Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Sweet Rum Twist

Firstly, a brief disquisition on the various types of twists and ropes. I know this has been done elsewhere by others, but it probably bears repeating as guidance for those who are just discovering these tobaccos.

In the parlance of GH&Co, rope tobaccos fall into three categories. Firstly there are the Irish Twists, which are available in both black and brown, with various aromatic options. These are somewhat less than 1 inch in diameter. Next we have the Bogies. Again, these come in a range of different options but are differentiated from the Irish Twists by their diameter, which is less - maybe between one half and three quarters of an inch. Thus, although the same tobaccos are used, I find there is a subtle yet noticeable difference in flavour between, say, GH&Co Brown Irish Twist and GH&Co Brown Bogie. This is because the difference in diameter means a difference in the ratio between 'wrapper' and 'filler', just like in the cigar world. Finally, there are the pigtails. These are the thinnest of all and are primarily meant for chewing. Apparently you can smoke them too, but I've never tried.

So, that covers the GH&Co side of things. As far as SG is concerned, SG Brown Rope is the same size as GH&Co Irish Twist, and their Black XX is more akin to a GH&Co Bogie. SG also make pigtails, and again, I've never tried them. Clear? Good.

So, with all that out of the way I should point out that the Sweet Rum Twist that I have in front of me is actually a Bogie.

Have you smoked Rum Flake? Have you smoked Brown Bogie? If you answered 'yes' to both those questions then you already know exactly what this tobacco tastes like.

Personally, Brown Irish Twist is my favourite brown variety of rope, whilst Black XX is my favourite black variety. Nevertheless, I find this blend makes a nice diversion, and the flavouring works well enough.

It's not going to replace the Brown Irish as my staple rope, but it's a good blend and one I shall almost certainly buy again. I think I probably even prefer it to the plain Brown Bogie. Recommended.

As with the Sweet Whiskey rope smoking this in a clay gives me the hiccups. In a briar the rum flavor is a bit muted, but it gives more spice. I much prefer this in a cob where the rum flavor is nice and clear. The natural tobacco flavor is bold and for lack of a better word, generic tasting. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just a bold, good ol' tobacco flavor. The rum does add a mild sweetness along with it's flavor. It's a stout and very satisfying smoke.

Body is medium to full. Flavoring is mild. Taste is full.

Nice tight brown "rope" with a nice subtly sweet aroma. I use an Inuit Ulu to slice coins. They rub out beautiful and are dry enough to smoke immediately. The smoke is smooth considering it is a wee bit on the bold side. Sipping and nose exhaling brings the flavors together. There is a minute Burn/tingle on the nose if exhaled nasaly. This can give niccups if smoked too aggressively.

Cutting coins from a twisted rope is yet another means of enjoying tobacco.....it's a nice change from the norm.

Worth a try.

In the G & H ropes, I have also tried Black Irish and Sweet Maple. All of the them are quite easy to manage and prepare for smoking. I have to say I enjoy this kind of tobacco a lot (besides the Black Irish which is too tasty in the Dark - Fired department). The taste of Rum Twist is very rich and deep, earthy, and a tiny sweet. The Rum essence is more of a toppping than a casing; it is present on and off throughout the pipeful. You must have the patience to wait until it's sufficiently dry to smoke it; if you slice a coin from a moist rope and just let it dry, it will be tricky for, once packed and lit, the moisten tends to arise again, making it a lot difficult to enjoy as it trigers a lot of relights. So you're better off waiting for the all the rope to have lost most of its moisture. It will smoke much better. I cube cut then rub out part of the cubes for smoking and it works very well for me. It takes a bit of effort to get it nicely going but it burns really well once ignited. Rum Twist offers no surprises, nor is it a complex tobacco. It's good, deep tasting VAs and dark-fired leaf with a nice Rum aroma. Not as good as Sweet Maple, but still an excellent topped rope. If you like Lady Nicotine, she will make you happy with this one.

Well, alright.... Ordered an oz. of this to try out as it was finally available on smokingpipes. I've tried the happy bogie and the cherry twist and have liked them. I really like strong tobacco, always have. In my other reviews of the aforementioned twists, I have referred to them as drug tobaccos because that's exactly what they are. No BS. Nicotine delivery, good, classic tobacco flavor. Wonderful.

Had some trouble with this at first, initially I sliced it into appx 1/16th thick disks and teased them out and dried for just a few minutes prior to smoking. The twists themselves are somewhat bendy and resilient, and it doesn't seem as if they are all that moist when you are cutting them. What was happening was that even with some air drying, sometimes for an hour or more, I was getting a wet smoke, with a little bite that wanted to go out and required many relights. The rum flavor was nice, but seemed to get somewhat muddled into the steaminess of the smoke. I let the next few bowls worth dry out a little more each time, tried a few different packs, even sliced a little thicker and thinner, but still didn't get a great feel for how this was to be smoked...

