This is a typical Kendal dark pressed tobacco, scented with the typical flowery Kendal topping (after shave foam, ladies hair spray and all?), the smoke is strong in nicotine, which requires an extremely slow puffing to better enjoy this fine tobacco, the taste is flowery semi sweet with some bitterness and with sort of dark caramel undertone, there is a lot of delightful flavors to be discovered during the smoking experience, I found that a narrow bowl with a Very slow puffing (sipping) is the best way to enjoy this blend. Overall, this is an excellent blend in the finest English traditions; I like it and I will be buying more for sure.

* Bad ** Good *** Excellent **** Exceptional

In bulk it's a broken, stringy kind of flake and the bag aroma is that of fine tobaccos. I don't find a need to rub it out futher but just kind of crunch it up and pack (gently). As with all GH I've tried so far the moisture content is dead on perfect.

Gives you a mouth full of smoke, no burn, no bite, stays lit and does not offend others (at least around my place).

It does not seem to be particular as to type of pipe, briar-meer-cob-clay, but does seem to like a medium to large bowl. A small bowl doesn't let the flavor(s) develop. You might consider layering it a pipe with a mild Virginia until you become familiar with it's burn characteristics but otherwise...go for it.

This tobacco gets 4 stars! Very addictive taste.

Ok, the first bowls made me nauseous, and I wondered how the H?ll someone could enjoy it. to give it a fair chance, I did prevail, and after a few bowls more, this one was the first I reached for in the morning.

Much fuller taste than Dark plug, but a bit less nicotine content.

Gawith Hoggarth have yet to disapoint me

(and yes, it do smell like perfume old ladies would use to disguise the smell of piss)

A very traditional Lakeland flake (from The Lake District of Cumbria in the North West of England, famous for Wordsworth and its large lakes - not as large as the American Great Lakes, of course, but then they do actually look like lakes, rather than oceans).

It looks like a rich, dark, broken flake and smells of the cheap perfumes that old ladies in nursing homes wear to disguise the tangy aroma of piss. In other words, it smells like a good, proper, British pipe tobacco should.

It is mainly a dark, fire-cured Virginia leaf, with some Burley.

Throughout the smoke, there is a hint of a tonquin topping (tonquin is an essence, derived from the tonka bean in Guyana, which Britain used to own in the good old days, and is a fairly unique flavouring, but has a suggestion of vanilla about it. Incidentally, tonquin is banned as a food additive by the FDA in America, but then we're not going to eat the bloody stuff, are we?).

The perfumy aroma soon dissipates and the tonquin topping stays in the background to leave us with a glorious, cool, rich, powerful smoke - plenty of nicotine here - that will have even the least imaginative of us writing poetry halfway through the bowl.

In my book, it's just one stop short of, and an ideal preparation for, the mighty Condor.

PS - I have marked the 'room note' as 'pleasant', but it is appearing as 'mild' - not my intention, but hey-ho....

In the bag it smells faintly smokey (dark fired leaf isn't the same as Latakia, its not so heavily smoked), earthy, tobaccoey, like a rope tobacco in fact. It's quite dark, and pressed quite densely. The cut is quite thick, thicker than the Samuel Gawith flakes, which makes it burn quite cool. I could'nt smell any topping scent in the pouch.

Offers a lot in the way of flavour development. It burns well, and the flavour at first is very faintly sweet. The aroma of the smoke at this stage is decidedly sweet, faintly nutty and a little like vanilla. Maybe this is Tonka bean? Its certainly not sickly smelling like a danish aromatic. I assume that the scenting in this soaks well into the leaf, because the taste is definitely of a scented tobacco. As the smoke progresses, the taste of the topping recedes, and the earthy, very faintly smokey taste of the tobacco comes through, and builds steadily in intensity. The aroma also becomes less sweet, and more like rich tobacco at this stage. It does leave a faintly soapy aftertaste, which some may not enjoy, I find it quite pleasant.

It does not bite unless provoked, and tends to burn fairly cool, with little harshness (unlike the ropes). Drying it out a little may be a good idea, as it does gurgle sometimes. It burns really slow, and will last well even in a small pipe. It is quite strong, so a smaller pipe is good unless you really like nicotine. Smoke it out of doors, on rainy days, it makes it all seem alright.

************UPDATE**********************************************

Got some more of this, as the weather in Preston is back to it's usual grim, Northern rainyness, and I'm surprised I didn't buy more sooner. Delicious stuff, and perfect on a cloudy, blustery day like today- it never overheats, never bites, you can turn your clay upside down to keep the rain out and it still smokes just fine. Very leathery, strong tasting tobacco- I notice the topping more now, right from the start slightly soapy, but in no way overwhelming the flavour of the tobacco- very nice. I started smiling as soon as I lit the first bowl!

