Yes, the flavours and texture of the smoke are both full and rich and yes, it contains nicotine (but not in the HUGE doses some would have you believe). And I can see how the combination of these factors is overwhelming to some but I find it an abolutely delicious experience.

There are no fake flavourings to muddy your encounter with the top class leaf which forms this oily black coil.

Laid on a solid chopping board, a sharp knife will slice perfect roundlets of tobacco which rub out easily and require little if any drying time. Being in a rope seems to keep this stuff alive for longer so you can buy it in large amounts without worrying that it's glory will have faded before you get a chance to smoke it.

The taste is, as some have commented, vaguely reminisant of engine oil (but in a good way)although the meatiness others have mentioned, I experience somehow more in the texture of the thick plumes of creamy rich smoke than in the taste. There is a slight background sweetness, as in a strong malt beer, which is enough to give interest and depth to the flavour without becoming overpowering or cloying.

This is a Tobacco's Tobacco. If it were human it would be 6'2" have a thick beard, wear check shirts and possess the kind of chest which makes you stand back a few paces if you want to see it all at the same time, it wouldn't speak much but everyone would know when it did and it's hands would be thick and rough from a hard days graft. But it wouldn't punch you without enduring the kind of provocation that would leave most people in the hospital. This tobacco would never steal your wallet and it would give up it's seat for a lady...I don't really know where I'm going with this anymore...

It's strong and plain (but not boring) and I absolutely could not get it to bite, at all. I honestly don't know why everyone doesn't love this stuff. You need to try it, even if it's just once.

I must say that I whole-heartedly agree with every review. I see how this could be a horrible experience to many. I can’t actually say that it was a good experience, but I have just shy of 4 oz. left, and I promise you it will not go to waste. One comment on many of the other comments, the nicotine isn’t THAT strong. The burning flesh taste and smell aside, which I somehow liken to the Lakeland soap taste (something that probably should have no business in a tobacco smoking experience, but I’m glad it does) this is a generally smooth smoke. But I still dare you…

HIGHLY recommended, but caution is advised.

P.S. The brown rope is much stronger, though it does have a better room note.

P.P.S. Date: July 13, 2010 Well, gents, I'm giving up smoking entirely now. I'll miss it terribly, but I suppose it's time. I may pick it up in another 15 or so years (if I manage to live that much longer), but for now, I'm going to call it quits. I haven't smoked (cigarettes) at all for a few weeks now, and just feel that if I keep my tobaccos, I'll never really be finished with it. So, I have a few hundred grams of Black Irish Twist if anyone wants it (not selling, giving). I hate to get rid of it, but I think it's best. Just contact me at mike.allen.phillips at gmail dot com and I'll send it out. First come, first served, of course. But please don't ask me to send this to you if you aren't actually going to smoke it. I hate to see it go to waste.

Regards

The smell of the tobacco in the pack is excellent. Deeply woody, almost earthy with quite a smoky, cigar-like overtone. The appearance is mildly off-putting, resembling a bent black cigar, but the aroma makes up for that.

Preparation was easy enough. I have an excellent French made Opinel knife which made short work of slicing up a portion into pieces the size and thickness of a penny (a UK one that is). Based on the reviews I have read I expected the tobacco to need some drying but no, not at all. It rubbed out very easily making packing the pipe a breeze.

I smoked it in a Peterson 317, which has a suitably small sized bowl (for those who aren't familiar with Petes). It lit very easily and required only one more light to finish off the bowl. It smoked good and clean all the the way leaving only grey ash and no dottle.

Now for the flavour. In a word, wow! Most impressive. It smokes dry so the flavour stayed pretty much the same all the way down. The flavour of the smoke mirrors that of the tobacco in the pack; earthy, woody, smoky and altogether just as a plain tobacco should be. I had expected it to be stronger tasting. In fact, based on those reviews I expected something like Irish Flake but more so (and I am not over keen on Irish Flake - it gives me heartburn!). While Black Irish is certainly strong in flavour is is exceptionally smooth and tasty, cool smoking and quite unique in my pipe smoking experience. I did make a point of going fairly slowly with it and I am sure that was the right approach. Nicotine level? Fairly high but not excessive, though I think smoking it in a larger pipe might be a bit over the top.

