Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Brown Twist Sliced

I'd read about the strength of this tobacco and decided to try it. I enjoy full tobacco flavors, though have grown to prefer elegant and complex blends rather than simple "cowboy" tobacco. Upon receiving the 4 ozs I ordered, I smelled the pouch and sampled a bowl. Sure enough, it smelled and tasted strongly of pure unadulterated natural tobacco. No elegance here. The first puffs rang my head, raced my heart, and constricted my pupils, but tasted of first rate tobacco and made for rich satisfying smoke. I decided to age it. My experience with similarly strong new cigars has been that the stronger blends tend to age and mellow nicely over a year or 3. The same should be true with pipe tobacco. The ammonia and nicotine withdraw and the flavors emerge, marrying with each other. This is especially true when the tobaccos are top shelf, as they seem to be in the Brown Twist Sliced.
Patience is a virtue, well practiced here if not seeking to court respiratory or cardiac arrest. After a year or two in the jar, I may add a little rum for an additional dimension. We'll see.

I have smoked this tobacco in several pipes, and from the first bowl of it it was a love affair.

strong? Yes. Overwhelming? No.

A dark sweetness is found here, more bass notes than in a mild VA, I would not call it cigarr taste though, Nothing like the sour notes of some milder lighter VA's, and nothing like the zestiness of dark star.

Smoking it slow and steady, gently tamping down the ashes as the bowl progresses is the best way. I would NOT recommend smoking this in a pipe with a small bowl diameter, an ordinary pipe with a bowl diameter of at least 20 mm and a depth of approx 40 mm is probably the best.

The smoke gets sweeter and stouter in the last 1/3 of the bowl, this is also where it is the most rewarding.

Due to the strength, a glass of water or a cup of tea at hand is recommended.

I came upon this tobacco in a rather unusual way. An on-line retailer mistakenly put it in a bag marked as (believe it or not)Best Brown Flake, which I had never before tried. Upon looking at it I was taken aback as it did not seem to resemble the appearance or characteristics of Best Brown according to pictures on the retailers site. It arrived quite dry and so burned rapidly. I had to just sort of sip at it to avoid bite. Needless to say I was quickly aware of the overall strength of this, especially never before having tried any other ropes, twists, etc. Going back to the retailers website I looked at pictures until I figured out what they had actually sent to me. I was a little bit annoyed but by that time also intrigued with the stuff. When smoked slowly it has a slight sweetness with some cigar-like characteristics. It's actually quite good. It doesn't make me ill or cause untoward nicotine overdose affects, but it certainly makes just about anything else seem rather meek by comparison. I use a cob or other pipe with similar small capacity and smoke slowly. All-in-all a serendipitous discovery!

This is one of my staples. Few tobaccos give me as much pleasure as Sliced Brown. You can see the bits of rope left over from the slicing process. The smoke is very full and creamy. This is not as dry as the Gawith ropes, but a filling. My favorite pipe for this is a Peterson XL02 which really seems to allow the wonderful, full tobacco-flavored smoke to dance around my face. Lots and lots of nicotine which gives a nice spicy tone when blown through the nose; not for newcomers.

Brown Twist Sliced has a jar note that is earthy, smokey, and sweet. The smoke is full and there is lots of it. It is very earthy and woodsy, almost a campfire-like smokiness but different from lat for sure. Despite being a big full smoke, there is some sweetness to it as well. I get dark fruit notes, and some roasted grains, but not citrus or any grass or hay. There are some cigarish notes and in places a little spice as well. The nic is strong in this one and the smoke is dense almost chewy for lack of a better way to describe it. The sliced coin is cut fine almost a proper shag and rubs out easily. It is a little moist but no need to dry it it smokes fine as it is. The room note will not win friends. This is a 3.5 out of 4 rounded up as I will likely reorder.

The Brown and Black ropes by GH are so closely related to its mirror counterparts made by SG, I couldn't build my impressions on them in other way but comparing them.

Black or Brown, ropes by Gawith Hoggarth look like a nobler, more refined versions of similar products by Samuel Gawith. The Sam's versions are definitely richer and bolder, each of them putting forward a distinctive leading flavour note which manifests sustainably throughout the full length of the smoke: the famous "grilled oil" note in Black and "autumn leaves bonfire" note in Brown.

Ropes by Gawith Hoggarth are more complex flavourwise and give more nuanced aromas which subtly change as the smoking progresses. While Black rope from GH is noticeably sweeter than that from SG, the Brown rope is definitely drier, less pungent and more fragrant than its SG doppelganger. "Autumn leaves" are surely present, but also are cedar wood, dark chocolate, coffee and earthy notes. In regard of strength, there's a tie between GH and SG, brown ropes being slightly stronger than black in both cases.

If I had to make a choise between GH and SG versions under condition that whichever I choose the other one won't be accessible to me anymore, I would have a hard time to make my decision. I like both, though for different reasons. Still, most probably, I would finally have chosen SG Brown Nr4 for its boldness. And I would sorely miss GH Brown Twist as I value it highly for its refinedness. As much similar they are, they aren't directly substitutable to each other.

Thankfully I can't imagine a scenario in which I might happen to be forced to make such a hard choise so I enjoy them both.

BOOM! Straight in you face Virginia. Both Virginia and Dark Fired Virginia twisted aged and then slice. It is a powerhouse blend. Small bowl And take your time and enjoy. Easy to pack. Easy to light.

Awesome stuff. The cut is fine and tangled together, making it easy to pack in big clumps. Plenty of earthy cigar tones, and I don't think it is ridiculous in strength. Burns cool and steady and is incredibly satisfying.

Probably my favorite non-aromatic to date. I love the flavor and power that this tobacco delivers. It is a little harder to light than some but, once lit, it burns amazingly well and cool. Just make sure you eat a good meal before lighting up because this one packs quite a punch!