Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Top Black Cherry

The black cherry is mild in strength and rich in flavor. I also notice the barest hint of vanilla, likely from the sugary black cavendish. The nic-hit is mild. The tobacco may be a little moist, and a light dry time may help the slow burn rate, though I saw no need to dry it. It was lightly toasty when I over dried it, and the taste was a little subdued, so I recommend leaving some moisture in the tobacco. It burns just a little slow, so it needs a few relights, and will leave a little moisture in your bowl. Has no dull, weak or harsh spots, and will not bite. The flavor is consistent from start to finish. I did find I had to drink some fluid afterward because it does stick around in your mouth for a bit. It's not unpleasant, but it may go on a little longer than you prefer. The room note makes you friends with lots of people.

-JimInks

This aro Toby is an example to me of how important this website has been in my "development" as a pipe smoker. Many of our compadre's have eloquently written of how much cleaner, how much more....authentic ....this blend is with regard to its cherry flavor, than the myriad of other such blends out there.

I have no other cherry aros of which to compare Top Black Cherry to, but that's the beauty of heeding the advice of others-we can learn from their trials w/o replication of disappointment ensued.

I find this blend shines in a Meer-to the point that I shan't depart from the combination. It's rich, smooth, cool, and it tastes of dark dark cherries -which have a subdued sort of sweetness, not of bright-red balls in light syrup.

I do agree that TBC does require tact in its preparation-with G&H aros I have learned to pull out 4-5 bowls worth of baccy, reseal the plastic and nestle that sticky cud back in its tin, then air out the loose black leaf for 6-8 hours in my 50% humidity home. And even then it can be a bear to get stoked.

It's nice to know I'm enjoying blends from them that have recd the same reception by like-minded fellows (as well as untold well-rounded ladies) for round a bout 2 centuries now. It's nice to have that comfort in an otherwise short-sighted society. Fantastic in every way!

Not a lot of aromatics make my favorite list. I had grown tired of trying the majority of awful cherry blends out there. I have to say I enjoy Hobbit's weed in its sweet cherry/vanilla candy presentation. This stuff is not cherry candy...it really is more like real cherry (i.e. the fruit). The tobacco itself is top notch and it shows. It seems like most cherry blends out there use lesser quality tobaccos because they know the casing will drown out most of the tobacco flavor anyway. Not the case with this stuff...good quality leaf and good quality casing makes the whole thing sing beautifully. A cherry blend benchmark for sure.

This came with a high recommendation so my anticipation was matching the reviews. Upon opening the tin my expectations were diminished just by the smell. For me the tobacco has to be enticing enough and this was not the case with Top Black Cherry. I'm most sure that if I were to smell this blend without knowing what it was that cherry would not come immediately to my mind. My brother and I smoked it down and we both found that it was hard to keep it lit and both of us noted that it packs a stronger punch in the nicotine category than most aromatics I've come across.

Gawith Hoggarth - Top Black Cherry.

The appearance of the blend couldn't be anymore like I expected: black ribbons! They look quite coarse but the blend doesn't include any broken-flake pieces that still need a rub. The aroma from the pouch is strongly aromatic; cherries of course! The hydration looks good, so on with the smoke:

It lights easily, and if I'm honest tastes nowhere near as toxic as the pouch-note implied it would. The cherries are very clear in the smoke, but not as bitter or harsh as is often the case with cherry blends. There's also no sourness from them; the flavour's really calm. The Black Cavendish gives the smoke a vanilla creaminess, and this makes it seem even more insouciant. I get no tongue bite from it and the temperature's fairly cool. I notice Top Black Cherry gives a good burn that requires very few re-lights and only the odd tamp, leaving behind a pure ash.

I find the nicotine mild and the room-note wonderful.

One of the best cherry aromatic blends I've had.

Highly recommended.

I'll preface this by saying I'm not a lover of aromatic tobaccos, I do however love this tobacco. The pros: it's not extremely hot burning like some over sweetened aromatics I've tried. It's not candy! Think black cherries from the supermarket in the summer when you get them fresh and ripe. Sweet yes, sugar no. Cons; very chunky, I've not tried any broken flakes but I would imagine that's what this is. Pack looser than you think you must. It can turn "ashy" and tasteless over longer smokes. Side note: I had to tweak the tin slightly for it to stay closed, not bad nor a knock on the tobacco. It's a pop off tin as the 50g comes in a rectangle tin.

