Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Curly Cut Deluxe

I got 50g this one only two and a half days a go to continue my string of new ropes, pardon the pun, and I'm already down to the last quarter or so. That last, and first, sentence alone speaks volumes about this tobacco but indulge me as I avail myself of a review.

Upon opening the pouch I was greeted by a sweet earthy smell not too dissimilar to Brown Bogie, an encouraging start. The tobacco itself was light brown with flecks of gold and more of the consistency of broken curls than coins or curly cut. No matter, it packs and lights as well as any other. The initial taste is a sweet, nutty one and as the smoke progresses it becomes more savoury as it develops into something more earthy. There is also something queer about this stuff, I can't put my finger what it is but it is nice. It somehow reminds me of that iron medicine I used to take for anemia when I was a kid, queer but nice and completely like anything else I've tasted. As for nic-kick, this is not particular strong and not particularly light, it's all Goldilocks, just right.

To be honest, this tobacco is unlike any other I've smoked. That transition from the sweet to the earthy is strange and bizarre as that queer taste I keep picking up, and just as nice too. It reminds me of one of those films, Inception spring to mind, where you're thinking twenty minutes in "What the hell's going on here?" and you come close to turning the darned thing off, yet when you get to the end you sit in your chair giving the TV screen a wide-eyed "Wow!" It's definitely the queerest tobacco I've had and definitely amongst the best. Actually, while writing that last line, it strikes me that it is a little reminiscent of the most bodacious Strang, and considering this lacks the burley and perique that the most excellent latter holds, that's no mean feat. Thumbs up to the Kendal Massive!!!!

This is

Beautiful disc cut Virginia that has one of the mellowest and smooth flavors of any strong Virginia that I have tasted. The "Lakeland taste" does come through quite heavily with this one and I liked it! I think this is how the old Murray's version of Dunhill Elizabethan would taste without the Perique.

I believe CCD is either all VAs or VAs with some Burley in there. It's a combination of leaves, some of which are dark fired, and processes. Imagine a rich VA steamed, pressed, twisted, and sliced. Nice!

The dark-fired leaf is similar to what you'd find in traditional ropes. Its flavor reminds me of baking cinnamon bread in a walk-in humidor lined with Spanish cedar. The dark portions taste a bit like Brown Rope #4 but are slighter darker than that ? but not nearly as dark as Black XX. Also, the nicotine is easy, unlike the ropes. I feel the nicotine overwhelms the flavor potential in the ropes.

I also taste some of the earthy, grassy notes from brighter VAs, the richness of slightly darker VAs -- sort of like what you'd find in Full VA Flake -- plus a little nutty flavor here and there, which may be Malawi Burley or other wacky Burley the Lakeland houses tend to use. I love the Curly Cut tobaccos because, to me, they combine the best parts of Full VA Flake, Brown Flake Unscented, and a hint of the flavor in the unscented ropes but without the huge nictotine hit associated with those foul beasts.

My bulk bag arrived full of large, moist, almost sticky, wheels of brown tobacco. I let mine dry out for a day and it seemes about perfect now. The bag aroma is somewhat like raisins and freshly mown grass. It is fairly easy to rub this out into whatever consistency that you prefer. Overall, it looks like very high quality tobacco.

A charring light, tamp, and a couple relights is usually sufficient to get this going. Patience is rewarded as attempting to get it going by incinerating it with a torch ligher is a sure path to a scorched tongue.

This blend has to be smoked slowly with good Virginia smoking technique. It is quite bitey and vigorous puffing will leave your mouth positively sizzling. It burns somewhat hot so I would recommend using a tall narrow bowl with a good cake already in place, and smoke as slowly as possible.

Taste is exceptional. It is sweet and tangy, reminiscent of citrus, and leaves a wonderfull taste in your mouth. Mostly high and middle notes from the Virginias. I think this is a classic pure Virginia with all its associated nuances. A great example what a Virginia should taste like. If you haven't noticed from above, WARNING EXTREME TONGUE BITE HAZARD!! Even still this stuff has such an intensely good flavor that it its just wonderfull. Your mouth will probably be sizzling with super virginia zest the whole time you smoke this, but its all part of the fun. This is like flirting with disaster, yet somehow it is irresistable. The fantastically awesome flavors will make you brave this stuff again and again. I've never smoked a straight virginia with this much punch, and I've tried a dozen since getting this weed. I'm down to about a gram or two but I haven't found any straight virginia that comes close to the intensity of flavor provided by these wheels of danger.

My wife says it smells like burned marshmallows from a camp cookout. This isn't one of her favorites but she doesn't mind it. Personally I think it has the "classic old world tobacco smell" and I love the room note.

I have upgraded this to four stars after trying several other straight virginias. This stuff is simply top notch. Dangerous but awesome.

A high quality tobacco and wonderful smoke. Starts out tangy-sweet and smooths out towards the end--to me, this is what a VA should do: grab your attention, stay sweet, but not be cloying throughout. Good fresh but also ages well. Looking over the other reviews shows me how much taste differs. I truly don't understand why this doesn't have a higher overall rating.

I got this on a whim, saw "Escudo" and supposed it is a VaPer - it is not, but it somewhat tastes like one.

Visually, it is made up of coins at various stages of disintegration, but the intact coins do hold up in time and have been sauced with something which at least keeps them together. The coins are mostly brown to dark brown, with a few very dark strands that look like Gawith's dark fired Virginia used in the brown ropes, but I don't get much of that resinous/oily flavour at all from this blend. There are some bright yellow strands here and there, but not in all coins, and likely had some age on it as the coins were pretty crusted.

The smell, which very consistently translates to taste, is sour/fermented, not very sweet or grassy, some spice.

Part of the reason it took me smoking through 50g to write a review is that its taste does not remind me of other straight Virginias. It has a sourness that makes me think of Perique, and it is a bit tangy, maybe it has a bit of red Va in it. There's some bread, very little grass, little sweetness, some nuttyness, pepper and spice, and the underlying fermented sourness which is always there. There may be a hint of Lakeland, but it is very very minor. The taste is rich, full and harmonious, the sweetness is just right for this blend in my opinion, more it would mask the rest of the nice flavours going on, less would make it harsh.

I note a few of the reviewers mention tongue bite, I got none from this blend.

Smoked through 50g fairly fast, and each bowl was very consistent and pleasant, making me think this is a good candidate for cellaring.

Needs some drying, incidentally, the best bowl I had was once where I was in a hurry and put a few coins on a plate and stuck it in the still hot oven right after cooking for 5 minutes.

As with many tobaccos reviewed on this site there have been a lot of really good descriptions of this blend. I will, therefore, just add a few of my own subjective notes.

I love straight Virginias, and this is a good quality blend that offers a mild flavor profile with only a little heat. I have been smoking this blend in 8 Peterson System pipes. My mouth is already accustomed to Virginias, and in the Petersons there isn't any bite at all. This is another blend that I love to smoke while I work. It isn't sweet or cloying on the palate, and it doesn't have a sticky aftertaste. I tend to puff too fast while I am concentrating on work, and this stuff doesn't have so much nicotine that I get nauseous. Sometimes there is a little tinge of flavor at the bottom of the bowl, from the dark leaf. I don't get that from every bowl, but it is pleasant when I do. As I have read in other reviews of 'unscented' Lakeland tobaccos I do notice a hint of Lakeland essence. It is mild (and often unnoticeable ) but it is present. Overall it adds a wonderful dimension to the flavor.

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

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.