Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Brown Irish X

This is a strong tobacco in all aspects. It tastes like a very good cigar. The nicotine is high and prevents it from being something you can have too much of. It is rather tasty, though as with all rope tobaccos, the preparation is a bit more involved than I'd like. That aspect keeps me from giving this another star, but if you like that work, or are not opposed to it, give this a shot.

This will put hair on your chest, your toes and quite possibly the palms of your hands (watch out lady smokers!). When I got back into the pipe I got straight into this after realising that most of the main tobacos available at the one and only tobacconist in town had all been bought up by big companies and changed, so I decided that I'd go for purity. The local tobaconist doesn't stock many flakes but always has the black and brown twists in. I'm not sure if what I've got is the Bogie, to be honest, but I'm not sure how much difference there is either. But they sell it as twist so.....I guess this is what it is. The preparation isn't all that bad, slice a few discs and then feed them into the pipe. I've learned to pack very lightly. It needs air.

It's strong (oh I see someone else has mentioned that already :-o) Niccups after half a bowl. And what I've come to appreciate as enforced breaks, when it goes out because my concentration flies out the window. Hmmm, perhaps I'd better just put the pipe down for a moment, like it is suggesting I do. This stuff talks to me. It says "reet there marra'" and then it makes its statement in a direct and succinct manner, straight talking. It's not being difficult or rude by going out. It isn't going anywhere. I think this stuff is quite easy to form a relationship with.

Pragmatism! That's what it teaches. Let's not beat around the bush nor wax lyrical nor go chasing after rainbows. Dry, bluff humour. Westmorland humour!

When I initially light this up it's usually quite caustic for a few moments but then it mellows a bit. Has a sort of tanning feel to the mouth. But dry and pretty cool really. There is a deep taste in there. Quite a clean aftertaste, no gloop at all.

And in these freezing temperatures the late night garage run amongst the hobgoblins and piskies is thankfully kept short with this one.

I like it, quite a lot, but I don't think I'll be making it a regular smoke. However, it is an intrinsic part of my stash.

I really wanted to like this tobacco as I love many of the other Gawith Hoggarth offerings but this one just does not do it for me. I found it to be very thin on flavor, almost flavorless and the nicotine hit was not near as strong as I was expected. I found this to be considerably less strong nico wise than dark flake unscented for instance. This does however make a decent chew so I will use the rest for that.

I think this may be like smoking a Camel straight (non-filter) while chewing tobacco at the same time. Recommended for those who are never quite satisfied with their regular smoke.

Ack! Yuck! I have smoked this stuff in sliced, rope, and aromatic forms, and I can't tolerate any of them. The smoke is so sharp that it feels toxic/caustic. There is a single, very narrow flavor without a hint of nuance, sweetness or anything else. This might make a decent (thin) cigar wrapper, but it doesn't belong in my pipe, at least not straight. The Black Irish Twist made by GH is pretty good due to a bit of steaming and aging, but this stuff is like sipping grain alcohol straight. The nicotine is huge, but being forewarned I avoided trouble of that nature.

To be fair, I did find a use for this. I keep it on hand to add to "party" blends, usually ten parts aromatic to 5 parts sweet virginia to one part Brown Twist. Still, I'd part with it very quickly if someone wanted it in trade.

Any takers?