Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Black Pigtail

(3.13)
Produced by hand spinning Virginia leaves into a rope. The rope is pressed and stoved until pure black. The resulting tobacco is very smooth and cool to smoke with a leathery and almost unsweetened cavendish undertone. A strong tobacco many novice smokers won't get along with.

Details

Brand Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.
Blended By Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.
Manufactured By Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.
Blend Type Straight Virginia
Contents Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Rope
Packaging Bulk
Country United Kingdom
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Very Strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.13 / 4
4

1

3

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 23, 2015 Very Strong None Detected Very Full Tolerable
This one was a fun one to watch "others" prepare. A pipe club member who loves G&H blends and somehow manages to obtain their most off-beat stuff, showed up with a piece of pig tail a few years ago and that's exactly what it looked like. My notes indicate that it took forever for shards to be presented to members to load and light up. I did not need my notes to recall the impact of the tobacco. My palate was hit by a sledgehammer bowl with every puff. I never cried uncle and smoked this one to the bottom. It did take awhile for me to get my bearings once I got up to leave (hope I was legal to drive). Strong and powerful, almost campfire taste of Virginia leaf. You've got to try this once in your lifetime... of course, once may be just enough to topple you for good.

Pipestud
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 20, 2014 Very Strong Extremely Mild Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Gawith Hoggarth - Black Pigtail.

Firstly, if you buy this be prepared to give it a while to abate the water content a touch! The Pigtail itself is a thin twist in build, and when I take a sniff at the beginning I can tell straight away that this will be a hearty smoke; it seems to exude total strength! Because this is quite delicate in thickness it is fairly easy to prepare, I use a pair of scissors to divide it into small slices which can then be rubbed simply into a great consistency to smoke.

Lighting this up is surprisingly straight forward, surprising because mine was still a little moist, I hadn't let it air long enough! The first puff attests what I suspected about the strength, oh my goodness this is a bad boy! That said, it can be enjoyed without rancour by not inhaling deep puffs! The flavour is actually a touch inimitable: there's a good and full Virginia taste but what is more unusual for a straight Virginia is that in the background there is an almost liquorice taste which is heightened if the smoke is retro-haled, but if sucked too hard it can become a little acrid. The smoke from Black Pigtail is one of the cooler in temp' that I have had, and you don't have to suck that hard to get a good mouth full of smoke. It stays lit well, but I guess that depends upon the preparation quality and as it burns down this leaves behind a pure white ash.

I feel that the flavour from Black Pigtail is a good, but the reason this doesn't get 4 stars (for me) is the strength: you would have to have a stomach of iron to have this as your regular smoke!
Pipe Used: Peterson Dracula 03
PurchasedFrom: G.Q Tobaccos
Age When Smoked: New
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 30, 2014 Strong Very Mild Medium to Full Pleasant
This is a badass tobacco from Gawith & Hoggarth, so don't smoke it on an empty stomach: its nicotine content will knock you off your tail. The added flavouring is rather mild as opposed to GH's brown pig tail, which is quite apparent from the very beginning. GH is selling it as chewing tobacco, so it is quite moist and needs drying before being able to smoke it. The best way I found to achieve this is by slicing in it up with a sharp knife and let it dry after you give it a good rub. Something you will notice is that this blend will stain your knife, so don't use a kitchen one. For this task you can pretty much use the one that comes with your tamper or pipe tool.

I am finding many similarities with GH's brown pig tail. For one thing, it reminds me of some cigars and the Virginia in it tastes more or less the same. Also, it burns quite fast in your bowl but, surprisingly enough, the smoke is quite cool. I know this tobacco has a topping of rum and maple syrup, but I cannot detect any other flavourings apart from the Virginia. GH does not recommend this tobacco to beginners, but I think it would be quite suitable as it won't bite the tongue. The tin note, which is quite fragrant and flavoursome, sort of foretells what it is going to taste like in your bowl. Because of its nicotine content levels, I think this tobacco would be more suitable for small bowls as it tends to fill you up very soon. Less than an hour with this tobacco will probably leave you satisfied, so choose the size of your bowl wisely. I am thinking this tobacco would be more suitable to make small size cigars because of its intrinsic characteristics.
Pipe Used: Peterson Donegal
PurchasedFrom: John Howlingsworth
Age When Smoked: I'd say more than a year
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 12, 2016 Strong None Detected Very Full Very Pleasant
Pig tail for chewing but I smoke it..

Bought loose weighed in a Barnsley Yorkshire sandwich shop which sells carnival gear for Saturday night on one wall and mans tobacco on the other, with fresh made sandwiches and rolls at the end; a Northern England former mining town where no doubt this stuff was chewed plenty down the pit in the good old days.

Really easy to work with @3/8" / 8-10mm diameter skinny rope that I use a cigar cutter to produce mini coins 1mm thick with, and just chuck them in my little falcon pipe bantam stem with rustic bulldog bowl.

Being a small diameter rope I don't have to rub this out at all, the small coins produce the same effect as cube cutting a thick flake.

The taste in the pigtail compared to the twist might be spicier I recon; the outer leaf to core ratio might have something to do with this; it might be the same law as cigars, but might be other atmospherics .

Lights easy, stays lit, burns cool , burns long , bites not , tastes strong , big smoke , good kick , burns dry , leaves no dottle ..

