Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Dark Flake Liquorice

The fired and air cured Virginias offer quite a bit of earth, wood, floral vegetation, and some fermented tart and tangy dark fruit, along with a little tart and tangy citrus, grass, smokiness, and a little spice and cigar. The nutty, earthy, woody, lightly molasses sweet, toasty burleys play a strong supporting role. The rich licorice topping does sublimate the tobaccos a little, and I also detect a very minor Lakeland note. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is just a little past the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite, or get dull or harsh. Has a few rough edges. It’s a little moist, but needs little dry time. Burns slow, cool and clean with a fairly smooth, sweetly consistent rugged, floral, mildly spicy flavor to the finish. Requires a few relights, and leaves just a little moisture in the bowl. Has a very pleasant after taste and room note, both of which linger a little. Can be an all day smoke for the experienced smoker.

-JimInks

Are you familiar with Dark Flake/Plug? How about the various Sweet Twists, Ropes, etc.? If so you have a major leg up. You know that the "sweet" character of the Sweet is very slightly so. It just takes the edge off an otherwise fairly severe tobacco flavor profile. Sometimes I have to put the Rum & Whiskey ropes next to each other and smell them side by side to know...hey, that one's the Rum...etc. I think most of the other scents are the same light touch. They are not Aromatic, they are lightly scented and slightly sweetened.

So, the Dark Flake Liquorice is the same thing. Very light, subtle scenting of "tobacco liquorice" as I'll term it. It is not like black liquorice store candy at all. I think it has less Anise in it, or something. But it smells succulent - like Esoterica Ramsgate, which IS aromatic. Quite potent.

Dark Liquorice is moist in the pouch and needs to be aired to burn well. Once done it smokes very cool and well, with the harshness of Dark Flake muted by the subtle sweetness and light flavoring. That's about it. It's really a very fine match for the Dark Flake's Dark Fired profile.

Oh, and BTW...it's kick butt strong. Small pipes or full stomachs only need apply. Also, it DGT's pretty well so setting it aside for a bit occasionally during a smoke is also just fine...better prudent than olive green in the ER.

I have a pipe I carved from a Tinsky kit for which I requested a narrow bore chamber, and it works wonderfully well.

GH&C Dark Flake Liquorice is a fascinating tobacco. The flakes are dark and fragant, although I didn't smell any licorice, just a deep, rich, sweet tobacco aroma. As delivered, the flakes are a bit too moist and benefit from an hour or so of drying out. Rubbed out, they take three or four charring lights to get going but, once lit, burn well with few relights being needed.

I swear this tobacco tastes like it contains perique. For most of the smoke, it is quite spicy, with lots of fig and raisin notes. As with the aroma of the raw tobacco, I detected no licorice (nor did I taste any Lakeland essence). Maybe I was tasting the top dressing or Malawi dark fired leaf but, whatever it was, it was delicious. Around mid-bowl, the flavor became increasing sweet and fruity. Toward the end, it reminded me of Juicy Fruit gum.

I can imagine this becoming a favorite smoke.

P.S.: I originally posted this review of GH&C Dark Flake Liquorice under GH&C Brown Flake Liquorice. I've moved it here to correct my mistake.

Gawith Hoggarth - Dark Flake Liquorice.

From the pouch I don't notice a very strong smell of liquorice, only a slight one. The title Dark Flake can't be argued with, it's virtually black! The flakes need some time to allow the moisture to decrease, they aren't un-smokeable but a touch on the damp side.

The liquorice comes through delicately in the smoke at first, a sort of warming touch but not a smack in the face aromatic. It gives a decent burn all along, leaving a solid white ash behind. The nicotine is about a medium amount, present but not too much. I find the longer the pipe is smoked the more discernable the liquorice becomes, at the beginning it's quite vague but at about the halfway point there is no mistaking its presence. At first I find it a touch vacuous but I really enjoy it once the flavours all come together. It doesn't bite me at all and the smoke is fairly cool.

I find this a good blend and I feel it's worthy of three stars.

This came as a large sample from a friend. The flakes were broken in the ziplock baggie and were very dark. The pouch note was heavy and sweet with some earth and a hint of licorice. It came just a little more moist than I might have preferred. I smoked it as delivered and rubbed it out. It flakes are a little sticky and do not rub out readily.

This is a wonderful smoke. The smoke has a solid tobacco foundation and is slightly thick and spicy. The licorice adds to the sweet, and the Virginias provide some overripe fruit and raisin. The snork is spicy and sweet. This is a slow smoke, and the flavors intensify slightly in the last third of the bowl.

This is easy to recommend. It is an excellent smoke and very satisfying.