Sam Gawith Discontinuing...

Yakster

Samuel Gawith is said to be discontinuing several blends. I don't have a definitive list, but it's rumored to include:

Kendal Cream Flake
Cannon Plug
GH Dark Flake Aromatic

This story is developing, more here.

silvermouse

have you tried this flake? Not to everyone's taste and very strong.
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1004/samuel-gawith-1792-flake

Yakster

I’ve heard stories...

Stubble

@Yakster said:
I’ve heard stories...

Yakster

An update by Codgreindecline on PSD:

"This information is at best incomplete. The truth, as I have verified with Gawith late this afternoon , is that Canon Plug, Kendal Flake, and Dark Flake scented are simply not in stock at the manufacturer right now and won’t be available to order until enough orders accumulate to make them again. By UK Shops."

Yakster

Here's the latest, not as dire and there'll be a new US disti (that supplies Smoking Pipes) so GH and SG may be more available in the US.

Yakster

Here's some G2 from Rachel at Gawith & Hogarth (who also own Samuel Gawith now):

So I spent a little time yesterday chatting to a few people around the factory to try and clear up some of the questions about blends raised above. And this is what I can tell you:

Brown Sugar - this was some hook up with another distributor a while ago. It is now made by us for Sutliff and distributed and sold by them.
SG Bracken Flake - this has not been made for years and we don't know much about it so not much chance of this being ever brought back. Sorry.
Hansom Flake - this used to be made in 50g tins for Kretek. Not done any more but it is the same blend as Louisiana Flake.
Cabbies - the demand for this has exploded in the last year or so. It is the product that takes the longest to make as it basically goes through pretty much every process there is in the factory plus has 'waiting/resting' time. Therefore long lead times to make. Will be available again. Can't at this point say when.
Lakeland Dark - no longer available or made
Grasmere and Bothy Flake -> both available for distributor to order if they decide to.
Rich Dark Honey Dew is now Rich Dark Spring Dew (can't have the flavour in the name), never a very big seller. But is available for distributor to order.
Revor Plug -> this is made especially for Gawith's for the UK market only.
RB Plug - available for the distributor to order
Dark Flake -> we make a plain Dark Flake and an "A Blend" or aromatic blend. So if it is described somewhere as scented, I guess this is the aromatic version.
Cherry Cream Flake - we now no longer make this
Stonehenge -> this is made by us especially for Cornell & Diehl and so available through them

Yakster

Further clarification from from Rachel at Gawith & Hogarth of which Sam Gawith is now just one of their brands and not a separate company:

1) Louisiana Flake/Hansom Flake and Stonehenge are/were all exactly the same.
2) We only make Louisiana Flake now...
3) Louisiana flake was shipped in bulk to the states were it was cut down or whatever to put in the "peanut containers" and sold as C&D [GLP] Stonehenge.
4) The only "special blend" we make is Brown Sugar.

Yakster

Here's a recent update from Gawith & Hoggarth on another forum.

tl;dr

1. Not theirs, but they believe that Condor Long Cut is discontinued.
2. Coniston Cut Plug Aromatic is being discontinued, but not the regular CCP.
3. Blends are merging due to tobacco availability, Dark Birds Eye, Kendal Kentucky and Kendal Dark. All the same blend. Dark Birds Eye no longer has the birds eye in it from the stalk, Kendal Dark is the way forward.

Condor absolutely nothing to do with us but I believe the long cut has already been discontinued.

Coniston Cut Plug Aromatic is being discontinued. Please note 'Aromatic' blend only. Normal Coniston Cut Plug is available.
No 7 Broken Flake is not discontinued.
Kendal Flake I'd have to check on as maybe we have it coded as a slightly different name. This is possibly Dark Flake but hard to say (which is still made).

However, can I point out that while I am sure the odd blend we discontinue is beloved by a few, we do not discontinue blends that sell well. This would make absolutely no business sense. Blends that are discontinued are basically ones that don't sell in sufficient quantities. When assessing this we look at the UK market and the export market to get an overall picture. This is why we make a few blends that are hardly sold in the UK but sell better abroad and vice versa. We are trying to align the UK and export product list so the same tobaccos are available the world over. Often these blends to maybe be discontinued will first go to special order only in the UK and if after a year or so sales are still very low (including export sales) then they get discontinued. If sales pick up they stay.

Hence if discontinued they were not really good sellers. We have to pay to register each tobacco blend each year and so there is no point in paying fees for a blend that hardly sells.

Also sometimes we opt to not produce a blend in say bulk and only in 50g tins as maybe it only sells to a particular market in a particular format. Or vice versa.

Also sometimes two blends may now be basically the same. Many years ago they were most likely different but due to change in leaf availability for example, over many years two blends can homogenise into one. It makes no sense to produce the same blend under different names and so we will opt to continue with one and discontinue others. One example of this is Dark Birds Eye, Kendal Kentucky and Kendal Dark. All the same blend. As Kendal Dark is one of our main produced shag tobaccos and part of the Kendal Gold, Mixed and Dark range, we opted to keep this. Currently Dark Birds Eye is produced for the American market only but as its no longer actually the Dark Birds Eye blend (does not have the birds eye part which was a stalk tobacco) in it, we would slowly like to persuade people to move to buying Kendal Dark.

Emphasis mine.

From: https://pipesmokersdens.com/threads/discontinued-lakeland-tobaccos-and-condor-lc.22942/#post-891879

Yakster

Update, G&H hasn't had stalk cut, "birdseye" tobacco in DBE since well before 2021. Guess I just need to stock up on Kendal Dark from here on out.