Samuel Gawith Kendal Cream Deluxe Flake

This flake had an unusual tin aroma. If I closed my eyes and thought on it greatly I suppose it could be described as chocolate/cocoa. When I lit this one up I quickly discovered that it was not cocoa, nor was it creamy, it was quite peculiar tasting and acrid. I can't place the taste/aroma when burning, but I know I didn't like it very much. Though this was not pleasing to my sense of taste/smell, it burned very well and produced a nice volume of smoke and it needed no drying time before smoking. BTW, this is definitely not a "sweetish" aromatic. I suppose if you're like me you will try anything once just so you can give new things a whirl...Well I gave this a try and must pass on Kendal Flake. Lastly, I do not think the burley in this flake imparts any negative flavors since burley has a relatively neutral taste profile. It does lend to the overall body of the smoke and is an excellent vessel to absorb the flavoring put upon this flake...too bad I found the flavoring not to be, my cup o' tea.

Every few weeks I absolutely CRAVE this blend. The name is very suitable, but Cream should be bold type and underlined. This is the creamiest smoking flake I have ever packed in my pipe. For some reason, I have difficulties (at times) packing the rubbed out flakes. I never seem to be able to finish the whole bowl, it requires that much attention (It could just be operator error), then my attention floats elsewhere, and I am off to a different blend.

Pairs well with a Rusty Nail.

Others have claimed to taste Lavender in this, but I don't. I taste something bitter, like unsweetened chocolate.

My first impressions were tepid, but now that it's dried out a bit I kind of like it.

This is a Virginia-Burley flake. I'm not a particular fan of burley, but didn't find it objectionable here. It's got a healthy dose of nicotine, a pleasant bitter flavor, and burns well. It is creamy in texture, and very dry in taste and mouthfeel. It is almost devoid of sweetness.

It's clearly not for everyone.

Nice rustic looking flakes. Not very well sorted. Thickness and size varies. Great tin aroma. Almost like tangy fruit soaked leather I'd say. Must be well aged. Lots of sugar crystals on the flakes.

Needs to be dried out of the tin quite a bit. It's pretty obvious by the texture and feel when they are ready to smoke. I like to pull the flakes apart into thin strips and either roll up a sort of pseudo flake or just pack the strips as I would ribbon. Either way it smokes hassle free in a few different pipes anyway.

It's a pretty hardy smoke. Strong in the nicotine department. Smooth and tasty. Not difficult to get along with at all. It's hard to pinpoint anything particular to say about the smoke. For me anyway at this point. It's not like anything I've smoked up to this point but is. It's not bright and sweet nor deep and dark. Somewhere in between with a little musty sweetness I guess. I'm standing on the fence apparently. But there is nothing bad about it. It's all good. I have alot of tobacco on hand at this point and find myself reaching for it when I feel a bit like smoking a bright virginia but don't want to bother sitting concentrating on gentle sips for any flavour. These flakes bring it right out and say hello.

3 stars for being a pleasurable smoke. I'd buy it again.

In the container the smell is wonderful. The first problem is to keep this bacy going, it's relight after relight even after being pretty dry, the perfume flavoring doesn't taste that well in the smoke. It's one of does nah smokes for me, not worth the trouble.

I find this blend has one real heavy kick of nicotine that really affected me this morning. Mental Note: EAT FIRST. Good thing I can do my job without thinking clearly. I am used to less Vitamin N than what this one loads up. But really, this does seem to be another hit for me from SG. The flakes do seem to be on the thick side, as others have noted previously. I have done the fold and stuff method and the slightly rubbed out method with about the same results for burning quality. This seems to be a real slow burner, which is fantastic. There does seem to be a nice amount of smoke. This burns down to a nice fine ash. The taste is great for me. I'll put this down as pleasant for room note, since I have only smoked this outside. I would definitely recommend this blend for those who are looking to see what an English blender can do with these fine leaves that we constantly burn up. As long as I eat before smoking this fine blend, it really is one of the best smokes I have had the pleasure to burn.

This mixture is not my thing. Althout the tobaccos are high quality and enjoyable when you can focus on them, the casing is odd and kind of mismatching the base leaf. Towards the bottom half of the bowl, once you're past the yuck point, you can appreciate the great Virginias and the backing burley, but with so many great tobaccos on the market, what's the point?

I didn't react well to this flake - nor my pipes.

The tin aroma was wondeful, but smoking it proved disappointing.

It was strong, bitey and the casing was badly reacting with the briar. And the nicotine content make my head spin.

Only St -Bruno flake proved to be worse than this one...

Like others on here, this was my first foray into the Lakeland style blends. Out of the tin, the brown flakes emit a rich earthy smell that I went absolutely nuts over. The flakes themselves came cut fairly thick and very moist. From what I've read, this fares better folded rather than rubbed, so that's been my only experience so far, having let the flake dry overnight. It takes a LOT of relights for me, and the strands tend to harden into charcoal as the bowl progresses. This is probably my own fault for not drying it out better. Aside from my own fiddling and relighting, it lasts quite a while; a single bowl takes me all day with on-and-off smoking. The first half of the bowl gives me wispy smoke and a taste that mirrors the tin smell, while the second half gives me a richer flavor and body. The cocoa certainly comes out here, but doesn't overpower the tobacco by any means. I see why others have labeled this creamy: it's gentle on the tongue and rich without being overly sweet or smoky in flavor. Someone in a past review mentioned the taste of milky tea and I'd say that's spot-on. As for the room note, I was less than pleased. I'm not big on burley, neither the flavor nor the smell. It plays into the taste well here, but leaves a cigar-like aroma afterwards. My pipe smells like coffee (though I can't detect much ghosting), but the room smells stale. This one stays outside. No complaints there, seeing as this is great for sitting and reading outside. Lastly, this gives me a good nicotine kick. Not one of my better ideas to combine this with a big cup of french-press coffee on an empty stomach.

--- After revisiting this tobacco, I'm finding that my tastes are changing significantly. The above still holds true; it is an aromatic that is well-fragranced and based on great tobaccos, but the combination of Lakeland scent, nicotine, and (particularly) burley is not really agreeing with me.