Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Sweet Maple Twist

The potent Virginias have a bit of tangy dark fruit, a light tart and tangy citrus and vegetative, floral grass, some wood, and a few cigar notes. The sweet maple topping is rather mild, and doesn’t sublimate the tobaccos much at all. It also adds a slight smoothness to help curb potential rough edges, and doesn’t weaken at any time. The strength and taste level are full. The nic-hit is a couple of steps past the medium mark. No chance of bite, and it won’t get harsh. Sports a few rough notes. No mater how you prepare it, it will burn cool, clean, and slow with a very consistent, deeply rich, mildly sweet, rugged flavor. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. The pleasant after taste lingers as does the stronger room note. Not an all day smoke.

-JimInks

Sweet Maple Twist is a terrific tobacco for lovers of strong tobacco. What could be better for lovers of Irish X than the addition of a little bit of maple. SMT should not be confused as a sugary aromatic although the name could imply that. The maple seems to lightly waft in and out, but never crowds over the tobacco flavor. It adds just a very slight sweetness to the earthy flavor of SMT. I get the best results by preparing it one of two ways. Sometimes I prefer to quickly chop it in a coffee grinder or I cut it into small pieces. It also smokes well cut into coins and stuffed. Any way it’s done, SMT needs a little time to dry before smoking. It burns clean and cool, and is never harsh. For my personal taste, I enjoy this slowly smoked in a group three size bowl or smaller. I have only smoked SMT new but I believe that this will cellar quite well. SMT is highly recommended for experienced pipe smokers.

One of the best.... No, make that The Best Maple flavored tobacco I've ever smoked. Gifted to me by fellow reviewer SteelCowboy, I found the flavor to be the same as he did, wonderful! I did not get the same nicotine punch that he did, but it is a powerhouse aromatic (if you want to call this an aromatic), and I am sure it will please those who enjoy sweetened strong Virginia. As is the case with most of these G&H plugs and twists, it is a bugger to prepare but worth the effort.

Pipestud

OK, the base tobacco is the same as Brown Irish X so my review there might be helpful. This is a strong tobacco and the added element of maple adds a little sweetness and once in a while a little extra sweetness is nice in a blend like this. The maple, however, does not linger on the tongue for long which is a good thing IMO. As far as aros go this is one of my favorites but the wife hates the room note. I would still give BIX the edge but this is nice and I will probably pick up a few oz. to have on hand for when the mood for strong but a little more sweet strikes me.

This is freaking delicious. I love Brown Irish X and I have a sweet tooth so this, for me, takes BIX to a whole new level. The maple is lightly applied and adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the very earthy, mildly smoky Virginias. Not complex, but powerful and tasty. This is a smoke made to satisfy. The easiest 4 stars I've ever given and a new favorite.

Medium to strong in body. Taste is full. Flavoring is mild. Slice thin and dry well for a good burn.

I have samples of Rum, Maple, and Coconut Twist. I claim they are very similar and maybe the same rope with a different mild topping for each. The smoking was very similar to me in terms of flavor and burning characteristics, and so my reviews of these three will repeat themselves.

The rope came a little moist, and I sliced it into thin coins on a cutting board in the kitchen. The pouch note is a sweet tobacco with a whiff of maple if you are looking for it. The rope is a pretty uniform dark brown with a few flecks of tan in the cross section.

I rubbed out coins and was careful not to pack them to tightly due to the moisture. I did not dry it any. It took some BTU's to get it burning, but it smoked well and did not require an unusual number of relights.

I did not get any maple really in the flavor. The flavor in general was very good - an earthy, full tobacco flavor with a slightly tart flavor when puffed. There was a heavy slightly overripe citrus flavor as well. The flavors intensified a little as the bowl progressed, but otherwise stayed constant through the bowl.

There is some nicotine in this, but it is not overwhelming. I have not tried mixing a rubbed out coin with anything else, but I suspect that would work well.

This is a high quality and tasty rope. I recommend it unless you have a nicotine aversion and stick to lighter fare.

