Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. - Kendal Flake pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 21 through 35 of 35 reviews of this tobacco
Holy Smoke	07/25/2007	Medium	Strong	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
One of the best Lakeland Flakes. There's not much that can be added to the existing body of reviews. It's a flamboyant, herbal flake, that always satisfies. Although, it can be a little rough at the back and lacks the milky tea taste that softens the whole flavour in Samuel Gawith's KCF deluxe. As such, I'd favour the latter but it's a really close call.
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augiegus	05/22/2007	Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I recieved several flkaes recently and this is the one I finished first. My review may be a bit off for the pouch this came in had a lil hole in it which did not effect the moisture of the tobacco so much but I believe let the tobacco air out a bit. The result was a tobacco with less of the mention Lakeland floral flavor or at least to me it seemed to be present but not overwhelming. I liked this. It does not bite though please keep the smoking pace slowish like you would for any Virginia, and it burns very clean. A good relaxing flake.
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Russell	04/24/2007	Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Update The most flowery of all the Gawith and Hoggarth flakes. It is dripping with rose essences, and what smells like ambergris, though I doubt it is. This is about the opposite side of the spectrum from Ennderdale, which is scented almond butter flavoured (like hand lotion), while Kendal is smooth flowers. If you hit the sweet spot with this one just right, in a deep but thin bowl, very very slowly on the draw yet continuously, you will get a smoke that is so smooth you cannot tell anything is burning. Just pure flower essences with nicotine. Room note is very flowery but might be too much so for some. The topping on this is almost as strong as the most heavily flavoured tobacco in the world (at least that I ever tried), tinderbox's masterpiece "cherry almond." Nicotine on this flake is about perfect, right between medium and strong. As this one ages, it gets more complex, and more smooth on the tongue. A must have for lakeland lovers.
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Danno	01/22/2007	Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant
I came into a quarter-pound of KF, through a friend. I had never sampled it prior. Just over a week later, it is disappearing at an alarming rate and has a semi-permanent home in a group four Vesz apple. I read the list of essences applied to this flake but in all honesty I only detect roses. That said I prefer to smoke it on the dry side, which may cause the gentler bouquets to vanish. Taste-wise KF reminds me of the bottom third of a bowl of FVF, dark, toasty and inherently 'Lakeland'. I enjoy it very much, and will likely smoke KF in lieu of St. Bruno, as it is available with much less hunting than the esteemed latter.
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Darwin	12/26/2006	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
08/08/03 You know, I can't believe I like this tobacco. I generally prefer a natural VA flake, but I found Kendal Flake to have a wonderful flavor that is quite unique. The pouch aroma can be a bit intimidating for someone not used to scented flakes. But once I got past the mental block, I came to appreciate the wonderful synergy the flavors and the tobacco produce. The folks at Gawith Hoggarth really have a way with VA flakes. Another way I enjoy Kendall Flake is to prepare a "sandwich" with Glengarry Flake. Glengarry Flake is much lighter than Kendall Flake and complements the latter nicely. A sandwich is prepared by folding a flake of each together and packing the pipe normally. Update 12/26/06 After smoking Kendal Flake for over three years, I can now upgrade it to 4 stars or highly recommended. Along with Ennerdale Flake, this is one of the great scented flakes from Gawith Hoggarth. It burns perfectly, tastes wonderful, and has a pretty strong nicotine hit. What more could you ask for? I no longer feel like KF tastes soapy; I can taste the wonderful flavors that complement the tobacco so well. My next step is to dedicate a pipe to Kendal Flake rather than just to scented flakes in general. It goes perfectly with a strong cup of black coffee.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
kevin	08/21/2006	Very Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable
I just didn't get on with this tobacco. It tasted terrible to me and I found the nicotine hit way too high - and I have smoked Condor and St Bruno and lived to tell the tale. It lights and burns well and smells great in the pouch - but did nothing else for me apart from leaving me feeling rather ill afterwards!
