Forgive me for this may be long-winded.
I'm mainly a Virginia guy. I'd hazard guess that 80% of the tobaccos I smoke are VaPer's, VaBur's and variations on that theme. I enjoy the subtlety and I especially enjoy the sweetness. Virginia is just incredibly comforting and seems to make everything around me much better. Over the five years that I have been at the pipe, I feel, and perhaps arrogantly, that I have got the hang of them. Well, most of them.
Naturally, Cabbie's Mixture sounded like my cup of tea. So, and perhaps belatedly I ordered some about two months ago and looked forward to opening the tin. Opening a new tin is one of life's exquisite pleasures. A pleasure that I'm sorry to say that most around me don't understand and certainly don't appreciate. It arrived along with others that are regular burners in my pipes and when there appeared space in my rotation for another open blend then coin met with tin and we were in.
As usual for Sammy G the stuff was wetter than any tobacco should ever be in my opinion but that was to be expected and I enjoyed the aroma and appearance of the weed inside. Promising is what I thought. I laid some on a plate and left it out for a few hours until it was just right and I do like a little moisture in my leaf.
Then it all went south. I found it rough. I mean this stuff was lacking any finesse at all but worse still was the utter lack of sweetness. Sweetness is important to me in tobacco. Not the cloying kind but that subtle just there and almost not type that teases you through the bowl and builds. It's my favourite thing about Virginias. This stuff had none of it. Just rough and really peppery but there was something else going on. Something which had nothing to do with tobacco. I really could not put my finger on it but I suspect it was cross contamination from some of their other blends. It was not soap or even floral but I did not like it and it was distracting. I have encountered a similar thing with one of my tins of Squadron Leader in the past.
Anyway, suffice it to say that I did not like the stuff and began to regret my purchase. The next few bowls were a similar experience but I kept trying and let the whole tin dry before having enough and sealing it up.
A few weeks go by and I decide that before I open another tin of something I really must finish off at least one of my open blends and decide I will force myself through this stuff and see how it goes. It's now really dry by my standards. I didn't seal it all that well it seems. Pipe lit and that distracting flavour I could not put my finger on has departed. Progress, I thought. It's still quite rough and very peppery but seems not as bad and getting through the bowl was not a great pleasure but neither was it the hardship the previous smokes had been.
Fast-forward to now and what has prompted me to write this uninteresting wall of text I'm sure. I just had a great smoke with this. I mean it was really good. That sweetness I crave was not there at the start but built throughout the bowl until something almost magical happened and it happened in an instant. The flavour turned into popcorn. Literally and exactly like that very lightly sweet stuff you get in the cinema here in the UK. It was delicious and it lasted to the very end.
I look in my tin and see I only have about two bowls left and this serves me a dilema. I will buy more of this. That experience was too good not to but when, I'm unsure. The reason is that it's simply, a pain in the arse. I don't want to dry my tobacco and watch it like a hawk in the process so that I don't mess it up. I don't want the uncertainty that it may or may not have a flavour or scent on it that may or may not be intended to be there. I expect the blender to provide me with a tobacco ready for smoking when I open the tin. The moisture content should be part of the recipe and consistency is critical. As I have smoked this blend I have wondered what the blender intend me to taste? The truth is that I'm still unsure.
I like Samual Gawith tobaccos, I really do. When they are good they are hard to beat and honestly, many of my nirvana smokes have happened with their tobacco but to be frank, they are a hassle. There always seems to be a little frustration in with the blend.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I had to get that off my chest and although I'm sure the bemused looks aren't zero there will be less here than had I ranted about this down the pub.
I'm mainly a Virginia guy. I'd hazard guess that 80% of the tobaccos I smoke are VaPer's, VaBur's and variations on that theme. I enjoy the subtlety and I especially enjoy the sweetness. Virginia is just incredibly comforting and seems to make everything around me much better. Over the five years that I have been at the pipe, I feel, and perhaps arrogantly, that I have got the hang of them. Well, most of them.
Naturally, Cabbie's Mixture sounded like my cup of tea. So, and perhaps belatedly I ordered some about two months ago and looked forward to opening the tin. Opening a new tin is one of life's exquisite pleasures. A pleasure that I'm sorry to say that most around me don't understand and certainly don't appreciate. It arrived along with others that are regular burners in my pipes and when there appeared space in my rotation for another open blend then coin met with tin and we were in.
As usual for Sammy G the stuff was wetter than any tobacco should ever be in my opinion but that was to be expected and I enjoyed the aroma and appearance of the weed inside. Promising is what I thought. I laid some on a plate and left it out for a few hours until it was just right and I do like a little moisture in my leaf.
Then it all went south. I found it rough. I mean this stuff was lacking any finesse at all but worse still was the utter lack of sweetness. Sweetness is important to me in tobacco. Not the cloying kind but that subtle just there and almost not type that teases you through the bowl and builds. It's my favourite thing about Virginias. This stuff had none of it. Just rough and really peppery but there was something else going on. Something which had nothing to do with tobacco. I really could not put my finger on it but I suspect it was cross contamination from some of their other blends. It was not soap or even floral but I did not like it and it was distracting. I have encountered a similar thing with one of my tins of Squadron Leader in the past.
Anyway, suffice it to say that I did not like the stuff and began to regret my purchase. The next few bowls were a similar experience but I kept trying and let the whole tin dry before having enough and sealing it up.
A few weeks go by and I decide that before I open another tin of something I really must finish off at least one of my open blends and decide I will force myself through this stuff and see how it goes. It's now really dry by my standards. I didn't seal it all that well it seems. Pipe lit and that distracting flavour I could not put my finger on has departed. Progress, I thought. It's still quite rough and very peppery but seems not as bad and getting through the bowl was not a great pleasure but neither was it the hardship the previous smokes had been.
Fast-forward to now and what has prompted me to write this uninteresting wall of text I'm sure. I just had a great smoke with this. I mean it was really good. That sweetness I crave was not there at the start but built throughout the bowl until something almost magical happened and it happened in an instant. The flavour turned into popcorn. Literally and exactly like that very lightly sweet stuff you get in the cinema here in the UK. It was delicious and it lasted to the very end.
I look in my tin and see I only have about two bowls left and this serves me a dilema. I will buy more of this. That experience was too good not to but when, I'm unsure. The reason is that it's simply, a pain in the arse. I don't want to dry my tobacco and watch it like a hawk in the process so that I don't mess it up. I don't want the uncertainty that it may or may not have a flavour or scent on it that may or may not be intended to be there. I expect the blender to provide me with a tobacco ready for smoking when I open the tin. The moisture content should be part of the recipe and consistency is critical. As I have smoked this blend I have wondered what the blender intend me to taste? The truth is that I'm still unsure.
I like Samual Gawith tobaccos, I really do. When they are good they are hard to beat and honestly, many of my nirvana smokes have happened with their tobacco but to be frank, they are a hassle. There always seems to be a little frustration in with the blend.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I had to get that off my chest and although I'm sure the bemused looks aren't zero there will be less here than had I ranted about this down the pub.