I have been curious about rope tobaccos for quite a while, I must say. I also have a strong preference for G & H offerings over SG. They are quite easier to manage and prepare for smoking. A fellow member on a pipe forum was kind enough to send me a generous sample of Sweet Maple when I showed interest for it. Well, I have to say I enjoy this kind of tobacco a lot. The taste of the VAs is very deep, earthy, tasty. The maple essence is more than a toppping but not quite a casing, as it is present on and off throughout the pipeful. As this tobacco came very moist, 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 moistness tends to arise again, making it a lot difficult to enjoy as it triggers 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 listened to my fellow member's advice and cube cut the rope for smoking and it works very well. I also tried part cube, part rubbed out and it works well as well. No surprises, no complexities, just good deep tasting VAs with the gorgeous, delicious maple aroma. Of the three I have tried so far (Rum and Black Irish) this is my favorite rope because the maple topping is just awesome. And, boy, the nicotine contribution is splendid.

So I'm in love! Problem is, will my taste buds ever settle for less? I carefully sliced, unwound and dried a bit too much for a small bowl, so I ignored the warnings and smoked a medium sized bowl of this wonderful stuff. I was spoiled by the delicious, rich flavor, and I couldn't stop till I completely killed that bowl. But I walked away with glassy eyes and a smirk on my face (no EMTs this time).

The false light is very sweet and reminds me of the first few puffs of a sweet cigar. The relight was only slightly persnickety (thanks Zippo) and in a few minutes the Twist was in its prime. The maple flavor is definitely there and gentle sips across the top and sides of my tongue did have a mild maple taste. Maple Twist is an aromatic, but it's sort of a inbetweener and just an hour after smoking there was no ghosting of the pipe that I could detect.

I bought a bottle of Jim Beam Maple to try with Maple Twist, but I'm not sure if it's wise to pair the two... Guess I'll just have to try it. I definitely recommend using a small bent pipe with a pipe cleaner to keep the stem dry as you smoke the twist. I've got some balsa filters that I'd like to try next time. And I do want to stay with a smaller pipe next time because this stuff is so delicious that I don't want to stop! I would strongly urge anyone who is on the fence to go ahead and try this Jaguar of tobaccos.

PS. I know that there's some concerns about room note, but one interesting thing that I noticed is the lack of any strong odors in my beard after smoking Maple Twist. I like the idea of being able to enjoy a punchy tobacco like this without feeling like a human ashtray afterwards. Just cant say enough good things...

After loving Sweet Coconut Twist so much so that I now consider it my favorite aromatic tobacco, I decided to order all the flavored twists. So far, that experiment has led to me trying to others. This one and the sweet rum twist. I liked the rum better than this one.

The problem I run into is spelled out clearly in the beginning sentences of Steelcowboys review, I don't really like Irish X or brown twist unflavored and as his review points out the topping on this is very light making it taste closer to the unflavored twists than the flavored versions. I agree with his review and my perception is similar. The maple essence is very light and slips in and out.

I find these twists to be too stout and overwhelming without the topping. Hell, even with the topping, a medium sized bowl is difficult to finish in terms of strength alone. While I love the Coconut, I typically smoke it in small bowls or a large bowl over a few smoking sessions.

I am putting this one at two stars only because I want to differentiate my takes on these flavored twists, but I wouldn't disagree that someone who truly loves the unflavored tastes of these twists may love this blend as a change up.

Presentation is rope - brown, between nickel and quarter diameter. Looks and feels dry, but oozes oils when prepped. To prep, one must slice thin coins with a sharp blade and then rub out the coins. Needs some drying time.

The maple flavor is pretty good, quite accurate, but not terribly intense. This actually reminds me of REAL maple syrup more than the artificially flavored pancake syrup you get at the grocery store, so I think they got the flavor right. That said....it is sweeter than the whiskey twist, but I would have liked a bit more sweetness. I'd give it higher marks if it had a stronger dose of sauce, but I like it quite a bit.

This is brown rope...if you don't know what that means, here's what you need to know - prep is a bit of a pain, it takes a while to get it lit and it needs a higher than normal number of relights, and (most importantly) it is very very strong in nicotine. I'm not exaggerating - this is some of the strongest stuff out there.