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Gawith Brown #4

G

Well - I broke a long and very irritating snuff drought - or famine, if you will - in grand style. I have about a pound of Gawith Brown #4 - gotten in payment (trade) for some arrangements I helped a colleague in the 'baccy business to get settled. A long and boring tale, but with a nice pay-off. I took my trusty pocket knife and, compressing the end of the twist into a sort of squished flat oval, pared off about a half inch in total. Without drying it, I began using a shot glass and scissors - the old hippies will know what I’m talking about here - to cut the still-moist stuff into itty bitty shreds. These I tossed into my mortar and pestle, and gave a good brisk grinding to at intervals determined largely by how sort my wrists were from mashing and smashing the still-damp tobacco. I ended up with a soft, medium-coarse, slightly damp snuff - the consistency is a bit like what would be expected from a particularly dry but not dessicated NTSU, but still very soft. No fermentation or alkalinization - just as-is. The stuff is heavenly - rich, smokey - but not like an American scotch snuff, almost like the base in the De Kralingese, but not quite so “piney” - more of an oak scent to the Kentucky tobacco used in the twist. I really can’t recommend this stuff highly enough - Brown #4 can be chewed (which I haven’t tried); smoked in a pipe (which I have tried - set aside about an hour for a bowl, go slowly, and make sure you’ve got your affairs in order, as it’s a powerful nick-kick to the face); or snuffed (which I have tried, to ear-popping, nostril opening effect). To quote the old tobacconist’s sign: “We three serve all one cause: I smokes, I snuffs, and I chaws.” As cheap as the Brown #4 is, I think any regular tobacco user (be he snuffer, chewer, or smoker) ought to lay in supplies of the stuff NOW, as the price can only go up from here.

A

Twists really are the most multi-usable form of tobacco there is. Bying in bulk makes sense.

S

In our country you can’t even get twists, if you ask for them in a tobacco shop they don’t know what you’re talking about. Until recently I smoked a lot of pipes and got into twists after getting some from a gentlemen in the UK after discussing it on smokersforums.uk, loved them and got a bunch of them after that. I don’t smoke any longer and sold my whole tobacco cellar, maybe I should have kept some to try and make snuff out of it. I never tried that, maybe because there are so many snuffs out there you can buy. A missed opportunity I guess.

S

I have about a pound of this twist as well. It does indeed make a good smoke, a good chew and a good snuff.

A

Do you gentlemen have storage advice for a large amount of twist? This far I’ve only purchased small pieces, so long-term storage hasn’t been an issue.

E

Well, I ground up a small amount of No. 4 this evening and I am happy to confirm that it makes an excellent snuff.