Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Revor Plug

If you like your baccy strong and old-fashioned, Revor Plug is just plain wonderful. The plug itself looks delicious enough to be edible. Despite the fact that nothing's done for you, it's easy enough to prepare for the pipe: it cuts and rubs easily (IMO it's better to "shave" the plug lengthways than to cut it across the grain). Then plenty of rich, tasty smoke all the way down, and very cool; though you'll probably need quite a few re-lights until you get the hang of it. The flavour is sweet but very full and natural: there's no sense that the native qualities of the tobacco have been interfered with or modified. It's made by Gawith & Hoggarth now, but it's completely innocent of any 'Lakeland' flavouring.

The plug looks as though it ought to smoke wet. It doesn't, though; not in the least. The room note probably won't please the family (my nearest and dearest weren't ecstatic), and it's probably too strong for an all-day smoke; but Revor is a great experience if you want to re-live the old days when granddad smoked this kind of stuff and men were men. It's strong, for sure; but it's gentler and more civilized than the Kendal twists and ropes.

Negatives? Availability is patchy sometimes. Also, being idle and no great lover of foreplay, I wish Revor were sold in a cut version, like Gawith & Hoggarth's Bosun Cut Plug, etc.. Other than that, I can't think of anything unfavourable to say about it. It's a little too strong to be one of my four-star favourites; but that's just me. This is a very fine offering by anyone's standards, and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting a traditional kind of smoke.

On a pessimistic note, this is exactly the kind of old fashioned baccy that is so rapidly going out of production nowadays, with the decline of pipe smoking as a hobby/vice (cf. Highland Sliced). Enjoy it while you can. I have a fairly strong suspicion that it won't be available for much longer.

Upon opening the pouch, you are greeted by a thick, dark and glossy plug with a smell of sweet licorice that reminded me of the old Irish Flake. It easily crumbles after cutting and smokes nicely after some drying time.

There is a treacle/licorice topping that imparts a dark sweet flavor during the smoke, taming the other flavors and always shadowing them. The Kentucky offers leather, roasted nuts and earth while the Virginia is of the hay/grassy kind. There is a balanced mellowness between the casing, the Kentucky and the Virginia, all working in unison to present an honest tobacco that is well rounded and has no bite. A cool smoking and slow burning tobacco.

Overall a classic British tobacco that takes the smoker to the end of the 19th century and accompanies him thru the 20th century for a lesson in pipe tobacco history.

Virginia lover

Firstly I would like to thank all the reviewers for their (mostly) unbiased opinions,especially pipestud whose reviews,whether good or bad are never far wrong and have served me well over the years. Now to the tobacco,I dont care what your smoking preferences are, if you try this plug you Will fall in love with it,I did. The other reviews describe the presentation,ease of preparation and all the other fine qualities very well and all I can do is add my weight of opinion and wholeheartedly agree. This tobacco smokes cool and has a mouth feel like no other,it's soft ,smooth and creamy but with plenty of body and flavour and never overpowering. It starts off with dark chocolate develops onto woodsy,Smokey peat etc and ends with spice....it's outstanding. I am sorry if I sound evangelical but this baccy is so good, if youre an arro nut you'll love it,re the chocolate,if you're a lat fan you'll love it,re smokey,peat and if you're a Virginia/burley lover like myself you will love the pure natural sweet taste. In my mind I think of this tobacco as a faithful old dog,you can pay it as little attention as you like and it will give you no bother...But if you show it some love it will reward you tenfold. Take it from someone who has smoked just about everything over the last 32 years this stuff was a revalation.I strongly suggest you rush out and get some,then put your thoughts on here. Good luck.

I bought this one after a recommendation when I once inquired about what good plugs to get. Not having heard of it before, I wasn't sure what to expect but, knowing GH, I knew the odds were I'd get a good one.

The bar of tobacco in the pouch was definitely a change from the normal, almost cube-like, plug that I've had before, it's thinness making it seem more like a fragrant chocolate bar than something smokeable. That note in the pouch, too, was nice, quite floral, smell something of rose perhaps. As noted before, the bar is very crumbly so it's nigh on impossible to cut anything like a flake off it, but it does make it easier to break up. The packing really depends on how you cut it but, for the most part, I had no issue with this. The lighting, however, was an utter pain so it does require some drying out and even then it requires a relight or two, even after some pretty hefty airing. The smoking itself is something else though. The first two or three bowls tend to cycle between a meaty, steak-like taste, which is not too dissimilar to a GH rope I tried (Black Bogie or some such) that was so rank I tossed it, and one of a sweetness and flora, one thinks of some kind of berry sauce on red meat. After that, it settles down into a nice melange of the two. It is quite a queer flavour and fairly heavy as well, not for the faint hearted. The only downside at this point is the strength, this is a potent one and up there with some of the strongest I've had.

On the whole then a cracking tobacco. The flavour is very nice, even with that meatiness, it is cracked down a notch or two from that rope I tried and the addition of the casing is a bonus. I don't know if I'd smoke it without the casing but I'd certainly more likely to stick with it than that rope. That is academic at this point though. The only real downsides are the dampness and the strength. The first, while not stopping the tobacco from being anything like unsmokable, does take the edge off while the latter does make smoking anything afterwards a little difficult, I do feel nicotined to the hilt and have struggled smoking anything afterwards when having this early in the day. It is best enjoyed last thing at night in my book. I wouldn't recommend this to a beginner, if I'd smoked this when I first started it probably would have put me off tobacco for a month, so if you're a newbie, save this one till later. A lot later. Saying that though, still a great tasting tobacco with only a couple of flaws that makes pre-eminently worthy of three stars.

