Gawith & Hoggarth Sweet Rum Twist

[Mad Hatter]

This is a rope spun from air cured VA with just a touch of rum added for flavor. I read the reviews on this and wanting to try a "knock your socks off" tobacco decided on this over Brown Irish twist due to the addition of the rum because I'm pretty partial to rum flavored tabacs. From the various reviews I see that moisture content is highly variable in this weed whereas some say theirs was very moist on arrival and others very dry. Mine was very dry and so I hydrated it overnite and gave it a try first thing in the morning, even though it was still just a bit on the dry side. First I rubbed it out, which was a bit difficult, while untwisting it and then I cut it into small pieces with a pair of scissors before loading it into my bowl.
Once in the bowl I put the fire to it and with little difficulty, had it smoking right along. It has a nice medium mouth filling smoke and the taste is rich and plain, very tobaccoish. It burns a little hot so I took care not to puff it up too much, taking slow and steady pulls on the pipe. From about the second minute or so I began to feel the nicotene in my stomach like I had swallowed a small mouthful of spit off a chaw of Redman and that feeling stayed but didn't intensify as I smoked on. The flavor remained much the same into the bottom half of the bowl. Toward the bottom I began to catch hints of rum sweetness, and on a tip from another reviewer decided to step outside in the morning air to see if there was any notable difference. Its a cool autumn morning and the minute I stepped out the door the flavor of the rum began to come alive, from a very subtle underlying sweetness to something that, while not strong, was certainly present to compliment the VAs. It burned steadily throughout the entire bowl with only occasional warm-ups into a fine white ash and it was only after the bowl was nearly finished that I began to feel a slight buzz from the nic, about the same as if I had smoked two or three bowls of MacB Plumcake or Scottish Mix. I left the house for a bit to run some errands and upon returning and entering the house I was greeted with a wonderfully thick and pure tobacco aroma. The buzz did intensify a little, but was never dizzying nor overpowering, just mellow and relaxing. I give this one a decent thumbs up. Might try adding a touch of cavendish in the future just to add a bit of spice. Definitely plan to buy more in the future.

[Big T]

Nice review MH. I've been interested in trying out G&H for awhile, but not a lot seems to get written about their blends. I may have to give this one a shot. I too enjoy the occasional rum-topped blend...

[Big T]

Finally got to a bowl of this stuff earlier this morning thanks to Mad Hatter. I took Joe's advise and smoked this outside. The prelight aroma was on the musty side but the flavor was nothing of the sort. Quality sweet VAs with a definite rum flavor, but not over the top. Strong tobacco flavors towards the last 1/4 of the bowl. Of course I smoked it before breakfast, so I'm feeling the effects. Good stuff, thanks Joe!

[Quick_nick]

I also acquired SRT from Joe in a trade. I was so looking forward to trying this blend and praying it wouldn't let me down, after one bowl I'm ready to smoke another. As sson as i started smoking this stuff I was in heaven great tobacco flavor with slight sweetness added. I also got a bit of a peppery situation in my nose which I was enjoying. My first experience with a rope is a success and there will definitely be more in the future.

[Mad Hatter]

Glad you liked it Nick. Its also a great condiment tobacco like G&H Black Cherry Twist. I like to mix it about 50/50 with my more bland MacBaren cavendishes and the mix really brings out the flavors of both tobaccos. Might give it a try if you have some ho-hum cavs gathering dust. THE BCT is a great one too. You should try it.

[Ultravox]

This is rapidly becoming a favourite of mine too. It has sweetness, a natural tobacco taste and the nic kick that I sometimes need.

I like mixing it 50/50 with McClelland's Navy Cavendish for an extra rum-soaked smoke.