Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. No. 12 Mixture

(3.04)
A blend of flue cured bright Virginias from Malawi, Zimbabwe and Brazil and latakia from Cyprus. With this blend you not only have to like latakia, you have to positively "crave" the taste as this blend contains 45%. This is the best selling mixture in the US, by a comfortable margin.

Details

Brand Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.
Blended By Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.
Manufactured By Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.
Blend Type Virginia/Latakia
Contents Latakia, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging Bulk
Country United Kingdom
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.04 / 4
9

8

6

1

Reviews

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Displaying 11 - 20 of 24 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 21, 2021 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Unnoticeable
Another sample given to me last week from a fellow member at the pipe club. A few observations before I proceed. First, like several others I am skeptical of the 45% Latakia claim but touché’. Until last week I have never heard of this blend and am wondering how long ago the claim to ‘best selling mixture in the US…” is? It only has 21 reviews but I digress. This has brown and black ribbon with some larger size brown torn tobacco along with the ribbon. Upon first lighting I can detect the sweetness of the Virginia and the smokiness of the Latakia chimes in. This is by no means a Lat Bomb and I am also surprised how well this taste with supposedly only the two ingredients as previously mentioned. This is a really good smoke, nice and smooth. I was going to go the 4 stars route but the flavor somewhat diminished about the halfway point and did not taste as well as the start. By the way, the pipe I used was a gift from a friend of the club and is one of my favorites.
Pipe Used: Caminetto Sitter 08-L-20
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 02, 2020 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Just finished my first 50g of this. It is an English through and through, nothing too complex but is very smooth and perfectly balanced. Does not bite unless really pushed and retains it's 'flavour' throughout the bowl. The latakia and orientals are fantastic quality, it is a very incensey blend. If you love orientals and latakia it can be an all day smoke. If you like German's King Charles mix you'll enjoy this, though this burns slower and is cut thicker. Does not need much drying, if any. Stays lit through most of the bowl and burns even. Highly recommended.
Pipe Used: Briars and Cobs
PurchasedFrom: GQ Tobaccos
Age When Smoked: Fresh
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 14, 2016 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild Tolerable
G&H No12 is not as bad as some of the reviews here suggest, nor is it anything special. I confess I rarely buy loose tobaccos but in the spirit of adventure I have been trying to introduce a little variety into my tasting of tobacco, beer and single malt whisky lately - because you never know what you may be missing. And I will swear my palette has been changing - probably improving - with age. So on the recommendation of my local tobacconist (although I suspect she doesn't smoke a pipe) I gave this a go. And it is okay. Just okay. I'm not sure I could even go as far as to call it two dimensional. This is a light-hearted, undemanding smoke, the better to be enjoyed when you are concentrating on something else and, I would suggest, before midday.
Pipe Used: Various briars
PurchasedFrom: Smoker's World, Derby
Age When Smoked: As bought
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 09, 2015 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
Sorry,but I must desagree with many people.I would bet my best pipe that in this really fine mixture are wonderful and sweet leaves of syrian Latakia.Maybe after so many years of smoking the Cyprus cousin,wonderful too but so different,smokers can´t enjoy the subtility of the original.

Pipe Used: big charatan
PurchasedFrom: tobb.cartagena close to city hall
Age When Smoked: 6 months
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 26, 2013 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
This blend is just an average Lat. blend. Nothing that stands out and it is just a VA/Lat. no oriental. More to the point, the lat. is not a powerhouse like C&D's Pirate Kake, and the VA's really are a little thin here too. It also bites a little even when I am smoking very slowly. I would not buy this again personally SG's Commonwealth is a better blend in the same vein I think.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 27, 2003 Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
I received this as a free sample from Mars cigars. (thank you Mike!!!!!!) I smoked a few bowls and thought, Not bad. A few months later I pull this out and I can't stop smoking it. I ordered 500grams to make sure I don't run out. They say that it is a 45% Latkia with Va's, but it doesn't seem like there is that much in it. Any how I find this blend to be one of my favorites at this time.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 22, 2003 Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Tolerable
I tried this based on the manufacturer's description that #12 contains 45% Latakia. And I like my English blends with Latakia, yessir.

Appearance: practically a sea of tan, with specks of dark brown and black. There are ribbons and coarse cut tobacco in here. The ribbons are long-ish, but #12 was no trouble to pack. Pouch aroma is unremarkable. Upon lighting, I got the Virginias right away, whoosh. There's no soap or floral component, just straight VAs.

And then I waited. It's pleasant, elegant, and just not what I expected. No Latakia elements came forth. I just finished my fourth bowl and all tasted the same. Sorry G&H, this just isn't for me.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 07, 2015 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
Gawith Hoggarth - No.12 Mixture.

