Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Dark Bird's Eye

A few previous reviewers made note of the fact that this tobacco is peppery and / or spicy. I totally agree but this was not to my liking. The spiciness dominated the entire bowl(s) and what little flavor I found had a difficult time peeking out from behind the dominant, peppery strength of this blend. This tobacco is just not to my liking for this reason???..and it is STRONG!

I rate this tobacco 5.0 out of 10.

Flavorful, predominantly fire-cured, certainly scented. This seems to be akin to Curly Cut, but in a cigarette shag form, with topping. To my mind, similar to SG 1792, though this gets the nod for tobacco quality and consistency.

The tobacco is very consistent, perhaps a bit dull over the long bowl. You have to watch your smoking rate very carefully due to the nicotine and smoothness, so it isn't an easy experience. To be honest, I wouldn't buy this again, but what I have left will probably be used in RYO cigarettes when going to pipe-hostile places. Because of its strength and flavor, it nicely covers the burning paper stench and sour filter taste of cigarettes.

Fine cut? I used to roll cigarettes and smoke Drum tobacco - this reminded me of that, even had the little round seed pods. I was initially put off by the cut and the reminders of my cigarette days, but I pushed onward. I don't like packing a bowl with this fine a cut as I always overpack the first time. I took the whole bag and trimmed it smaller with a scissors - now it is more managable.

OK, John (at Sigmund's Fine Cigars), I thank you for suggesting that I try this as a replacement to the Dark Flake I wanted. Although I was bound and determined to be put off by the cut and really dislike this tobacco, try as I might, once lit, I couldn't do it.

Strong? Yes! Overpowering? Not at all. This is an incredibly rich and full flavored tobacco. I love the room note, although others did not.

I don't know what it is about G&H tobaccos, but they do a wonderful job as this winner also proves.

Again, a blend which I wish I could afford to smoke more of.

3.5 of 5 halos.

Package note of barbeque, wood smoke and musty vegetation. Tobacco is a shag cut of dark brown, brown and a tiny amount of light brown. Moisture content is great. Few pipe smokers will want to dry it a bit. Burns fast with few relights. The strength is strong and nic is medium to strong. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and very consistent, with notes of smoky oak barbecue, very spicy, fermented sour, musty vegetation, dry, herbal, toast, leathery, bitter, nutty, woody, earthy, mild citrus, mildly floral, a mildly sweet and savory background note, and a peppery retro. Kentucky is leading with Virginias supporting. Room note is tolerable to strong, and aftertaste is great.

20230306 edit: Out of a Dublin meer, lit and smoked slowly with care, coming across more like the cob experience. Lots of campfire, more peppery, pushing harsh, but not in an unpleasant way if that's what you're looking for. I will crave this experience from time to time, I'm sure. Plain burley comes across nearing the end of the bowl, and I love how clean and dry the pipe is left at the end of the smoke.

20230301 edit: Out of a clay, this is coming across nothing like my original review. I hit it much harder, and the bowl is far wider, very unpleasant experience. Bitter, dusty. Definitely feeling the nicotine quickly though. This is much better out of a narrower bowl and with a light application of flame. Another note, this definitely won't supplant Kendal Dark, which is a whole different animal.

Tin note: smoky barbecue sauce. Smoke: mild campfire, satisfyingly sweet. Virginia is floral and grassy, in that order. I'm not sure I generally taste a lot from burley by itself, but I believe I'm detecting the burley in here somewhere as well. Sweet and savory is a good description. Getting some coffee notes, maybe slight cocoa. Even though I've probably smoked a little too much today, I'm not getting any stinging from this one even when pushing it, which is rare. I want to say I wish this had a little more, more flavor maybe, more campfire, but I think the moderation may make it a more perfect autopilot smoke. Even if you're not paying perfect attention, if you get excited about something and push it a little too hard, it's still going to be amazing. Considering the fine shag cut, it almost burns itself. I think I have to give this 4 stars, and revisit Kendal Dark, which may need to be bumped down a notch, we'll have to see.

As the corncob I'm smoking this in begins to heat up a little too much, I'm getting a little stinging in my mouth and the back of my throat, so you can over-do it. Letting the pipe cool and slowing down remedied this problem.

I bought this tobacco because it was on many lists as "one of the strongest" pipe tobaccos, up there with 1792 flake/irish flake/rope #4, it is not. Maybe in strength of flavour but not in strength of nicotine.

It's a shag cut dark smokey tobacco, not very complex or subtle, very in your face; has some cigarette qualities to it. If a normal cigarette is a normal coffee, this would be the "dark roast" version of a cigarette. Tastes like you left a cigarette over a campfire for a day. Not the latakia-campfire-leathery-smokiness mind you, more of a "toasted cigarette" smell and taste. This is a burley-less blend so I have no idea why that cigarette taste is present.

It burns up a little quickly if not moist because of the cut and is very easy to handle. Leave it a little moist. I left mine to dry overnight and it turned into dust when I tried to pack it in my bowl.

Won't tongue bite you no matter how hard you huff and puff, burns very cool. I was puffing on it like a maniac and the bowl never even got hot. Recommended for new pipers who smoked/vaped before as it is easy to handle and won't tongue bite but also has a moderate amount of nicotine (I have no idea what everyone saying "this tobacco has A LOT of nicotine" is smoking but it's clearly not this), out of 10 i'd say the nicotine is a 6 or 7.

If you like offending your neighbours via smell and an easy-to-work-with strong in-your-face tobacco this is it my friend.

Very strong bag note, I could smell it walking to the mailbox. It's got the classic dark fired smoky BBQ scent. A very thin stringy cut, light and fluffy; honestly, it looks like a bag of pubic hair. Thankfully, it tastes of quality dark fired kentucky, dark chocolate, currents/black cherries, a light floralness and a smidge of soapy lakeland essence. An impeccably cool, dry, consistent smoke. There is no chance of bite. Low maitenance. Never overwhelming or overpowering. I love it, a smooth, comfortable and uniquely flavourful toby. My girlfriend hates the smell and makes me smoke it in the garage, in quiet solitude, with the beer fridge... so it's a big 4. Highly recommend.

P.S. - A thank-you to Sanzini, LiterarySmoker and Poodlejuice for your reviews! They provided the impetous needed to give this one a shot and am quite glad I did because, woah mama do I dig this smoke. Appreciate the recommendations!

Preparation & Burn: 9/10 Lovely shag cut. Sometimes requires relights compared to a nice ribbon though.

Taste: 16/20 Very rich, old-fashioned taste.

Mildness: 2/10 My idea of a good smoke is a relaxing, low nicotine session. Therefore, the milder the better. Way too strong for me.

Total: 27/40

This for me is borderline a blending...blend. It is mostly Kentucky with some dark Virginia.

It smells very woody, and lacks whatever topping is on SG's Lakeland Dark. Somewhat sweet yet earthy smell too.

It's really a no-nonsense straight tobacco, not a great variation in taste, strong in nicotine, very consistent, packs well and burns well from the get go. It's good, just not very interesting as there's a single flavour coming through - that of woody Kentucky and oily dark Virginia similar to the G&H brown Irish ropes - with no development as the bowl progresses.

I wouldn't call it sweet, but also not bitter. Quite nutty at times.

I've used this tobacco to cut MacBaren's Dark Twist Roll Cake with great success, as I like the slight added sweetness. I also like it plain with dark coffee.