Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. No. 7 Broken Flake

I had few bowls of this fine tobacco as my friend gave me some to try it out. He smokes this a lot, and in his office you can always smell some of it's aroma. I liked it from the first puff, as it reminded me of the Condor and st. Bruno. Not exactly that Lakeland floral aroma, but there is something that resembles. There sure is a geranium rose essence in the casing. Maybe there is vanilla also, but I didn't smell it at all. It's a mellow smoke, because of the burley I guess. Still not as good and straight forward as straight VA's. As predominantly latakia and VA/Vaper smoker, I found this interesting enough, also satisfying, not overwhelming, and a smoke that can go perfectly in the morning with your coffee. It bothers however if you smoke it constantly. You get fed up with it and bored. There is something nasty about these Lakeland style aromatics that don't let you smoke them all the way. There is just a limit for the floral smell after which it gets not artificial, but just "too much". Add a bit of dark aroma (vanilla maybe?) to that, and it becomes heavy. As a treat every once in a while it's ok, but not for every day, not for a regular smoke. Just like the cake and the bread. You can eat bread everytime, but you get fed up with cakes and sweets easily.

But that's just my opinion as a LAT/VA/VA-Per smoker. Others may find it delightful.

Another nice offering from GH. Medium brown broken flakes - similar to Rum Flake - and with a moisture content suitable for immediate smoking. Very mild cocoa scent from the bag and some florals and soap as typical of GH. Loading and lighting were a breeze. The overall smoke was one of a slight spice to the tongue (not bite). It didn't smoke hot or produce any moisture while smoking. A typical Burley Virginia mixture, moderately spicy. Mildly floral, not soapy, no discernible taste of cocoa, but this is picked up while lighting and in the side stream. No overt floral taste except for the slight bitterness (in a good way) that florals always seem to have from GH. Would be a good start for those trying out Lakelands. A little more flavoring for me would have been preferred. Overall recommended and definitely one for my weekly rotation.

As always, I recommend my beloved traditional soapy blends! This in particular could please even who usually doesn't like this kind of blend, because the flavouring is mild in the beginning and almost disappears going on down the bowl. The leaves involved are top quality, as usual with G&H, the burning cool and dry and without any tongue bite. Very good.

If you like scented flakes, you'll probably like this one. At the beginning of the bowl the scenting can be a bit over-the-top, but it quickly settles in to a lovely background for a really good Virginia tobacco. I prefer to smoke ol' number 7 in a larger pipe; it burns nice and slow and stays "in the zone" for an extended period. I like this one a lot.

Very strong tobacco. I have some trouble with rubbing out the flake. But thats due to inexperience.

The tin aroma is amazing but it is too much for an inexperienced smoker.

I will definitely try this again in a few months.

This blend has two years of age on it. It is on the milder side in terms of Lakeland application. The components bring out a balanced profile, meaning that none of the flavors is over-emphasized or takes over the blend. The sweetness from the Virginia is fairly tamed for me. I get some smokiness from the Kentucky and a bit of pepper and cocoa from the Burley. But all flavors meld very well - all under the signature Gawith Hoggarth Lakeland signature, even if on a more moderate level.

As you can guess, it's been difficult to pick up individual notes on this one. But I will say that overall I'm getting rose water, soap, perfume type of flavor from the Lakeland casing. Not really getting any vanilla, but in some instances I got just a bit of caramel.

As always, I like to rub out the broken flake and leave it to dry sufficiently. It is then fairly easy to pack and smoke with minimal relights. The smoking pace is moderate-slow without noticeable changes to the flavor, aside from some increase in sharpness, pepper, and overall higher strength. Can be an all-day smoke. No tongue bite.

Mild-medium body and strength.

This was a very pleasant experience for me. I only like Lakelands to some extent and this one being a nice mild all-day smoke with moderate Lakeland application, was very nice. Considering buying again in larger amounts. Three stars.

Summary: an excellent Virginia blend with some Burley to give it character beneath the mysterious Lakeland Essence.

Virginia blends require a certain finesse to make interesting because straight Virginia tends to be too sweet (bright), too fruity (red), or too much wheat toast with honey (brown). This broken flake looks like a dead thistle head but lights easily and smokes like a dream, with the sweetness of Virginia given some warmth, breadth, and a little tang of spice from the dark-fired leaf. While the Lakeland Essence haunts my dreams in terror, here it comes across as mild and gives the flavor a little tweak before fading into the background with an incense-like quality. I could smoke this blend all day but its sister blend, "Coniston Cut Plug," would have to feature in there in mid-afternoon for its powerhouse dark fired Kentucky Burley brainhammer. However if you want a Virginia blend that has enough nicotine to keep you paying attention, and a flavor that is internally varied enough to avoid boredom, this is a great find for the all-day smoker.

Totally agree with SteelCowboy. My favorite G&H Lakeland blends! Conniston cut plug and #7broken flake. They both have the capacity to carry me far away! How can tobacco taste this good!

Simple and uncomplicated blend. The can had a 2012 excise. The manufacturer states that this blend is poorly flavored, which in my opinion, is true: I managed to catch only a slight aroma of vanilla and rosehip from the Lakeland. The rest of the scents I'm willing to admit are natural - baked apple, dried cut grass, a little bit of walnut and a slight smell of smoke. Also, the manufacturer claims that this blend is a cut of Coniston Cut Plug. I haven't tried the latter yet, so I can't say if that's true.

The tobacco is sliced sloppily and in plates of varying sizes, which are then broken. The thickness of the plates varies from a millimeter to two, and one plate at different ends may have different thicknesses. It is quite difficult to fill a pipe with such a mixture, and it is better if it is a pipe with a wide bowl. The color of the tobacco is the usual earthy brown for dark Virginia. The kneading is medium, the consistency is dense. The tobacco is a bit dry.

The tobacco flavor is very simple: bread and grassy hint of Virginia, nut, a bit of earth, baked apple. To be honest, I was expecting more. The strength of the tobacco is medium, hardly changes as you smoke. The tobacco is exceptionally mild, burns slowly and cool, burns unevenly, sometimes fades. Burns, leaving a loose, but fine ash. There is little moisture, the tobacco is easily smoked without a filter.

The tobacco smoke has a light, neutral tobacco flavor.

Bottom line: Absolutely no pretensions to anything, an everyday blend with a slight touch of Lakeland.