Samuel Gawith Golden Glow

My first review, so be gentle with me! I usually love SG tobaccos, especially their loose English flakes. SGs Full Virginia Flake is also excellent so I thought I'd try a tin of GG.

I have to say it is probably the worst tobacco I have smoked in nearly 40 years of pipe smoking. I found the aroma from the tin to be horrible and it was hard to keep lit. I'm too old in the tooth to experience tongue bite but I certainly got it with this monster.

I much prefer other pure bright virginias, including those from SG. (Bright CR?)

Does it remind anyone of the worst aspects of Gold Block?

I must say that I'm simply not a fan of this cased, aromatic, broken flake. It has some very thick pieces that are quite difficult to break up and hard to keep lit; a common problem with SG. Not my cup of tea.

After hearing so many rave reviews of Samuel Gawith tobacco, I decided to import some from merry old England. I had high hopes at 15 pounds ($30) for a 25g pouch (thanks to draconian NZ tobacco laws).

The tobacco arrived so wet that by the time it dries Im looking at 15 pounds for a 10g pouch.

Upon opening the pouch I was reminded of the hay my goat sleeps on - not fresh hay, I mean hay that needs changing.

Upon lighting the pipe the first thing I noticed was an extreme cotton mouth and cotton throat, like one gets on a 3 day booze bender without brushing teeth. Never before has a pipe tobacco done this to me.

Another first - I always used to wonder what people meant when they talked about 'tongue bite'. Now I know. This is the first tobacco that has ever done it to me, even when smoked slowly. It only gets worse towards the bottom of the bowl.

Overall the golden glow experience was like filling a pub ashtray with water, then putting the contents, filters and all into the pipe, still wet, then stuffing a hedgehog on top and smoking it. Ghastly stuff.

When I walked into the room while my wife was smoking it, It was so strong I couldnt breathe. Like 10 people smoking roll your owns in an area the size of a toilet cubicle.

I grow my own tobacco and my bog standard air dried, uncured virginia is 10x nicer than this junk. This one is in my top two most foul tobaccos along with borkum whiskey.

Tried one tin of this blend as an experiment. Didn't really know what to expect. Rather surprised to see the bright yellow broken flakes in the tin. Tried smoking it fast and slow, different packing etc, but all I got was a difficult smoke with not much smoke actually produced, and a tasteless experience, rather like smoking damp cardboard. Leaves a taste of old cigarettes in the mouth. Not pleasant. Perhaps other smokers can get a better experience with this one, but for me this was disappointing and I certainly won't ever buy it again.

It tasted bad and I will never try it again. It smells like dead saliva. It has a sour taste and a bite in the mouth