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Idiom	07/04/2006	Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Not too sure what to make of this really, Kendal Flake is a prefectly good flake that I expect I could get to quite like if I smoked enough of it.. I just can't get over the rose flavouring, when you first light the bowl you get a strong blast of flowers thats rather like inhaling a bathroom freshener. The rose flavour backs down once the bowl is properly lit and tamped but its too much for me, as shame as its an exceptionally cool smoke. I'm sure I could get to like this flake more but I can't see thats its worth the effort when there are so many other flakes out there. Edit: I have since smoked some Best Brown Flake which is very similar to the Kendal flake, almost identical infact except without the rose air freshener taste. I prefer the best brown and am giving it 3 stars so i'm downgrading this to 2.
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Pipestud	04/23/2006	Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant
Thanks to fellow reviewer OSR for giving me a sample of this to smoke a year or so ago. I am surprised that I did not post a review after smoking a few bowls. This G&H offering is certainly scented in the typical Lakeland Flake style. While the G&H trademark flavor is there, so is the nicotine strength and palate pleasing taste. Rub it out more or simply stuff it in your pipe for a long, slow smoke. An exemplar for the Lakeland Flake lovers among us.
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Cactus John	12/04/2005	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable
I didn't particularly like this tobacco. You know how you can develop a liking or disliking for a particular brand. I seem to have a problem with G & H tobaccos. This one was nice in every way except it had a very strong taste of "Soap". Lighted and burned nicely. The tobacco had a very nice aroma. But there was always that taste of Ajax.
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fourshephards	05/07/2005	Medium to Strong	Strong	Extra Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I don't know how one can take all of the flavorings that GH & Co. uses in this tobacco and make them work, but they have done it here. Kendall Flake has a fairly overwhelming pouch aroma, and it seems that the dominant scent is the almond. Kendall Flake, at first light, comes across like gang busters and you wonder "what have I done!?" but soon it settles down and you sense the presence of excellent quality tobaccos. The flavorings never leave but Kendall Flake still comes across as a rich smoking axperience. Rich and somewhat sweet, KF fills your palate with layers upon layers of flavors. If you are looking for a monochromatic smoking experience, well, this isn't it. Toward the end of the bowl, it is easy to forget the flavorings and florals as Kendall Flake is now running on all eight cylinders. KF burns evenly and completely, leaving the walls of your bowl clean. A dry mottled white ash is left in the bottom of your bowl. The nicotine content is a little higher than average.
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Ducksbreath	05/22/2004	Medium to Strong	Very Strong	Extra Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Put this in your pipe and everything will be coming up roses. Literarlly. This is one of the most highly flavored of the "British Aromatics", but it is not as strong, noxious or persistant as, say, 1792 or RB plug. Rather it is sweet, flamboyant, herbal and floral. There is probably a trace of soapiness, but if so, it's hotel soap scented with geraniums and I can hardly detect it. I pack this in a large pipe, especially one with a large bowl diameter, mostly unrubbed out, such as a Bjarne giant, and settle down. The first 1/4 of the bowl can be a bit offputting in its intensity of non tobacco scents, which is a shame, because the "zone" of this tobacco is a trip to heaven. The combination of flavorings and the high quality VA flake result in a sweet, bite free, intense, somewhat intoxicating experience. Too profoundly flavored for me to be a daily smoke, I still have 3-4 bowls a week. I have found nothing like it. ****Update I've now gone through a pound of KF in a little over a year. I'd like to add that I consider it an great hot weather smoke, and a possible alternative for those who do not like burley. Yesterday the temp was 88 deg and high humidity, and, on the porch, a bowl of Kendal Flake was, as the other reviewer mentioned, like a glass of cool lemonade. The equal (in strength) and opposite (in character) of a heavy Latakia blend. Or to put it another way, if a heavy English is like a good single malt scotch, then Kendal Flake is a frozen Strawberry Daquiri (and not a wimpy one).
