Samuel Gawith Celtic Talisman

Another catch-up review from 2009 when I first tried this. Back then, GH blends were readily available most all the time. I've since rejoined TRs under a different handle but here's my take on Celtic Talisman: This is about as fine a cherry blend tobacco as any on the market with a better price tag than most. Tin aroma is very prevalent & appealing. The tin is packed full of loose tobacco and mine arrived fairly moist. I dried a bowlful out for about 25 minutes and stuffed it in me wee Peterson #317. It smoked cool with no tongue/palate discomfort. The marriage of sweet Virginia with the tasty cherry casing compliment each other.

CT seemed to have a bit more Vitamin N than most aromatics. This is a pretty darn good cherry blend and I thought the price was right...$6.48 per 50 gram tin. If one likes a cherry blend, they might be well advised to give this a try. I was satisfied with CT and don't have anything negative to say about it.

I hate to contradict Dr. Scott, but Bob Gregory of Samuel Gawith pronounced it with a hard C like (K)eltic about 10 times in his radio interview, so I guess I'll take the Managing Director of the manufacturer over some Yank on the internet. Ep. 156 of the Pipes Magazine radio show if you want to hear it yourself (ﾉ＾◡＾)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻

As to the blend itself, it's a moderately sauced cherry cavendish flavored blend with good Virginia undertones and a smooth Burley backbone. The flavor is evident but not overwhelming, the aroma is excellent, and the strength is really good for an aromatic thanks to the Burley.

It comes fairly dry in the tin and burns down with no relights, so I never feel like I've got to mind it too closely.

This is one of those aromatics that stays in my rotation for when I want a little more strength without sacrificing the room note. Avoid this if you're expecting Boswell, it really doesn't fit in the same category.

The tin smells like dried sunny fruits with sugar. The tobacco is cut thicker and somewhat longer than your usual ribbon (Peterson tobaccos for example).

The room note is certainly sweet and non smokers will like it.

But I really cannot detect any specific cherry or vanilla aroma. There is certainly some sweet flavours, but what I really enjoyed in this tobacco, is its Virginias and Burleys tastes. This is top notch good quality pipe tobacco. Just not what I had expected.

This mixture delivers a satisfying smoke that tastes (also) like tobacco, has a good strength (the vitamin N level, of course), burns d

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y all the way down and leaves me wanting more. The topping is well conceived and is most interesting when smoking the tobacco. I like Celtic Talisman and will be buying more.

Different tin aroma,Not very flavorful, I will finish the tin.Maybe purchase again in the future.

The different tobaccos are easily distinguishable in the tin – very pale coloured Virginia and brown Burley in equal proportions, with about 10% Black Cavendish. The tobacco is moist from the tin with a very sweet cherry, tangy apricot and sugary nougat aroma. Aired out and the tobacco develops a whisky-like aroma.

The tobacco packs very well and tastes wonderful from the first light. The cherry is more noticeable at first but develops into a creamy more vanilla-flavoured smoke. It burns slowly and remains a pleasant cool sweet smoke right down to the end of the bowl. Sipping slowly will pick up more of the cherry tones but I like to occasionally take big mouthfuls to enjoy the vanilla flavour and nuttiness of the Burley. It is medium bodied and will satisfy those looking for a little strength and nicotine. The flavouring is well-balanced and does not overpower the natural tobacco taste. Overall, an excellent aromatic built from quality tobacco.

Not being a big aromatic fan to begin with, this blend was a little uneventful. The tin note was a little strong upon opening it but its strength dissipated within a few minutes. I dried the tobacco out a little as it was rather moist right out of the tin and loaded a mid sized bowl. It had a decent cherry and fruity note but nothing to over the top and it burned rather hot. The flavor was consistent throughout the bowl which was nice but it lacked an overall “WOW”. I can't say I would purchase this blend again!

While this was a very good tobacco, I've lost a taste for it. I might get made fun of, but I find the cherry flavoring to be too subtle for my tastes. The strength knocks me back a bit, but that's because I'm used to weak aromatics.

I will continue my search for a cherry aromatic that jumps out more. Nonetheless, this is a very good blend and I recommend getting a tin.

This and Dan Tobacco's Blue Note are my favorite aros. I will probably be shunned for even suggesting such a thing (called a Philistine, lacking in taste and discernment, etc.), but I find the two to be extremely similar in tobacco flavor, body, and strength, the only major difference being the casing. Celtic Talisman has a delicious cherry flavor, which I took to immediately. My wife does not like the smell of anything I smoke, but responded somewhat favorably to this one. It does not taste medicinal or phenolic the way most cherry flavorings do, and in my opinion balances perfectly with the leaf, which, by the way, is of the highest quality, as one would expect from Samuel Gawith. This lights and burns beautifully. I don't have any issues with goop in the pipe, and this stuff does not bite. It is a gentle, and I daresay even sexy, smoke. Great for after dinner. I give it four stars. If this seems excessive, consider how hard it is to find aromatics with such nice, rich tobacco flavor. I think that's worth an extra star in itself.