Samuel Gawith Lakeland Dark

The very woody, earthy, mildly nutty, leathery, musty, slightly spicy and floral Kentucky takes a small lead over the woody, earthy (almost muddy), mildly fermented, slightly tart dark fruity, herbal dark red cured Virginia. I do get a light essence of Lakeland, but it doesn’t interfere with the intrinsic properties of the tobaccos. The strength starts out as medium and falls a hair short of being strong by the last quarter of the experience. The taste level is mostly consistent, and falls just short of being full. The nicotine hit is almost medium. No chance of bite or harshness, but it does have a rough edge here and there. The tobacco is really a more of a ready rub than a broken flake. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a mostly consistent, deep and rich, mildly sweet with a touch of savory flavor from start to finish. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a few relights as the tobacco is a little moist. Has a pleasantly lingering after taste and stronger room note. Not an all day smoke, but it’s repeatable. I recommend a smaller bowl for this one.

-JimInks

This is THE stuff!

I'd been dying to try Lakeland Dark for sometime, but the one mail-order place in the US where I could find it, was out of stock for the longest time. Finally got restocked, and I ordered some immediately....and WOW!

I generally prefer GH&C offerings- but in this case, Sam Gawith takes the cake! This is a strong tobacco, with a good deal of nicotine, and very well-mannered. It provides a rich, full, creamy smok; and despite it being a shag (I normally prefer ropes and flakes) it doesn't even heat up nor bite.

The best part is the flavor! It has a complex flavor which is hard to describe. I usually find SG products too subtle and lacking in flavor....but this one is the exception! There is abundant flavor- nay, many flavors.....including a hint of Lakeland essence. No one flavor jumps out at you- but rather, they weave a unique medley, wafting through each puff, to create a rich, sophisticated and complex smoke with every puff.

Sophisticated, yes- but yet, don't be fooled, this a real-man's old-world tobacco- not some sissy "boutique" clap-trap. It's really the best of both worlds. Perfection!

This has become my new favorite- and will likely stay so- as I can't envision ever finding anything better- this is what I've been looking for!

A broken flake, Lakeland Dark is 1792, without the added tonquin bean flavouring. I must have got one of the first tins off the production as I could still taste a hint of tonquin, however, allowing this to dry a for a while I was left with a strong robust Virginia with a nicotine kick so strong (mind you as was smoking this last thing at night after about 10 bowls of Golden Glow and warrior plug) I thought I had met my Waterloo, however, the more I smoked this, the more I liked it. A small bowl will do nicely and I sleep like a baby, love it. This tobacco is definately not for the novice or the faint hearted

I am posting my comments under Lakeland Dark and Lakeland Dark Flake because the new blend in the States, called Lakeland Dark meets the description listed under Lakeland Dark Flake however there is no mention of the word “Flake” on the tin, only Lakeland Dark here or in the EU that I can find. In both cases, the tin photo is simply that of Lakeland Dark. With that out of the way, I bought a couple of tins when it was recently released here in the States and left one open for nearly two weeks as it was very wet. It was worth the wait. The tin note is herbal, leathery and smoky. I prefer it in a small bowl and was “wowed” at first puff. Typical Lakeland style treatment with no topping that I can detect. For a fairly simple tobacco, it is complex, slightly sweet. Cool burning, it is best sipped to enjoy the earthy, leathery, smoky flavor. Since 1792 ages quite well, I would expect this great smoke to be even better in a few years with the Virginia component only getting sweeter. I find myself now pushing my few remaining tins of 1792 to the back of the closet to make room for this excellent, somewhat strong broken flake. This is going to be a love or hate blend for many, but fans of this type of Lake District tobacco will not be disappointed!

I suppose you could call this a broken flake, but it's more broken than most! It's almost a ready rubbed cut of dark black and dark gray leaf with a lighter tin note than I expected based on its color. It didn't need much rubbing to load, as SG was apparently kind enough to do most of the work. Not too much drying needed, either, which is odd coming from a Sam Gawith Virginia.

I realize that I'm a huge snorking advocate and everyone's tastes are different, but there are very few blends I've smoked that showed more differences in a snork than this one. Mouthpuffing brought out a nice SG version of an old G&H Dark Flake with a rich but subdued flavor (compared to G&H's much more robust version) of Kentucky-style Virginia. I'm not sure if there's Kentucky in this batch but it reminded me of Mac Baren's Old Dark Fired with just a bit more flavor. And the snork? It brought out a rich dark rye biscuit flavor that I could not resist. That flavor was hugely subdued when not snorking, so I found myself snorking almost every puff. I got no Lakeland flavor from my tin. My main fear before cracking this tin is that it was a rope in disguise, and I've had no success with those. Again, this was G&H's version but subdued in strength and therefore, harshness. The flavor was still all there. Complexity was light but I didn't mind - the flavor of this was so satisfying that I smoked almost the entire tin without interspersing other blends. A new favorite! If you enjoy Mac Baren ODF, I think you will enjoy this at least as much. This replaces ODF in my rotation.

