Gawith Hoggarth Shag Cuts & Mixtures  (Ribbon Tobacco)

Shag cut tobaccos were one of the first tobacco types made by Gawith Hoggarth & Co in the 1800’s along with twists. Kendal Dark is actually one the original pipe tobaccos made by the company.

During the 1900’s Gawith Hoggarth & Co was producing various light and dark shags as well as several mixtures such as Honey Dew. 

In the 1980’s a much lighter shag tobacco was launched; Kendal Light, now marketed as Kendal Gold and a medium strength shag, Kendal Mixed as well as various flavoured versions. 

Further ribbon cuts were also brought to the market in the 1980’s and 1990’s so that by the millennium the company was making over 30 different shag cuts and ribbon mixtures, some of which were available in over 20 flavours. The introduction of new health warnings in 2003 saw slower sellers delisted as it was no longer viable to produce so many with the new packaging requirements. 

The majority of leaf used in Gawith tobacco blends comes from India and Brazil. First the dried leaf is conditioned through a steaming process and then left to rest overnight. Different amounts of leaf varieties are blended together depending on the particular tobacco blend being produced. 

The next step is to cut the leaf using a traditional small scale tobacco cutting machine. The ribbon tobacco is then roasted in either a hot cylinder over gas burners or on a hot flat metal plate and then cooled. If the tobacco is to be flavoured, the scents are added in the cooling cylinder. The tobacco must then sit and rest of 24 hours, before being packed by hand. 

Gawith Hoggarth & Co remains well renowned for its large selection of loose shags and pipe tobacco mixtures.

The Gawith Hoggarth Kendal shag pipe tobacco range includes the best selling Gold and Mixed and Dark blends. These high quality Kendal tobaccos are renowned for only containing the finest clean cut Virginia tobacco leaves.  

A number of unique mixtures are offered as well as some of the most popular flake/plug blends done as a ready rubbed ribbon cut. 

Samuel Gawith Mixtures

For many years Samuel Gawith opted to concentrate on its snuff side of the business. By the mid to late 1900’s Gawith Hoggarth & Co had more or less cornered the home tobacco market in the UK, with Samuel Gawith needing to rely on its export market for pipe tobacco. 

But this was an area it built a niche following in and over the years Samuel Gawith pipe tobaccos became something of an enigma and highly sought after. The first pipe tobaccos to be exported were Grousemoor and Skiff mixture but others like Squadron Leader, Commonwealth and Perfection gained popularity. 

Just like the Samuel Gawith flakes and plugs, the mixtures use only 3 or 4 types of tobacco leaf varieties. 

There are now 10 popular mixtures in the Samuel Gawith range including the iconic blends of Squadron Leader, Grousemoor and Skiff with the internationally recognised tin art as well as newer iterations such as Cabbie’s roll cut mixture.