Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Black Irish X Unsliced

Still searching ( for past 10 months ) for VAs to put into my rotation, which was formerly strictly English. While this is a quality product, easily packed, easily lit, no bite,and attractive colors. It is way too strong of the nicotine ( hic ) for me. I can understand its popularity but this 2 oz sample was my limit. Who knows, maybe I'll try again in the next life !

A dense black twist that slices easily and rubs out moderately well. There are some residual lakeland notes and the pre light aroma is quite sweet, with some salty overtones. Once rubbed out the tobacco will dry out fairly quickly.

This is a surprisingly (to me) light tobacco which is sweet and creamy, sometimes peppery if puffed too hard, but otherwise nondescript. It produces great plumes of billowing clouds. Not an easy tobacco to get under way and will require some attention with tamp and light. Burns cool.

Supposedly less nicotine than the brown ropes and twists, I nonetheless found this to have some heft in the nicotine department. I guess it would suit the pipeman who doesn't want to think about what the tobacco is doing because it really isn't doing much anyway. I didn't find the severe faults other reviews found so objectionable, but in the absence of positive things about this tobacco attention might be drawn to its down sides. For my money I want more interest with a tobacco, tho I would not refuse if this were offered by a friend.

This here be the Rolls-Royce of pipe tabbacer. Thar aint none finer. Tell you what, you find one that is and I'm gone hit me with a hammer!

Smoke this with onions and a beer for that authentic 3:00 am truck stop feast.once was enough.

The rope is just amazing to behold. It's a bit of a bugger to cut and rub out, but has a certain 'charm' to the process (I feel like I've traveled back a century or two). Smells deep, heavy, and strong.

If not rubbed out properly this is quite hard to keep lit. The smoke is...Wow! Smokey meat is right on the money. It's strong and sometimes difficult to take, both flavor and nicotine. This is not one for the faint at heart. I do like it, but it's not one I enjoy very often...but I do share the rope with those that are up for a challenge. It tastes like a BBQ, without the sauce.

Why? Oh, why? I really wanted to like this. It's oily and moist. Hard to light and keep lit. The other reviews are correct, it smells like the BBQ pit when some beef fat falls into the charcoal. Not an entirely unpleasant odor but not necessarily what you want in your pipe. It is not complex, like I'd hoped. It was straight forward meat and nicotine. The room note was the same. You can imagine a burning BBQ pit in your living room. I think it's quality stuff, just not for me. I'm not giving up. I'm smoking the rest of my rope before I give up on her.

It must have been meant of chewing at some point. It looks like it would be much better for chewing.

After reading the reviews of this tobacco by the members here, I ordered 500 grams and just finished my first bowl. Wow! Strong, nearly heartstopping when I first lit it, before getting it going nicely, but after it began to burn evenly, I've decided that I like it a great deal. I should also note that this is the first tobacco I've smoked in a few years, having given my pipe up for awhile. I burned mine in an extremely well broken in 4 dot, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, it smells like roasting flesh, and yes it's an incredibly strong smoke, but I like very strong tobaccos, and never mind a stinky tobacco if it smokes nicely, and this one does. It smokes nice and cool (though the nicotine on your tongue is enough to make keeping something cool to drink handy a necessity), is extremely satisfying, and best of all, it not only ran my wife from the room, but entirely out of the house. Based on that alone, it's a keeper, even if tasted like burning pitbull turds.

HIGHLY recommended, but caution is advised.

P.S. The brown rope is much stronger, though it does have a better room note.

P.P.S. Date: July 13, 2010 Well, gents, I'm giving up smoking entirely now. I'll miss it terribly, but I suppose it's time. I may pick it up in another 15 or so years (if I manage to live that much longer), but for now, I'm going to call it quits. I haven't smoked (cigarettes) at all for a few weeks now, and just feel that if I keep my tobaccos, I'll never really be finished with it. So, I have a few hundred grams of Black Irish Twist if anyone wants it (not selling, giving). I hate to get rid of it, but I think it's best. Just contact me at mike.allen.phillips at gmail dot com and I'll send it out. First come, first served, of course. But please don't ask me to send this to you if you aren't actually going to smoke it. I hate to see it go to waste.

Regards

This tobacco I save for capping off the night before bed time. It is dark and formadable but that is half the attraction. It is pressurized removing a lot of the nicotine to produce a medium to full smoking experience. Great taste. My grand father and father used to mix these "Rat tail" tobaccos with inexpensive tea leaves because they were poor. Tobacco was hard to come by for them. This tobacco has a salty taste to it. It lights easily and stays lit. I smoke this tobacco in a Pipa Croci Dublin. A little goes a very long way. It is a great outdoor smoke on a rainy or wintry day. Cut in 1/8th inch pieces with a pocket knife and put through an inexpensive tobacco grinder and smoked straight will have you dreaming of the wee folk in the hills of county Kerry, Ireland.

I tried black Irish twist after trying several of the Gawith and Hoggart tobaccos. I had first given brown twist a thorough tasting before trying its darker brother, black twist. I have never had a problem with the supposed tsunami of nicotine that is supposed to embodie many of the G & H tobaccos, but none the less it is apparent that many smokers do. The aroma of black twist is that of an lightly (and I do mean lightly) sweetend bourbonesque essence. Texture of the rope is oily and chewy, I almost wanted to cut of a plug of it and find the nearest spitoon. I was skeptical as to how well this tobacco was going to burn upon initial inspection but, after lighting I had no problem sustaining a proper burn. Texture of the smoke was not biting in the least, I have to admit I thaught that this blend was going burn like a mouth full of coals. This is most likely due to the intense curing that this tobacco undergoes, as most of the sugars are leached from the leaf during the baking process. The overall complexity in this tobacco was a bit lacking. I detected an air of charred honey-baked ham that seemed to peek out from time to time, laced with the slightest kiss of bourbon. Despite the oily texture of the leaf this tobacco burns clean, leaving a fine ash at the bottom of the bowl. I highly recomend using a pipe with small bowl capacity for this tobacco, as a little goes a long way. I have a miniature Peterson barrel that I primarily use for this tobacco and its brown brother. I have alot of respect for G&H for maintaing the classic lines of tobacco that they produce. I encourage all smokers to at least try these blends and, if you don't like them then at least you can comment on them.

Note preparation: I noticed that there are alot of people who have commented on how much of a pain this tobacco is to prepare for smoking, so I wanted to share my technique.

Slice of segments of the rope into widths of 1/4 of an inch. Place the cut rope segments into a clean coffee grinder a pulse a couple of times. This works really fast, and gives a very manageable cut that packs and blends easily. The uniformity of the cut also makes the burn really consistent.