Samuel Gawith Brown Pigtail

As is the norm for ropes, you have to spend the time to prepare it. I like to leave a little moisture, and if you do, expect the relights. This has a bit of tangy dark fruit and tart and tangy citrus from the Virginias along with some grass, a little bread and floralness, and a lot of earth and wood. They are the lead components. The Kentucky is earthy, lightly spicy, woody, smoky, floral, herbal, dry sour and sweet, and slightly nutty as a secondary player. I got some cigar notes here and there. This is very strong, and very full in taste with a ton of nicotine. Sip in a small to medium bowl. Won’t bite or get harshness, but sports some rough edges. Burns cool, clean and slow with a mostly consistent, mildly sweet, floral, rugged flavor from top to bottom. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights, so pack gently. Has a strong, lingering after taste and room note. Not an all day smoke.

-JimInks

My first shot at Brown Pigtail a few years ago was not so pleasant as I fully broke up and rubbed the tobacco and puffed like a freight train. I don't remember the experience much as I was woozy for awhile after I regained consciousness.

My piggy is now six years old and this time I sliced it and diced it with little further rubbing and stuffed the contents into a group-3 sized, thick bowled Ruthenberg. The throttle was eased way back on the puffing cadence and the experience was nearly otherworldly. Huge depth of deeply stoved Virginia flavor with that little extra I always get from G&H blends. Easy to keep lit, this little piggy made me go wee wee wee all the way to the next bowlful (which I didn't need for about six hours thanks to the strength of this blend).

You want deep stoved Virginia flavor and a nicotine hit beyond your wildest dreams? Well then, here you go pardner.

This is a very nice tobacco, it has a pleasant smell before burning and it has a wonderful construction. I use a cigar cutter to cut off a couple of mm coins. I use two methods depending on the pipe. I will either put the coins in without rubbing them out, or I will rub them out. They take a little bit of time to dry about 10-15 mins is good as a minimum. On lighting there are very smoky dark fruit flavours that come through followed by nice deep earthiness. There is a nice after taste almost apricot in nature.

The burn is nice and this tobacco does not bite. This was my first twist/rope a couple of years ago and I am now buying rope tobaccos as a staple tobacco both black, brown and flavoured.

I am however a little confused as to whether is a straight Virginia or if it is a Virginia burley blend. The flavours indicate Virginia but the burn rate and temperature indicate a blend.

All in all a good place to start with ropes and twists or to go to if you have got other twists/ropes and you are struggling with them. I keep a lot of this around

I find this as very pleasurable smoke. It may be something to do with my many years of cigarette smoking though. In the last few months I have taken up the pipe as a smoking complement to my cherished malt whisky. After a numerous 10g bags of various tobaccos I had decided that my preferred smoke was SG's 1792 Flake. I was wrong on so many levels! This is, in my opinion, the best smoke for a transitional smoker. From start to the bottom of the bowl it is a strong, nicotine fuelled, yet very smooth and not a wet smoke. I thought I was looking for some sort of Lakeland or Navy Flake as my staple. Jesus was I wrong! This is the shizzle! Smooth, strong and dry (although my taster was pre cut and semi-rubbed). It would be a massive injustice for any pipe smoker to deny at least a taste of this. I think that every smoker could find an application for this wicked jem!

I bought some of this after first trying the black pigtail, & my overall impression is that this is the superior of the two. I dried out this tobacco after slicing it into thin disks & smoked it in my fireside briar chrurchwarden, I found it was ideal to smoke with the disks stacked intermittently in the chamber with some of it rubbed out & mixed in, this ensures an even steady burn. The smoke is much cooler & more pleasant than the black pigtail. The flavour is a dark, rich, velvety smokiness. The flavour is a bit one-note, but as I like it, this is not a massive problem. I found that this tobacco doesn't smell as bad as the black pigtail, either when being smoked or in the packet. I would recommend that this is smoked alone or in accomodating company as the missus is unlikely to share the appreciation of the room note as much as those of us 'in the know'. the burn is very reliable & no dottle was left, the whole thing reduced to a lovely dusty grey ash. Like all ropes/twists, great fun to prepare & nice to look at it, & like all ropes/twists is powerfull in the nicotine dept - the problem with this one is that as it such a smooth (although still very tasty) smoke, it can be overpuffed, so recommended that it is smoked when sitting. Goes well with either tea or a cool lager, I was surprised to find it doesn't complement a whisky or brandy very well. In terms of pigtails, highly recommended, in terms of tobaccos overall, recommended. This is the twist (or is that rope?) that has convinced me to continue in my adventure into these unique tobaccos. Only 3 out of 4 though, as does need drying out, does not have a flavour that evolves a great deal, & the room note is not a friend winner. I noticed no great similarity to cigars as others have done. Recommend to smoke this in a churchwarden or other suitably long pipe, otherwise I reckon that this may punish the throat.

