Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Bosun Cut Plug

You can skip to JimInks's review, my experience was exactly as he put it.

I was unsure if to order this one, primarily because cloves can be delightful in small doses and terrible if overdone.

The smell from the bag is geranium and cloves, sweet spicy, tangy - far less tangy than Dark Flake Scented, but there are similarities.

The presentation is typical Gawith, thick cut dark brown broken flakes, heavy and oily. Strangely enough it catches straight from the tin, and did not need any relights until the heel. Similar to Dark Flake Scented, it doesn't seem to need drying. The broken flake turns to stone before burning to fine gray ash and does not leave almost any moisture in the bowl. Gave a very long, very cool smoke.

The taste: as it smells with a Virginia background. I will start from the Virginia before going to the meat of the blend because with these heavily scented Lakelands I can rarely taste any of the tobacco: it reminds me a lot of G&H Curly Cut Deluxe, somewhat sour and spicy. Now to the meat: rose geranium and cloves, a ratio of about 60/40 in terms of dominance, yet they work beautifully together. There's some bitterness and tanginess coming from the geranium, but less than in Dark Flake Scented. There's also some heavy but sharp sweetness and spicyness from the clove, I'd say it is not a sweet blend, but it FEELS like one. It reminded me of the incense used in the Greek Orthodox Church. It is very satisfying, the flavouring does not go away after three puffs like Danish and American aromatics do, and similar to Coniston Cut Plug you can regulate the balance between tobacco and flavouring by pushing it a bit. Will not bite, but does get bitter if pushed.

I need to compare with Dark Flake Scented, a blend I really like very much. It's not as strong in nicotine, but it is full in flavour, and possibly more nuanced - though less than Coniston Cut Plug

The smell of the smoke from the pipe is not very nice, it's quite acrid, but all my smoking is out of doors.

Can't see this being an all-day or everyday smoke, it is quite intense and the aftertaste is lingering, but like other members of its family, when you are after Lakelands nothing else will do.

Summary: a gentle bright Virginia flake with a bit of bite.

Bright Virginias are hard to work with. Acidic and sugary, they "bite" in a way that Burley does not, a kind of Pop Rocks fizzing on the tongue. Gawith Hoggarth has tamed most of these extremes with this easy-going flake, which melds a heavy clove topping with a mixture of bright Virginias and dark fired Virginias which favors the former, creating a kind of opulent flavor into which the smoker descends through a bowl. This is one of the easiest flakes to smoke that I have encountered, and despite a little mouth fizzle, makes a good, enduring medium-strength smoke.

Preparation & Burn: 7/10 Good cut. No drying required but not easiest to keep lit. Burns cool and at a nice pace.

Taste: 19/20 Nice Lakeland blend. Reminds me of Condor.

Mildness: 5/10 My idea of a good smoke is a relaxing, low nicotine session. Therefore, the milder the better. Not overwhelming.

Total: 31/40

Another of my forays into kendal legendary floral additions and I have to say with this one I am not disappointed.

Opening the pouch you are greeted by a lovely rose geranium aroma, very much akin to Turkish delight with a sharp undertone of clove. Quite a dark mixture which although the flowers are the first thing you smell you do get a good waft of the dark fired.

Packing the pipe, I rub my portion out fully, after that packing is a breeze, moisture is spot on as is the lighting.

First up the flowers on lighting are way more subdued they are there but not the powerhouse ala ennerdale. The smoke is very woody, yet creamy, heavy yet silky. First thing it reminds me of is condor, this is extremely similar in my book. But way way way better. This never bites or get hot, because its the type of smoke you want to savour every little draw, this is excellent stuff.

All in all if you like Lake lands this is must try, it's nice in between of Coniston cut plug and ennerdale, and makes a lovely morning pipe. The strength is strong and I wouldn't recommend this to the total newbie but if you are a regular smoker then this shouldn't pose no problems.

Room note is delicious but the smoke is thick and heavy so it may raise the odd eyebrow.

All in all stellar stuff from kendal and one I shall be making a repeat purchase of.

4 stars all day long.

