Save your money and try this: Boil some Hay in Chicken Broth and feed it to your dog. Follow the dog around for a day and collect his “End Trails”. Dry and age it for one year in a mason jar. Smoke in a Water Bong filled with Lamp Oil.

POSITION: 20+ year smoker. I normally like Full English, Virginia, Latakia, some uncased cav blends. I smoke 3–6 pipes a day. No tobacco sales.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, after you get used to this tobacco (which happens very quickly) it kinda loses it's appeal and becomes a little boring. I wish every time I smoked it, it could be like the first few bowls.....but now....now that my tin has aged and I have grown used to #4, it is just a rather flat, bland tobacco :(

I'm generally a fan of medium strength tobaccos, but for some reason I've lately been buying the strong stuff. I guess I like to experiment.

I opened up the tin and was greeted with a handsome roll of tobacco. Smells nice - earthy, leathery and of course, quite strong. But it's no bullshit, straight up tobacco.

Cut a few coins with a sharp knife, shredded them up, and packed my smallest pipe. Took a few relights to get it going but once it did it was fine.

Very, very strong. Makes 1792 Flake seem like candy in comparison. Take it slow and easy with this one, as even with a small bowl I felt the nicotine hit quite well.

The flavor is pretty one dimensional though. It's just tobacco, and as the bowl progresses it doesn't really develop into something overly interesting.

I would not buy another tin. It just has far too much nicotine to be enjoyed by me. Though I'm sure some people will love it.

Using this site, I have been experimenting with other tobaccos to see if I can find others I like. I purchased this based on its strength.

I tastes like a cheap cigar and I hated it. My pipe tasted awful for days afterwards too. It is strong, but I cannot stand the taste so I have not smoked a second bowl.

I usually do not smoke at all on the weekends because my wife does not appreciate me disappearing outside to smoke long enough to finish a bowl.

This weekend I decided to cut a piece off to chew and thought it was great. The taste was natural and the nicotine kicked in within three minutes.

I'd recommend it for a chew but not a smoke. I probably won't use it much as I don't usually chew but will use it on the weekends so the tin doesn't go to waste. I may even order more for chewing on the weekends.

UPDATE: after smoking a whole tin of this blend I found out some features I could not detect in my first bowls. I got used to its earthy flavor and started to love it... Letting the slices dry half way between the times above the stuff aroma and taste is still stout but more complex, quite easy to keep lit (but sill needs some relights) and pleasant. Some sweetness comes out and N factor is no more overwhelming, but satisying. Pure tobacco good taste....it's getting one of my favorites! I'm craving for it more and more. Upgrade my rating to 4 stars!

UPDATE N.2: absolutely fantastic home flavored with a hint of good rhum. I let it in its tin with just a hint of rhum and wait....simply amazing!!!!

UPDATE N. 3: simply divine 50% BR4 & 50% Robert McConnel Pure Latakia

A bit boring smoked alone, just perfect as part of a blend like the one above!

Up until a year ago i smoked 2-3 packs a day (have finally got away from the evil nails) and have never been able to get enough nicotine, let alone go green in the gills from it. That was of course until it tried this. Like using a sledge hammer on a thumb tack.

Great stuff for the ocassional blast or to scare away annoying people or pets with the caustic smoke. Irish Flake doesnt even come close to this in strength.

I smoke this daily now.

Very likely, this type of strong rope is the "ship's tobacco" for which Dr. Watson developed a taste on his voyage back from the Afghan War.

Great stuff, indeed, great one if you puff it alone and exceptional if you mean to use it to harden another mixture. I use it even with some of the few aromatics I smoke and it works well, because its earthy full taste doesn't battle with any other flavour. Some floreal scents are present too, as the bowl goes down.

Plus I love the smell and let me say I don't care, just for this one, about room note or people around me. This is simply the Nicotine bomb you'd expect to smoke in a Tim Burton's typical village...

Highly recommended.

Tin aroma:mild and innofensive(surprising ;because of its legend i was expecting something pungent),cigarish or brown tobacco smell,,almost no odour really..

Preparation:I take a chunk offcut that was already loose and rub it out(well i actually used a bud grinder)and it was easier to process than the rubbery "black xx" variant.