Taste:- Undeniably one of the most meaty , and I mean MEATY as in meat , smokes I have experienced. There are only a few that imitate meat by accident of their design and this is one of them.

Burnt pork sausages on a carbonic BBQ grill with Burning caramelised fried onions and big load of ground black pepper and salt.. It is spicy in a kind of Worcester or houses of parliament 'HP' brown sauce way as well. Tastes like a hotdog from Heaven!

The room note is my pleasure not yours if you are in my house. This is like a motorway layby greasy fastfood caravan crossed with a paraffin Feuerhand Storm lantern with a wick that needs trimming.

The nicotine is undeniably strong but not as knockout as SG black twist. If SG was 9 on the nicter scale ,this GH pigtail is about 7-8 strength..

Solid dependable all weather conditions baccy ,indoors or out.

Be careful of fire alarms and caged birds.

Total 5 stars for this little number.
Pipe Used: Falcon pipe bantam..
PurchasedFrom: Watsons Barnsley
Age When Smoked: New,Months,Couple of years.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 26, 2016 Very Strong None Detected Full Tolerable
Rich, strong flavor, hints of roasted nuts, not much sweetness. This is the least harsh of any twist-style tobacco I've tried. Pretty strong nic hit. Makes very good chew as well.
Pipe Used: Meerschaum
PurchasedFrom: Segar and Snuff in London
Age When Smoked: Fresh
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 23, 2016 Strong None Detected Full Tolerable
Great stuff, I just cut some coins about 1 mm or less and rubbed them up stuffed a pipe and was instantly delighted. A proper pipe tobacco strong but smooth and cool. You do not need to constantly smoke this to feel like you have had a smoke but it tastes so good you probably will. Thick but not to pungent think Full vg Flake with big hairy balls. The taste is full vg and rich and creamy with the earth of full flavour and strong tobacco the effect is stimulating and awakens your senses. If you Err on the darkside like me then you will probably love this small twist.

I have to say the strength was not as full on as I expected. I have some dunhill royal yacht that I can hardly handle this however is not even close. The Brown twists are stronger.
Pipe Used: Any
PurchasedFrom: g q
Age When Smoked: new
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 02, 2020 Medium to Strong Very Mild Full Strong
This is in the same ballpark as GH's Black Bogie Unscented, so almost everything I wrote about that baccy applies to this one as well. With the following exceptions:

This twist has a smaller diameter than its Bogie cousin. Perhaps because of its greater surface area to volume it comes drier than the Bogie. Still, giving it a little air time won't do any harm and will deliver a less trouble free smoke if you do.

It is said to be unsweetened, but it does strike me as sweeter than most of the other GH ropes and twists I have tried. Not sweet in a citrus or fruit sort of way, but sugar. And not molasses or demerara sugar either but simple sweetness, like white sugar. This has some benefits for the flavour because it brightens the tarry, fire cured notes, and that strange coal-like smell these black ropes and twists have.

I'm not a fan, generally speaking, of these ancient style tobaccos. There's a reason their production is restricted to a handful of companies worldwide. It's a niche product, at least for pipe smoking. Might be different for the baccy chewing community.

The upside is that properly aired it's a well behaved tobacco. It does burn cool and it doesn't bite. But you'll probably be in a minority if you genuinely enjoy the coal tar aroma.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 23, 2021 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Strong
The tin note (bag note in my case) was very pleasant like all of the black twist tobaccos in this line. You get a fruity, smokey, earthy smell with a hint of spice I guess you would call it. The rope itself is very thin, I can see why it is called pigtail! It is very tightly woven and seems to be more sturdy than some of the larger diameter twist, they do unravel when cut and used a lot.

I found this easy to prep - I like twist tobaccos and they are my go to tobacco. I think that people see this as hard to prep due to its diameter, I think it doesn't really matter. Cut with a cigar cutter or a knife into 5p thick coins give or take. Put all of them into your palm and then rub them out. Once you have separated the little circles group the pile together and rip the strands until you get a length similar to a tin of rubbed tobacco. That is what I do and this has always worked. It is a about 5-10mins of prep but it is worth it. The moisture level is fine after about 20 mins. I believe people see these as moist when it is actually the natural oils. You need to preserve these a little bit so you get the flavour.

Once in the pipe you get a nice flavour from the off. You get smoky, earthy and fruity notes that come through. Generally in that order as well. On the retrohale you get that spice which you would expect and you get a similar floral and earthy note that you would expect from a brown twist. I have smoked this under nice conditions, in my car and outside in high winds. It performs the same regardless of there you are and it does not bite. I was out in gale of about 35-45 knots and the last third of the blow was ruined because the heat got to it BUT I did not get tongue bite. Just that disappointing burnt flavour you get with any tobacco.

I would say this is probably a good twist for a starter. If you get used to prepping at the stage of your pipe smoking then you won't know any different. The flavour is good and pleasant. It does not bite and it is consistent. The nicotine level is medium I did not feel it was anything powerful like what you would get with a brown.

I will be trying the sweet brown tomorrow - weather depending.
Pipe Used: Rattrays Bog oak
PurchasedFrom: My Smoking Shop
Age When Smoked: New
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