On to the body of the review: As I said before, I'm no aromatic man, I am new to smoking pipes, less than 9 months but I've enjoyed English and Scottish blends ten fold more than aros. This blend is different tho.

You can taste the flavoring througout the smoke rather than it burning off in the initial light as Brigham and Peterson Luxury Blend. That is in a small bowl. I have tried TBC in a medium/ large bowl (as in the MM Diplomat) and the flavour tended to burn off in the lower quarter of the bowl. That being said, the rather squat MM Morgan with 3/4" by 3/4" (roughly) bowl made this toby shine like the sun.

The taste as I said is not overly sweet like candy, more of a supermarket bag of black cherries (with stem and pit at the center.) The tobacco flavour does shine through the topping well but not overly so as Luxury Blend by Peterson tends to. That being said, it is simple Cavendish so don't expect too much subtlety in the tobacco, that comes from how it interacts with the topping.

Pack it loosely for it to shine. I have packed it like I would Peterson and Dunhill toby and it simply won't light nor will it stay lit if you're stubborn as I am. Light pack, almost a gravity feed and a light tamp and it lights up like a charm and stays lit with one maybe two re lights if you're still relatively new to puffing.

I would highly recommend giving it a try for aros or english lovers alike.

P.S. There are those who complain about the "soapy/ floral" tinge of Lakeland toby. I personally didn't detect it in this but it is my first lakeland blend, and it is an aro. That being said, I would imagine a floral taste would compliment the natural cherry taste as a cherry blossom might compliment the fruit.

This is it as far as cherromatics go. The flavor is good but not too heavy, the aroma is good but not too heavy, it's not too sweet, it's just a perfect aromatic smoke. G&H's Top Black is easily the best cherry tobacco I've found ... it's not a category that has a lot of really good examples in it. That makes this one stand out even more.

I buy in bulk, and it's always at perfect smoking moisture. Stored in Ball jars, it stays that way indefinitely. This is easily one of my top two go-to aromatics.

I love this blend . The Black Cherry Flavoring is at a perfect amount for the blend . It's a touch moist , so letting it sit out a while wont hurt . The favor is a Black Cherry and not a red cherry , for anyone that knows the difference , and the black cherry flavor is quite natural in taste . The blend smokes about as cool as something can , the aroma is pleasant .. it's about perfect . In bulk , G&H are a bit Pricey compared to most every other maker and a cheaper alternative is Sutliff St. George blend , which is actually very good too but not as good as this most awesome blend

Update 11/2021 Ill add that the flavoring milds with age . Its exceptional fresh , slightly aged or well aged .. but the flavoring diminishes some as it goes

Top Black Cherry;

Star Rating = 4.0;

Rating Scores - 10 is the Best and 0 is the Worst;

Pouch Note = 9;

Room Note = 10;

Flavor = 10;

Bite = 10;

Burn = 10;

After Taste = 10;

Raw Score = 59;

Rated Percentage = 98%;

Comment = Very Smooth, Very Mild, Mellow, nice light Black Cherry Flavor, this is a very pleasant smoke.

There are very few aromatics I can tolerate these days. I've been developing a relationship with a lovely lady who claims to like the smell of "a cherry pipe". Once I ascertained she meant the tobacco and not the wood, I warily shopped for a non-drugstore, vanilla-free, non-synthetic (maraschino: benzaldehyde) topped blend and chose this for trying out on her.

Well, one tin later, I still haven't. I really, really enjoy this stuff and smoked it up at home before I saw her again. My objectives were met: it is definitely not drug store pouch stuff, natural tasting (cherries don't actually taste like candy) and rather yummy in its own way. It's what I always thought smoking a hookah would be like. It can be smoked hard (but don't) and it won't bite. The nicotine is subdued and barely noticed. And although I try to discern cherries specifically in the room note, it just seems sweet and un-tobacco-like. I can see why women would like it.

I dedicated a large, perfectly serviceable cheap briar pipe to smoke this, assuming it would forever be scented and I chose well. Bigger is better for keeping it lit while also keeping it cool; it does have a moist texture (yes: fudge brownie crumbs), so drying is advisable. But not too much, the taste is carried in the steam, like many aromatics (Mephisto). There seemed a trace of soap in the tin. I'm not a fan of the tin smell, but it disappears once lit.

A much needed change of pace and a very social tobacco. The next order will be bulk.