Bulk Tobacco / Gawith Hoggarth & Co. / Black Irish X

Black Irish X Pipe Tobacco

Product Number: 005-001-0005

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Details

Strength:
5/5
Room Note:
5/5
Taste:
5/5
  • Components: Virginia
  • Family: Virginia
  • Cut: Rope

About This Pipe Tobacco

All Gawith & Hoggarth twist tobacco varieties are manufactured by the same spinning process using dark fired wrapper leaves. The filler for Black Irish X is predominantly dark fired leaf with the addition of a small percentage of dark air cured Indian leaf. They are therefore strong tobaccos. Black Twist, because the cooking process removes some of the stronger tar and nicotine elements, provides a mellower smoke than the brown twist.

Customer Reviews

Overall Rating:
4.5
56 reviews
Some prep required
June 13, 2026
Product: Gawith Hoggarth & Co. Black Irish X Bulk
Early attempts to smoke this left me unsatisfied: Tastes of tar, tough to keep lit, and kinda' goopy. After leaving it to "mellow" for six months, I cut and rough-cubed a half-inch and let it dry for 15 hours before rubbing it out. Sipping it in a Meerschaum, I was rewarded with lovely roasted tobacco, chocolate nuttiness, and an unexpected sweetness. Low nicotine, no hint of toppings, and overall an excellent, strong smoke albeit with lots of relights. Can't wait to see what more aging will do - reserving half a point for then. Highly recommended!...Read More
Creosote Candy
May 26, 2026
Product: Gawith Hoggarth & Co. Black Irish X Bulk
If you are the kind of man who enjoys the smell of freshly treated rail-road crossties, then this is a great tobacco for you. The flavor was somewhere between wood tar and licorice.
I didn't let it age any.
The N was stout, but not extreme (and I am not a nic-beast either). Still, I would pr
obably recommend caution if you are a somewhat sensitive smoker.
I would give it 5 stars but for one thing: it doesn't want to stay lit. If you try smoking this on your morning commute you will either be pulling over every 3 minutes or a certified road hazard. This issue makes it hard to do any real work while smoking. Pity, as I would have made this into a regular daily tobacco otherwise.
...Read More
All in the prep
February 04, 2026
Product: Gawith Hoggarth & Co. Black Irish X Bulk
Good solid strong smoke. All of these ropes are quality tobaccos, but max enjoyment is in the prep/pipe imo. If ropes are strange to you/taste bad: Yes, they are strong—this ain’t Captain Jack’s Maple Crème Cruise. But if you are seasoned in the N department, it shouldn’t hit you too bad. Sip slow and then slower than that. You freight train it—yeah, good luck. To me it seems to enjoy a larger/wide bowl such as an apple or pot. I wouldn’t stuff this in a narrow bowl, but ymmv-seems to do best with more room. It’s fresh/moist. Drying this (sometimes for hours) is imperative. Otherwise, assuming you can light it—moist its going to taste a lot like it looks in the bag—wet cat sh*t. There are a number of ways to prep: sharp knife and cutting board needed. Slice into thin coins. I let these dry a bit. Then rub them out at let dry some more. Springy—not moist, not crumbly works for me best. When adequately dried, pack light, slight tamp/maybe light thumb. Light as normal. This is hard to keep lit—expect relights—its part of it. At some point 1/3 to mid bowl it usually takes off and stays lit better. Oily, leathery, tarry—but in a good way. Not going to win a lot of “best room note” awards here. I’ve not folded the coins or cube cut, but those are options too. A grinder (yeah, that kind) can sometimes help here. But the key is slow draws and dry time for me. The folks that smoke this regularly probably write with fountain pens and hunt with flintlock rifles, make their own booze, etc…. It’s old-fashioned, can be temperamental, takes some prep time and some trial and error, but once you find the groove, there aren’t many better than these Gawith ropes for pure strong tobacco....Read More
Super smooth light sweet smoke.
March 02, 2026
Product: Gawith Hoggarth & Co. Black Irish X Bulk
I didn't find any of the bbq or meat tastes here but the umami was definitely present as is some kind of sugar topping, maybe a faint licorice (not anise).

I have been revisiting the ropes after not trying them for 20 years.

Black Irish X is definitely lighter on the nicotine than the
brown ropes and is just roasted. There is no olive oil as mentioned in reviews online either.

This is soaked in water and some sugar and/or licorice topping. It's very smooth and thick smoke but all I get is roasted tobacco and sweet. It actually reminds me of those swisher sweet cigars a lot.

It does have a fairly strong room note but it isn't bad.

If dried out too much it is becomes sharper and very light on nicotine so keep it a little damp before lighting up.

It is not as complex as the brown but is not flat either and I really like this one.

Nicotine is only a medium, and the roasting definitely lowered the punch compared to the brown irish x.

Next to the brown twist aromatic this is the second smoothest of the ropes so far.

I cut this one a little differently in almost 1/2" slices then cut it lengthwise several times for reasonably large wide ribbons which helps keep the flavor coming.

It does not change much as it burns down the bowl and did not leave any dottle or unburned bits.

The aftertaste is mild and this is much closer to cavendish than to latakia by a large margin.

I can definitely see why this is a favorite.

Nicotine is a bit milder than I like but is present.

This a 5 star, very pleasant smoke.

The sweetness was quite shocking as I was not expecting that, and it has a very rich tobacco taste. This tastes like pipe tobacco and has only an ephemeral cigar note in the background weaving in and out.

This one is quite safe in a big bowl and won't floor you with a subtle nicotine blast like the cherry twist (cherry twist is easily the strongest of the ropes I have tried) which is another 5 star smoke.

Dark flake is by far the strongest tobacco from Gawith & Hoggarth, and was my daily smoke for years, but is bitter, while the ropes are not even remotely bitter.

It really reminds me of a cavendish with a solid medium nicotine content. The room note even smells like an unflavored toasted cavendish.

This is a very interesting tobacco with lots of nuances. If the ropes intimidate you try this one first. It is much less intense in all areas than the brown ropes.
...Read More
Smoke, sweetness and strength.
January 25, 2026
Product: Gawith Hoggarth & Co. Black Irish X Bulk
Another excellent rope from GH&C! The title says it. Simple, but incredibly delicious. Smoked in the form of cut coins, then chopped into a shag cut, without drying. Lights, burns and stays lit easily. Sweet smoke by the tons. Still strong, and not for new smokers, but the harsh edges of the brown ropes are nowhere to be found. Incredibly smooth. Consistent throughout, with no unpleasant changes throughout the bowl. Only potential knock would be if you only enjoy incredibly complex mixtures, this isn’t it, with only dark fired and regular Virginias here....Read More

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