Then the happy accident. I sliced up appx 2 bowls worth thin almost a shag cut, teased it out, then left it on my "tobacco drying paper plate" (ironically a childrens cake plate with a cartoon elephant printed on it) in the china closet. Wife and toddler got sick, my office was a zoo with the local flu going around, and I didn't even get a chance to throw the tobacco into a baggie later that evening, let alone smoke a bowl of it for at least 4 days. When I returned to it this evening it was (as expected- with subfreezing temps outside and the heat turned up high) dry and (almost) crispy. I winced, thinking that I had ruined it. I nonetheless packed it into a nice small bowled bent belge, ramming it down until I had an appropriate draw and stepped out onto the porch to smoke.

Believe it or not, dry and almost crispy seemed to be the right way to do this. Not a light smoke by any means, but without any of the residual moisture mucking things up the smoke was sweet and the real tobacco and excellent rum flavor really was able to sing. I got a little nicotine twinge in the throat about halfway through and slowed down, but it certainly was a pleasant dose and helped my prior meal of chinese food settle nicely. I was able to finish the bowl before getting just too damn chilled and knocking it out and going back inside.

All in all, a favorable experience. I think that next time I'll cut the disks thin and let dry but not tease them out, I'll try to replicate the Macbaren twist cut medallion cut as best as possible and will try to load them intact into a slightly wider bowl. I won't let them get AS dry, but I think that this is definately one of those ropes/ twists that needs some considerable drying prior to smoking.

YMMV, but I like these twists. Probably will order a few ounces of this as well as the happy bogie.

So many tobaccos, so little time!

My first smoke blew me away. I was not expecting the Maduro like flavor. I was expecting a little more rum and sweet/acidic Va feel. Wrong...it was the strong I was looking for. I thought Latakia was what I was looking for, after a few smokes, I was entranced by its qualities. I would say it's not just strong but bold. The vitamin N kick is great, it's smooth yet in your face. I can barely detect the rum unfortunately, it is extremely subtle. It was real fun to cut it into little coins. However, drying is a necessity and a sharp knife is a must. I first did it right out of the bag with a semi-sharp knife. To say the least, I made a mess. All in all, it's really a neat baccy. I recommend to the adventurous type.

I believe this is the same as the other listing, Rum Twist Unsliced, which is linked in the Similar To section of the review.

I'm kind of torn on this one. I've given 3/4 considering how I've found it relative to other ropes, but all in all, it would be more of a 2 from me. In general this reminded me much of a cigar, and maybe with a bit of the rum flavoring. For a cigar, I can make a passage for air and light it and am good to go, so for the prep work necessary for ropes, I'd really want it to differ more from that.

You can view my video review of this blend here:

https://youtu.be/TB5SUZMijlA

I was lucky to get ahold of a sample of this from a UK pipe friend, as G&H is unavailable here in Germany!

Neat little rope tobacco, rich brown in color and inconspicuous in scent. The rum is very faintly present, sports a sour-sweet rum aroma on top of the earthy tobaccos. The scent already hints towards it: This is a hearty, bold smoke!

Cut some coins, rubbed them out and let it dry for a few hours, as it comes quite moist. Packed my clay, and fired this weed up.

First puffs gave me a honey-sweet, slightly rum-ish aroma, before the tobaccos started to kick in. Rich in earth with some woodsy dimension to it. The sweetness takes a step back, as the tobacco aroma is unfolding and takes its comfty seat in the backrow, but is always present. A decent nuttiness builds up and joins the hearty melange, that also has some decent spice to it. After the first quarter, the rum aroma got a bit more noticeable and gained a slightly alcohol-ish touch it. Even tho I don't drink, nor like alcohol I found it quite pleasant and not distracting from the tobaccos.

Having smoked Brown Twist, Whiskey Twist and this, I'd go with: No.1 Brown Twist; No.2 Rum Twist; No.3 Whiskey Twist. I prefer unflavored ones, so Brown is the lead. Yet I find the Rum Twist a tad better than the Whiskey Twist, but they are both very good! Whilst Whiskey Twist is more malty in aroma, this one really has some rum-flavor to it, but a pleasant, unobtrusive and gently sweet one!

Oof! This is one that'll make you wanna sit down! I've said it before; I love Gawith, Hoggarth tobaccos and this is definitely one that I enjoyed. Way too strong to enjoy it everyday, Rum Twist is a tobacco that has huge flavor, definite body, and is a bit overbearing in nicotine.

A lot of reviewers have said that it is too cigar-like and I can see where they would get such an idea, but to me it's just a strong tobacco in the old style. It was a little moist when I received it, so I sliced out a few "coins" and let them sit out for about 15 minutes before puffing. I usually don't let tobacco dry out before smoking, but when it comes as wet as if it was from Samuel Gawith, I have no choice. When it's ready, it's an experience, though. The Rum topping is more of an afterthought than an actual topping and after a few puffs I can't even detect it anymore.

I had trouble deciding what rating to give this one. I really like it, but there's no way I could smoke it every day, much less back to back. I've been working on a 4 oz rope that I bought from smokingpipes.com almost a year ago and I still have almost an ounce left of it. Right now, I'll give it three stars, but I always reserve the right to change that after further experience. I do highly recommend buying some, even if it's just for the novelty of it and the experience of smoking a rope. I found Rum Twist to be fun and rewarding. Just not an everyday smoke.