Pouch appearance/aroma:

Grandma? Slight Sunday-church lady aroma of the rose geranium. I get absolutely no aroma of clove, no matter how hard I inhale. The smokiness of the dark fired leaf really stands out! A bit of sweetness pokes out from behind. The 4oz I ordered is comprised of medium to dark tobaccos, in a fairly loose flake form. Rubbing out can take a bit if you desire it fully separated.

Packing/lighting/smoking: Packs with ease. I smoked this out of a dedicated pipe (you know, ghosts and all) and its bowl was on the smaller side of the spectrum. I would roll the tobacco into a loose ball and stuff it in as even as I could. The pre-lit draw really shows you what this blend is topped with..... Initial light reminds me of straight up Condor Flake. The oil of clove is noticeable once lit, albeit very faint.

The first 1/3 I'm not sure if I can smoke this, but I keep going. Even though the dark fired stands out front, the topping is powerful to me. the second third really shows you the true tobacco flavors. The sun-cured Malawi is one distinct leaf. If it is in a blend, you will know it. It it used in one of my favorite blends of all time, Bob's Chocolate Flake. The last 1/3 is where you will notice the power of this blend. The topping is still noticeable, but isn't over the top of the leaf. The sweetness is really what is noticed now. Room note is amazing! A smoky potpourri that is non-offensive. If these perfumey blends are in your wheelhouse, you are going to love this. The highest quality of tobacco, that will never bite. I don't think Ill ever smoke all 4oz of this, it just isn't my thing. But a solid 3-3.5 stars for quality and tobacco flavor!

This is a very strange tobacco. In my limited experience I have never come across anything even remotely similar.

Pouch note could be a pot puri or old ladies perfume. It's chunky flakes. Used a cob for the cob. Nice touch I thought. Rubbed out well and took flame well. First few puffs very perfumy. I was about ready to give up. But then it morphed into a really nice full smoke a bit like 1792 with a bit of cigar thrown into the mix.

So overall I enjoyed it. But can't recommend it too much because of the perfume etc. But try a bowl or two. You might like it

18th February 2020 Iwould like to add I've now tried this several times and find it a great smoke. So I've changed my review to 4 stars.

Cracking stuff. Truly a tobacco for those that enjoy want a traditional lakeland blend but don't want one of them "soapy" lakelands.

Out of the pouch you have a mostly broken flake of various sizes, as the name suggests it is a cut plug.

Moisture is a little wet but nothing compared to Samuel Gawiths levels of drowned rat.

Scent is sweet and very deep. The clove oil (which needs to be in more blends if you ask me) is prominent with the rose geranium playing a lesser part. Both scents pair very well with the top quality Virginia tobacco.

When it comes to packing ill say a few things. Rub it out well, pack it lightly and don't bother drying it. If you leave it out to dry you'll loose some of the wonderful floral and clove oils. Better off to suffer a relight or two than loose them.

As for smoking well it is very easy to light. Your dominated by a lovely clove taste at the fore with the floral and sweet yet dark Virginia in the background. This will continue for about three quarters of the bowl. Then the rose will burn off with most of the clove and you;ll be left with a more prominent Virginia taste with wisps of clove.

Strength is medium. Good for any time of the day.

One, okay two last things.

Firstly you MUST dedicate a pipe to this blend, it WILL chronically ghost any pipe you smoke it out of.

And secondly I highly suggest jarring this stuff up the second you get it, so none of those oils evaporate.

One of the few aromatics I'll go near! Taste is faint, like a whisper. Perhaps the flavoring being so much unlike typical American aro's makes it doable. Could serve as a wonderful potpourri if you don't like smoking it.

Though of unquestionable quality, I find Bosun Cut Plug lacks a little something. It tends towards the insipid, the soporific. It's wet in it's indecisiveness.

Yet it will appeal to the St Bruno brigade longing for proper packaging.

Don't misunderstand me, it's a jolly good tobacco!

Shortly after writing the review I had the brilliant idea of beefing up Bosun with a small portion of well shagged Happy Bogie.

It worked quite well.

It has been dubbed Midshipman.