Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Broken Scotch Cake

I'll go ahead and give this one a couple of stars since I'm sure it'd be a great smoke for my briar bretheren who enjoy lighter fare. I've smoked a bunch of G&H blends the last few years and this one has to be the lightest.

The visual presentation is wonderful. In fact, the cut is unusually coarse. The burn (as you might expect from such a broad cut leaf) is slow and even. I doubt this one will bite those who like less full blends. But, I tugged a little too aggressively on my pipe in search of flavor and strength and wound up paying the price.

A somewhat disappointing entry from the G&H stable. Disappointing to me, anyway. Most of the other recent blends I've smoked had a lot more on offer. This one is an overly mild and bland coarse cut of lemon virginia with some different curing methods to alter the flavor. I didn't get much flavor from this one, but the room note was wonderful! And not just wonderful to a pipesmoker - I got a fair number of favorable comments from others as well.

This smoked naturally sweet rather than with the Lakeland essence. It got me wondering if some of those famous scents would spice this one up a bit. I just didn't find much of a personality with this one. It reminded me of a less citrusy version of C&D's "Ridin' The Raid". It's just sort of "tobacco" without a lot of character. This would possibly be a good entry point for the new Virginia smoker. Personal tastes are very different but this doesn't strike me as something a long-time smoker would derive much satisfaction from. It just lacks the full flavor of other G&H blends... and perhaps that was the point. 2 stars for me, but add a star if you like mild virginia blends.

I always think of Broken Scotch Cake not as a separated parts of some cookie, but rather survivors from random battle during scottish civil war, whose regiment was broken during the fight and now you wish to treat them with a pipe full of good Virginia sayings "cheers up, lads".

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Ok, it has some soapy taste, which I am not a great fan, but I must admit: that's the best soap you may smoke in your pipe for sure. Great buttery aftertaste. The taste of traditional butter fat, buttery biscuits... all right, now I get it why they call it a Scotch Cake.

Broken Scotch Cake was a dedicated tobacco on a few pipe-smoking championships which I took a part in.

Appearance: A mostly rubbed out flake, predominantly orange/red in color. Fairly wide ribbons with some bits of flake still holding together.

Aroma: Nice Virginia aroma with a bit of top dressing. I?m not positive of the source, but it reminds me of licorice. It?s quite delicate in application.

Packing: Packs easily into any size or shape bowl. I happen to like it in a wider bowl, but it burns nicely even in a narrow stack

Lighting: Usual two match light. No problem getting a charring light going.

Initial flavor: The mild Virginia flavor jumps up right away, followed closely by the flavor additive. I still can?t be sure what I?m tasting, but it?s pleasant and unobtrusive.

Mid-bowl: This burns surprisingly cool, probably because of the wider cut. Also remains dry throughout the smoke. Can you say monochromatic? Very little nuance in the flavor.

Finish: Burns down to a clean dry ash with very little change in taste or strength. It leaves me wanting another pipe very soon, usually something else. Something stronger!

Summary: A good choice for the Virginia newbie, and for a breakfast smoke (if your coffee is also mild). Useful for hot days, as it stays cool, and doesn?t tax your palate. Excellent quality leaf.

This seems like high quality leaf, but it is very mild in taste and nicotine. Coarse ribbon cut that burns very readily and completely with little to no bite. I could detect no artificial flavors, just plain ole virginia. It lacks the typical sweetness that I normally associate with pure virginia blends; it has a spicy flavor similar to perique and more of a toasty flavor, similar to burley. The aroma from the can is pure natural leaf, almost undectable; surprisingly the Mrs. liked the room note. The tobacco just seemed a little bland to me. It would be a good blend for the yard/fishing/hunting due to the easy loading/lighting/burning characteristics.

2 stars

I noticed the reviews for this tobacco tend to be of the “like it” or “leave it” type. This is very understandable, as the initial pipe was somewhat elusive. Taking note from several reviewers, I decided to hold off judgement until I was able to smoke a quarter of of the 16oz I had ordered. I did leave in the jar for 6-8 months until I could wait no longer to try this blend.

