G. L. Pease Stonehenge Flake

When you first open your tin you will find semi-broken flakes nicely folded to fit. I think they are way too big and broken up to fold and stuff but they do rub out easily. The tin note is very inviting as with any topped blend, the topping is fairly up front. At first you smell the chocolate, and maybe I'm going a little far here, but it reminds me of milk chocolate I used to have as a kid. Underneath that smell is a nice nuttiness from the Burleys and some of that familiar Virginia sweetness. Lighting this takes a little bit more time than normal and you may end up relighting a little bit more than normal throughout the bowl. I think the flakes come at a good dryness but your mileage may vary. Don't be tempted to pack too much in your bowl as the flakes tend to expand quite a bit.

Now to taste. Upon lighting I do taste the chocolate and I think it has a lingering pleasant taste. It definitely melds with the Burleys and their nuttiness. I am having a harder time tasting the Virginias, but I do get the spiciness of the Perique every now and then which is very enjoyable. There is a tiny amount of that Virginia hay, but I think the sweetness is lost in the topping.

I'm hit or miss when it comes to topped blends as my reviews for Bengal Slices and Orlik's DSK will show, but I think this one is really nice. It's not a daily go-to for me, but definitely would make a nice blend to sit down to with a good book. It burns quite slow which means your experience will take some time, but that's what this is all about. I think the taste is a medium to mild, the nicotine is right in the middle of medium for me.

I just finished up my first tin of the four I purchased when this was reintroduced in 2017 and I am very happy that I bought four. This is a great American Lakeland blend and will remind one of a few Gawith blends.

I normally don't like a chocolate topped blend, but I find that with any of the Lakeland scented blends, what I normally like, means nothing, as the toppings seldom taste as I am accustomed; the flowery perfume scents (or soap to some) just morphs the toppings into something else. Sometimes this works for me; other times, not so much. In this case, it does. The topping is pretty dominant but does allow some underlying tobacco taste to emerge; particularly after you pass the half bowl mark.

This is also a smooth smoking blend. Much like Gawith blends, this should not bite the smoker, even with mindless puffing. I won't go too much into the component tobaccos as they do not stand out so much. The Virginia leaf does seem to stand out above the rest as that sugar sweetness is there in spades.

This was great and I look forward to trying the other tins I purchased as they get some more age on them.

A Full-Flavored VA/Per

The Virginia varietals are incredibly earthy and tangy with a solid base of sweetness. There seems to be more perique in Stonehenge than in the other Pease VA/Pers, which I enjoy. The burley tobacco adds more earthiness and volume to the smoke.

The flavors change drastically throughout a bowl. In the first half, the mild coco topping comes through and pairs well with the sweet earthiness of the tobaccos. In the last half of a bowl, the very mild Lakeland essence comes to the forefront.

Stonehenge is rich and flavorful. It is a blend I like to smoke after dinner, but not something I would want to smoke every day.

This is my initial review after smoking my first bowl. So starting off I was unsure which direction my palate would go with this blend. I am VA, VA/Per smoker. I tend to turn my nose up at anything with latakia in it, and I typically un-enjoy any type of added flavoring or toping that is added with any intention other than to help enhance a particular characteristic of a component tobacco.

Upon opening the tin it was met with the smell of baked bread and coco powder, almost a creamy-ness to the tin note. If I tried really hard I think I could detect the lakeland essence, but never having experienced this added component prior I wasn't sure what all was going on there. All and all I was a bit concerned with the coco-powder sent occupying my olfactory glands.

Flakes were well presented a medium thickness slightly moist flake. Soft to the touch and easily rubbed out. I gave it some extra time for drying as I enjoy my tobaccos and the drier side of dry, and my climate requires some extra dry time in and of its self.

Tobacco packs easily , took to the flame as expected and stayed lit quite well. A few relights towards the bottom of the bowl but again that is expected. On the the meat and potatoes of this reviews. So the lakeland essence is there, I noticed it almost immediately after charring light was completed and I was "off to the races" sort of say. It hit me as old lady's perfume. Its no obnoxious or even offensive. Id go as far as to say it was done tastefully? I can understand why some hate it, and if the lakeland essence had been added anymore than what is there, I could see myself being quite turned off by it. But all and all it made the smoke quite interesting. I found myself the entire time trying to tease out those red virginia's. I felt the coco-powder flavoring muted the reds. Able to sense the natural sweetness beneath the added flavorings, but I don't feel I was able to enjoy the sweet natural tobaccos unmolested until the last 1/4 of the bowl and even that was just for a moment. The chocolate/ coco flavoring is there neck and neck with the lakeland I feel. I also found this creamy "mutedness" to the smoke. Caused by the coco taming the sour/sweet smoke coming from the virginia, All and all I need more time to throughly investigate this blend as Ive only enjoyed 1 bowl of it so far. As of now it is not a everyday smoke, but I could see myself reaching for it on a certain occasion where I have a craving for something just a little different than what's my usual.

