Post-2015 Samuel Gawith, Bob Gregory’s Story

[Cloozoe]

If you have had the old (and I assume you did pre '15 ish I guess?), then that is really welcome news. Thanks.

Yep, been smoking it since looooong before 2015. A favorite. What I'm smoking currently dates from earlier this year.

 

[chilllucky]

Thanks, Arno. Having spent a few days last week in a primitive shelter with our NCO, I was filled in on a few of these details.

It's good to get a more complete picture and to hear Mr. Gregory's perspective, even if ultimately it's none of my business and I'm perfectly happy with the tobaccos I get from SG/G&H when I can get them.

 

[Dutch Pipe Smoker]

I buy GH/SG tobaccos in the rectangular tins and Peterson and Solani in round ones. I prefer the rectangular tins. Flake looks just the same as it does when bought loose. In the round tins it's more heavily trimmed, so much so I wonder if there's a completely different cutting process involved.
The square tins are more convenient as well as you get a larger lid to rub out on and a lighter and knife will fit inside.

I've never bought a square GH tin that had a failed seal and dry tobacco inside. It's always firmly vacuum sealed and the tobacco in perfect condition. I notice all those who complain about the GH tins seem to be non-UK smokers, so maybe if there is a problem it's in the shipping rather the tin itself.
I would have thought square tins would be better for export because square packages waste less space. If seals are failing maybe they need to be packed differently when shipped in bulk.

Hello dear Gimlet, interesting point. A British friend of me bought a tin of Samuel Gawith Navy Flake at the BPSC 2023 and it had the plastic wrapper around it. When he opened it there was no vacuum. If you have recently bought square Gawith & Hoggarth and/or Samuel Gawith tins without the plastic wrapper and perfectly sealed, please let me know where. Or perhaps you got lucky? If you look on the site of this well-known English tobacco shop you see pictures of the bad tins with the plastic wrap around it: Gawith Hoggarth Pipe Tobacco - https://mysmokingshop.co.uk/buy-pipe-tobacco/BUY-gawith-hoggarth-pipe-tobacco

And don't get me wrong, I also love the rectangular tins. They have an air of ultimate Britishness for me. But please, make them like they used to be. Properly sealed.

 

[Gimlet]

Hello dear Gimlet, interesting point. A British friend of me bought a tin of Samuel Gawith Navy Flake at the BPSC 2023 and it had the plastic wrapper around it. When he opened it there was no vacuum. If you have recently bought square Gawith & Hoggarth and/or Samuel Gawith tins without the plastic wrapper and perfectly sealed, please let me know where. Or perhaps you got lucky? If you look on the site of this well-known English tobacco shop you see pictures of the bad tins with the plastic wrap around it: Gawith Hoggarth Pipe Tobacco - https://mysmokingshop.co.uk/buy-pipe-tobacco/BUY-gawith-hoggarth-pipe-tobacco

And don't get me wrong, I also love the rectangular tins. They have an air of ultimate Britishness for me. But please, make them like they used to be. Properly sealed.

I've never bought a square tin that didn't have a plastic wrapper round it. I buy a lot of tinned tobacco and so far I've never had one with a failed seal.
But you're right, I'm sure the lids particularly are thinner and more flimsy than they used to be. When you open them at the corner it's quite easy to put a diagonal crease across the lid.
Maybe the tins are thinner to reduce weight and shipping costs.
The plastic seal, as far as I can see does nothing whatever to ensure air-tightness. I guess it's just there to show the tin has not been tampered with.
The answer, clearly, is thicker and heavier tins like they used to be.

 

[jaingorenard]

I buy G&H/SG tins in the UK, and have had some that I can open with my bare hands (with very little force, actually). Maybe a year or so ago?

They didn't used to come with the plastic wrap, certainly not when I first started buying them (unless my memory is completely shot). They came in an additional cardboard box sometimes.

 

[greeneyes]

The plastic wrap doesn't maintain the vacuum seal whatsoever, but it does rather effectively prevent a consumer from testing the vacuum seal prior to purchase.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The plastic wrap doesn't maintain the vacuum seal whatsoever, but it does rather effectively prevent a consumer from testing the vacuum seal prior to purchase.

I think it also makes it easier to keep the tin lids with the tobacco during shipping, so that when a tobacconist gets these boxes of unsealed tins, they don't have to go looking and guessing which lid goes with which tobaccos.

I would just buy boxes from them, if I were going to buy them. It's not very economical to buy tins that aren't sealed.

 

[tobakenist]

I just buy in bulk, 500gram bags, lucky I live in England, straight from the bag and in to one of my tobacco jars, no seal needed, I don't store for long, just order when I'm running out, I have about 1/2 a dozen tobaccos in my rotation and change all the time, 2 that I always have is Ennerdale and Perfection, never run out of these, then the other 4 or five get changed regularly. Been at this since 1970 so nothing is new to me, I must have smoked every pipe tobacco available in the UK in my time and a lot of foreign tobacco, I do wish I could get a lot of American tobaccos but to expensive to buy from the UK, the USA pipe smokers should be grateful that you can get UK tobaccos at a reasonable price.

