Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Kendal Mixed

(3.10)
Bag states, "A classic blend of the highest quality bright and dark fired Virginias."
Notes: Previously listed as a Virginia/Burley, but it is a straight VA. Kendal comes in a number of strengths and cuts, based on blend of either Bright Leaf or Dark Fired. Kendal Gold – All bright leaf Kendal No6 – Mainly bright with a little fired Kendal Mixed – Pretty much 50/50 of the two Kendal No7 – Mainly dark fired with some bright leaf Kendal Dark - All dark fired leaf

Details

Brand Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.
Blended By Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.
Manufactured By Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.
Blend Type Virginia/Burley
Contents Burley, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Shag
Packaging Bulk
Country United Kingdom
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.10 / 4
7

10

1

2

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 20 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 22, 2015 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant
I've been trying to find more of this for years. I last smoked some when I first ordered it from smokingpipes.com seven or eight years ago. It was a small order and I immediately followed-up with a larger order after smoking it. A very nice smoke but not at all in the category of Half and Half or even other split Virgnia/Burley blends. This one had a lakeland flavor tat, I guess, may have been natural, but I sure thought it was after market, as it were. Sweet and satisfying with every puff. Cool burning and plenty of Lady-N. I also like the very fine, almost shag cut, which made it easy to pack and smoke. After reading over my notes on this one all i can say is, I want more!

Pipestud
11 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 21, 2006 Medium None Detected Full Very Pleasant
Kendal Mixed is sometimes billed as a shag-cut tobacco, though I'd argue extremely fine is more accurate. When I think shag, I think Three Castles or Dark Birdseye ... even Drum. You know, strings and threads. In any case, it's a lovely smoke.

You'll see some bright in there, some honey-colored/light-brown stuff, and some very dark leaf (fire cured). The smell is out of this world. The fire-cured weed is a nice contrast in appearance and scent to the other components and offers the spicy, woody, and very slightly herbal notes you may detect in other fire-cured Lakeland tobaccos. The flavor is all natural. This is tobacco, tobacco, and tobacco.

As with a majority of Lakeland offerings, you get a savory sweetness rather than the tangy, aggressive zing of some mixtures (particularly VAs from McClelland). The brights and browns offer rustic flavors and smells -- very tasty without becoming too grassy or like cilantro. The dark portion is the leaf you'd find in Dark Birdseye or Dark Flake. It's there both to the nose and palate, but certainly not in the majority. There is, however, plenty to satisfy without sacrificing the harmony of the blend or distracting the smoker with blasts of nicotine.

I packed this stuff in with some pressure, and I believe the key is to produce a log of sorts that fills the bowl snugly from heel to rim in one packing. Going in thirds or packing too lightly -- in other words, leaving gaps of any measure in the bowl -- can interrupt the continuity of the blend's flavor or cause the tobacco to burn too quickly. I can smoke an entire bowl on one match. I also suggest dumping some ash as the tobacco burns down. Tamping down too much fine ash can choke the ember, though you may want to leave a slightly layer to keep the burn rate steady.

In summary, you get all-natural tobacco of the highest quality, an easy burning smoke, enough depth of flavor (complexity) to be very interesting and inviting from start to finish, good mouthfeel and stout body, and a generous taste of all the best tobaccos Gawith Hoggarth & Co. has to offer in a single mixture.
10 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 13, 2015 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
Gawith Hoggarth - Kendal's Mixed.

This really is a very straight forward tobacco. The taste is simple, I don't get any subtle undertones or extra flavours. I get a full Virginia/Burley taste and that's all. From the pouch I get the first sign of the simplicity that's about to follow. A basic Va-Bur aroma. The blend has a good water amount. I never really know what to expect with G'H' blends as in my experience they all vary, right from sodden to bone dry. At least we know what to expect with Sam G' blends as they're all soaked to the core! It takes to the flame with the utmost ease and once lit it gives me a simple treat! I know a few people compere this to cigarette tobacco but to my palate it tastes quite a bit more nutty than one of those does. A similarity I do notice in comparison to a cigarette is the speed of the burn, it is the consummate 'quick smoke break' blend. It gives me no bite whatsoever, not even a nibble! I find the nicotine to be mild to medium, not too mild but a true nicotine lover would maybe need to take a big puff. The room note sits well with me. It isn't too much but it has a good nuttiness to it and doesn't swamp the room with smoke. As I mentioned earlier it burns fast however a better point with the burn is that it does so effectively. There is no dottle at the end of my pipe!

I think that this would make a perfect blend to begin our hobby with. It really is so simple and for that reason I doubt it could offend hardly anyone! Four stars.
Pipe Used: Peterson Golden Supreme Meerschaum P-Lip
PurchasedFrom: G.Q Tobaccos
Age When Smoked: 1 month
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 24, 2013 Very Mild Very Mild Very Mild Very Pleasant
Kendal Mixture;

Star Rating = 3.85;

Rating Scores - 10 is the Best and 0 is the Worst;

Pouch Note = 10;

Room Note = 10;

Flavor = 10;

Bite = 10;

Burn = 10;

After Taste = 9;

Raw Score = 59;

Rated Percentage = 98%;

Comment = Very Smooth, Very Mild, Mellow, nice Full Body Flavor, faint After Taste on Finish.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 24, 2007 Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Although I enjoy the Kendal Kentucky and the Dark Birdseye, I find this a bit too "cigarettish." It has a much lighter color than its stronger siblings. Bag aroma is also much sharper and lighter. There is a quite tangy VA taste with but a little of the darker presence found in the other two. I don't detect any sweetness. It's better if I mix in some of the Dark Birdseye to pump it up a bit and I suspect it would be good combined with the Kendal Dark Shag, but I have none on hand. It's not terrible but I doubt I will buy more after I have finished my 2 oz. If you have found the Kendal Kentucky to be a bit too much and are looking for something lighter, this could be for you. I just feel it is a lot lighter--too much so for my taste.

