Of course, I'm not saying anyone has to like 'em. We all have different tastes...as it should be.

A whole lot of ink has been spilled discussing the flavor profile of this stuff. I think it smells heavenly—a lightly intense mix of rum, raisin, and maple. In the pipe, the maple flavor tends to come to the fore, but the aromatic intensity is sufficiently muted that there are occasions when I forget that I’m smoking an aromatized flake at all. Since I’m also a fan of G&H’s Unscented Brown Flake (which may well serve as the tobacco base here), I’m fine with that.

The mildness of the flavoring here really does need stressing, given the name of the tobacco. Smokers looking for either intense rum aromas or intense maple aromas should probably look elsewhere. The maple here is nowhere near as intense as it is in, say, C&D’s Autumn Evening, and the rum here is far more subdued that it is in tobaccos like Sutliff’s Barbados Plantation or C&D’s Blockade Runner. That’s all for the best as far as I’m concerned, but others may find Rum Flake to be a misleading title.

As for the complaints about the “Lakeland” scents here: on occasion, I do get a wee hint of something floral, but complaining that this tobacco is heavy in Lakeland scents doesn’t strike me as useful. Or true. This is wonderful stuff for smokers who enjoy rich tobacco flavor lightly enhanced with aromatic agents.

Upon opening a pouch of Rum Flake, the tobacco presents itself in long, wide flakes with some ragged edges. Coloration is medium brown with lighter spots and variegations. Some small sugar crystals are apparent on the flakes, and will likely develop further with cellaring. Aroma is sharp and fruity, with a slight background of cocoa. Surprisingly, I could not detect any of the Lakeland floral scent present in the pouch.

The tobacco had an ideal moisture content, and did not require drying time or rubbing out. Lighting was surprisingly even and easy for a flake tobacco. Expansion on the charring light was minimal, and the draw remained easy.

During burning, the taste of the tobacco is slightly sweet, and the Lakeland flavor begins to assert itself. Unlike most Lakeland mixtures, the distinctive flavor is mild and subtle. (Some Lakeland tobaccos assert themselves like a luchador charging into the room and clotheslining you; Gawith Hoggarth & Company Rum Flake is more like a purring cat rubbing against your ankles.) The light Lakeland treatment harmonizes well with the meatier tobacco taste that appears when a bowl is burning well.

The tobacco burns evenly and easily, leaving fine, crisp ashes. A minimal amount of sacrificial dottle can be left in the bottom of the pipe at the end of a smoke. Rum Flake does not seem to turn foul or oppressively concentrated at the finish of a bowl.

In summation, Rum Flake is a pleasant experience and may be a good introduction to Lakeland flavoring for a person who is curious about the experience but afraid of being overwhelmed. The scenting is very mild here, and allows enough of the true tobacco taste to come through, so Rum Flake should be acceptable even to an individual who finds something like Ennerdale too strong.

Oddly enough, I couldn't detect any distinctive taste from the maple sugar casing Gawith Hoggarth and Company uses in Rum Flake, even though tiny crystals of sugar sparkle throughout the flakes.

Pipes used for testing: Peterson Aran 268, Peterson Killarney 999, Savinelli Saturnia 606 KS, Neerup Classic Poker (2), Stanwell Special Billiard (102)

I found no trace of Lakeland florals, in either the bag aroma or the taste. There was very little sweetness and what little there was burned away before I got 1/3 of the way down the bowl. What remained was a moderately robust flavor that turned ashy. I was expecting considerably more sweetness and that may have biased me against this blend, but I think my expectations were justified based on the previous reviews. I would classify this tobacco as something to try but quite a disappointment to me. Certainly this is no "Christmas Cake". What it is to my tastebuds is a mostly non-descript mish-mash of tobaccos with a casing that was watered down the day my batch was produced.

This seems to have a following so by all means try it if it interests you. I may try it again someday but not anytime soon.

Even though I usually don't like blends with more than a hint of burley in them, something about this one keeps me coming back. It's the exception that proves the rule, and I reckon that the composition of different varieties here is pretty much spot on - the richness of the topping compensates for what I usually perceive as a 'dry' and 'dusty' characteristic in burley tobacs.

The flavours on offer here have already been described pretty accurately by other reviewers. Maple dominates, then the soapiness, followed by the licorice/anise spice with the rum flitting in and out.

I like to smoke this roughly rubbed out in a medium sized bowl. Although I find it can be a tiny bit nippy for the first few puffs, it soon settles down and burns very nicely.

When I want to treat myself, I cut a thin coin of Brown Bogie, rub that out with the flake and load them up together. The small amount Brown Bogie just nudges the strength and body of the smoke up by a fraction and makes a subtle contribution to the flavour, rounding it out a little. It's an indulgence I can heartily recommend, as I can Rum Flake.

It loaded well into a medium billiard, but due to its freshness, it needed many a light to get it - and keep it - going. However, it still was quite a remarkable smoke. I enjoyed it very much. It was pleasantly sweet, but not cloying. Despite the frequent re-lights, it smoked hot and with some bite only if puffed fast (I smoked two bowls back to back it was that good). It did have a soapy taste with lighting that pretty much stayed throughout the smoke. However, all though ever present, the soapy flavor actually was quite tolerable. The other flavorings blended superbly with this mild soapiness, and there was a nice tobacco presence as well. My youngest daughter said the tin aroma smelled like maple syrup. My oldest said the room note was like the caramelized smell of a roasting marshmallow. DGT on this one was spot on. As said, it can smoke hot and bite if pushed, so best to sip at this one.

Overall, I was very surprised with Rum Flake; enough so to add it to my rotation - perhaps once or twice weekly. Definitely better than an American blended aromatic, Rum Flake is a fine example of an expertly blended English aromatic.

UPDATE 3-24-13: My latest tin of RF had virtually no tin note at all - nor while smoking it. I thought it was a problem with the seal, but some RF I have left over from a previous tin is as dry as tinder but yet has a nice tin note and more flavor while smoking - go figure. The fresh one smokes like BB#2 but with a bit more Burley presence. Still good, but disappointed.