March’s Pipe Guys’ Pick: Commonwealth

Samuel Gawith’s Commonwealth is a quiet older brother to the more recognizable SG blends. At first it may come off as a one that lacks excitement: 50% Virginia and 50% Latakia. A little bit of this, and a little bit of that. But remember that Virginia tobacco is one of the most popular tobaccos in the world due to it’s natural sweetness and surprising complexity, and remember too that Latakia is the greatest of flavoring agents available to tobacco blenders even today.

Commonwealth, in its simplicity, is fairly typical of the tobaccos that come out of the old Kendal Brown House. It seems to be the Sam Gawith philosophy that fancy isn’t always fine, and simple is sometimes best—or maybe 200+ years of tobacco production experience makes you less likely to sway with the winds of trend. Either way, there’s no denying that the House of Gawith can produce a mean smoking mixture, and Commonwealth is no exception.