Samuel Gawith Celtic Talisman

ORIGINAL: 2-28-08: This is a light, tangy, cherry aromatic. Not the thick arificial cherry flavoring common in so many blends, but something more akin to a fresh-off-the-tree cherry tang. I've actually picked quite a few cherries off the tree over the years for fresh eating and for pies so I know of what I speak.

Not one hint of the Lakeland Floral Essence (thank goodness) that Sam Gawith feels that they must add to everything else they make.

The cherry essence is very light, but that is what helps make this blend a success and keeps it from being goopy or sickeningly artificial like cherry blends can be sometimes.

The nutty burley notes support and add more character to the smoke, along with a light to medium VA strength. There is mild tobacco taste and nicotine here, but those wanting a strong tobacco need not bother. This blend is not strong and doesn't claim to be, nor is there any Latakia or Perique.



It's a light, fruity, cherry-nut top noted tobacco that is very well done. Blond and brown VAs with a little black cavendish. Great tin note and the room note is a winner for everyone nearby. A very refreshing part of my current rotation.

No bite or gurggle and smokes like a dream. Love it!

Not your usual Cherry Aromatic,

4 Stars!

UPDATE: 3-10-08: After the tin has been opened for a few days the Cherry aroma, both from the tin and while smoking, has improved and developed nicely. Defintely top notch among the genre of Cherry blends.

I have had a long "bout" with Samuel Gawith blends over the years, having smoked a large amount of their blends such as St. James flake, navy flake etc.

I must say, unreservedly, that celtic talisman is Samuel Gawith's very best blend. It is as close to smoking lakeland "perfume" as one will ever get, albeit the perfume note is very faint in the taste, while powerfully present in the room note! This will win over any bystander, while providing the piper with a nice virginia cavendish taste. Cherry brandy galore. This stuff never ceases to please. This is as enjoyable as my regular English blends, and I would not complain if this was the only pipe tobacco available. Nicotine is present but milder than in many blends. An important tobacco in every rotation, for anyone who enjoys virginias as well as aromatics.

Update: I forgot to mention that this has a hint of amaretto in it when first opened, which rapidly evaporates. This is from the cherry pits in kirshwasser, but this almond smell is very much more ephemeral and perfume like than almond amaretto. It is what angelica is to licorice, and what makes this blend stand heads and shoulders above most other blends in this genre.

Samuel Gawith uses a lot of alcohol and liquers in their blends, which not only makes me rate them higher, it causes their tobacco to age better than the competion, it being the "wetter the better" in that regard.

While, I found the room not and tin note pleasing , I was under whel ed by the flavor. I experienced some tongue bit, which is a rare occurrence for me from any type of tobacco. There are many fine aeros, and this is not one of them.

I purchased a tin of this four years ago and tried it in several briars. In every case I found the cherry flavour overpowering and artificial with no tobacco flavour; so I put the remaining tobacco into an Atlas pressure top jar and forgot about it. A couple of weeks ago I decided to give it one more chance. It has benefitted from the three years rest in what I now suspect was not a totally air tight container. The cherry flavouring has diminished and I can now taste the vanilla as well as the virginia and burley. Glad I didn't toss it out! It has a pleasant enough room note. Others have commented that this blend needs to dry out a bit. My experience seems to confirm this. If you like virginia/burley based aromatics , this may light your fire.

I will not tell lies, i love aromatics as much as english blends. Everytime i read someone starts a review with the phrase "I must say im not an aromatic lover" it literally means that the person still lives closeted. A pipe smoker may like both english blends and aromatics the same, IF they are good. And lets be honest "Celtic Talisman" is an excellent aromatic. To like an aromatic doesnt make you less of a man. Just probably a bit of a dreamer.

Samuel Gawith doesnt play with over casing nor sickening sweet things, they create aromatics with the old tradition that brings the spirit of tobacco into play with the many variations and subtleties, not hiding excellence behind a mantle of artificial flavours, this product is no exception to this tradition. This is not a product from the candy store even though the smell from the tin is potent and may prevent you from been overly sweet, this is just apparent.

Scents of cherry and liquor along with honey and mint are present upon opening. This tobacco tends to get really dry so soon once left out of the tin, and this is crucial, since if it becomes too dry it looses a great proportion of its taste and delicacy, so i suggest to let it a little humid, ive tried both dry, semi dry and totally humid.

Upon lightning the tobacco comes with a medium range taste, the burley works its major play. In the mouth is sweet but in the nose is fruity, nutty and a bit tingy. Virginias never go wild, they are very well controlled by both the cavendish and the burley. This first stage progress into something with more character, a bit robust, is clear that the central role is played by the burley and both the virginias and the cavendish are there to play around as diverting notes perhaps as a resemblance of some Kirsch liquor and marraschino cherries all along. By the middle of the bowl, it becomes more and more "adult" less sugary and way more nutty with an amplification of the cavendish that now adds its more alcaline note with a faint taste of liquor while the burley and virginias becomes the pivot. By the end it is all creamy, very creamy like, as some kind of cherry cake taste but with all the nic kick from burleys and their appeased acidity controlled by cavendish.

It is a good smoke from start to finish with very good tonalities and variations. Not an aromatic for beginners and certainly not for the ones who love over casing and overhelming toppings a la Mclellands. This is the old school!

Top! meditative and mysterious blend for the contemplative soul. Always in my cellar.

I'm fairly new at smoking a pipe, still learning the "do's" and dont's. I basically picked this blend purely out of a gamble to try a tinned tobacco (something new). I am still experimenting, so I haven't decided what type of tobacco I'm most partial to yet. Upon first opening the can, the tobacco smelled very sweet, a little bitter and very cherry, it was also very moist to touch, so I decided to put the lid back on it and let it dry for a bit. About a week later I went down to the man-cave (basement), where I usually smoke and decided to check the tin. The tobacco had dried considerably and the sweetness wasn't nearly as strong. The bitter cherry smell from before had subdued and now smelled a bit like baked cherry pie, very appetizing. I loaded up the Barontini Bulldog, using the 3 step method and lit up. 1st light was mostly all Va and I couldn't really detect the cherry or vanilla at all. 2nd light up and she was off and running. I detected more of the Va and maybe the burley, which faded quickly and as the smoke progressed, the cherry started coming through, but subtly and the pipe stayed lit with no problem. I never really got the vanilla I have read about on the other posts, but then again, my pallette is probably not as refined as other more experienced pipe smokers. It was a very good, mellow smoke. The cherry infusion was nice and subtle and the tobacco flavor was delicious. The nicotine hit was nice and the room note was quite pleasant. This blend didn't bite either, so I will be buying this tobacco again in the future.

Although I am a big fan of BBF and Chocolate Flake, this one disappointed me a lot: the cherry flavour (even if non-smokers around me find it great) definitely tastes too chemical.

This is something I will not buy again.

I couldn't taste either vanilla or cherry. It was impossible to keep lit longer than a couple of minutes. This is the first tobacco that has ever irritated my nose and throat.

Room note is just smoke.

I only bought a 10g sample of this, for which I'm glad now. I'll retry it on another day, but I'm definitely not buying more of it.

I got this tobacco as a recommendation from a tobacconist. I was extremely disappointed. Out of the tin, the tobacco is extremely wet, and the smell is strong and "synthetic" (artificial) in nature. It proved to be an impossible challenge to keep lit, so I stopped smoking it after a few attempts. I will try again in the future, just to give it another chance, but so far it's on the last place in my preference list.