Samuel Gawith Majorly Different

[steamboat]

I just finished a tin of 2014 1792 Flake, and ordered the 250g box. What i received was not a minor change from the previous batch, but a totally different blend. What i got was basically Dark Birdseye Flake. The unique 1792 smell of the tonkin bean is not even present in the tin note or smoke. It even has some anise smell to the flake, sorta like Peterson Irish Flake. Luckily i love Dark Birdseye and all Dark Fired Kentucky blends, so this will all be smoked, but it is NOT 1792 in any shape or form. Anybody else experiencing major differences in the recently released Sammy G blends?

 

[workman]

I have an open tin of 1792 from may. It certainly both smells and tastes like tonquin. No anise.

 

[steamboat]

That is good to know, maybe i just got a fluke box. I will order another tin to compare. I am hoping to be the only one here to have experienced this change, as i really enjoy 1792 as of recently.

 

[workman]

I have seen posters complaining about inconsistency with SG on other threads. I wouldn't know. My first 1792 was around last christmas.

 

[canadianpuffer]

I grabbed a few tins from the recent shipment to smoking pipes, one popped open in transit. Man my mailbox smelled like tonquin when I opened it. Worked out well as it had dried just enough to smoke right upon delivery! But same old 1792 that I remember.

 

[mrenglish]

I have a friend who smokes 1792 on the way to work in the morning and he's had batches that taste different or even a little weaker in strength from time to time.

 

[josephcross]

one popped open in transit

Well, I had a strange occurrence with a tin of 1792 recently. First I got dinged for a single tin *ouch, paid for it at the post. I was quickly given a plastic wrapped envelope full of yellow tape and shooed out the door. It was pretty smelly and not ever have had fresh 1792 I was pretty excited, though I wasnt sure of the plastic wrap.

Got home, opened it up and was surprised that the tin had either popped open in transit, or was opened by customs. Either way it was kindly taped up and sent on its way to me. I figured that it was a new service by customs to start drying out Gawaith blends before they reach their customers. It only took a few days for me to get that flake dry.

 

[robcapp]

I was thinking one of my 250g St James Flake boxes was blended to dark - the Perique seemed like it was added way to liberally. Even when I opened the box, the flakes were almost black. I smoked a bowl of it, and or was seriously intense.

Another box I recieved had a far more familiar colour, and taste.

 

[perdurabo]

I ordered a Box of SG Full Virginia Flake last year. The tobacco was completely different than what I had smoked from the tin. It was an uneventful bright Virginia flake with grassy hay notes. The tin FVF is dark malty and bready. . Now that I've aged the flake for a year, I can say the taste has improved, but it ain't the FVF I've had in the past.

 

[steamboat]

The flake cut i got has completely different as well. 1792 was a thick flake, that i used to cube cut. After it was cube cut if I wanted to break down the cubes further, i had to really work out the cubes to get a ribbon/shag going. The new batch were long thin shreds sorta like a G&H Flakes. It also rubes out like FT CVP into perfect ribbon with little effort.

 

[heyeveryone]

Hello everyone!
Sorry for bumping this thread but trying to find an answer to this.
I recently bought two tins of SG SJF that are completely different, both in flake and tin color.. One of the tins, which i also supspect is older contains thick, dark, almost black flakes with a "dark" smell of dry fruits.
The other smells like straight up hay with a much lighter hint of dry fruits. Flakes being bright/light in color, with very little dark parts. As example, my only previous experince of SG is my tin of FVF, and those flakes are of darker color.
Thickness before cutting seems different, where the lighther one is of thinner size and the darker was a big slab.
And to get to my question, i have tried both this forum and search engine but never found an answer to this - is this SG being SG, old machines and all. Or has it something to do with the SG/HM merge?
Thanks

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

Hard to say if one or the other of your possible reasons is correct, but not an unusual question. My own opinion is that they use quality raw ingredients that vary from time to time at least in appearance. And perhaps taste, too.. if a recipe calls for x% of Malawi Virginia, then that is how it goes out the door regardless of variations in the crop. The casing and toppings do seem to me to be consistent and over a period of time, my opinion and experience is that things tend to reach equilibrium. I have never had a tin or bag of 1792 that didn’t smell like Tonquin, though. That would be a concern. But YMMV.

 

[64alex]

Another variable to consider is that many blends have really the same tobacco components but processed in different ways. For example Golden Glow, Best Brown and FVF are exactly the same with difference being in the 1st there is no heating/steaming, in the 2nd a little bit and in the 3rd a full of it. So there could be some differences in processing from batch to batch. Think like going to the bakery and one day you get bread undercooked and soft and another day a bread overcooked and crusty.

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

I think Gawith might have some serious QC issues, probably in their packaging 'department'. I just got a box of Best Brown that was definitely quite different than any I have purchased previously. It's appearance matches Golden Glow. If you search the forum, you will find pretty regular reports of variable appearance and taste with S. Gawith products. I expect some variability, but it seems like they are having a hard time putting the right label on the right blend lately. I like 64alex's bakery analogy. Unfortunately if I experienced that much variability, I would go get my bread somewhere else. Who cares if you got a good loaf once, if you never know if you will get another. I do LOVE S. Gawith Virginia blends, so this is disappointing to be sure. To answer heyeveryone's question more directly, I have never opened SJF even when fresh and found anything other than dark flakes. Like FVF dark or darker.

 

[npod]

I jarred up a few boxes of St James and 1792 tonight. The flakes where 250 gr boxes purchased a few weeks ago. The product for both looked great and no change vs 2014 to my eye. YMMV, and this thread certainly is intriguing since others have had a different experience.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

So you smoke tobacco from 2014 and some from 5 years later and it tasted different. I for one would be a lot more surprised, and disappointed, if the two weren't different. The 5 and 6 year old SG blends I've have and smoked look nothing like what I've canned in the past 9 months. And I'll bet 9 out of 10 or 19 out of 20 smokers would swear they weren't the same blend if they tasted both one after the other.

 

[lochinvar]

Had the same experience with my most recent box of BBF. I'm pretty sure Golden Glow got put in a BBF box. Way too loose and (most telling) way too light. Golden Glow is ok, I wasn't totally burned, but it will definitely sit longer than BBF or FVF.

To their credit, I'm sure the two Gawiths are still adjusting to being in one House, and it's not like its a huge operation. As long as someone doesn't accidentally put the Grousemoor concoction on a batch of FVF, it isn't that bad.

 

[npod]

I’m not sure we are talking about the same thing Hoosier. I was simply referring to the way the flakes present fresh out of the box. I wasn’t comparing Aged tobacco or color or flavor from different years (eg, 2014 aged vs 2019 fresh). The OP was interested if the fresh flakes have changed. In that regard I see no difference: same color, same cut, same smell. I’m smoking fresh 1792 right now and is the same fresh as it was in 2014 and each year since I’ve been cellaring. But others mention they noticed a change in quality, so there may be something going on. It just hasn’t been noticeable to me (yet).
Edit: I reread your post. Maybe I’m more confused about what you are getting at. Do you mean that in general blends do change year to year due to nature and climate, etc? And that in any year a blend may change slightly?

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

Interesting pictures of the St.James. I have seen a picture posted elsewhere just in the least few days that showed some that was much lighter in color than I have ever seen. Your picture is about the shade I am used to.
Not to answer for Hoosier, but I think SG and GH do change some from time to time. Always have. Nothing recent about that. They do tend to revert to the mean given some (modest) time.

 

[bent1]

Confirming what Alex posted. Heard that from SG reps at the Chicago show in 2008.