Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Kendal North Star

In the pouch, North Star offers up more of a Lakeland style scent than is found in the pipe. This shag needed some dry time, but due to the thin cut it took very little time under lamp (gotta love those old incandescent bulbs). When packed properly on the firm side, NS is mildly sweet, and about medium-low on the Lakeland flavor scale as there is plenty of tobacco flavor. Both the Virginias and Burley make themselves known and interplay nicely but not in a complex way. It’s about medium in strength, but can be notably stronger when pushed. There wasn’t any bite at all and as long as it’s packed properly, it won’t burn hot either. This is one of those “set it and forget” type tobaccos that I like to toss into a cob and pretend to do a little yard work with…..

Kendal - North Star.

I bought this more out of curiosity than want. I wondered if a tobacco marketed as 'budget' would be fit for a pipe, or fit for the bin!

As it turns out, it's pretty good; it tastes of a higher quality than the price implies (I paid £3.10 for the smallest 12.5g pouch).

As expected, the pouch contains a finely cut blend: it's not exactly cigarette fine, but quite fine for pipe weed. When I first lit mine, or tried to light it, I realised it was too damp; that's not a good thing as I'd bought the loosely pouched version from Black Swan instead of a sealed number. But after an hour or so drying time it's good to go! That's the negative dealt with, now over to the positive: the smoke is more like what I'd expect from a higher end VaBur. It's nutty, and woody, as if there's more Burley than Virginia. Other than that there's not too much to say. It's a good blend, with medium nicotine, a decent burn providing it's been aired, and the room-note's not too heavy.

Considering the price and quality I think three stars is perfect.

Recommended.

I personally detect very little to no Lakeland in this tobacco. I taste a good woody flavor with a raisin-like accents. Has a sweet taste even with no casings. Moisture content to me is good in a pound of bulk. The room note isn't too bad but a little plain "smokiness"... but fairly light so doesn't badly offend. I pack it loosely on the bottom and tighter at the top.. burns clean all the way to the bottom of the bowl. Medium strength that doesn't bite. A pleasant, straightforward smoke.

The Burley used here is pretty good. Nutty and earthy with a nice note of cocoa. It tends to obscure the Virginias though. Can't get much flavor from those. They do offer a little sweetness and, unfortunately for me, a mild bite. Burns a little warm, but nothing serious. For me, it's just a so-so smoke.

Medium in body and taste. No added flavoring. Burns very well.

As this is based on a one oz sample that was bought in bulk rather than in the pouch, I feel like a word on reviews is needed. Personally, I tend not to upvote reviews that are based on less than an ounce at minimum, and I further believe that my own reviews are useless to most people unless I've really gotten to know the tobacco at hand. Otherwise, they are valuable only to myself, and even then that value is dubious. This is a prime example, as my sample tasted nothing like the other reviewers have stated. I could have gotten an overdry batch with the Lakeland flavoring leeched out, and I urge readers to lend more personal credence to SteelCowboy's or the other reviewers on this blend (at least!).

This came as a blonde colored stringy ribbon. The bag aroma was very faint and of only tobacco. I got no Lakeland scent at all. Smoking this revealed zero Lakeland essence as well. And whatever character the Virginia and burley may have had during the initial blending process had mostly disappeared. What remained was a very cigarette-ish blend that got nasty and sour at the slightest provocation. Packed tightly (as I do most if not all shags) and sipped daintily, there was some nuttiness from the burley and some sourness from the Virginia. Smoked straight, there was little to recommend this blend. Used as a blender, it was fairly useless as well, perhaps mostly since I didn't have many other shags to blend with it. G&H's own Kendal Kentucky overpowered this, even mixed in only 10%. North Star (as it came in my bulk baggie) is overall lacking in character and might make a decent cigarette at best. If the occasion arises, I may try another sample, as I just don't think mine was stored properly before it arrived.

As basic a tobacco mixture can be. Predominantly Virginia tobacco tempered with burley in long string like ribbons. On first opening the pouch one could be forgiven that the aroma is nil. However digging around and loosening up the perfectly hydrated contents, a gentle aroma wafts forward. Fresh hay, tea, grass, a faint honey like sweetness, a trace hint of burley cocoa. Obviously been stringy ribbon, packing slightly tighter is the way forward. Lighting is a hassle free affair. Once lit this is what I call a "whiskey smoke" You sip it at leisure, take your time and enjoy the flavours as they develop. Granted they aren't overly overt and obnoxious, more subtle nuance, a gentle awakening. A trip back in time to when pipe mixtures weren't doused with synthetic flavourings to the point of drowning actual tobacco notes. This is a mixture where the tobaccos themselves are front and centre. They and they only do the talking, again it isn't obvious, a gentle whisper that at first you may have to work hard to hear but once tuned in, this tobacco delivers. Spring meadows, the grass, the citrus from the Virginia, the fresh hay, that minute drop of honey amd sprinkling of cocoa come together in glorious wisps of delicate smoke. This is a mixture that if you can savour and appreciate like a fine single malt, with no bells and whistles then it is one that will delight, enliven and renenergise. However go at this like a pairnof bellows and that gentle symphony will be out of tune, it won't work, it will get blisteringly hot and will turn your tongue to leather in double quick time. Patience, a leisurely pace and gentle sips is the order of the day. Master them three things and you will unlock something quite special. A deffinite four stars for North star.

This is one of those tobaccos marketed in the UK (thanks to its slightly coarser cut) as a pipe tobacco but really intended, and perfectly capable of being used, as a roll-your-own cigarette tobacco (this is a common dodge in the UK to avoid the extra duty payable on cigarette tobacco). It's all right: cheap and cheerful (as much as any tobacco can be cheap), undemanding, and capable of being smoked all day long without giving you any problems. It tastes as you would expect a cigarette tobacco smoked in a pipe to taste; can burn hot; and a bowlful is soon over, even if you pack it tight. An earlier reviewer has compared it favourably to Gold Block; I don't agree, but I see what he means. Good enough, for what it is, but not at all classy. I wouldn't queue in the rain for it; it's the kind of tobacco that one might describe as a UK equivalent of Prince Albert,

Found this in a small newsagent in Dursley, of all places. The shopkeeper insisted this was pipe tobacco. It was either this stuff or clan. No contest really.

It looks more like a dark shag cut, than pipe tobacco. It has very little smell, virtually no taste and certainly no room note. It burns very quickly and is quite moist from the pouch, breaking down into a silver grey ash.

I have to say I'm not entirely convinced this is pipe tobacco as it seems to share many of the characteristics with rolling tobacco, despite the Gawith's provenance. It's very tempting to put it to the test sometime.

It's not entirely a dud then and strangely satisfying if you are in a hurry, but I can't recommend it, although I'd buy if there was nothing else.

It's not a horror so I'll just give it the benefit of the doubt and says it's shag.