Samuel Gawith Celtic Talisman

In one of his radio interviews, Bob Gregory mentioned that Celtic Talisman was a mistake - someone mixed a batch of something wrong, and then they sold it.

I guess it's popular, since they still make it, but it tastes like a food chemistry experiment gone wrong. The flavors come off as lab-grown to an extreme, the worst of the cherry cough drop taste that I hate from childhood. Any tobacco flavor is buried under sweet aromatics.

Somebody out there loves this, more power to 'em. Hobbit's Weed makes for a far better cherry aromatic if you're looking for one.

Not the worst tobacco I've smoked, but definately Not Recommended.

There is nothing in there that compells me to try another bowl of this, the burley is totally dominant and takes over the few lingering strands of a good aromatic.

I can see what they were aiming for, but they missed the target by miles and miles.

Samuel Gawith's other products all outshine this. Not worth your while! -Sorry!

Whoa. Not what I was expecting, don't really know what to think about this odd duck.

High quality, well presented, clearly the tobacco is refined and what not. I just could not get over the flavoring on this. Its, well, its so so strange. I imagine this is an old recipe, and remains unchanged for a long time, so why does the aroma remind me of Jolly Rancher Watermellon mixed with some sort of women's lipstick, mixed with strawberry jam. Its hilariously sweet, I couldn't taste the tobacco in the background, all I got were plumes and plumes of perfume coming from it.

To be fair, again, I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, and just a guy who smokes a lot of different types. Maybe this is a type of tobacco that just doesn't do it for me, I just cannot see how this could be considered a good smoke.

Pass.

The first aromatic I’ve ever smoked from Samuel Gawith.

I have to admit it, I was more captivated from the name chosen for the blend than from the content of the tin itself… it happens, out of sheer curiosity I suppose : sometimes it pays off, others don’t.

This time didn’t.

Upon opening the tin, a heavyweight boxing champion hits your nose with a quick one-two, best known as Cherry-Vanilla. The golden bright colour of the leaves is very nice and both by looking and touching you can feel a high quality basic product.

The topping in this was so heavy I could’t detect anything else beside it, literally. Five months ago I came back to it (a 3yo tin) and had a final bowl : the cherry ghost was still there, as strong as the first day! I couldn’t believe my nose.

In the bowl it behaves a little better : cherry and vanilla flavours soften and leave space for a nice, tasty smoke, which you may really enjoy if you are looking for a juicy, fruity, zero attention demanding, mono-dimensional blend.

Uniform combustion. Lights with a couple of matches prior some drying. White fine ashes and enjoyable room note, ideal if you want impress the people around you, even in outdoor condition.

I prefer other offerings from Samuel Gawith.

Cheers Everyone, Brandr ODS

This was so bad I thought I had received a bad batch. I later gave it to friend who thought it was the greatest smoke on the planet! To each his own I suppose.

In the Tin

This is the first and last time I buy a pipe tobacco based on how cool the tin looks. I like Celtic art and the knots really appealed to me so I bought it (stupid, I know). The smell out of the tin is not unpleasant but not what I expected either. A bit like Cherry liquor. The Ribbon cut was quite nice and the tobacco was the rather moist out of the tin

The pack and the toast

After a few hours of dry time the bowl packed nicely and evenly. Upon toasting I was immediately taken aback by a flavor I can describe no other way than the flavor you get whe you mistakenly shoot bug spray in your mouth. I know that seems harsh but this was a bad flavor.

The Rest

I have smoked a pipe long enough to know that it can take several bowls to get used to and enjoy some blends. I gave this blend 6 tries over about a one month period. My opinion never changed. A lot of reviewers speak highly of this blend and it tends to be sold out on the online retailers but it is not for me. If I had to give this blend some sort of compliment I would say that the burn characteristics of it are great. This blend did not require much relighting and seemed to burn evenly and into a fine white ash.

No good for me. Hope it treats you better.

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.

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.