Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Curly Cut Deluxe

I first tried this 2 yrs ago, finding it bitey and rather peppery-tasting. I sealed it in a jar for a year and found it much more mellow but not too exciting. Sealed again and left for another year my assessment has not changed. Comparing it to Escudo, I would say I most definitely prefer Escudo over the Curly Cut Deluxe. It is drier and better behaved with some age, but just not that tasty to me. I found it rather bland and one-dimensional--overall a bit boring.

12-24-2004 An excellent "Breakfast" Blend

Appearance and Aroma: When I first saw this blend, I was put off by the "coins" similar to Escudo and MacBaren's (so-called)Latakia blend. The former made me sick, and the latter burned my tongue no matter how I smoked it. After considering the quality of GH's other blends, I decided to give this one a whirlanyway. It smelled earthy and slightly perfumed, not at all like the previous blends mentioned.

Packing and lighting: I enjoyed staking the "coins" and rubbing out just a little on top. The blend had been sitting at my tobacconist for some time, so it was fairly dry. Lit 2-3 lights max.

Initial Flavor: Surprise! Mellow and earthy, yummmm. Reminded me of "Old Gowrie" but with a little more depth.

Mid-Bowl: The perfume is noticable at this point, but very much in the background. Similar oatishness to OG. This is a tasty tobac!

Bottom of Bowl: A slight increase of strength, the perfume recedes even more. You are left with a clean aftertaste. The ash is fine and light gray.

Overall: As I mentioned at the beginning, this is a good first pipe of the day blend. I prefer it to Old Gowrie or Picadilly. Tongue-bite is not a problem, nicotine is low too. The flavor of the tobac is complex for a mid-strength tobac and is in the mid to low end of the flavor spectrum. The room note was particularly liked by the ladies at my office, which was a surprise. While this one won't replace Marlin Flake or Blackwoods Flake, I will definitely keep some of this around for the mornings.

Ratiing: 4 out of 5 Points, enjoy...

Well, if you are like me, there are some tobaccos you like from the get go and your opinion of them never wavers. Then there are others that you know you don?t like before finishing a bowl. There are still others that you initially like but later discover you don?t care for and tobaccos that don?t initially impress but grow on you. CC Deluxe fell into the latter category for me.

I was ready to give up on CCD after a couple of bowls but to give it a fair trial I finished my stash. It does have the classic Lakeland soapy/floral flavor but it was not overwhelming nor was it always present. I grew to enjoy this taste as a change from other, all too similar VA blends. The only negative I found is that the charring light and relight can be a bit acrid and harsh, typical of many VA blends but very pronounced in CCD. But once there is a good ?fire in the hole? and an even ash, this tobacco blooms into a nice, flavorful sweet smoke to the bottom of the bowl with nary a bite. As such, I call this a ?storm before the calm? tobacco.? I aired it out a bit as it was too moist for me. I won?t smoke it all the time but for a nice change of pace it will be a go to blend.

I rate this tobacco 7.9 out of 10

Curly Cut Deluxe takes a little bit of persuasion to get lit and burns a tad wet for me. It has a nice,"dark", sweetness similar to the regular G&H Curly Cut. Personally, I do not like this near as much as I like the regular G&H Curly. The description says it's the same stuff as the Curly Cut only in a larger rope. The Deluxe is not as smooth a smoke nor does it taste quite the same. I will buy more of the Curly Cut but NO more of the Deluxe!

A friend of mine gave me some of this to try and I must admit that I am impressed. This seems to be a very high quality virginia blend. I have never tried the regular curly cut so I do not have that as a base in which to compare this with. When I first lit this I was a bit dissapointed in that the light was rather harsh. About an eighth of the way into the bowl it cooled down a bit and realy started to smooth out. By quarter way into the bowl it was realy alive with flavor. The virginias had a nice natural tasting sweetness that was not overload on the taste buds. There seemed to be some floral and malty overtones in which I very much enjoyed. I am going to experiment with this blend in differant pipes and at differant humidity levels to see what the potentials are. For right now I highly enjoy this and would highly recomend this to virginia lovers

I'm not sure what makes this the 'deluxe' since I've yet to try the GH regular curly cut. I will, for comparison, with my next order. This blend is available only in bulk. Either by the manufacturing process or in transit, since I ordered it via the net, most of the nickel to quarter sized disks from the spun rope slices became unraveled into wide but long ribbons. Quite different from the tinned presentation from MacBaren in their Roll Cake. Since I prefer not to rub out my flakes or plugs, this resulted in difficult, uneven packing and burning. The tobaccos are straight VAs from golden to dark brown with no detectable casing that smoke cool and without bite. Quality tobacco, but it is just too tangy/spicey for my all day tastes and this was accentuated in small bowled pipes or during quick smokes @ work. Only the first several puffs from 2"+ high bowls didn't exhibit this tendency. Other ~ blends are more enjoyable.

It is one of my favorite summer tobaccos. Truly pure straight Virginia with no additives. Before lighting, tobacco smells like black bread or dried tomatoes. After opening the 2-year-old tin, the contents are still very moist, as is usually the case with SGs. The last time I smoked it was just recently after opening and it still held a higher than optimal humidity.
Even so, it is a very pleasant smoking tobacco. Especially on hot summer days, when one is not in the mood for smoky heavy latakia, a little pure virginia comes in handy. The tobacco is not extra strong, in the nicotine sense, and if smoked sparingly, it doesn\'t tend to bite either.
The smoke is nice, not extra thick, slightly yellowish, and smells nice like any natural virginia with a slight hint of walnuts.
Even though I smoked it probably wetter than it should have been, it burned well, consistently, long and evenly once lit. Grinding a slightly coarser cut into individual fibers will also help the balanced experience.
It has become my favorite tobacco, especially for the summer season and for situations when a person wants to indulge in a lighter smoke influenced by no additives. I recommend letting it dry slightly just before smoking.
Similar: 3 Nuns yellow?

During summer time i prefer virginia blends and this one was my next choise.once the tin opens a nice citrus smell combined with some lightly applied lakeland noted comes out.the brown and black coins seem appealing.the blend moisture is medium with a nice texture,easy to rub and drying time doesn't help so much with the moisture.packs easy and lighting needs effort with several religits needed.while smoking the flavours is what you expect from a straight virginia blend.lots of citruses,grass and hay notes are combined with some lakeland notes in a nice but one dimensional way.rare some smokey notes pop out.generally i found the flavours pleasant.burns quick and medium hot in total ash if rubbed well.room note is bareable with a lot moisture left at the filter.tongue bite is present if pushed and nicotine level is almost medium.an all day smoke.generally this is a decent all day blend.

A slightly lighter and brighter version of CC Regular. To my taste the light Lakeland flavoring fits in extremely well here complimenting the nutty, woody, hay- like Virginias. This is an enjoyable, relaxing smoke. I loved CC Regular, but I think I like this even better.

Medium in body and taste. Flavoring is very mild. Burns nearly perfectly.