Oh man. Glad I had a steak dinner before this one. Really good but it’s strength really surprised me. I was lucky enough to find 2oz of this. Will definitely smoke more. The first retrohale caught me by surprise. Hahaha!!
Gawith Hoggarth Dark Birds Eye
- Thread starter eljimmy
- Start date
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It's been on my radar for ages, I know @cosmicfolklore rates it, so more info of what it tastes like would be very welcome!
Honestly, I wish I could describe more but my palette is still very young. After dinner smoke for me for sure. Probably the strongest tobacco I've had so far.
Stewed fruits, nuts, and earthy and only slightly floral. Its a good one, an all day smoke when I'm in the mood for it.
One i enjoy quite often. Kendal Kentucky is a good one too.
I smoke this often as a last pipe before bed in a Very small pipe.Its made from what was called Empire tobaccos from Malawi (dark fired) and India (air- cured) this is an old blend with enough nic to keep you going on a 12hr night shift, when ships were made of wood and men of steel. Its strong cool smoking doesn't bite and does not taste like any other blend I have tried.
It is rich and strong and prefer it cut 50-50 with Virginia.
If I only have a few minutes to get in a couple puffs, this is the choice. Burns quick, delivers a full taste and full nic- quick, but a deep bowl of it will get weird about halfway down. So a shallow Prince or small cob are the go-to shapes for me. I've found I like it best for mixing with aromatics like Kendal Gold Blueberry or Kendal Black Cherry.
DBE also goes really well with coffee, but ya might want to eat a bite or three of something with it?
DBE also goes really well with coffee, but ya might want to eat a bite or three of something with it?
+1 on it getting weird in a deep bowl. I usually just take a clump of it and work it into the top half of my pipe. Haven't tried it in a shallow bowl, but i have been thinking of dedicating a cob to it.
Love this blend. Use a group 1 or 2 for best results
I don’t have any issue smoking it in a large (GG Castello size, for example) bowl pipe. Just don’t pack it too tight.
Same, good flavor with little nic hit. I smoke it in a big Ben Wade.
Is that your new signature line?
edited to add to @oldgeezersmoker :
Once in a while I’ll have a bowl. Loading a bowl always snags me, as it’s the opposite of cramming Dark Plug.
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I like it. I actually prefer the flavor Kendal Dark/Dark Flake/Dark Plug (maybe because they are slightly more floral than DBE?), but the Dark Birds Eye and Kendal Kentucky are real good as well. I should get a couple ounces of one of the above ribbon cuts just to have around for a shorter smoke. One of the best things about Dark Flake and Dark Plug is just how slowly they burn. It's not uncommon for me to get 90-120 minutes out of a medium sized bowl with those two. Wonderful, but not always practical.
I found it to have some similarities to Brown #4, not the same of course, but this might put you in the ball park on what to expect.
Exactly. I haven’t done any scientific comparisons, but my guess is if you weighed how I pack it it wouldn’t be more than about 2/3 of how tight I would pack most everything else. Once you get those long thin strands burning, and tamp lightly, you can easily keep it lit with a VERY slow cadence. I think most people who have trouble with it pack too tight and puff too hard.
DBE was the very first GH blend I smoked, a sample given to me by the late Tom Coldwell at a pipe show circa 1985. Once the room stopped spinning......
From @pipestud review of Dark Birds Eye on TR:
“If I had smoked this at home, I would have given the leaf a whirl in my blender because the shaggy strands were too long for an easy pack job.”
This is exactly what not to do.
“If I had smoked this at home, I would have given the leaf a whirl in my blender because the shaggy strands were too long for an easy pack job.”
This is exactly what not to do.
It's very nice Burley based blend that has a kick and not too much Virginia. There is DFK in this blend so if that's not your cup of tea, you've been warned.
As a Burley lover, I have this one cellared deep.
As a Burley lover, I have this one cellared deep.
