Unsmokable Samuel Gawith

[mariorossi]

Dear Pipe comunity,

I've recently purchased my third bulk of Samuel Gawith Best Brown in italy from a local tobacconist.
It's more than 8 years that i smoke SG blend, so i'm fairly accustomed to the problems that they may have, and I have never found a tobacco that is on the point of being unsmokable. The problem is that the tobacco is so moist and full of humectant that is impossible to dry out and smoke. I've let the whole bulk dry in open air for 1 month (after which the total volume reduced by at least 70%), then 2 week in the hot italian sun and other 2 weeks in a very dry room and the tobacco is still moist to the touch. I have also cut the tobacco to a fine ribbon form but the tobacco still dont stay lit (it barely stays lit only if i really really press the tobacco which constrict so much the airflow to the point of no return).

I'm really frustrated to have thrown €75 (yeah in italy SG is expensive). Any advice?

As always thank you for the support, i really love this community.

 

[BROBS]

Dear Pipe comunity,

I've recently purchased my third bulk of Samuel Gawith Best Brown in italy from a local tobacconist.
It's more than 8 years that i smoke SG blend, so i'm fairly accustomed to the problems that they may have, and I have never found a tobacco that is on the point of being unsmokable. The problem is that the tobacco is so moist and full of humectant that is impossible to dry out and smoke. I've let the whole bulk dry in open air for 1 month (after which the total volume reduced by at least 70%), then 2 week in the hot italian sun and other 2 weeks in a very dry room and the tobacco is still moist to the touch. I have also cut the tobacco to a fine ribbon form but the tobacco still dont stay lit (it barely stays lit only if i really really press the tobacco which constrict so much the airflow to the point of no return).

I'm really frustrated to have thrown €75 (yeah in italy SG is expensive). Any advice?

As always thank you for the support, i really love this community.

was this from an original box?
It's not normal that it shouldn't dry like that.. I've never had that problem with Best Brown at all.

if from an original 250g box.. what is the date code ?

 

[mariorossi]

was this from an original box?
It's not normal that it shouldn't dry like that.. I've never had that problem with Best Brown at all.

if from an original 250g box.. what is the date code ?

Yes the box was original, i bought it from one of the most know tobacconist in italy.

 

[mariorossi]

was this from an original box?
It's not normal that it shouldn't dry like that.. I've never had that problem with Best Brown at all.

if from an original 250g box.. what is the date code ?

Date code is 22 284

 

[BROBS]

Date code is 22 284

that's really odd..
I don't know the answer.

I usually just rub out the flakes and let them dry.. where they will dry to the point of crispness after a day or so.
is it very humid where you live?

 

[canucklehead]

Do you have the same problem with any other blends, or only SG? It is only this most recent order?

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

problem is that the tobacco is so moist and full of humectant that is impossible to dry out and smoke.

From an article about Gawith Hoggarth on smokingpipes.com
"Pure Tobacco, No Additives. England has some pretty strict rules on additives, preservatives, and humectants, and so Gawith Hoggarth just doesn't use them."

I'd be surprised if Samuel Gawith use a lot of humectants either. Maybe someone who knows can weigh in?

 

[mariorossi]

that's really odd..
I don't know the answer.

I usually just rub out the flakes and let them dry.. where they will dry to the point of crispness after a day or so.
is it very humid where you live?

It can be quite humid, but the sun is also very strong so. It's seem that the tobacco have reach the maximum dryness possible, still it dosent stays lit, i think the humectant are the problem.

 

[BROBS]

It can be quite humid, but the sun is also very strong so. It's seem that the tobacco have reach the maximum dryness possible, still it dosent stays lit, i think the humectant are the problem.

I don't know that it has any humectant. it's cased with something but I think it's natural products.

what is a tobacco with which you have no problems?

 

[mariorossi]

Do you have the same problem with any other blends, or only SG? It is only this most recent order?

Other SG are always incredibly wet, but after a 1 week max 2 they are ready to smoke. I know from a tobacconist that all central importer of Italy keep all the SG blens in a humidor, and then send them to the tobacconist. Maybe thats why they are really wet, although i see that is a common problem worldwide.

 

[mariorossi]

I don't know that it has any humectant. it's cased with something but I think it's natural products.

what is a tobacco with which you have no problems?

for what i know every commercial pipe tobacco have humectant (like glycerol). If you have tried whole leaf from the field you can see how quickly it dry out compare to the commercial one.

"what is a tobacco with which you have no problems? " every tobacco apart from this box

 

[mariorossi]

I don't know that it has any humectant. it's cased with something but I think it's natural products.

what is a tobacco with which you have no problems?

From an article about Gawith Hoggarth on smokingpipes.com
"Pure Tobacco, No Additives. England has some pretty strict rules on additives, preservatives, and humectants, and so Gawith Hoggarth just doesn't use them."

I'd be surprised if Samuel Gawith use a lot of humectants either. Maybe someone who knows can weigh in?

thank you for your response. I definitely think that there is something added that prevent the tobacco to dry. Also in winter i put SG blends next to the radiator, and still they take days to dry out. I think that they are selling me more whater that tobacco nowadays

 

[BROBS]

for what i know every commercial pipe tobacco have humectant (like glycerol). If you have tried whole leaf from the field you can see how quickly it dry out compare to the commercial one.

"what is a tobacco with which you have no problems? " every tobacco apart from this box

I would say it may just be a bad batch somehow.. seems very odd to me. Maybe just a batch that got too much of an ingredient in it??

 

[mariorossi]

I would say it may just be a bad batch somehow.. seems very odd to me. Maybe just a batch that got too much of an ingredient in it??

yeah, also the taste is off somehow. But that's normal with SG the batch are very discontinuos.

 

[BROBS]

yeah, also the taste is off somehow. But that's normal with SG the batch are very discontinuos.

Maybe try to email Samuel Gawith Company with your experience?

 

[mariorossi]

Maybe try to email Samuel Gawith Company with your experience?

I will thanks for the support

 

[BROBS]

because 284 lot code shouldn't be brand new.. therefore it shouldn't be still so wet/impossible to dry. It should actually have a little age to it.

 

[condorlover1]

I am experiencing similar issues with a batch of Brown Bogie from 2017 since I almost steam cleaned my tongue this morning. It seems to get better through the day but then I would rather twist be moist and pliable as opposed to brittle.

 

[workman]

Maybe something's changed since the merging of SG and G&H.
I've been finding their products pretty stubborn lately too. Not unsmokable, far from it, but they seem to take longer to dry.
I don't know that it's the blends (FVF, 1792, Cabbies). It could be the weather, which has been humid for some weeks now.

 

[luigi]

I had a similar problem with Best Brown. I rubbed it out completely, separated every single leaf apart, dried it on the stove and jarred it so it couldn't rehydrate in the humid air. It still went out several times during the smoke so I concluded it just wasn't my type of tobacco. Luckily there's FVF which performs better and reacts to drying as it should.