It is true, this is a very mild blend in flavor, aroma and nicotine. The bowl tends to start slightly spicy which can be misunderstood as a potential tongue biter, but this changes to a nicely creamy smoke. It does not bite, but if pushed hard, it could be a tongue tingler. The flavor shifts between subtle Virginia grass/hay and some elusively subtle sweetness. It is not a flavor bomb, but is deeply rewarding in its softness and the more you smoke over time the more the tongue can find the subtle shifts in flavor, in spicy to a toffee sweetness and then to a herbal creaminess.

While this is not my favorite, I do look forward to the next pipefull of this tobacco. Since I smoke outside only, I only occasionally get a room note and the smell on my beard is soft and gentle. I like this blend for everything it’s not as I have not had anything I can really compare it too and it rewards me for slowing down and enjoying my pipe. Again, this is not a flavor bomb and does require a little bit of time to atune to the flavor profile, but it is very rewarding for taking the time to do so.

Hope someone finds this helpful!

Edit: I must add a slight edit to this review as it is super important to ensuring you get the most from this tobacco. This tobacco will be over whelmed by a pipes previous cake. So when smoking this blend, to really allow it to shine, either dedicate a pipe or scrape down the existing cake in your pipe. Once this blend establishes itself in your pipe, all the subtlety of the blend will move forward and will be more consistent in its flavor. Don’t know how I missed mentioning this before, but it really needs to be mentioned. If you like going from dark rich heavy tobaccos, to lighter blends, then you will be baffled by why people like this blend. If you are able to set a pipe aside for mild blends or better, dedicate a pipe to this blend, then you have a much better chance of really enjoying what this blend has to offer!!!!

This was a good smoke! It's quite similar to Sam Gawith's Golden Glow (maybe because of the broken state of flakes) but carries a hint of Lakeland scent, really just a hint. Excellent packing and burn, not too hot, and for a pure VA very forgiving and rewarding. Delivered enough N for breakfast. Blob shows "Coarse Cut", I would call it a mix of ribbons and broken flakes. Cool smoke, light flavour, little strength. Full score, but remember that this is not your usual VA. Aro lovers and Lat fetishists move on, nothing to see here.

I divide the G&H tobaccos into two categories: The light brown tobaccos and the dark tobaccos. BSC is my favorite in the light brown range. It comes in a sort of pressed form which requires a little bit of rubbing, but you can pinch it up and load the pipe that way. It does require a bit of drying to bring out its better qualities, and it does have a slight bit of the G&H flavoring additive, or top dressing which I find in their light colored tobaccos, but much less than in, say, their Brown Flake or CR Flake. For me this tobacco has no bite and delivers what I am looking for in this type of tobacco which is the distinctive taste of Virginia. I buy it in bulk and smoke a bowl every other week or so as a very pleasant change from my usual Virginias. Highly recommended. Paddy.

This sample was a gift from a friend. It is mostly rubbed out tan medium ribbon with a few brown bits and some small hunks of flake that did not get rubbed out. Pouch note is slightly grassy with some earth. Hydration was maybe slightly on the damp side. I smoked it as delivered being careful not to overpack.

Smoked, this is a good straight Virginia with just a hint of Lakeland every now and then so you know it really came from G,H & Co. The smoking experience is mild. There is not much punch and the Virginias are good but not especially exciting. The flavor is mostly hay with a little sweet. It was easy to smoke slowly and it burned cool.

This is good and not challenging. I have no regrets. It is not likely to be something I will get, but I could smoke it all day if it were what I had. It is a solid 2.5 on the scale. For someone with a nicotine intolerance who wants a tobacco flavored smoke, this might be just the thing.

When I began smoking this was a favorite of mine. A very mild VA, it has the perfect moisture content for a quick light and a bowl that stays lit the whole time. Coarsely broken strips that easily pack, a fairly uniform reddish brown color, and a nice VA smell. Quality stuff and highly recommended for the beginning smoker or someone who favors a lighter blend every so often. Don't try to puff hard to gain more flavor. Take it very slow and you will be rewarded with a flavorful experience. If you are coming off a more powerful blend, sit with this one for a few days and you'll start to appreciate it more and more. I'm going through my cellared stash of tobaccos now as I probably can't buy any more and smoke it before I myself am ash, so most of my further reviews will be from aged tobaccos.