To sum up, this is one that I would recommend to anyone. Four stars all the way.

Positives: it’s cool, slow-burning and as full-flavoured as you could ask for – almost a meal in itself, if you see what I mean. I can’t imagine anybody wanting much of it during a twenty-four hour cycle. (It's not for the fastidious palate, though; notice some of the things that people have compared it to: iron, blood, salty water, fishing boats, burnt steak!) Negatives: it’s excessively laborious to prepare and keep alight. It’s as moist as it looks in the picture; it needs to be dried and aired quite a bit before ignition is attempted.

Wives, servants, cats and dogs be warned: the room note of this stuff is absolutely terrible; like a fire in a slaughterhouse. It will haunt your deepest dreams, and not in a good way. Not surprisingly, the ghost of Black Irish Twist is mighty hard to exorcise from whatever pipe you smoke it in.

Hell’s bells, it’s strong! Oh, my Lord! For my tender sensibilities, this ultra-manly tobacco is far, far too wicked in terms of nicotine content. Half way down the bowl I had to lie down and pray for deliverance. You need to be a serious vitamin N junkie to like, or even to be able to stand, it. If, however, you’re looking for a robust, old-fashioned baccy that has not been tampered with in any way, have a slap at this. It’s an experience and a half: no scents or flavourings or fancy dancing – just Man against Tobacco. Try it in your smallest bowl, and don’t try to walk or focus on anything for some time afterwards.

To the Barbarian Hero kind of smoker, therefore, I recommend it: I can be objective enough to see its virtues even though it half killed me. To more genteel pipemen – wimps like me – I say: stay away from this stuff; it’ll put you on your back and make everything around you flicker. Thus: somewhat recommended, depending on who you are and what you like.

Why 4 stars?

I can understand if you hate it, but I love it!

It's not a complex and elegant blend, but you get a mellow smoke with a lightly sour flavor (iron, blood, salty water, fishing boat) of natural tobacco.

Smoking this stuff is the best way for me to relax. After the first few puffs - accompanied by a bottle of Merlot - all problems are fading away at once! Something magic!

I'm satisfied with one bowl a week (nicotine content!), but I don't want to miss this stuff anymore.

A relict of the "good?" old times!

Thank you Gawith & Hoggarth!

By the way, smoking indoors, it' an excellent mokito repellant!

Taste like a burnt steak and I like that, something a bit different than the sweet smokes I'm used to.

I really liked this tobacco the first time I tried it, liked it so much I packed a second bowl BIG MISTAKE.

Nicotine content slammed into me hard half way through the second bowl and I broke out in a cold sweat; had to go and lay down for 20 min. VERY STRONG (my world was spinning like a top).

I still smoke this occasionally, but with much more respect. I like this tobacco early in the morning after a hearty meal, and in small doses.

Update: If this tobacco gets too dry it becomes just terrible.

07/27/09 UPDATE: I am revising some of my reviews. I have given out more 4 star ratings than anything else. That practice is probably not helping. So, I am reducing BIT to 3 stars, not because I like it less than I did before, but because I am limiting 4 stars to fewer than 25% of all my reviews. One day I may use the 4 star rating to designate my top five.

FURTHER Update: I have become a hopeless Peterson's Irish Flake junkie since writing the reviews below. However, my local 'bacconist has a bad memory and 'forgot' my recent order of Peterson's finest! Alas! So, twitching and gibbering on a Sunday morning with nothing stronger than St.Bruno Flake to hand I turned again - with considerable reluctance - to this stuff. Now, it's dried out a fair bit & it still tastes pretty damn bad BUT, it DOES give you a satisfactory fix of that evil vitamin N. So, thank you Black Irish Twist, for that. A little like drinking a bottle of Listerine to keep from the DT's when the champagne has run out (actually, Listerine might be a good idea after this stuff..).

