Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Curly Cut

Not a complex blend but still quite good. The sample that I am smoking from is on the dry side but there’s still a bit of pliability to the tobacco. Compared to other Gawith Hoggarth products, Curly Cut takes to flame really well; it’s a 2-3 match smoke when packed with care.

Overall this tobacco is quite flavorful. The dark Virginia tobacco is rich, spicy and earthy tasting. The bright leaf adds a pleasant sweetness to the mix and helps to add contrast to a light, yet pervasive smoky flavor, which to me tastes like dark fired Kentucky. Holding true to the no added flavoring or “unscented” tradition, a delicate rose geranium fragrance graces the finish, rendering a subtle aromatic high note.

Despite the substantial flavor, Curly Cut is not loaded with nicotine. So this offering isn’t just a sliced strong pigtail or Irish rope. Instead, the nicotine level is medium at best, making Curly Cut a very approachable option for pipers looking to transition into moderately strong Kendal blends.

On a personal note, I too prefer the way this blend tastes when smoked in a cob.

The dark VA's have a dark fruit sweetness about them that lead the way, they are slightly earthy and there is a fermented grain note that comes in and out and builds throughout the bowl becoming a little more forward after the halfway point. The bright VA's have notes of hay and citrus and come in and out at various points throughout the bowl. There is a floral note due to the variety of the VA's themselves, I do not detect the lakeland essence here. The nic hit is about mild to medium all things combined the overall feel of the tobacco is at the lower end of medium. It will not bite and does not get harsh or cigarette like at all. Offers plenty of smoke for a straight VA. Overall, recommended especially for late Spring and early Fall.

Broken coins, needing rubbing out. Smooth, medium strength, fruity, spicy - I was sure at first that this was a VaPer, and was surprised, on visiting this page, to discover that it's a straight VA. Be that as it may, it's excellent stuff.

Bored with this within 3 minutes a terrible smoke hot oversweet 'claggy' not for me Not a patch on my favourite, sadly now defunct curly cut from my youth I haven't given good ratings as I got without this muy rapido. Sorry GH not this one!

This is a completely natural, uncased tobacco with an agreeable though bland flavour. I have a sort of half-formed plan to add a little Latakia and/or Cavendish, just to see what happens (or Perique: see below). Certainly the flavour could do with being 'bulked up' a little; otherwise it's rather underwhelming. It does bite if you smoke it too quickly, but 'sipped' it's friendly to the tongue throughout the bowl. Load the bowl with the little discs unrubbed out, and rub out a little for lighting purposes at the top of the bowl.

Some people say that CC reminds them of the 'old' Three Nuns. For my part, I don't see it, except in terms of the cut. I think, though, that it might be interesting to add some Perique to it. Anyone who experimented with this suggestion might manage to create something close to 'old' Three Nuns, and this would be a very worthwhile outcome. (I see from an earlier review, though, that this has already been tried, with no great result. Maybe keep on experimenting with the proportions?) This tobacco on its own really is nothing special. It might be a good thing for the beginner to try, but, personally, I wouldn't want to make a habit of it. It's all right, but ... meh.

I would rather stuff cotton balls in my pipe and smoke that. Rotten curly cut weed

This comes in uniform dark brown disks, easily rolled out, and in the jar has a mild, straight tobacco odor. At the light and for the first third of the bowl it bites in the mouth and on the lips. Half way down the bowl, the bite recedes somewhat. The smoke smooths out a little. The flavor is bland from start to finish. I am not sure what the maker was trying to achieve. Certain undertones of flavor suggest that this may be the same tobacco G&H uses to produce their wonderful dark tobaccos such as Dark Flake and Dark Birdseye. For me, this tobacco bears no resemblance to Three Nuns, past or present, and contains no perique. I have been wrestling with 50g of this for three months, and it will take a long time to finish. All in all, a most unpleasant smoke. Paddy.

If you like Three Nuns, you're going to enjoy this. The perique in this blend doesn't come out so much, though, and if it's the SPICINESS you're hankering for, and not the nutty/tangy taste of the virginias, then maybe you should look for something like Escudo, or Astleys 109.

This satisfies nicely, but the room note is... Well, very bad. Let me take you back in time...

Loomis, California, Summer, July 13th,1998, my mom's cat JENNA ate SOMETHING that she shouldn't have, and desperately relieved herself of the noxious, burning substance within her bowels, causing an unspeakable olfactory holocaust for the homo sapiens sharing the domicile. This incident roused the entire family, and the evidence of the incident permeated the whole house for an entire day. The room note, whilst not nearly as severe, reminded me of this occasion, and I do not exaggerate.