The description says it all, for those with a weak stomach, be wary. A smaller version of a rope, from other information the pigtails were made for miners so they could chew this in the mines, and smoke it when they came up. Well, I tried both and either way, it's strong. I cut this up the same as I would #4 rope, but as would be the case, I had to cut more to fill the bowl. I tried the stacking of discs and found for me to rub them out works the best. Upon lighting, the smell of a strong, aged Virginia comes to the forefront, slow smoking is the rule, whether with this or any rope. A smooth, very strong flavor that does not overwhelm, but does let you know who's in charge. The flavor remains pretty much the same down the bowl, until the bottom, and watch out, you better be sitting. A great tobacco, processed in a way which brings back thoughts of days passed.

On an old and dusty shelf, resting quietly between Brother Merchant's Deus Ex Machina: Rock music in Miracle Play and Stovold's Complete Rules of Mornington Crescent, lies a truly remarkable tome - The Ingenious Noble Lord Pigtail-Brown.

In this intriguing volume is the tale of a remarkable quest. One of a man, one who fought all his life to create a tobacco that would taste of crispy bacon when first smoked and, by stange magic and insidious design, transform it's flavour to that of grilled sausage and creamy egg.

Most laughed when they heard him, thinking it madness, or sorcery, to try such a feat. But with the power of gravity, time, and the twisting of implausible machinations, he found the panacea he sought.

Does it still exist today? Few know, for only a small number that sought to find the fruits that bears his name. But then, it's a tale that makes few frown: that of his tobacco and Lord Pigtail-Brown.

A while ago I was given a sample of the black pigtail, and whilst I could tolerate it the smoke was just too overpowering and harsh for me.

So, like any sensible individual, hearing that the brown is supposed to be stronger than the black (when rating equivalent ropes) I went out and brought some to try.

I found the brown pigtail to be more moist than the black, but far easier to cut and rub out. Half an hour left out to dry and voila - just right to smoke.

So I load up my Peterson baby-calabash (nice small bowl for trying strong tobaccos in) and add flame.

I'm not convinced the nicotine content of this is stronger than the black, but I am convinced it's a far better smoke.

Whilst still a strong tobacco and with only a limited range of flavours present, I found the smoke to be enjoyable - in a slow and careful way (slow smoking really is the key to the ropes). The flavour was pleasant, although no element of cigar as others have mentioned to my taste. Just simple, strong, unadulterated virginias - if that's what you like (and it's the strong, full end of the spectrum, not the light sweet end) then this is worth a visit.

If you want something close to a good cigar, this is the tobacco to try. The rope is rather thin in diameter, and its smell is very nasty: one of the worst smelling tobaccos (when not burnt) that I have ever tried. Very fermented, with a pungent note that reminds of stale piss. Luckily, smoking it is a definitely better experience: you just have to cut very thin slices of it and unrub them well to insure good burning. It burns slow and even, and in spite of what many people say it isn't as strong as Black Rope XX. The nicotine content is high, but at least the harshness of BRXX is nowhere to be found: I found it to be a strong but smooth and creamy smoke. The taste is not exactly my cup of tea, as I am not a cigar lover: if you think you can like a tobacco like this, anyway, I guess it would be a perfect choice as it clearly is a very high quality product. Not a tobacco that I would smoke every day, but when I am at home on my comfy sofa this is a nice chance of pace, different from the usual sweet virginias that I prefer. There are sweet notes in here, too, but the overall effect is much more pungent and "musty". It leaves a nice clear ash in the bowl, and produces no wetness at all: some tamping is recommended, along with a couple of relightings.

Same tobacco as Brown Twist Rope. Same review (see Brown Twist if you are interested).