Would i recommend it. Absolutely, if you've never tried a lakeland blend. Id say start with this one and see where you go from there. I can say I will choose not to venture any further into that territory, but again I quite enjoyed the experience. All and all an Interesting smoking that is definitely worth investigating further.

1 caveat Id like to add to consider while enjoying this blend. Pairing this blend with the proper beverage is paramount to its full enjoyment. Shy away from things such as black coffees with a floral note to them (ie. Petes holiday blend). I was pairing these 2 together this morning and found myself overwhelmed with all the floral notes from the lakeland and the coffee. I felt as something darker and smokey-er would have been more appropriate. Something bitter to break up the blends lakeland essence. Perhaps a Pellegrino, or simply a more stout dark roast. Or perhaps some tea if you're into that kind of thing.

I had never tried the original release, so my experience is based on a 2018 tin. Well, it's much more Gawith & Hoggarth than Pease in style, which is fine for me since I absolutely adore Greg's Latakia mixtures but I have never warmed up too much (with a couple of notable exceptions) to his Virginia/VaPer blends.

This one comes a bit moist when the tin is opened, and really benefits from some drying to show its flavours (otherwise it may taste a bit weak and watery). Overall, it's a typical very dense English flake with the typical darkish Virginia base (not exceedingly sweet) and a healthy dose of Perique sourness, plus the right amount of Burley earthiness. I don't find the Lakeland flavouring intrusive at all: here it's very much on the light side, which again is the way I like it.

Overall, it's a robust but not knock-your-socks-off strong blend. I like to rub out the flakes a bit, otherwise it may be a bit hard to keep lit. Plenty of flavour, a bit mouth drying, but very creamy and satisfying. A small to medium bowl is IMHO better than a large one, it keeps the flavours ore concentrated.

While there are other VaPer flakes that I like even better, this is very fine tobacco indeed.

I got a tin of Stonehenge just to see what all the hype was about. I find it to be a very nice tobacco. But not one I'd have on my reorder list. I prefer another similar flake, GH&Co. Louisiana Perique flake, it being a bit stronger in flavor to me. Unfortunately I didn't know about it in 2001. I don't 'Cellar" tobacco, I smoke it now while I can. 😛

Direct from the tin, Stonehenge Flake has a light aroma of hard cider that I've noticed is a typical trait of Virginia based blends. The flakes hold together well and were a little too moist to be smoked with out a bit of drying time.

I get a slightly sweet aroma and the initial flavor is on the milder side. There are notes of earth, floral sweetness, a slight grassiness, and toast. There is also a pleasant hint of orange zest present on the retrohale.

Overall, Stonehenge Flake is a good, medium-bodied blend that could be smoked pretty much any time of day. It did require a fair number of relights, but not too many where it became a nuisance.

Original Release: 4 Stars Current Release: 3 Stars (for now...)

The tin note was perfect for my tastes. Essentially like a bag of Brown Flake Unscented (my personal favorite) but with a touch more cocoa. What's not to like about that? Natural tobacco + cocoa = something good. Like all GH&Co manufactured flakes, this rubs out, packs, and smokes great. A very traditional Gawith flake.

Lakeland: I'm not getting much of it, if any. About the same amount as the Unscented or Best Brown. The best way to describe it is the cliche "there's enough in the blend to know it's made in the Gawith factory". But I'm not picking up the soapy Kendal at all.

How does it compare to the original release? Its young. I'm fortunate to have a few tins of the early 2000's release on hand and could compare. The original has been aging for 15 years so it's not exactly a fair fight. It's kind of a different fight altogether if you ask me. The original run has more stewed dark fruits and is incredibly smooth. The new blend is cocoa forward and has the stewed fruit as a very minor note that has to be pulled out in the retrohale along with a bit of peppery spice.

Overall I'm very happy. Not going to be a regular or all day for me. That'll remain the Brown Flake Unscented for now or Kendal Plug. But I'm incredibly excited to see how this smokes in 5 years.

I will agree with most of the good reviews before me. This is a wonderful flake tobacco. I am not a big fan of straight Virginia flakes. This is nice in that it has a little burley in it. I cannot taste much of the topping, there should be more in my opinion. My only con is I think it burns a little hot.