Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Happy (Brown) Bogie Unsliced

The pouch note for this dark tobacco is earthy, musty, smoky. I cut it coarsely and it rubbed out to a fine tilth in the palm of my hand.

The room note is near enough identical.

It takes a light easily and stays lit until the end. I found I didn't need to tamp. It leaves no dottle.

This is a tobacco that produces almost entirely bass notes. It is deep, creamy, rich and satisfying. There is a pepperiness on the tongue and the back of the throat that is suggestive of strength but reports of its great power are imo overstated. This is a wonderfully behaved tobacco and quite moderate. There is zero bite. For some it will lack the excitement factor and interest of perique or latakia blends but as a faithful and honest tobacco it has few peers. I agree with other reviewers who noted the somewhat cigar like aroma of this tobacco.

I could easily consider this as an all day smoke.

Edit. Having smoked a bowl of this unrubbed I can see where some are saying this is a nicotine heavyweight. Not a smart way to smoke this tobacco imo, since it burned pretty quick this way and lost a lot of nuance, but I'm upping the strength rating of the tobacco to reflect its potential.

A true classic of it's kind. Old fashioned tobacco as it used to be. Sure, there's a lot of nicotine, but smoked slowly it's a very gentle nicotine, if you see what I mean. Go at it too fast though and it's headache territory. Pipe bowls were relatively small when tobaccos like this were first created.

As for flavour, the Indian air-cured component adds a nice tangy/savoury edge similar to G&H's (unscented) Dark Flake but in an overall less harsh package (Indian cheroots are something else - more power than the strongest Havana). As for the Malawi fire-cured part of the blend, "smooth and deep" are the words that come to mind. The start is a dry taste that gathers some savoury sweetness as the bowl burns down, but without the over-load of sugar that some (e.g. Sam Gawith) flakes have.

Everyone should try this at least once. Not as a "rite of passage" but to experience and, hopefully, get to understand a truly fine tobacco that's been made pretty much the same way for a very long time.

If the hassle of preparing it puts you off, or if you've never tried to prepare a rope tobacco before, I suggest buying the ready-sliced version, at least to begin with. It's exactly the same tobacco, with the assurance that it's correctly prepared for optimum smoking.

I've been told by many people (including non-smokers) that the smell is pleasant. Some even use the word "nice".

I can't recommend it enough.

Quaint, these twists. There is a rich and robust pure tobacco aroma in the bulk form. I use a utility knife and a small wooden box as a cutting board to slice what I need to fill a cob bowl. The slices rub out with little effort. It is moist, but I don't dry it, and it burns just fine. It fires right up and burns cool and dry. Delicious. I think Dark Flake carries more tobacco strength, but the nicotine may be more evident here. Excellent African tobacco taste. No need to fear this tobacco. Puff away, there is no tongue bite. Bold yes, harsh no. I find this more enjoyable than the highly acclaimed flue-cured VAs.

Starts with just a touch of florals which rapidly dissipate leaving just the natural flavors of the Virginias. Deep, bold and earthy. Very, very satisfying. Basically no complexity here, just a rich, stout Virginia smoke. Burns slow and cool even when very dry. I can find no faults with this rope. I find it to be very pleasing. One of GH's best.

Medium in body. Medium to full in taste. Not enough floral scent to rate. Burns perfectly.

Happy Bogie has been around for many years but was much more easily obtained in the USA in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I never saw one of those 8oz bags of this one but it was offered frequently at shops that carry G&H tobaccos in two ounce packages. My rope was about 10-years old when I obtained it, and quite dry, which made cutting easier. I used a hair pin to punch holes in the little discs once sliced, and then packed them one on top of the other in my pipe for smoking. The leaf burned very well in this manner but still very slowly. I was swooning at mid bowl, and the quality leaf within made me very.... well, happy!

Wellsir, I smoked it and I'm still here. That might surprise some the way that Happy Bogie is spoken of, but if you can smoke a cheap, pungent cigar you can smoke this.