Update: I think I was, originally, too taken with the sheer, bizarre, novelty value of a tobacco that tastes exactly like a greasy carbonised steak. Beyond this admitted novelty, and the sheer nicotine punch, I really can't see any reason why I'd ever want to smoke this again - since this same punch can be easily found with many, many tobaccos that are pleasing to smoke.

Original Review: If you were to put a steak under a high grill - after basting it with some kind of dark, Tabasco-laden barbecue sauce - and then, distracted, leave the kitchen only to remember a half-hour later and run back - you would find the atmospheric conditions there to be very similar to those produced by this remarkable tobacco. It's slow to burn, very moist and slightly fiddly to prepare. The smoke achieved however is rich, dense and surprisingly cool; a good deal less intimidating on the tongue than its smell might lead you to expect: a bold and spicy leather, really. It packs a fair nicotine wallop, yes, but not an overwhelming one: it produces more a thoughtful reverie than a head-spinning rugby-tackle of a punch. A good one to keep you mollified if you have to catch brief outdoor smokes between a series of long train journeys!

Heavy - and it lends a nice flavor to the pipe. I liken the taste to roasting meat (or fat.) (Black Rope ... It's PEOPLE!!!)

Indeed, my wife often mistakes the smell of smoldering black rope to chicken burning on the grill. Now, if that ain't a reason to try this smoke, I don't know what is! You get tons of people who liken the smell of burning latakia to "Campfires in the fall" etc etc. Well, how many tobaccos can you smoke that remind you of summer barbecue??

For best results, smoke in a clay, as it was meant to be smoked. Chew it first, and then let it dry out and smoke it for a REALLY authentic experience. (It tones down the nicotine ... really! Try it, I dare you.) Baking soda will get the stains off your teeth, I promise.

P.S. I'm pretty sure the term "OLD TAR" comes from the aroma that old sailors who smoked too much black rope must exude from every pore. What more could you possibly want?

A brutal head butt of a smoke with no subtle aspects.

This tobacco grows on me, a bit of this rope have now been in my tobacco jar for a while, and it has done a bit for the taste. Perhaps due to a different moisture level (I have also changed the pipe I use for this tobacco). The taste of this tobacco is a bit fuller right from the start, and I feel the taste of very dark chocolates, and some grape fruit.

As before, the sweetness builds up nicely as the pipe progresses. Sweet and mild smoke tastewise, probably a powerhouse nicotine wise, as I usually break a sweat while smoking it.

*Original review*

My first impression on this tobacco was very bad, smoked it in a small bowled pipe, and perhaps to swift. The roof of my mouth got a coating, and I got a heart burn as well. The taste was that of wet but smoldering card board.

Drying it out a wee bit, and then smoking it in a medium sized meer or a billiard briar, and smoking it slowly, it reveals a completely different character. The first half of the bowl is very mild, and not tasting much at all, but as the sweetnes of the VA's builds up and gains momentum, the taste gets sweeter, fuller, more satisfying. This tobacco do need alot of attention, at least the first half bowl of it.

Very nice on occasion, or when you are all out of dark birdseye. A bowl of this in the morning perks me up.

It's a simple smoke, nothing wrong with that, that will hit the spot (for flavour) when nothing else can. Just don't let yourself be fooled by the mildness of the aroma: you'll get bitten almost instantly if you puff too quickly. Though after getting it lit, it's a tame rope and not a crazed viper.

This is not an exceptionally strong or rough tobacco. The core of it's kick lies in it's smoky and earthy character, not in lashings of nicotine and tar. Latakia may be smoky -though it is confined to the realms of lapsang souchong- Black Irish on the other hand is like putting a few pounds of dry bracken in your mouth and letting your neighbour run at you with a flaming torch.

This is a perfect smoke to accompany a coffee, but it does lack a long nicotine hit and won't keep you going as long as other twists.

A suitable nightcap.

Strong and oily with an all tobacco taste, pure and simple. With G&H Black Irish Twist in your pipe, the cares of the world will quickly fade from your immediate thoughts. All of your attention will be focused on trying to get through your bowlful of the stuff . Of secondary concern (well, for me anyway,) was what to do with the rest of the tin? I finally decided to bury it in my neighbor's back yard. Please don't tell.

Not recommended.