Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Black Irish X Unsliced

Am I really giving this one four stars? Yes! But why? When I first throw this to a bowl I was convinced this is a one star tobacco! The first impression was awfull! The burning sausage aroma was too much for me to try again I thought. But as a latent masochist as I am I usually go over myself to try to get that kind of mysterious plesure hidden in those actions. And this is what I found. I totally get those people marking this precious baccy with just one undeserved star. Especially when you are a vegetarian or worse a vegan! This is a strange tobacco. A little confusing? No! It is really schizophrenic to state the definition. Until you get it under your skin. But here I am to help a bit. Just let it sleep in the tin after opening for, lets say, three months or more. Til it is totally dry. Then moisture it back. The burning meat is not gone then but it is a little less pronounced now. Then pack it a little more moist than you are normally used to. Pack the pipe loose. Lit. When it is too sharp just tamp it - carefully! carefully! - to get a nice burning, creamy sweaty mellow smoke. Now you have a PLEASURE! Still a little confusing but now an interesting palette of feelings. Reminds me of a festival (not the Solani tobacco) in the spring or autumn. When there are those candyfloss and grilled sausages aromas mixing in the air. I am there like I was when I was a little child.

The taste is sweet the aftertaste is even a bit sweeter. I wish this taste for all those vanilla, choco, caramel or coconut aromatised tobaccos. To undone a little more of the aroma you can try retrohale it since then the maple-ish sweet topping would step forward and the burning meat aroma changes to more "smoky" and less "meaty". It is even better with Bellows to retrohale this one. For me the retrohale is comfortably doable after about a half bowl when the tobacco settles a bit since the dark fired tobaccos are the biggest chalenge for me to retrohale them.

Smoke and drive: Make sure the environment is calm and peacefull. This baccy needs almost a meditative state. Do not smoke this when drive 🙂

The Pu-erh of pipe tobacco, funky and delicious. Burnt marshmallow, burnt tires and sileage. I get why some people hate this. It's an acquired taste. Not as strong as Brown Irish X. Not as harsh either

premium all around smoke so happy to have 500 g.shall have a great winter smoking fun enjoyable season. very complex with some fruit as well a little salt on the back side. pared it with 111 proof Makers Mark so very befitting. none of which is for the faint of heart. need your big boy puff on for this wonderful treat. this is one for me .really enjoying it right now. hope to take time to present a full review at a later date. nothing like fettling with the plug to suit my fancy and this rope is no different so fun and pleasurable to prep for a wonderful puff

I basically do endorse 1000% the words of Laserboy.

... just, I don’t feel this black rope is strong to that point and, as he said, it’s all about the self controlled conduction of the pipeful. In comparison to the Sam’s black rope, this one is just… sweeter. The combination of charred meat and sweetness is something love or hate. I just love it.

Of course this is far from a daily smoke, but one does not need some rare alignment of stars to enjoy a bowful of this. In my experience the best results came from loose packing in a medium bowl.

And, may I suggest: please try to add a couple of pinches to some 20gr of a full latakia mixture, and see yourself what happens.

Gawith Hoggarth Black Irish Twist (or Black Irish X as it says on the label of the sealed plastic bag it came in) is my first ever twist or rope tobacco. Over 35 years of smoking flakes hadn't quite prepared me for this one. I expected it to be something like a Va flake but stronger, but no, this is a different beast altogether, and one that I am very glad I decided to try.

The smell of the tobacco in the pack is excellent. Deeply woody, almost earthy with quite a smoky, cigar-like overtone. The appearance is mildly off-putting, resembling a bent black cigar, but the aroma makes up for that.

Preparation was easy enough. I have an excellent French made Opinel knife which made short work of slicing up a portion into pieces the size and thickness of a penny (a UK one that is). Based on the reviews I have read I expected the tobacco to need some drying but no, not at all. It rubbed out very easily making packing the pipe a breeze.

I smoked it in a Peterson 317, which has a suitably small sized bowl (for those who aren't familiar with Petes). It lit very easily and required only one more light to finish off the bowl. It smoked good and clean all the the way leaving only grey ash and no dottle.

Now for the flavour. In a word, wow! Most impressive. It smokes dry so the flavour stayed pretty much the same all the way down. The flavour of the smoke mirrors that of the tobacco in the pack; earthy, woody, smoky and altogether just as a plain tobacco should be. I had expected it to be stronger tasting. In fact, based on those reviews I expected something like Irish Flake but more so (and I am not over keen on Irish Flake - it gives me heartburn!). While Black Irish is certainly strong in flavour is is exceptionally smooth and tasty, cool smoking and quite unique in my pipe smoking experience. I did make a point of going fairly slowly with it and I am sure that was the right approach. Nicotine level? Fairly high but not excessive, though I think smoking it in a larger pipe might be a bit over the top.

To sum up, this is one that I would recommend to anyone. Four stars all the way.

This is a monochromatic and nicotine over-loaded blend, which contaminate your pipe with a weired flavor for ever. Smoking on empty stomach makes me sick!

Why 4 stars?

I can understand if you hate it, but I love it!

It's not a complex and elegant blend, but you get a mellow smoke with a lightly sour flavor (iron, blood, salty water, fishing boat) of natural tobacco.

Smoking this stuff is the best way for me to relax. After the first few puffs - accompanied by a bottle of Merlot - all problems are fading away at once! Something magic!

I'm satisfied with one bowl a week (nicotine content!), but I don't want to miss this stuff anymore.

A relict of the "good?" old times!

Thank you Gawith & Hoggarth!

By the way, smoking indoors, it' an excellent mokito repellant!

You can tell from the reviews here this is a love it/hate it blend. I love it. Mellow, strong, all tobacco. Slice, and dice...let it dry out, rub it out. Packs, lights, burns well. At this point in my tobacco journey this is my desert island choice.

If you want something different, this is your smoke.

Heavy - and it lends a nice flavor to the pipe. I liken the taste to roasting meat (or fat.) (Black Rope ... It's PEOPLE!!!)

Indeed, my wife often mistakes the smell of smoldering black rope to chicken burning on the grill. Now, if that ain't a reason to try this smoke, I don't know what is! You get tons of people who liken the smell of burning latakia to "Campfires in the fall" etc etc. Well, how many tobaccos can you smoke that remind you of summer barbecue??

For best results, smoke in a clay, as it was meant to be smoked. Chew it first, and then let it dry out and smoke it for a REALLY authentic experience. (It tones down the nicotine ... really! Try it, I dare you.) Baking soda will get the stains off your teeth, I promise.

P.S. I'm pretty sure the term "OLD TAR" comes from the aroma that old sailors who smoked too much black rope must exude from every pore. What more could you possibly want?

Probably my #3 favorite tobacco. It's not as strong as the Brown Irish Twist (also from G&H), and the flavor is not as penetrating. Instead, it's "rounder" and more mellow. It's a milder smoke than the brown, even though it looks scarier.