Samuel Gawith Brown Rope No. 4 Rum

A full strength rope of rich Virginias with bold earthiness, wood, a few floral notes, a little spice, some fermented tangy citrus and dark fruit. they are the lead components. The herbal, floral, woody, earthy, mildly creamy sweet, vegetative, slightly spicy, smoky, coffee-like cigar leaf is a secondary player. There’s a little woody, earthy, slightly nutty Kentucky burley in play as well. The rum topping mildly tames the tobaccos, but all the inherent flavors play to your senses. It’s very strong and very full in its consistent, deeply rich, sweet and savory, fairly rugged flavor. It has a high nicotine content, so a small to medium size bowl is recommended. Puff slowly, and don't completely dry it out, or you'll lose some of the rum and possibly gain a little harshness near the finish. Won't bite, but it does have a few rough edges. Burns cool, clean and slow. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, and needs a fair amount of relights. Has a pleasant, lingering after taste and strong room note. Not an all day smoke.

-JimInks

This is a deep, strong smoke, and it took me a few bowls to be able to bear it without my head reeling, hiccups and nausea. Small, very small bowls is my norm for this one, and then, after cigar-cutting into little rings, teasing out and loading, it is a very fulfilling bowl of rich, sweet, rummy tobacco flavor.

When I have a full belly at night and want to relax, with a short space of time available, this one does the trick. It is a specialist tobacco, definitely not a regular/often smoke, but for special circumstances. It really shines in that role.

This too shall pass.

Upon holding the unopened pouch, i knew this was something different... a loosely braided robe of brown cigar-esque and tobacco leaves presented itself... holding this small length in my palm i knew it was going to be an experience. I took an old tobacco knive (sheep foot blade, shelham) that had been passed down to me by a family friend. Holding the loose rope similar to the way a chef holds green leaves, i make slow, but decisive cuts across the width of the rope roughly 2mm thick. As the plugs fell off, the scent wasnt that of rum, but rather sweet molasses with a slight hint of caramelized sugars and hay. Allowing it to air for a good few hours mellows the initial scent, and allows the delicate rum flavour to come through, but also brings out some harsher notes. Ageing in tight confines will help this tobacco to better marry the leaves within as I feel that this is a very young tobacco, and perhaps underflavoured. This is best enjoyed slowly i discovered, and a couch quickly becomes a saught after commodity. It is quite nice, but deserves time.

Happy piping.

Really not a big difference from the original brown Rope except a slightly sweeter and darker flavour. I love the original and the addition of rum is hardly noticable or benificial. This has such a bold flavour that you could probably mix in some parrot poo and not notice much difference. Great stuff though and lovely caramel flavour when smoked properly, not sipped.

This is a wonderful tobacco, I liked it more than the unflavoured version. The rum flavouring isn't overwhelming, but it sweetens the pack and makes the bowl a little easier than the unflavoured rope. However, I won't suggest it for a morning smoke, it's definitely an after dinner. As every rope, I cut it in small coins with a cigar cutter and let them dry a little; I don't know if it depends on the flavouring, but this version of the rope doesn't need a lot of relighting, and the smoke proceeds cool and even.

Samuel Gawith's Brown Rope #4 Rum is a tobacco for the strong hearted pipe smoker.

This tobacco will make your head spin around, feeling nauseous, curl your toes and then commence to kick your butt all on the first puff. It does get stronger as you smoke this towards the bottom of the bowl, highly recommed to smoke in a small bowl with a long shank. Keep plenty of pipe cleaners by your side and a glass of ice water.

I did not experience any tongue bite, but this one could be very harsh, leaving your mouth as dry as a desert. I did not experience any sweetness and with a vivid imagination there may have been the taste of a Rum.

Although I said I smoke this occasionally it remains in my rotation, about every third time around and with 25 tobacco blends in my rotation it is smoked on occasion.

Like all ropes, this stuff packs a serious wallop. I haven't had the unflavored version, but I suspect this is just a slightly sweet version of the regular rope. It is actually very good tasting, provided you smoke slowly and in a small bowl. Lots of nicotine here, so be careful. If you don't want your teenager to start smoking, give him (her) a big bowl of this ;-).