Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Coniston Cut Plug

Coniston Cut Plug (Bulk): I'll start by saying this is a solid 3 stars for me. Upon opening the bag, the raw note is flowery soap and chocolate cake. It was moist out of the bag, but only took about 10 mins after I rubbed it out. It's a simple, easy drop in load; like dropping in cubes and you barely need to pack it. It fires up at 1st light; stays lite, but burns warm and more quickly than most quality blends. The room note is sweet, fruity and FLOWERY, but it can sting the back sinuses a bit if you're not careful. I like an occasional inhale, but trust me, this is not the blend for that, as a stand alone. N From what I'd read, I fully expected this smoke to have a strong nic kick, but it's not too heavy, and was NEVER overpowering. The palate is nice mild sweet woody goodness, and I now understand the Lakeland (soapy) flavor that so many speak of. For me, it is far in the back-end and was an enhancement to the blend; not a detractor at all. However, I do have to add that the soap ghost haunts the mouth long afterward. Grab an Altoid.

Some have described how smoky this is, but being the Latakia nut that I am, I'm used to the smokiest of blends, so this didn't seem to be overly so.

I fully enjoy sipping this with a few breaks here and there. I could only smoke about 2/3 of the bowl, as the flavor stops and turns to tar, but that's just the way some stronger blends are.

Ok, four years later I've been left with a cellared delight. Guys, aging is the key here. It mellows way back and any bite that was is gone. Even becomes mild in comparison. As I get older, the more I understand patients when it comes to loving and understanding what you are going for. My god, it is marvelous compared to what I first put into that big jar four years ago. Sweet and the soap is completely gone, replaced with a complexity I now truly enjoy. Even so, remember that this is an old English style tobacco meant to be sipped like a fine single malt Scotch. Not gulped down like cold beer on a hot day, or a sweetened cavendish ready to suck on and fill the room with clouds. That's not pipe smoking.

Excellent tobaccos, but you'd really have to enjoy the rather complex flavorings more than I to be able to really enjoy this often.

edit -- I seem to like Lakelands ever more these days, and so am upping the rating.

Other / Misc Flavoring is tasty and integrates well with the tobaccos dark rich and smoky character. I Was originally going to rate this only three but instead feel this one deserves no less than 4 gold stars. An excellent complex smoke.

Another one on the strong list, and another 4 stars. One of the best strong ones from gawh.

If you enjoy British flavoring like I do you gonna love this tobacco. It is of extremely high quality leaf with an endless rolling of flavor-filled smoke tempting taste and smell senses to continually beg for more. I cannot say enough good about this mixture. It is sweet but not offensively so. It has plenty of strength to carry its aroma relentlessly pleasing the smoker always. If you like Condor, St. Bruno, Ennerdale, and Bracken Flake you should find solice in this kin weed. Order in a small sample and give it a go. Absolutely bliss!!!

This is a fun tobacco. I prefer to order it in bulk so you can cellar what you want and put what you like into your rotation.

In bulk it's a broken, stringy kind of flake and the bag aroma is that of fine tobaccos. I don't find a need to rub it out futher but just kind of crunch it up and pack (gently). As with all GH I've tried so far the moisture content is dead on perfect.

Gives you a mouth full of smoke, no burn, no bite, stays lit and does not offend others (at least around my place).

It does not seem to be particular as to type of pipe, briar-meer-cob-clay, but does seem to like a medium to large bowl. A small bowl doesn't let the flavor(s) develop. You might consider layering it a pipe with a mild Virginia until you become familiar with it's burn characteristics but otherwise...go for it.

I do not do many reviews. I have been smoking 3 years and have learned much and I have honed in my tastes better. This year 2023 after watching The Pedalling Piper and Beans316 I decided to try some G&H blends. I have been doing head to head (2 pipes with 3/4 bowls) comparing blends real time and choosing the one I like more. I recently matched up Coniston Cut Plug with Dark Birdseye and then Amphora Kentucky. My pallet prefers sweeter than not so my final ranking is 1) Coniston, 2) Amphora, 3) Dark Birds Eye.

Honestly all have a distinct flavor that I can enjoy but the first 2 will be in my cellar long term. The Amphora is slightly sweeter but stronger in the dark fired, the Coniston has burley and Lakeland/Floral that rounds it out and makes it more complex. I cannot describe all of the nuances that other more experienced reviewers do, but I can state that for a dark fired blend it is smooth, slightly sweet, and has a pleasant aftertaste.

Nicotine does not get to me unless I smoke 2 large or 3 medium bowls so to me the nicotine is medium.

If you are interested in trying the GH blends then Coniston Cut plug is a good place to start. If it’s too strong for you then skip most of the others.

Package note of lakeland, tangy fruit, and spices. Tobacco is a broken flake of reddish dark brown. Moisture content is great, pieces rub out with a little effort. Burns slow with a few extra relights. The strength is medium to strong and nic is medium to strong. Flavoring is mild to medium, with notes of Floral Essences and Other/Misc. I detected tonquin/lakeland, and there was definitely an added sweet. Both dropped to the background with in the first 1/4, with the sweet hanging out a little longer than the tonquin/lakeland. Taste is medium to full and mostly consistent, with notes of tonquin/lakeland, spices, mildly smoky, wood, sugar, floral, tangy dark fruit, peaty vegetation, cocoa, molasses, savory, bread, orange peel/zest, earth, slight spicy, a sweet nutty and grassy background note, and a very peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Dark Fired and Burley supporting. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

This is the finest all day smoke I've ever come across. Not the finest smoke, but the finest for any occasion. It's manly and bold, gentle and firm. Florid not floral.

I'd recommend it to anyone, any time!