What Are You Smoking? - March 2021

I loved that gum as a kid and not because it tasted like “soap.” It is indeed very floral and review by A. Morley below:

Grouse-Moor is a very often maligned tobacco and this is simply not fair. It is a carefully produced blend of the finest ingredients and a consistent blending tradition going back over two hundred years. I would proffer that the reason so many would thumb their noses at it is because it is the sort of blend that we serious pipemen are told to shy away from because it is not laden with manly amounts of Latakia or smoky stoved Virginia.

For my part, Grouse-Moor is one of my favorite tobaccos, representing, as it does, the pinnacle of one of the most venerable traditions in the realm of tobacco, that of the English Lakeland. Only the finest steamed and stoved bright Virginia is employed, cut into deliciously long ribbons that pack easily and are perfect for slow, relaxed puffing. It is the top casing that truly defines Grouse-Moor, and the sauce used is the very best blend of essences of any that are employed for Lakeland-style aromatics, managing to be floral and herbal and fruity in delicate balance all at the same time. The essence used by Samuel Gawith is a secret blend of all natural components known only to one employee of that historic blending house. I can recall the time that I visited the factory in Kendal and the reverence with which the bottle of Grouse-Moor essence was brought out to be sprinkled onto a batch of leaf to fulfill my request for a pound of Grouse-Moor direct from the factory floor.

Oddly, to me, at least, it is the extra flavoring that people seem to dislike in this blend. The few people that like Grouse-Moor here have attempted to justify it by saying that it has been around for so long that it must be good. I believe there is more to it than that. The floral essence of a Lakeland aromatic is, in my opinion, one of the greatest innovations in the realm of pipe smoking. The specific flavor notes of Lakeland aromatic essences serve to heighten and exemplify the nuances of a fine Virginia and even cut out some of the excessive sootiness to be found in many examples of the leaf, as opposed to German and American style aromatics which only cover up the true tobacco flavor. Consider Earl Grey, among the most popular tea blends in the western world: the oil of bergamot with lavender notes with which the basic Ceylon/Assam blend is laden helps to better marry and mellow the invigorating bitter-sweet flavor of the tea. This is the same sort of relationship of taste that is to be found in Grouse-Moor and so many other fine tobaccos of the Lakeland tradition.

Forgive my rabbiting on for so long, but I have enjoyed this sort of tobacco for years and became tired of listening to a lot of brutes and cads guffawing and casting it aside for 'serious' tobacco. Grouse-Moor is serious tobacco. The Virginia leaf is not only of the finest quality, but also quite strong. The affect of the top dressing is perfect if approached with an open mind. This is a tobacco for real men, and by that I don't mean John Wayne and Mike Hammer, but guys who truly deserve the title like William Wordsworth and Thomas Hardy.

Glad to see you managed to sneak in one more Pete!

Home from the office to discover my Savinelli arrived.
Think Dunhill Flake would be a great start to break in this beauty.