Per a review I did for tobaccoreviews.com back in 2005 after smoking Gawith XX Rope - "I opened my tin and thought a dog had pooped in it. That's about the best way I can describe the visual presentation of the black twisted rope tobacco inside. I used a small knife to slice off a swack and then it took a while to whittle it down to shavings small enough to fit into my pipe. Once I got a decent burn going and actually began smoking Black XX, I realized that preparing the leaf for smoking was the easy part. The first time I blew smoke from my nose, I singed every hair in my nostrils - this stuff is spicy! I am all for nicotine and thought I could handle that drug in any measure. Boy, was I wrong. I started to hiccupp after about the 10th puff. I was swoonin' and droolin' by the 20th puff. Don't ask me what happened after that because I I fell off my horse and knocked myself cold."