Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Scotch Flake

Another venture into the world of GH&Co and this time I wanted to try one of their milder, 'straight' VA tobaccos. Taking my cue from the reviews of Mr DK (below) I thought this one was most likely to please, and I am glad I followed his judgement.

I have little to add. Yes, the chocolate notes are there in the aroma. Yes, it is a sweet, bready VA. Yes, it smokes impeccably as is typical of GH&Co tobaccos.

Benefits from a bit of drying time, but I don't let it get as crispy as I do most VA flakes.

The only important thing I have to say is that my sample has quite a noticable level of Lakeland soap, apparently more so than experienced by other reviewers. No floral flavours with it, but definite soap. I could have been experiencing some ghosting, as the pipe I have been using for this tobacco was previously host to Bosun Cut Plug, although it has had an alcohol clean since. Anyway, it wasn't a problem for me, but the usual warnings apply for those who are not keen on the soapy stuff.

I can understand that VA purists might prefer a more fullsome, flue-cured number over this (edit: okay this is flue-cured, but you know what I mean). Yes, it ain't the most complex VA flake in the world, but it is a darned good smoke with plenty of flavour. Sometimes that's enough. Will buy more, in larger quantities...I suspect it might cellar wonderfully.

Sweet, sweet, sweet. This is the sweetest tobac I have ever smoked. It is smooth, one dimentional, smokes well, and a nice break from heavy Latakia blends. Very nice tasting & DGT's well.

Another winner from Gawith Hoggarth. This flake looks very much like Bright CR Flake, which is becoming a daily smoke for me. In the past few months I've been exploring the GH flakes and so far I've enjoyed them all. Whatever they do during the pressing and steaming process, produces a flake that tastes like it has been aged for years.

The flakes came with exactly the right amount of moisture for my tastes, which is to say, a little on the dry side. I fold the flakes and pack them vertically in the bowl. The lights are easy. I would say that Scotch Flake has just a touch of that floral aroma that I am beginning to love, but it disappears slowly and yeilds a pure, sweet Virginia flavor. (If you are searching for a GH flake with no floral aroma, try Bright CR Flake.) Mid-bowl, the flavor is supurb. It has everything that I am searching for in a VA flake. It may be slightly less complex than Bright CR Flake, but maybe not. I don't find GH flakes to be as complex as McClelland flakes or Rattray's Marlin Flake, but they give me a more consistant excellence from bowl to bowl. I am currently smoking my second bowl in a row of Scotch Flake and I rarely do that with other flakes.

The end of the bowl always comes too soon. I find myself longing for more free time to sit and enjoy this wonderful flake tobacco. Gawith Hoggarth are producing some of the best blends currently available and I hope this will continue for a long time. Highly recommended.

As with any review, this is my opinion and based on my personal tastes and preferences. Your opinion may well be different. There are variations in tobacco, in production runs, and in storage practices (to name a few). The retailer from whom the tobacco is purchased also has varying practices, which may or may not influence the tobacco prior to your smoking of it.

The flakes were immediately transferred to a glass Mason jar upon receipt and left there for two weeks.

Appearance: Very nice, relatively thick cut flakes, most of which are 4-5" (10-12cm) in length and about 2" (5cm) wide. Almost all of the flakes that I received were fully intact. There were very few broken pieces. The flakes are generally a dark fudge-like brown color with smaller milk chocolate like pieces and streaks that resemble tea with a little too much milk added. The batch I received was relatively moist.

Aroma: Upon opening the jar I am greeted first by the "bready" note typical of many Virginia tobaccos. There is also a sense of sweetness to the "bready" note, similar to a baking sweet bun (that is one without any spices). There is also a mild smell of light tobacco. In the background, there is a slight hint of baking cocoa or semi-sweet chocolate. None of the aromas are strong, even with having the jar open for ten minutes. Upon closing the jar, the aromas dissipate quickly.

Handling: Personally, I prefer to rub out flakes fully before packing my pipe. Beginning to rub out the flake immediately after removing it from the jar, the moisture content is noticeable. The pieces that crumble off the flake initially stick together slightly because of the moisture content. Rubbing out with a lighter touch and for a little longer time reduces this issue and I feel leaves me with a moisture content just about right for smoking. With this method, the flake rubs out to mostly small crumbles with the occasional thin strands of tobacco. Allowing a flake to air dry for 15-20 minutes before rubbing it out reduces the amount of time needed to do so and creates a relatively nice, albeit somewhat chunky, shag-type texture. I find it is relatively easy to pack this tobacco too tightly in my pipe.

