Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Black Irish X Unsliced

Black Irish X [Twist];

Star Rating = 3.75;

Rating Scores - 10 is the Best and 0 is the Worst;

Pouch Note = 10;

Room Note = 9;

Flavor = 10;

Bite = 9;

Burn = 10;

After Taste = 9;

Raw Score = 57;

Rated Percentage = 95%;

Comment = Smooth, Strong Strength, Full Body Natural Tobacco Flavor, lots of BTU's need to Ignite, White Ash Burn.

If you are one who likes to “play” with your tobacco, by all means get this “Twist” form of tobacco, you can spend countless hours “Slicing, Dicing and Drying” this “Twist” tobacco before it is ready to smoke. I admit I am a lazy pipe smoker so I didn't find this necessary extra preparation exercise to be of any value to heighten my pipe smoking enjoyment. You had better have a sizable ignition source on hand because you are going to need a lot of BTU's to get this “Twist” tobacco to light. Once you achieve the first ignition you will need to have your best “Tamping Tool” at the ready to handle the endless re-packings and re-lights that this “Twist” form of tobacco requires. Perhaps you have detected that the “Twist” form of tobacco is not my “cup of tea”.

Wow what a fantastic twist this is, its so meaty and very tastey, i love this stuff, its in my rotation 4++++ from me one of the best tobacco's ive evr smoked to be honest.

I've always wanted to try this style of twist, but was intimidated by reviews, despite my having smoked pipes for about 30 years, and chewing tobacco since I was 12. Finally I bit the bullet & bought 500g online, figuring I could divy it up among others who wanted to sample it as well.

Sliced it and dried it about 30 minutes before launching. Made sure I had a full stomach & was well hydrated to avoid a nasty nic kick. Tentatively lit the pipe as if I were dealing with ordinance, had the phone at hand lest I need to call for assistance and drew in the first puff.

Jumpin' Jehosaphat! What is this beautiful smoke drifting through my oral cavities! Strong flavors of Dark Fired Va reminiscent of a campfire grilled steak. A slight natural sweetness, but nothing sugary or artificial. Smoke so strong you can almost chew it, and the closest to a cigar flavor I've ever got from a pipe. While the nicotine is definitely present, it never assaulted me, and all my preparations and trepidations were in vain. This stuff ain't going nowhere, except into a big mason jar.

My only disappointment was that this won't double as a chewing tobacco for me. My normal brand is Red Man Sugar Free, and I've chewed many plug tobaccos, but this just didn't hit my tastes. Too rough and somehow bitter.

I give this the highests ratings, but with a caveat it probably isn't suitable for folks not well acquainted with nicotine.

My wife likes to take a little sniff of my lit bowls to take in some of the aromas of my tobaccos. This one had her reeling and we had to revive her.

It tastes like beef burning on a BBQ inside a tyre factory. If you were to tell me it was laced with badger fat which was stored in burnt newspapers I would nod and agree with you.

It burns very well for a rope and requires less preperation than you might think. The char-light sends the tobacco immediately white and I suspect this would be a joy to burn.

However I must confess, I have never made it to the bottom of a bowl. Everytime I try to smoke this it's not long before I put it out and make the sign of the cross. I find it extremely difficult not to choose it's cousin Brown Irish Twist and it's eminently more smokeable profile. I am however not yet thoroughly convinced I cannot like this.

As we become more experienced pipe smokers, our tastes develop and change. I've found myself enjoying more and more complex and refined tastes the more I discover. This tobacco reminds me of my earliest experiences pipe smoking where once certain blends were beyond the pale and have since become favourites.

I fear that this might be my everest. I suspect that somewhere in this tobacco is the 'umami' of chargrilled badger meat accentuated with the finest of tobaccos.

I will update this review when I find the magic. Failing that I'm going to chop it up and throw it at people I don't like.

