Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Curly Cut De Luxe Sliced

Was conned into buying this by a very persuasive tobacconist in Stratford-Upon-Avon. I'd spent a fortune on cigars in there and wanted to buy some pipe tobacco to round off my order. And pipe tobacco was my excuse for going into this shop in the first place, which somewhat appeased Mrs RH while she had her hair done. I quickly realised that the pipe tobacco offerings in this shop were not that more uncommon than a visit to Morrison's tobacco kiosk. There were only about 9 jars of loose tobacco - mainly Lakeland blends, which I abhor - and precious little in the tins and pouches that I hadn't already tried.

So buying 25g of this actually seemed like a good idea at the time , as I am always getting stuck with 50g quantities of tobacco blends I don't care for, with no-one to inflict them on.

This one seemed the best of a bad bunch (which even the shop assistant admitted) and, after prising my way out of the smallest humidor I've ever seen this was thrust under my hooter for inspection.

I liked the look of it, with the little 'wheels' as I call them and the aroma was classic virginia sweetness. High score on the nosegay then.

It was a bit wet so I decanted it into a small jar and let it dry out a bit. It's a very coarse cut, and in retrospect I should have ground it out fully, but I didn't, I did a light load with minimal rubbing out.

It was an absolute swine to keep alight. I must have used half a lighter on it before I finally got it going. Still too wet I thought, so I persisted. And persisted and persisted.

Taste was zero, aroma, zero. Different pipes were tried, including, my super-smoke-anything-in-it olive wood pipe and still zilch on both counts.

I'll batter my way through this blend, happy in the knowledge that I didn't buy 50g of this stuff. The opening aroma just barely stops this one from getting a worse rating.

Oh yes, and to that excellent salesman in Straford who cleaned out my wallet - your camacho cigars were appaulingly awful.