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BostonPipe	03/27/2004	Strong	Very Strong	Extra Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Wow! This blend is a taste explosion from the get-go. It packs easily and just needs usually one re-light. As with any flake one can 'size' it for any bowl. I find that a medium half-bent is right for this smoker with this blend. I initially bought this tobacco on a whim but it has made it to my regular rotation. I find it throughly refreshing and a great change of pace. This is not an all-day smoke. It is more like having a big cold glass of ice tea on a sweltering Summer Day. The predominant flavor to me is that of the almond and rose with the high quality virginia playing in and out of the bowl as one descends down the smoke. It burns to a fine grey/white ash without heel moisture. A final note, I have two pipes that I use exclusively with this blend, since the scent remains even after the cleanout of the pipes. June 2012 - I have to upgrade this blend to 4 Stars
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OSR	03/22/2004	Strong	Medium to Strong	Extra Full	Tolerable
Four years ago if you'd told me that this would be my favorite tobacco I'd have laughed in your face and called you a loon! Get past the smell of this flake, don't let it bother you. I prefer to pull one flake from my humidor and let it sit out for a half hour or so. Then I'll roll the flake into a log and push it into the bowl of the pipe, almost all of the way down but not CRAMMING it into the bowl. In this way I leave the bottom fifth of the bowl empty, but not for long. Upon lighting this tobacco I get a sweet taste of the flavouring but it doesn't last long - what comes through upon getting the bowl lit and properly tamped is a rich, round taste with just a hint of flavouring. It's so traditionally English that it will make you spell flavoUr with a "U". I don't call the flavouring 'soapy' here; I'm also a fan of G&H Rum Flake and it has a hint of that 'soapy' taste. This tobacco is not 'soapy', it's a very unique experience and I thoroughly enjoy it. The tobacco smokes very cool and dry all the way down the bowl and get a little nicotine heavy at the end but hey, I like that part of it. I can smoke two bowls of this back to back and never get tongue bite - and I'm a heavy puffer. To break it all down, if you like a rich, round and flavored smoke that's NOT 'soapy' and you like full strength then try this blend in a good smoker/knockaround pipe. Get by the smell of the tobacco when you open the pouch because it tastes nothing like it smells. Somehow these flavourings all add up into a delightful bittersweet taste that is like no other. I like it - and I can't believe it! UPDATE 3/22/04 I've updated the flavoring to "Medium to Strong". After smoking this tobacco for a while I've found that in dedicated pipes, the flavoring has become a bit more pronounced. Still, it's one of my favorites. Just one more bit here - you owe it to yourself to try some of these flakes. These Lakeland style flakes have been popular for a long time, for a reason. Sure, they're not for everybody - but what is?
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
The Keeper	01/17/2004	Strong	Very Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Others have documented the details of this blend so I will not repeat that ground. Yes - super flowery, so much so that the first few bowls of it you will likely be able to discern little else. The tobacco is there, just overwhelmed. At first I didn't think it had much complexity or depth beyond a decent VA with lots of aroma and flavor. I think the flavor becomes a bit more multilayered as you move through a sample. Especially when using DGT on a bowl. But I do not think it is so engaging as to become a smoke I crave. While a good highly aromatic smoke, I find it a bit much for regular consumption. It is consistent in flavor from top to bottom with little variation. A good reliable dark and strongly flavored tobacco which settles in to a fairly smooth smoke. I found Glengarry Flake to be a bit more initially intense, but in the long run more complex and flavorful.
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BriarNorth	05/10/2003	Medium to Strong	Strong	Full	Tolerable
Take your significant-other's bath crystals and pour them onto some good virginia flake and you've got Kendal. Now some might think this is a bad thing...I don't! But I can't mince words here folks: this stuff is very "soapy", flowery and perfumy. It also has great Va flavour and packs wallop to boot. For me, smoking this tobacco results in a major binge when nothing else seems right, but it will also satisfy Va lovers as an occasional change of pace when the usual suspects come up stale. The flake rubs, packs, and lights well, provided it isn't too moist. A very unusual, flowery taste that leaves little middle gound: you will likely love it or hate it. I would recommend using a cob, yard pipe or a briar dedicated to flavoured tobaccos, as this will leave its mark.
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