Samuel Gawith - Elmo's Reserve

@OleFactoryHugh how would you compare this and Spanish Gem? They sound similar to me, and I am a huge fan of the Gem.

If you enjoy a pipe Elmo’s goes, IMHO, great with S. Gawith 1792 Flake.

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Hitsuzen, I can’t say because I haven’t had Spanish Gem yet.

I have read that Spanish Gem is very close to Spanish Brandy which I do have and I don’t think it is anything like Elmo’s Reserve, completely different grind moisture and scent. The Spanish Brandy has something in common with Toque Chocolate with an added whiff of liquor, it is dry and medium fine in grind.

St Elmo’s is quickly becoming one of my favorites…to me it smells like a more complex cased Cavendish pipe tobacco…the kind in the jars at the tobacco shop with names like “Captain Jack”…I guess it is the vanilla and dark tobacco at work…however, unlike the counter pipe tobaccos it has an nice low end note and just a touch of smokiness and old leather mustiness which keep it from becoming too sweet or one dimensional. Love it 5/5 stars

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The grind is like cake crumbs. I didn’t like it at first because of the associations I had with it on the first pinch, smelled like old leather boot + shoepolish, a true old peoples snuff. I remember my grandpa smoking pipes smelled kind of similar. After a while I came back to it and now love it, very cozy stuff in the evenings.

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I’ve seen tonquin described here as the scent that smells like vanilla that isn’t vanilla, and that sounds about right for what I got from my tin. I liked it, but didn’t find it as nice as SG Vanilla, which I love.

I just got in a small tap box of this snuff. 1792 Flake is my favorite pipe tobacco so my hopes were high for this snuff. 

It didn’t disappoint me. Oh, my, this is an excellent snuff. The humble tonquin bean adds some great flavor to tobaccos. Love it. 

I will be placing a larger order for this snuff in the future. 

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Ohhh absolutely brilliant This is a great snuff fresh dark coarse a bit wet It has the WOW factor Incredibly strong scent sweety vanilla style the base tobacco is very good and reminds me a bit of black rappee eith hearth and leather in background In the nose is delightful very rich and soothing lke having a good biscuit in the nostrils Very impressive and totally satisfied

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It seems you really like tonka, @schmalzlerfranzl :slight_smile: Try putting a tonka bean into the tin with some neftobak overnight. There’s a big chance you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

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@volunge so is it tonka in elmos reserve I Will buy tonka beans

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I’ve been trying to replace Elmo with Madagascan but I will be reordering lots of Elmo

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@ar47 How is it Madagascan?

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I find the scenting of Madagascan much more muted than that of Elmo. But of the three tins of Elmo I’ve had each was significantly different themselves (one had zero shoe polish smell) so it’s tough to say anything definitive.

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@JosephJames try getting it in the tin next time. @ar47 is correct that the scent can vary. I believe it depends on age and whether the seal is tight.

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Elmos has become a part of my snuff rotation. Along with FireDance and Celtic Talisman. All three are delectable!

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I loved Elmos for about a week, although it was one of the few that made me sneeze.  Bought both the tap box and 2 tins.  Now I really don’t like it.  I can only take in once or twice a year.  I gave away one of the tins and the tap box and other tin are in a jar that will likely be binned if I need the space.  My nose just does not like it anymore.

I’ve noticed considerable batch variations with Elmo’s. When fresh, it has a varnishy, shoe polishy scent. Definitely a love-it-or-hate-it thing. When not fresh, the scent can be pretty bland.

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So sad I had to knock this off my order. It’s okay I will do another order come end of the month. Get a few others on my wish list

Any tobacco product named after a customer has a strong tendency to be an odd one. More of a some people love it others loathe it type. 

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