Others have commented on the nature of the plug; I found it v easy to get into and break apart. Be certain to do so, otherwise it's like trying to light a folded newspaper from the top -- a few layers burn and then nothing. Properly broken up, it burns nicely, if slowly.

Other than hints of chicory, mostly tastes of plain dark Virgnias. I didn't get any Lakelands in the taste. The N can sneak up on you. Certainly worth trying if the profile is similar to your preferences and you enjoy a slow smoke.

Like many of us here in the USA, I have been wanting to try Revor Plug for some time now. I managed to purchase 2 pouches from a vendor in Scotland - got them in 3 weeks time which was not bad, considering.

I opened one of the 50g packets and took out a moderately glossy, very dark brown plug of tobacco measuring 5x1x1/2 inches. It had a faint Lakeland-like smell, but not overwhelming at all. The plug appeared dense, but looks can be deceiving as it took to the knife very readily, crumbling as I cut a few slices off of its width end. If you want to slice it into flakes, it won't work that way due to the crumbling nature of this bar. The pre-light draw had a candy dipped medicinal taste to it, perhaps resinous, but only faintly present. Lighting it revealed the chameleon it really was as I swear I tasted smokey, musty Latakia! Its taste profile, to me, was similar in a way to Seattle Club's Plum Pudding and Mississippi River offerings (which I do not care for as I am not a big fan of Latakia). Most likely the Latakia-like presence is from very well produced Kentucky leaf; and for me more pleasing than Latakia. I am surprised that there is little mention of this Latakia-like presence in any of the reviews of RP contained on this site and on other pipe smoker/tobacco forums except for PipesterJim's take on it. Well, the hunt for information is one of the things I enjoy about this hobby, hence the diversion. At times I detected a similarity to Stonehaven's musty, bittersweet characteristic minus the treacle topping.

At first, I rated the strength no higher than medium, but this one creeps up on you and can deliver in the nicotine department - quite strong actually. Lighting was easy and could be smoked to the bottom of the bowl only with occasional tamping. It was a cool, bittersweet (not cloying by any means) smoke from beginning to end without gurgle. At times a bit salty and a bit chocolatey. Not monochromatic by any means and only gets tastier as the bowl progresses.

I was totally surprised by Revor Plug, and for the first time ever with a pipe tobacco, my expectations (taste/flavor wise/flake handling) were the polar opposite from what I had expected. Lots to be said for this one! I do give it a 5 star recommended and am very happy I was able to try an old-time classic.

Am very impressed with Revor Plug. Though almost certainly not for first-timers, it's easy to prepare and smokes cool, sweet and full. On reflection, it's number one in my rotation, though Condor Long Cut is a competitor. If you like dark flakes, give this a try, IMO it deserves the praise heaped on it by other reviewers. Update 12.8.13 Two years on, am upgrading this to a solid four stars. After experimenting with a few dark flakes, the contrast with Revor is remarkable. Although it's the only plug I've tried thus far, I get the feeling that nothing could surpass it, certainly if like me you want a strong tobacco that's high in quality and near-as-damn-it unflavoured. This said, the pouch aroma is pretty dark and gorgeous, reminds me of liquorice & molasses somehow. It's no bother to prepare, I shave thin slices off the narrow ends of the bar with a sharp knife and rub them out. It could be smoked straight away, I'm guessing, but drying out the rubbed slices for 30-45min in my airing cupboard works well for me. Am using a small bowl, 'cause it's well punchy N-wise. What a great smoke this is! Easy light, easy burn, easy smoke, lot's of smoke, cool and sweet. Great, full tobacco flavour. Even the aftertaste is pleasant to my mind, I swear I had a chocolate moment. What can I say? Get some!

Update 29.11.18 Have returned to this after a break of some years, I guess because of experimenting with other tobaccos. After one bowl I wonder why I left it so long! It is, quite simply, sublime.

Update 10.2.22 I just wanted to confirm that on returning to Revor Plug after a break the same thing happened. How come I left it so long? Why aren't more pipers raving about RP? It suits me down to the ground, ticks all the boxes - flavour, strength, zero bite, aroma, clean mouth feel and after-taste, easy prep, loads of smoke, nice burn rate, the whole nine yards. This time around I'm finding that with the baccy aged a few years my method of choice is to slice flakes of about 1.5mm from the end of the bar and cut/rub to a coarse cube consistency. Then I gravity-feed into my small Falcon Dublin with very gentle tamping and away to go. Great tobacco! I know. I'm biased. But still.

I was little bite scared about the strength of this tobacco after reading this review, but this tobacco is not "very strong" it dont bit the tong, and the nicotine is not high, it's just a spicy tobacco, with lot of aromes.

Here's a cut-and-paste quote from G&H's website that has a curious Freudian slip that may reveal whether this beloved bar indeed has fLavouring added:

Revor - A blend of flue cured tobaccos pressed and baked into a glossy black bar. Flavoured by experienced pipe smokers who demand a strong, cool, satisfying smoke. Available as either Plug, Sliced or Ready-rubbed

Either way - flavoured or favored - -it is indeed subtle and does not measurably detract from the joy.