Flavor: The first light (after the charring) I initially taste the sweet "bready-ness" evident in the aroma. With the first quarter of the bowl, this is noticed even more in the retrohale. That is also when the cocoa note is most noticeable. In the beginning of the bowl, upon exhale, there is also the occasional citrus note; although it is not there with every puff. Even with a medium cadence, there is no noticeable tongue bite to me. (On a side note, I have tried puffing this one quickly to see if it does bite. If allowed to get too hot and pushed too fast, it can bite slightly, but does dissipate quickly.) I personally find the sweetness stays relatively constant throughout the entire bowl.

By the halfway point, I still notice the sweetness and start to taste a rather straight tobacco flavor as the cocoa in the background slowly wears off. It smokes cool and fairly constant with very few relights needed. While the sweetness of this tobacco is certainly present, I do not find it to be a very strong sweetness. This flake has a tendency to leave a little moisture in the bottom of the bowl and if smoked all the way to the bottom (which I rarely do with any tobacco), there can be some bitterness at the end (which is common with tobacco that leave residual moisture). It leaves a fine light grey ash.

This is a very light and mellow tobacco with no harshness and is very easy to smoke; it is far from complex, but nor is it boring and lacking of flavor. The vitamin N is very mild and barely noticeable. It is not what I would choose first when sitting to read Norse mythology, nor to pair with a 10 year old bourbon. Rather, it is something I'm happy to fill my pipe with and puff on as I run my Saturday errands and don't necessarily want to contemplate what I'm smoking. For those who constantly bombard their palates solely with strong, heavy flavors, this is surely to be a disappointment. However, if you are looking for a change of pace and/or will be smoking near people who are oft inhospitable to pipe smoke, this may be for you.

As a side note, Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. make no mention of any Lakeland casing on this tobacco. However, they do state they use a cocoa casing on it. My presumption is that many tobacconists store all of their tobaccos by one manufacturer very close to each other. With that, I believe that the stronger Lakeland tobaccos could easily assert themselves onto a mild tobacco such as this. I also believe there may be simply some guilt by association, if you understand what I mean.

Another nice flake from GH. There is a very light chocolate scent that reminds me of Bob's Chocolate by the same blender although the chocolate is much farther in the background. I smoke a lot of GH tobaccos and unlike many of them I don't find much of the floral (often described as soapy) taste in this flake. Some reviewers have described it as having a strong soap taste, but unlike many other GH flakes, I don't get that much of it with SF. Scotch Flake burns cleanly and as a puffer I still find no tongue bite, although it can get hot if not careful. I enjoy it best when fully dried. The sweetness is slight at the beginning but grows as the bowl is smoked. I plan of storing some of this as I think time will serve it well. Recommended.

I bought this after being advised it was G&H s answer to Sam Gawiths Golden Glow / Medium Virginia Flake. Well if this is their answer, they got the question horribly wrong. Sorry G&H, but when I lit up, all I got was a rush of soap, had I not been driving at the time, I would have put the pipe out immeadiately for fear of ghosting the pipe. Once the soap had burned off, there was a reasonable virginia present. Such a shame to to treat a good virginia with such flavourings.

A fine tobacco for the lovers of perfumed / soap additives. But sadly not for the more purists.

Once again, after a single pipefull, never again. I'm so glad I only bought 25g

Just a really nice sweet smoke. The sweetness does not intensify as one progresses down the length of the bowl. It stays consistently steady, with an ever so slight floral presence wafting in and out of the smoking experience. Definitely one of the 'milder' flavored blends by this company. The steaming and pressing also adds to the smoothness.

After the initial soap treatment, there was a bit of harshness. This was resolved by simply letting it go out then re-lighting. From then on, it was a smooth cool smoke. It is smokable, but I prefer a bit more body to my smoke. This one a tad bit too mild for me.

I must disagree with Pipestud, this is not flavored with Chanel No.5 ? I think it is Dawn dish soap.

This blend could be considered the Ivory Snow of the G&H line. My bulk flakes were nicely prepared and as usual, I just packed the long strands without any rubout. A cool, even smoke resulted. Although it subsided some during the smoke, the soapy taste was still present and lingered strongly in the aftertaste. I'm not sure if its the tobacco, processing, or additives. However, I couldn't take a steady diet of this blend due to the taste and overall lack of strength.