 

[Gimlet]

I just buy in bulk, 500gram bags, lucky I live in England, straight from the bag and in to one of my tobacco jars, no seal needed, I don't store for long, just order when I'm running out, I have about 1/2 a dozen tobaccos in my rotation and change all the time, 2 that I always have is Ennerdale and Perfection, never run out of these, then the other 4 or five get changed regularly. Been at this since 1970 so nothing is new to me, I must have smoked every pipe tobacco available in the UK in my time and a lot of foreign tobacco, I do wish I could get a lot of American tobaccos but to expensive to buy from the UK, the USA pipe smokers should be grateful that you can get UK tobaccos at a reasonable price.

I'll probably go back to using my jars. I've bought more tins recently because I can get my two most regular blends Ennerdale and Coffee and caramel in tins locally. I regularly travel up to Ayr where there's a good tobacconist which also stocks a lot of tins and I smoke a few Petersons blends which they keep also and they only come in tins. Consequently my stack of empties is mounting up. At least I'm unlikely ever to run out of storage for tin tacks and drawing pins.

 

[Gimlet]

I buy G&H/SG tins in the UK, and have had some that I can open with my bare hands (with very little force, actually). Maybe a year or so ago?

Now you mention it, I've had a couple of GH tins that I was able to open with my fingers. But they did pop, so they were sealed, and the tobacco inside was fine. Tins are just too thin nowadays.

 

[Gimlet]

Here's a bit of interesting tin trivia:

Tobacco Collectibles

Dedicated to the collection of Old Tobacco Tins, Vintage Cigarette Packets and Tobacciana.

tobaccocollectibles.co.uk

 

[kanaia]

It's been awhile since I've been here and I've got a question. When did this forum take on twitter/x mannerisms?

 

[gamzultovah]

It's been awhile since I've been here and I've got a question. When did this forum take on twitter/x mannerisms?

To me, when they switched to the new platform. It was a lot tamer/civil before the switch and more pipe/pipe tobacco forward at that time.

 

[ParkitoATL]

I bought some SG FVF and SJF tins in Oxford UK back in September and they were both in perfectly fine shape and the tobaccos are glorious. Recent purchases of Ennerdale, Bosun Cut Plug, and #7 Broken Flake have so much topping that it's like smoking incense. Can't compare to days of yore, but I certainly can't complain, either. Every SG and GH blend I smoke is my favorite tobacco ever until the next SG/GH bowl that gets lit.

 

[fireground_piper]

To me, when they switched to the new platform. It was a lot tamer/civil before the switch and more pipe/pipe tobacco forward at that time.

I wasn’t here before but I also chalk it up to people just having nothing else to focus on. “You mean to say I bought 367 tins of st. James flake and the tins may lose seal before 2056 when I get to smoke/sell them?!”.

I get people have had some bum tins in comparison to their preferred standards but dang. These threads are the equivalent of folks inspecting their fecal matter for fiber.

 

[anotherbob]

No, it has something to do with Chem Trails, 5G, The Knights of Columbus and Chuck Barris’ CIA kill count (Barris died in 2017, owing my father-in-law $40)

I still think Chuck Barris wrote a crappy spy story and the publisher said this a piece of crap but if you claim it's real we can sell it. That's what I think happened with his huge lie.

 

[coys]

I've opened a number (10 or more?) of the SG square tins in the last year or two with plastic wrap around them and as far as I can remember they were all sealed. All the tobacco was in perfectly good condition in my estimation. These were all recent production to the time I opened them, I believe.

 

[ParkitoATL]

“You mean to say I bought 367 tins of st. James flake and the tins may lose seal before 2056 when I get to smoke/sell them?!”.

I make it a habit of putting all my unopened tins into a snap-seal food-grade plastic box with a 62% Boveda, just in case. Never need to worry about it. Some of these boxes have pipe tobacco and (GASP!) cigars and (GASP!) cigarettes ALL IN THE SAME BOX.

 

[TheWhale13]

The mystery that I am most bewildered by is that of the origins of synjeco tobaccos. The social media woman for Gawith said that they haven't imported anything to them in years, but they are still selling their ropes. So I don't know what is going on there.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

The mystery that I am most bewildered by is that of the origins of synjeco tobaccos. The social media woman for Gawith said that they haven't imported anything to them in years, but they are still selling their ropes. So I don't know what is going on there.

A local tobacconist has a full rope from G&H. It's coupled up in a bag. It has a price tag for the full rope, and a note that states it can be cut to sell smaller portions.
It's been there on the counter for at least 3 years.