This is nowhere near the Lat-Bomb that the description suggests. 45 % Latakia? Come on, you've gotta be kidding! The pouch note is a pleasant one but it's the first thing that's diametrically opposed to the 45% description. Yes, there is a smokiness present but it isn't what I expect from a headstrong Lat' blend. A negative lies within its hydration, it's too damp and in need of drying time. Although the flavour of the smoke isn't the full smoky Lat' that I'd expect from a 45% blend I have to admit I like it! There is a tame quality to it which is refreshing for a Lat' blend. I don't get any harshness from it at any point. The Virginia has a straightforward grassy flavour but also a subtle sweetness to it. I find the nicotine mild to medium, it doesn't knock my socks off!

I feel that three stars is a fair mark, it just becomes a touch mundane after a while!
Pipe Used: Askwith Chubby Poker
PurchasedFrom: G.Q Tobaccos
Age When Smoked: New
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 16, 2015 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable to Strong
I purchased this tobacco as part of a Latakia sampling pack, as I'm a Lat fan. In the pouch, this is a mixture comprising mostly bright Virginia in short chunky ribbons, punctuated by lumps of the stinky black goddess herself. I will at this point state that I am in full agreement with the previous reviewers here in my opinion that there is absolutely no way in this world of Moses that there is 45% Latakia in this blend. I reckon it may be 35% at a push, but more like 30%. It can be seen by just looking at it, as well as in the smoke itself. The pouch note is what one would expect, light grassy notes from the Virginia, and a smoky smouldering darkness from the Lat poking through regularly. The tobacco packs exceptionally well, like a dream, in fact. I would possibly go so far as to say that this is the easiest tobacco to pack that I have ever encountered. In my experience, the tobacco was perfect moisture, light and fluffy, and packed like an angel. The tobacco took the light very easily and the burn rate was just sublime, required no relights. I would warn, though, that although I didn't get fully bitten by this, my tongue got a stern warning a couple of times to just back off. I didn't need to be told twice. Push this and you will pay the price, I believe. The taste is pleasant, and to my senses, quite extraordinary. We are all aware that Virginias are often described as being 'sweet' and it is indeed a description I have employed frequently myself, but the Virginias in this are something else! it is like smoking sugar! To my surprise, I rather enjoyed this level of sweetness, like no other Virginia I have previously smoked (usually dark Virginia is the order of the day for me), this ticked my tastebuds is a quite delightful manner! The Latakia blended well with this to tone down the sweetness and imbue it with a smoky mellowing quality, which worked very well. This occurred after the first quarter of the bowl. The room note, it's Virginia & Latakia, need I say more? I love it, many of us here do, but those who don't smoke proper tobacco will never understand why we do. Nicotine strength, I'm going with Mild-Medium on this. Overall I'm going to give this tobacco 3 stars out of 4. It has pleasant qualities, and I've never smoked anything quite like it. It burns well, and tastes like I'm smoking a lovely pudding. On the downside, however, it doesn't really move on from this at any point, it stays stuck in the sweet/smoky cycle & just repeats it over and over. Once you get at quarter of a way down the bowl, that's your lot. That's what you'll have until the end of that bowl, no further development of taste at all. Also, I have to smoke quite a lot of it as I find that it really just leaves me with a sort of nagging unsatisfied feeling, meaning I have to smoke quite a lot of it, I like smoking, so that's not a problem, but if this was going to be a regular smoke for me, it would quickly become expensive! There is also the potentail for bite if one smokes this inconsiderately and disrespectful of the dangers that lurk with the briar walls of the bowl! I like it quite a lot though, and weighing up the good and the bad, it thoroughly deserves 3 out of 4 (it's bang on 3 as well, as is 3.0, not 3.5 or anywhere near that) In fact, thinking about it, I would probably give it 2.8-2.9 (so rounded up to 3). I will probably buy some this to have around for when I fancy something sweet. I may even help slim me down by removing my need to munch of sweets, when I can just smoke a bowl of this instead. G,H&Co. also get bad marks for falsely advertising the level of Latakia in this blend.
Pipe Used: Peterson Donegal Rocky 68, Stanwell Rhodesian
PurchasedFrom: GQ Tobaccos
Age When Smoked: New
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 09, 2010 Medium Very Mild Medium to Full Tolerable
To me, this tastes a lot like they've taken Kendal Kentucky which is a shag cut, and added chips of latakia. The resulting flavor is nice, and this is the fullest latakia blend that G&H makes, but frankly, I think the sum is less then the individual parts. I like many latakia blends (Squadron Leader, Westminster) and I love Kendal Kentucky but this blend doesn't seem very balanced, or very complex. In particular, I have a lot of trouble getting it to burn well, with both components, as the KK ignites very easy and burns hot in the first part of the bowl, and then the last part of the bowl is a much cooler latakia heavy smoke with more relights. Some experimentation with packing techniques was done, perhaps with more, I could find the zone with it, but no luck so far.

Now, all that said, if you like Kendal Kentucky and latakia, try this, it's definitely unique, and I could see folks loving it, just not me... the tobacco is definitely high quality with good flavors.
1 person found this review helpful.
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