Update: Unless you smoke this in about 3 days, remove it from the tin and place it in a baggie or jar, as it dries out FAST!

Full bodied, but not as strong in nic as I expected. Still though, it has a good bit. The Virginias and Kentucky provide about an equal amount of flavor. The Virginias have the same basic flavor that you find in the ropes, The Kentucky is earthy, woody, mildly spicy and a touch acrid. I wish there were a little less Kentucky and more Virginia. There's very little sweetness and I think it could benefit from some. There's very little evolution throughout the bowl. What you get at the beginning is pretty much what you get at the end. It does get just slightly smoother. I get just a touch of Lakeland floral in briar and clay. I get none in a cob. Other than that I noticed no difference. Two stars is the best I can give this one.

I'm gonna rate this as strong, but I'm referring to body when I do. I'd rate nicotine at medium to strong. Extremely mild flavoring. Taste is full. Burns very well whether rubbed out or left as is. Like SteelCowboy did, I'm gonna post this under both listings.

The bowl begins with the rich flavor of dark fired leaf, but as the heat distributes through the tobacco, begins to take on the caramel flavor of heated Virginia, ending with a spicy molasses flavor that continues through the bowl. Like many great combinations, this one seems paradoxical, in that the strong biting taste of dark fired leaf threatens to overwhelm the gentle harvest sweetness of the Virginia, but the triumph of the blender here is that past the first few puffs, the two begin to meld and produce an entirely new flavor.

This mixture compares favorably to other dark fired British isles style blends like Peterson "Perfect Plug" and "Irish Flake," but brings out a sweetness more explicitly, but by binding it to the dark fired flavor, gives it dimension and strengthens the taste of the combined components, making them something greater than the sum of their parts.

For those who like myself fear the "Lakeland Ghost" and its comparison to soap favored by old ladies and Turkish bathhouses, rest assured: despite being described as the famous "1792 blend" without tonquin, this mixture has only the faintest background hint of the combined geranium-and-early-death sensation of Lakeland essence. A solid, complex smoke, this ready-rubbed mixture clocks in at a medium-to-strong at least in comparison to other SG/GH blends, and could easily be an all-day favorite for someone who spends time outdoors and likes hearty, sustaining blends.

Thanks to former Pipes Magazine Forum member "misterlowercase" for this sample.

A forum buddy of mine turned me on to this one (among several others) as I had no intentions of ever trying it because I like 1792 Flake a lot and I enjoy the Tonquin top dressing so Lakeland Dark just sounded uninteresting to me. How amazed I was to find that the removal of that top dressing created an entirely different tasting blend with a whole new spectrum of notes and nuances. Superb! This is a rich, smooth and complex smoke and make no mistake, the nicotine content is in the high range, so those looking for a strong baccy, look no further. This is similar to the taste profile of it's cousin blend, GH&Co. Dark Flake U/S and I also get a lot of similarities between this and Westmorland Slices. I found room in my rotation for this one along with 1792 because to me they are completely different blends. Come on over to the dark side!

Essential

Samuel Gawith - Lakeland Dark.

Nothing new for Sam G, it's far too wet. Although it's badged as a broken flake there's not many pieces in the tin which resemble a flake, broken or whole. Apart from one length of flake, the mix is made up of really dark ribbons; REALLY dark

The flavour from Lakeland's very full, albeit quite caustic. I get lot's of the fiery Kentuckiness but none of the grass or hay from the Virginia; it's a very indomitable smoke. Towards the end of a bowl this caustic note increases in strength, and becomes a sort of harsh liquorice taste. I find the actual smoke quite comfortable in its make-up: not too hot and bite free.

Nicotine? Very strong; a good breakfast blend, and the room-note isn't very good.

There's no way I could smoke this regularly, I nowhere near macho enough. So this results in a subjective rating of one star, but objectively speaking it's well made, so I'll somewhat recommend it.

Two stars.

I hate to say this, but I really can't imagine anyone smoking this tobacco for fun. It is very strong, very harsh,and remains that way throughout the bowl. It will wear you down like Sherman's army. I have done my duty in the name of science, but I won't be smoking this stuff again.