EDIT 2018. Reading this again and looking at the picture I am convinced I was sent Kendal Gold. I obtained another quantity of the Mixture and this time around I obtained that for which I had so long sought. This is a great morning smoke; after breakfast or in my case, FOR breakfast. Adequate nicotine, not overwhelming in taste or strength, a good eye-opener. I do like this; not as much as Kendal Kentucky, but it's worth keeping on hand. Upgraded to 3 stars.
Pipe Used: Cobs, briars, The Pipe
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes
Age When Smoked: Fresh
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 07, 2018 Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
GH&C Kendal Mixture is an excellent VaBur. The burleys are the star but the Virginias play an important role, balancing the nuttiness and earthiness of the former with sweetness and grassiness. It's a fairly strong tobacco but easily handled as long as it is smoked slowly. The aroma of the unlit tobacco is of dark fired leaf, though this does not translate to the smoke. The moisture level as delivered is perfect.

Being a shag, it lights easily but does require frequent relights (I pack shags fairly tightly to slow down the burn rate). As the smoke progresses, the burleys become increasingly earthy in flavor. The sweetness of the Virginias is more noticeable toward the end of the smoke. I did not detect any Lakeland essence, however, toward the end of the bowl, I was reminded of the floralness of orientals (although it apparently contains none).

Smoked slowly, KM is intriguingly complex tobacco and one that burley lovers should enjoy.

UPDATE: After two years of cellaring, this tobacco has become a great deal better. It is much sweeter, presumably due to the maturing of the Virginias. So I've upped my. rating to "highly recommended."
Pipe Used: Various briars
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: Recently purchased.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 01, 2016 Mild to Medium Mild Mild to Medium Unnoticeable
Burns way too fast .Whoosh and it's gone in 10 minutes.Nice,plain ordinary shag.Easy to fill,but a little boring for me.Tastes like my first cigarette

That big Lakeland thin doesn't come in to the frame.Not that I miss it.Will give it an avoidance from now on
Pipe Used: Dunhill
PurchasedFrom: Gq
Age When Smoked: New
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 23, 2016 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Kendal Mixed in the bag has a light Lakeland style scent that doesn’t crowd out the tobacco. I found this to be true in the pipe as well. A super fine cut makes this simple to pack and smoke. It’s very straightforward in flavor without much change in taste throughout the bowl. The balance between the Burley and Virginia’s is perfect although the Burley flavor comes through a little more for me with some slight nuttiness. There is no bite, but be aware, this stuff burns quickly unless properly packed and can smoke hot if not using the proper cadence. There’s some nicotine here, but not a lot as I find it slightly more than mild to medium. All in all, a pretty simple, no frills blend.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 30, 2014 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
This is a really top-notch smoke. It reminds me a bit of the ready-rubbed version of Capstan that you can get in the UK, but it has an extra bite added to the Virginia sweetness by the Burley. It's even more reminiscent of a long-gone UK tobacco called St Julien (I wonder if anyone remembers that?). It's tasty, full-bodied, mild, consistent and (I think) completely uncased, or as completely as it's possible for a tobacco to be. For such a fine-cut, it burns remarkably slowly, and it doesn’t bite at all, as long as you don’t rush it. Pack it tight and smoke it slow and you’re in for a treat. My brother-in-law uses it to make roll-ups, but it's just about perfect in a pipe. The room note isn’t anything to rejoice about, but, apart from that, I can’t recommend it highly enough. It would make the ideal all-day smoke if you're an all-day smoker. It would also be a good introduction to pipe smoking for anyone wanting to make the change from cigarettes.
Pipe Used: Peterson billiard; Hardcastle billiard
PurchasedFrom: Durham Pipe and Tobacco Shop
Age When Smoked: New, straight from the shop
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 21, 2023 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Bag states, "A classic blend of the highest quality bright and dark fired Virginias." A little research stated its roughly a 50/50 mix of bright and dark fired Va's.

Package note of barbeque and peaty vegetation. Tobacco is a shag cut of yellowish light brown, brown and a little dark brown. Moisture content is ok. Most pipe smokers will want to dry this out a bit. Burns moderately fast with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and mostly consistent, with notes of peaty vegetation, bread, floral, slightly tangy, sweet woody, mild oak smoke, sugar, sweet grass, mildly savory, spices, mildly herbal, mildly bitter, earth, a semi-sweet hay background note, and a peppery retro. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.
Pipe Used: Peterson Bard Rusticated 221 Fishtail
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: 5 months
1 person found this review helpful.
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