A big, toothy cigar is really what this tobacco rope puts me in mind of. It tastes like dirt, leather, rotten wood, and strong, bitter tea; that is when you manage to taste anything other than thick, abrasive smoke. Happy Bogie is, essentially, an efficient means of nicotine delivery that hasn't bothered with subtlety or variation of any kind.

The most novel thing about it is that delightfully old fashioned rope presentation that you have to cut a portion of and chop up. It stays lit if prepared and loaded into the pipe properly. At times, I found smoking it oddly contemplative, if only because of the dramatic increase in heart rate that occurs shortly after lighting up and the overall stimulation of the central nervous system that cannot but occur when smoking something with this much nicotine in't.

I suppose that I would smoke it again, maybe, once in a while. I like a softer, more approachable tobacco for daily smoking, but Happy Bogie manages to be simple, strong, and unsophisticated in the best way possible.

This is a smoke for working men. In flat caps.

It's honest, straightforward, genuine.

It's a rough diamond.

It's salt and pepper. Musty and bold.

I absolutely love it!

The fermented, savory, rugged dark fired and dark air cured Virginias provide a ton of earth, wood, tangy ripe and dried dark fruits, plenty of smoky barbecue, spice, vegetation, floralness, leather, some tangy stewed fruits, herbs, grass, bread, light tart and and tangy citrus, and a few sugar, tea, cigar and sour notes as the lead components. Very strong and extra full in flavor, the nicotine level is very potent. It won’t bite, but it has hints of harshness and plenty of rough edges, even though the creamy quality of the Virginias does tame them a mite. It needs some dry time, and a sharp knife to cut it. Well balanced, it burns cool and clean at a plodding pace with a very consistent, boldly deep and rich, mildly complex sweet and savory flavor that translates to the long lingering after taste, and pungent room note. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires a fair number of relights. Not an all day smoke by any means, and I suggest a small bowl for this one. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

Gawith Hoggarth - Happy/Brown Bogie.

Strong, strong, strong! This tobacco has a lot of power, possibly too much for some however I think it's a good smoke! The twist itself is robust in stature, it's not as as much as something like Deluxe Twist but it is a good c.m thick. The aroma from the twist imminently makes me think "this is going to be a hearty smoke", its quite a strong aroma that becomes more available when sliced into coins and rubbed out. Mine is of a good moistness, that said though, it's been in a baggie for about a month so it may have been a bit damp to begin and the water has diminished but sadly I can't comment!

Happy Bogie lights up with incredible ease, and if the bowl has been loaded correctly it burns steadily leaving a white ash as it goes. The tobacco flavour from this is very full and to me it tastes a little fire cured. Did I mention that this is strong?!! I think, basically, if you don't like nicotine then KEEP AWAY! The smoke is of a good temperature and doesn't bite any, so if you like to 'chug' hard this will suit you! A less positive attribute is the room note, it has a slightly acrid/burnt tone to it, one of the few low factors. Sadly, when the pipe is finished another negative exudes itself, my mouth has quite a heavy coating of goo in it but if it's smoked for a quick 10 minute nicotine fix I don't get the mouth coating.

I think, considering all the different qualities, this is a great 'short break' smoke but if you require something to sit and relax with all evening then this won't suit!

A tin note of raisins with very subtle sweetness. This is a tobacco that demands respect. The rope form it comes in is a nice change from other forms. I use an Inuit ulu knife to shave 1/8" slices then lightly rub out. TW from an earlier review stated that these types of tobaccos are from a time where small bowled pipes were the norm. As such, I tried deep briars and cobs and found that my Peterson 407 loves this tobacco because of its small bowl. I've smoked several bowls of this and find that it is getting nicer each time. I store all of my tobaccos in mason jars and believe that this aids in aging immensely. The smoke is strong, but at the same time smooth and has a wonderful flavour. When exhaled out the nose, there is a tingle at the end that reminds you that it has power. I find that the "N" factor is quite manageable if sipped and savoured.

Also, I found that this goes well with a bottle of coca cola, (old timey glass bottle not the new plastic bottles). Reminiscint of fine cigars this one is not a tobacco to smoke as a fledgling, but it is different from the norm and a joy to smoke.