Does anyone know why the British like such "old lady perfumed" tobacco? It is growing on me a little, e.g. today out back in the wind it almost tasted and smelled fitting to be out there smoking it. It's snowing now, perhaps it would benefit from some snow time out in the blizzard. Something's got to help this poor stuff. I'm DGT'ing some right now in my CoolSmoke. It's bound to lose some of the perfume!

The tobacco quality is good, but the scenting intrusive. I have had the same scent in the same makers XX Dark, where it is only on the surface of the plug, and enjoyed it. In the cut plug form it approximates to Condor.

-Dominated by a base of dark fired leaf which translates to a higher nicotine content, full and satisfying in that regard

The aromatic factor is light but significantly there. One might say it has some of that "soapy" quality but to me it is verging on floral but not over the edge. I can detect a slight amount of added sweetness to the smoke and aroma very much like tonquin. This in effect is similar to Samuel Gawith's 1792 Flake but as a lessor density in strength and slightly different aromatic quality. The taste of the smoke has the light sweetness from the tonquin, which helps to round out the overall flavor, smokiness from the dark fired leaf and the other aromatic agents contribute a sort of mild bitterness. The smoke strength is tame and not bitting like a VA flake. The richness of the nicotine content in relation to it's mild strenth on the palette is deceptive, so puff slow with caution (not quite near 1792). Another lakeland variety which may be sought after by certain niche smokers.

- Recommended to "Lakelanders"

Probably due to its strength, I don't smoke it everyday. But when I'm in the mood for a strong, flavorful tobacco, nothing hits the spot like CCP. It's made from high quality tobaccos processed in the traditional Lake District manner.

If your looking for a subtle Virginia, steer clear of CCP. It's straight forward and strong. It's great for smoking outdoors, particularly when your attention is not completely focused on smoking. CCP seldom needs a relight and smokes great to the bottom of the bowl with little attention from the smoker. I always have some at hand.

About 1/4 of the way, this stuff gets very bitter and burnt tasting... This doesn't make it very pleasing to me, but the first few puffs are nice.

The power of this tobacco is pretty stout. It gets a tad harsh, and is... Well, not really my cup of tea. I would hope that there was a virginia with this casing... Not such a powerhouse.

CCP is more rounded and polite than 1792 (one reason could be the Burley) and doesn't pack quite as much of a nico wallop.

It has a smooth yet bitter underlying taste, flavored fairly gently (relative to other Lakeland Flakes) with something that smells/tastes like bannanas mixed with baby powder. The Horrible Aftertaste I get with the ropes is present here but much muted, so muted it doesn't bother me. CCP is monochromatic, smoky and slightly soapy, but that's not news.

All in all, this is relatively approachable and likeable, considering its heart of darkness. If the ropes are too much but you still feel tempted, try this.

I recently obtained several GH samples. I liked Rum Flake, but after Sliced Black Twist Aromatic, I was not sure I was up to GH "natural" flakes. I was therefore pleasantly surprised with Conniston Cut Plug, a stringy dark brown broken flake with just a few lighter streaks.

On arrival the tobacco seemed a bit moist, so I let it sit out in a dish to dry out, while I fired up a bowl, "as is", i.e., stuffed some moist broken flakes in a kind-of-everything no-name bulldog. Before lighting up, I stuck my nose in the bowl to sense the pouch aroma. Just a hint of floral bouquet, but nothing overwhelming considering the flavor to come.

Immediately upon initial combustion, I was struck with the strong tastes of floral room freshener, kind of like those little christmas tree automobile air-fresheners. While this sounds unappetising, in combination with the sweetness of the virginias it was a great flavor. The balance of flavor was also almost consistent throughout the bowl, gathering in sweetness towards the end. I never did get a sense of a smoky taste mentioned by others, at least in the latakia-smoky way. I am also not sure that this needed to be dried out as that first bowl burned well. It did go out on occasion, perhaps due to neglect, but it is strong enough that this is a good thing.

CCP is a "love it or leave it" kind of tobacco. I could not see smoking it all day (though I have just smoked 3 "demi-tasse" bowls in a row!). This is a strong tobacco, and is best appreciated in small doses and does DGT quite well. Also, the room note is rather overwhelming, especially in confined spaces like my home office.

I look forward to exploring more GH soap flakes.

Conniston Plug is dark in looks, but not nearly dark enough to suggest the strength that lies within the leaf. It was even tough to rub out. It packed easily enough and stayed lit well. Frankly though, I don't think you need to put a match to the leaf in order to taste its power. It hits you like a ton of bricks. I thought I was smoking the residuals of a smoky campfire. Strong and bitter stuff folks. Oh, the smoky flavor will stick to your palate like peanut butter too.

British tobacco rope enthusiasts may enjoy this. But not me.

No cheers.