quite reminiscent of a dry fine ground nasal snuff like Fribourg & Treyer's High Dry Toast.

Westmorland arrives on the dry side and tends burn a bit hot if pushed too hard. However at no point in time when smoking it did the tobacco become harsh. Tongue bite was not a factor although I do get a mild tingle from the Latakia. I don't detect much of a distinct top-flavor but it’s obvious that Westmorland is too sweet to be au naturel. This blend gets nice and spicy down the bowl & I find myself reaching for this when I want a milder, sweet and spicy English.

From the discriptions this blend seemed interesting.once the tin opens a welcoming smell of toquin bean,honey and some smokey notes comes out.the blend moisture needs no drying time.packs almost easy lights with some effort and a few relights are needed.while smoking the flavours are nice and more on the aromatic side than on the english one.virginias are citrusy amd grassy with some rare bread notes.cavendishes are made the traditional way being creamy with some honey notes.latakias are in the backround offering some smokey and woodsy notes.all these flavours are mixed with the toquin bean topping wich is sweet and subtlimates the natural flavours a little.generally the flavours are nice and easy going.burns almost slow and meduim hot witout moisture being created at the filter or the end of the bowl.nicotine level is almost medium and the aftertaste sweet and pleasant.burns to ash mixed with chunks and unburned tobacco.room note is pleasant without tongue bite present.though the addition of latakia this is an all day smoke.in conclusion this blend is interesting and reffers to both aromatic and english blend lovers who want to try something different.

Blonde(ish) to burnished brown to black ribbon with a deep earthy tin aroma, and something just under the surface that made it smell slightly sweet. Tonquin, I'm told. Semois-like, my nose says. Just a hint of latakia smokiness to boot, but the pervasive aroma was good old pure tobacco.

In the pipe, this smokes as it smells... barely sweet, and not in a Cavendish sort of way. More of a Semois-type sweetness, but not as rich as in pure Semois. Flavor was deep and rich, but thin in mouthfeel...in other words, a tasty but not robust smoke. The latakia was light but to my tastebuds a critical component of the overall flavor, particularly when snorked. It added a scotch-like peat flavor with a hint of smoke that was most enticing. The Virginias were not sweet in the least and this blend could have collapsed into "meh" territory quite easily for me, but the latakia and that light but pervasive hit of tonquin elevated it. I got the impression that this blend was a long time in the making, with a lot of tweaking along the way. In other words, this was no "let's chop up some BBF and add this and that and call it done". One tin helped but I honestly don't feel like I have this one's full measure, so I'm going to pick up a few more tins. It's extremely likely that this is a 4-star blend. Gawithian and yet unique. Might not be one I ultimately smoke a lot of but definitely worth a shot, and probably one for my occasional rotation.

The Virginias have the same basic flavor as an SG or GH Virginia rope. I describe it as a "generic" tobacco flavor for lack of a better term. I like that flavor a lot. It's not as bold here as in a rope though. A bit milder. Along with that is a hint of Latakia and a nice sweetness. I don't get much more than that out of this mix. It's pleasant and it satisfies. Nothing special, but a good solid smoke.

Mild to medium in body and taste. Mild in flavoring. My tin was bit too moist and needed some drying time. Burns very well when dry. I noted no soapiness as others have stated.

Westmorland Mixture

Star Rating = 3.00

Rating Scores - 10 is the Best and 0 is the Worst

Pouch Note = 8

Room Note = 8

Flavor = 8

Bite = 8

Burn = 8

After Taste = 8

Raw Score = 48

Rated Percentage = 80%

Comment = Smooth, Strong Flavor, has some Latakia, smokes hot, white ash Burn