Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Rich Dark Honeydew

rich dark honey dew is one of then blends that if you had a grandfather that smoked a pipe, chances are they had a bowl of this stuff.

back when it first came out it was made by gallahers and many moons ago it got discontinued, although a scour around the bay will come up with empty tins, sometimes a sealed one will pop up for astronomical prices.

anyways fast foreward and gawith and hoggarth have came to the rescue although it isn't exactly the same supposedly it is in the same ball park.

so what is it like?

opening the pouch I get honey straight off the bat, a quick ruffle of the long dark ribbon, up pops some vanilla, backed by maple syrup and some nuts and a slight wisp of cocoa and floral. it's a nice long ribbon with a touch of broken flake, this keeps the burn in check, perfect moisture to load and burn. once packed and lit, the honey does come across but never overwhelmingly, the vanilla backs it up along with the maple and that slight touch of cocoa and floral.

towards the middle of the bowl the flavours stand down slightly and gently bring up the earthy dark Virginia's with a touch of hay and the burley with a little spice and touch of cocoa.

the end of the bowl it's tobacco goodness all the way, the burley comes to the fore seamlessly intermingling with the earth and dark fruit of the dark Virginia. Burn rate is fantastic one light should do it and it's a nice middle of the road burn, not to fast and not to slow, the touch of broken flake does it's job in slowing the burn very well. Do beware though, going at this like a freight train will cause it to get hot and bite, but a regular cadence will cause no problems.

All in all this is a lovely blend and one that does well for repeated bowls during the day, the strength is just right not too much that it overwhelms but not enough that it leaves you feeling...meh. it's just right and the flavour never bores or cloys. it is just one of them simple old fashioned pipe tobaccos that just does the job and does it very well.

room note won't garner you any enemies, although it produces plumes of smoke it isn't heavy and it shouldn't raise to many eyebrows within your company.

one thing i have noticed is that the pouch aroma bears quite a resemblance to mac baren Scottish mixture and mac baren navy flake so if you like either or both of these two then you should have no problem liking this one.

finishing off this is a beautiful blend, enough straight tobacco flavour for the purists amongst us and just the right amount of added flavour to keep the aromatic fans happy.

Will confidently recommend this, 5 out 5 EASILY earned.