I load into my 6" georgian clay (my favourite standard pipe BTW, and not because i am smoking this).

Lighting:It burns strait away which gives it an advantage over "black xx" which needs to be completely dried out,,,;this seems more geared for smoking than chewing(i don't actually chew though)

Flavour:a mild cigar(pff!,,:i won't say i was dissapointed because to be honest;after smoking the "black xx"variant which i found bloody strong,this was actually a pleasant surprise!)..

Oppinion:Well? - this is supposed to be the stronger nicoteen and tar version of "black xx"?,,;who did the testing to find that out,a labratory?,,;put it this way;it couldn't of been anybody human who has actually smoked them back to back!,,:I am actually writing this review while still making my mind up what to do with the two tins i bought of the 50g "black xx" which i am currently drying out 25g's worth shredded up,waiting for it to dry out as much as i can before i get a final and fair oppinion of it as a smoke..

More:This is basically nice to smoke but it will make you cough if you take it back,also it has none of that paracetamol and vodka spirit aftertaste/nicoteen flavour that "black xx" has,,nor does it have any diesal sump oil flavour factor either.. I dont even feel spun out and i have had two bowls in a row(admittedly only clay pipe sized,but i did give it a good thermodynamic punishment like i do in all tobacco trials to see what its made of, and what the maximum flavour is that i can coax out of it ,which would burn out a briar bowl)..

More:(admittedly on trying out the "black xx" i had already been caning about 4 flakes worth of "irish flake" before hand,so i may of reached my nicoteen powerband and was already over reving) I am sniffing the tin of "brown #4"again and it reminds me of uncooked pork sausages slightly,,,;like the smell when you just pull them out of the cling film on that polystyrene tray,,;simular actually to when smoking "irish flake" which has a pork and apple taste;this rope has a slightly porky flavour(but not bacon)..(I did use a different pipe so its definately not a ghost)..

AND:The mildness of this and the raw strength of the "black xx" makes me think i will later try blending the two if i can't happily smoke the "black xx on its own(i got to get rid of it somehow),,but for now i will give them both more time separately before reaching a final judgement..I'm gona have another bowl of "brown #4" now and will give my final judgement when finishing this tin off lest i have judged it too prematurely..

FINAL OPPINION :¬):Like "black xx",preshredding and letting it dry out improves the smoke(not that it was wet to begin with),,,some of its mild rubber aftertaste is softened considerably and the dry cigarish factor is toned down as well.

This is quite a pleasant full bodied smoke as long as you remember not to inhale or let the smoke blow in your eyes;its flavour is quite mild and dry actually and tastes quitew like a mildly smoked frankfurter hotdog sausage(if you sip and pack the bowl right or have a drink or biscuit on hand you won't get aftertaste spoiling your session)

I still maintain that i think the "black xx" is is stronger though,,;this may be down to the fact that"black xx" is denser and so i am possibly getting more mass of baccy per bowl volume than "brown #4" in the same bowl,even if "brown #4"is theoretically the stronger smoke..

I will likely purchase the "brown #4" rope in future over the "black xx" by choice because as a stand alone it is quite unique and i favour "gawith and hoggarths dark large xx plug" more than "SG's black xx";there is no point in smoking one thing wishing it was something else esp when the tastes are within a nats cock of each other;"dark xx plug"has a beef factor which i miss in "black xx".

"Brown #4" also burns faster than "black xx" and is quite a fast burner for a cool smoke..I think i prefer "brown #4" to "petersons irish flake" as well because it is not cased(plus i think "university flake is preferable to "irish flake" because it tases more unique compared to my choice of archetypal smokes within a genre) The only drawback that "brown #4" has compared to "irish flake is that "irish flake" burns really slowly and lasts double time what most other baccys do,whereas "brown #4"is quite quickly over.

I can't say much about "brown #4's" room note because i smoked it outside other than it is like a very mild cigar. Its a good breaktime blaster before another smokeless work session..

