Gawith, Hoggarth, & Co suggestions

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

analogmoz

Lurker
Apr 29, 2009
32
0
I've never had Gawith, Hoggarth, & Co.'s tobaccos. I think they're exactly what I've been looking for all of my smoking life. I've narrowed my choices down to three and would like to ask the Pipes Magazine community to comment on these choices.

Note: I am a huge fan of Gawith's Bracken Flake and Peterson's Irish Flake, which is why I have selected these "finalists". I'm scared of tobacco bans and further difficulties obtaining quality tobaccos in the future, so I'm thinking of buying two pounds of one of the following:
Dark Birdseye
Dark Flake Scented
Dark Plug
Does anyone have experience with these blends, and if so, would you suggest them to a fan of Bracken and Irish Flake?
Thank you!

 

python

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 8, 2009
3,756
7,251
Maryland
pipesmagazine.com
I have smoked many G&H tobaccos, but I have not smoked those 3 yet. I have heard that all 3 of those blends are very good.
I love all of the G&H blends that I have smoked. They are very similar to SG in quality. One of the Gawith brothers left SG and began G&H. If you like SG you'll like G&H.
But be warned, G&H tobaccos have a lot more of the Lakeland taste than SG does. I happen to love the Lakeland taste, so I love G&H.

 

analogmoz

Lurker
Apr 29, 2009
32
0
Python,
I too like the Lakeland essence, that's what I identify Peterson Irish Flake and Gawith's Bracken Flake as having as their top note. Or, at least I think so.
Man, I sound like a broken record, Bracken and Irish Flake. That's all I seem to post these days. I used to buy a new tin of a different tobacco every week all year round. I wonder if I've lost my curiosity or just finally found what I have been looking for for 13 years!
I'll post what I buy when I finally decide. Oooh, hoarding. I'd not be shocked if this whole potential ban is cleverly being orchestrated by the tobacco people to up sales. It's sure working! I'm afraid a blend will disappear so I stock up. I fear the FDA fouling up everything so I stock up.
Pretty sneaky, Gawith!

 

admin

Smoking a Pipe Right Now
Staff member
Nov 16, 2008
8,764
4,932
St. Petersburg, FL
pipesmagazine.com
analogmoz said: Oooh, hoarding. I'd not be shocked if this whole potential ban is cleverly being orchestrated by the tobacco people to up sales. It's sure working! I'm afraid a blend will disappear so I stock up. I fear the FDA fouling up everything so I stock up.
Pretty sneaky, Gawith!
LOL analogmoz!

 

analogmoz

Lurker
Apr 29, 2009
32
0
All right, I've taken the plunge and ordered 2 oz. of Coniston Cut Plug, 2 oz. of Sweet Rum Twist Unsliced, and 8 oz. of Dark Birdseye.
This should prove fricking fabulous. I'm actually excited.

 

analogmoz

Lurker
Apr 29, 2009
32
0
All right! My parcel arrived with fragrant, dark, and intimidating-looking British tobaccos. I rushed into the Dark Birdseye as I really wanted to try it and as such ordered a half pound of it without trying it before! I've never purchased eight ounces of a pipe tobacco before, usually four at most, so the amount alone excited me. I am a glutton.
I've only smoked the Dark Birdseye twice now, so I'm not even sure if I'm half qualified, but here's the initial impression:
Strong.
I mean it. It's got the desiccation factor of overproof rum in my mouth. Makes getting your daily water intake very easy as I put down two quarts of water during the initial smoke. This is not by any means due to tongue bite or burning too hot. This is, from my experience with very potent tobacco, a reaction to unusually stout blends on unready palates. I've had this with strong cigars as well.
I'd read that people mistook Dark Birdseye (hereafter referred to as DBE) for Drum cigarette rolling tobacco. I've certainly rolled a crate or eight of cigarettes, and this is much broader cut that Drum ever was. This to me would qualify as a medium shag or darn near a ribbon cut. I recall Drum being fine/silk cut. If given this tobacco and told it was for the pipe, I would not have commented on the cut. If told it was for cigarettes, I would have wondered at the coarseness of the shag.

The scent of the unburnt tobacco is pleasantly musty, much like an old house. Earthy. Not rank or dirty, mind you, just organic-smelling. My batch came quite moist and received 24 hours spread out over a table with a fan going!

DBE performs very well, lighting easily and burning well. I caught myself sometimes dodging the smoke as it was strong at first light.
I'm very much intrigued by this tobacco and want to do more "research" on it. I'm also excited by the Coniston Cut Plug, (which is much more perfumed than average Lakeland), as well as the Sweet Rum Twist, (which smells as good as any tobacco possibly can!) I'll post more about these three offerings on this thread as I discover more about these potent and intriguing tobaccos.

 

analogmoz

Lurker
Apr 29, 2009
32
0
Moving on to the GH Sweet Rum Twist:
Two ounces of this renders near 10 inches of this fine rope. It is brown and about a 44 ring gauge (pure guess) in diameter. The unburnt tobacco is neutral-sweet smelling.
I sliced the rope into discs using a cigar cutter (hence the ring guess) and rubbed out the discs. Rubs into a combination of shag and some cigar-leaf pieces that I fed into the cutter again. It's not hard to do, ropes shouldn't put you off.
After half an hour of drying time, I loaded it into my trusty Peterson and lit up with a match...and...
Well, it's not as strong/scary as tobaccoreviews.com told me. But a bit sweet and neutral. I had the idea to DGT this, and thirty minutes later re-lit the stuff...
Huh! It's good! Really good. Burns cool, some light cigar tones, mostly just straight forward tobacco taste. The potency is there but doesn't dry out the mouth or give one the spins like DBE or Irish Flake.
This tobacco is just really, really upfront and nice. Yeah, nice. Not frightening. It really is just honest tobacco with a light sweetness. Room note isn't great, but what you'd expect from honest tobacco. Sidestream is pleasant. I'm not dodging my head about like a boxer, as I have with Five Brothers and DBE.
But here is the real secret to this rope: it burns forever! As in forever, ever. A 2/3 bowl of this has burned over an hour and a half for me in a Peterson Aran 106, which had a bowl height of 2 inches. Although this costs in the upper end of GH products, I would guess these two ounces could burn for a month of moderate smoking (2-3 bowls daily) although my mental math is never legendary.
So, to sum up: the name kind of lies. It's not "sweet" as one thinks of in aromatics, it's not rummy to any significant respect, and, well, yes, it's a twist. That's one out of three. And unless I've gained hypermasculinity since yesterday it's not as strong as some have reported.
If I ever were to go hiking for 3 months, say the Appalachian Trail, I'd pack half a pound of this rope. It'd not go bad, being so compactly rolled, and the taste is so honest that it wouldn't annoy.
Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. have yet to disappoint and seem to have earned their reputation as super-premium tobacco.

 

jaxz

Lurker
Apr 23, 2009
40
3
I haven't tried any of these blends yet, still exploring myself, but I tell ya the Dark Birdseye just jumped to the top of my list. I'm a huge fan of SG so I can't imagine why I shouldn't enjoy it.

 

chuckw

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 7, 2009
679
12
I have been recently introduced to SG and G&H tobaccos and find I like them quite alot, the black ropes espacially. The Dark Birdseye sounds like one I should put on my must try list.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.