Samuel Gawith Pure Izmir Turkish Leaf

I bought this one along with some pure Latakia, I just thought it would be nice to try different tobaccos in the nude as it were, free from flavouring or blending. And should the worst happen, I could always cut it with the Latakia should it not be nice al fresco. It turns out I was pleasantly surprised.

The smell in the packet has a good whiff of cigarette tobacco, and seemingly a good one at that. Packing and lighting? Well, easy enough on both counts. The room note is quite good, nothing special but has a nice way of hanging around. The smoke though, ooh la la, is a very pleasant surprise, even if it comes across very cigarette like. It turns out quite sweet, possible hints of lemon, definite hints of cherry. Perhaps the only downside is there is a good waft of tonguebite, but it doesn't detract from the smoke any. So Thumbs up all round really.

So, all in all, good stuff. The only downside is that it tastes so much like a good cigarette, it's hard not to take a drag, so just a wee warning there. Saying that though, don't think I'll be splicing it with much Latakia.

Samuel Gawith - Pure Izmir Turkish.

I bought this for the same reason as Wibblefishofdoom: to try it unadulterated. I've smoked a few blending tobaccos neat over the years, some work out surprisingly nice, others are clearly a 'never again' smoke. I don't know why, but for some reason I thought it'd be a dark brown, almost black mixture? There's no excusing my idiotic expectations!!!! Any hoo, the ribbons are medium brown, and are the complete antitheses of all Sam G' tobaccos: they're PERFECTLY hydrated!

The smoke? What a surprise: I have to agree with Wibblefish' here! I can't see any reason why this shouldn't be smoked as a blend by itself, without the need to mix it in with others.

The flavour of the smoke is different to what I'd anticipated: I get zero Lat-style smokiness, and no spice. The biggest flavour I get is a citrusy one: granted, this is far stronger for the initial few puffs, after a few minutes it dies down a touch and becomes more reminiscent of a very high quality Virginia. After awhile there's also a sweet/sour note in the background: this requires a little time to become discernable to my palate though. Another thing that's synonymous with a Virginia is the nic' strength: about mild to medium.

This is a wonderful smoke- it's not what I'd expected!

Four stars.