I just want to add because i feel that it is important that;blending a 50/50 mix of "brown #4" and "black xx" produces a combineed smoke that is better than either of them separately,,;they cancel out each others bad spots to produce a more rounded and fuller tasting blend which is how i think i will continue to consumme "black xx",,,(brown #4 is ok on its own but tastes a bit empty when compared to this mixture)..

The flavour of 50/50 "brown#4"/"blackxx" tastes like a barbequed sausage(banger) and has a moreish factor that is greater than the separate components.And the more ready to burn nature of "brown#4" helps to burn the "blackxx" better...

Glad i tried these ropes!

Update 21/05/11:I have been smoking this for a couple of months and really enjoy it;a paradigm change has happened in my tastes,and i have aclimatised to strong ropes and plugs nicely.

Having been out of the tin a couple of month and jarred,i can say that its strength has got milder and it has become a more approachable and easy smoke(the same goes for the black XX rope as well) When strait out of the tin i can honestly say this is the strongest nicoteen tobacco i have tasted but,after 2 months this has become milder where as Irish Flake which i purchased at the same time has actually got stronger with age and drying out of the tin.So i am now thinking that Irish Flake is the strongest pipe tobacco i know of. Anyway i thoroughly enjoy a pipe of brown#4 whether new or jarred,it is still a very strong tobacco in either case and gives a satisfying strong smoke.

I will definately repurchase some more.

I'd read about the No. 4 and the XX, and I went to my local (30 min. drive) tobacconist to request some XX, andI noticed their decent selection of SG tins, including this one. I couldn't resist.

I decided to try some in the car, in a small briar pipe. I was immediately taken aback, as I, like many, have never worked with ropes before. I used a method similar to the "flake" method, but putting the thin leaves into tiny bunches. I opened the tin and was hit with the smell of a choice cut of beef. Yum.

I lit up half a bowl, using matches, and noticed that this stuff is extraordinarily difficult to keep lit if not let to dry for a little while. The first experience was decent, with great flavor and thick, blue smoke.

The next time, however, was different. Having only taken a few good puffs before allowing the bowl to go out, as I had somewhere to be, I returned afterward for the rest. I lit up the now much dryer smoke, with a little more added to the top, and began to puff. This time, it stayed lit wonderfully, and I found myself puffing away, feeling as if I was sitting in a business conference room in the 1940's, the room awash with fragrant pipe smoke, as I puffed freely, not allowing it the chance to simmer down enough to go out.

A few minutes after the bowl was finished, I found myself slumped over the front seats of my car, feeling extremely calm and woozy, but at the same time, feeling as if I had swallowed a concrete block. This was AFTER having a decent-sized breakfast, as well.

Delicious, nostalgic, strong, and to be enjoyed by those who only wish a demon to tame, as does the pipe smoker in all of us.

When smoking I get a hint of what some might consider a "minty" quality, a result again of what I'm assuming is from fire-cured tobacco leaf, or the aging. I don't taste any cigar or cheap cigar qualities except for perhaps the sweetness similar to cigar smoke. But it is a good hearty full bodied smoke, cool as long as you don't over do it, and relatively slow burning.

The only thing chewing and smoking this rope have in common is the nicotine hit. It is a very strong tobacco, and will knock you for a loop if not smoked slowly and deliberately.

I thoroughly enjoy this one. I will have to try it's twin in the G&H Brown (Happy) Bogie. I've read reviews and some people say it's a close match to Peterson's Irish Flake, another strong tobacco that I thoroughly enjoy smoking. I find that Brown No 4 has many of the same qualities as Irish Flake as well. But different enough for when I want a slight change of pace.

January 2011 Update: After letting the turd like rope dry out for several months now in the tin I find this stuff to be amazing! Sweet! Full-bodied! Strong! This is right up there with my favorite non-english (read: latakia) blends. Don't let any other reviews saying this has no flavor, or it tastes like crap fool you, it does not, and perhaps only needs a bit of time and a different state of mind to try. I'll be getting more of this one for sure. One thing I'm finding works quite nice is cutting a slice off about the size of almost two nickels thick, then cutting it some more, tearing off chunks, getting it to about the consistency of a rough ribbon cut, a bit more chunky than some of the C&D ribbon cut blends. I don't discard the outer tobacco as others may have you do either. Simply delicious!