Does anyone actually love this stuff on the first bowl? If so, I wasn't one of them. Like a lot of other tobaccos I wasn’t sure of, I gave it a few tries. And one day it clicked. But I can still see why this isn’t for everyone and not an all day smoke even for those who like it. It is an outdoor only blend for me. I suspect my wife would say it smells like a burning tire or a coal fire. The taste is certainly unique. Bbq meat comes up a lot but it isn’t sweet or smoky/salty like a Latakia blend. More like the fond left from a steak cooked in a cast iron skillet. I also get hints of citrus, like the smell of flamed orange peel. I highly recommend giving it a shot, maybe three or four before you pass final judgement. Try it mixed with something like Carter Hall if it is just too much at first.

Lot's was written here already, and most of that true in my opinion. Even negative ones, but in my case it positives. Like riding a motorcycle, you know - if you love it - almost all "negatives" become "positives" for you, or you even not care much about them.

Im writing this to say that it worth trying anyway, because if it "clicks" - you will discover a real treasure.

The blend has an interesting, salty smell. The taste overall is meaty, like smoking a London broil. It is a fairly strong tobacco, and the room note even more so. The room not is like a grill, mostly. I've had people mention smelling a barbecue when I was smoking it nearby. I've also been told it smells like Creepy Crawlers, and I suppose I see that.

Without some drying time, I've not had much success keeping rope tobacco lit, so it's either a wait after each time cutting it, or advanced preparation. This extra bit knocks it down a star, but if that's appealing or not a concern for you, give it a shot.

Black Irish twist is a tobacco that fully lives up to its intimidating appearance. This is what the Grim Reaper Himself smokes. Popeye the Sailor also. It's an absolutely genuine, authentic, no-nonsense baccy, but very much an acquired taste. Is it worth acquiring? I don't think so, myself, but I can well believe that it will have its enthusiasts. It's the kind of stuff that everybody's great- granddad used to smoke back in the day.

Positives: it's cool, slow-burning and as full-flavoured as you could ask for – almost a meal in itself, if you see what I mean. I can't imagine anybody wanting much of it during a twenty-four hour cycle. (It's not for the fastidious palate, though; notice some of the things that people have compared it to: iron, blood, salty water, fishing boats, burnt steak!) Negatives: it's excessively laborious to prepare and keep alight. It's as moist as it looks in the picture; it needs to be dried and aired quite a bit before ignition is attempted.

Wives, servants, cats and dogs be warned: the room note of this stuff is terrible; like a fire in a slaughterhouse. It will haunt your deepest dreams, and not in a good way. Not surprisingly, the ghost of Black Irish Twist is mighty hard to exorcise from whatever pipe you smoke it in.

Hell's bells, it's strong! Oh, my Lord! For my tender sensibilities, this ultra-manly tobacco is far, far too wicked in terms of nicotine content. Half way down the bowl I had to lie down and pray for deliverance. You need to be a serious vitamin N junkie to like, or even to be able to stand, it. If, however, you're looking for a robust, old-fashioned baccy that has not been tampered with in any way, have a slap at this. It's an experience and a half: no scents or flavourings or fancy dancing – just Man against Tobacco. Try it in your smallest bowl, and don't try to walk or focus on anything for some time afterwards.

To the Barbarian Hero kind of smoker, therefore, I recommend it. I swear I'll never touch it again, but I can be objective enough to see its virtues even though it half killed me. To more genteel pipemen – wimps like me – I say: stay away from this stuff; it'll make you want to sit on the floor and cry.

Thus: somewhat recommended, depending on who you are and what you like. To be on the safe side, put your affairs in order before you smoke this, and maybe fill out your organ-donor card (assuming there'd be anything left of you worth recycling).

I bought 3 oz of this about a year or so ago. Smoked it once and have not tried it again until now. It had a nice mild earthy smell and I cut up a section and put it into the pipe. I probably did not pack it right or rub it out correctly because the two bowls of this required constant relighting. A lot of matches. This is one tightly wound rope of tobacco. It smoked mild, earthy (that word again) and was more of one flavor that I could taste. I will say that some of the reviewers are correct in that I probably should have ate something because between the tobacco and coffee on an empty stomach I got a little urpy. It reminds me of other dark fired pipe tobaccos I have tried. This is one that in the Old West you could throw in your saddle bag and not worry about it.