Samuel Gawith Kendal Cream Deluxe Flake

I find this blend mild compared to Stonehaven, which was my first burley virginia blend. It may be too mild for me. I like something a little stronger. There is no bit, it has a nice floral smell. Worth trying. I give it 3 stars.

I took delivery of these flakes in bulk and they smelled great in the bag. I am not opposed to a Lakeland "floral" mixture, as some seem to be. This is a rich full-bodied smoke for me; however, I can't handle the heart-thumping nicotine kick it gave me.

This is much stronger than say Esoterica's Stonehaven, or Pembroke. I smoke them regularly w/o getting the nicotine jitters. I realize I may be a lightweight compared to some, I beleive it was Dirty Harry that said, "...A man needs to know his limitations...".

I plan to cellar and age the rest of this flake in hopes it will mellow with age.

In the tin, this tobacco looks like 3in long strips of bacon, stacked one on top of the other. It has some dark leaf and light colored leaf in these compressed strips. The tin aroma is very mild & sweet. I've found that it smokes better in a larger bowl pipe (by rolling it into a ball and placing in the bottom of the bowl, with some broken sprinkles on top). It can be a little difficult to get it lit, but once it's burning it puts off lots of billowing smoke. I have not been able to detect the burley, but it definitely has the full, sweet taste of virginia. It burns slow and cool with zero tongue bite. If it has a casing, I cannot detect it. The room note is very pleasant as well. Not as stong in nicotine as the 1792 flake, but it still has some punch. This is a high-class tobacco, very elegant! 4-stars.

8/11/2006 update: After trying a couple of more bowlfuls, I detect sweet virgina upon lighting up, then it settles into what the monograph describes as a cream flavor...very distinctive taste which is hard to describe. Although the monograph does not list Perique, I can detect the same type of spicy note that Perique imparts. The burley is still undectable to my tastebuds. No change in my 4-star rating.

I should have started smoking this delicious blend long ago. I'm not one that particularly likes the Lakeland floral scent/taste. In fact, I hate it. Although this blend is supposed to fit into that catagory, I just don't detect it. If it's there, it must be in very small amounts.

What I do taste is a sweet, creamy smoke that burns cool, smokes dry and does not bite the tongue. Four stars!

Very high quality tobacco and very unique. I ordered this with another selection from Gawith (Grouse Moore)and I really enjoyed both of these blends. This did have a very nice ?creamy ? flavor and was a very cool and enjoyable experience. Actually writing this review and remembering these blends has me thinking of putting in an order for more of these scrumptious blends and maybe trying one of Gawith?s English blends

A very nice, somewhat mild blend, with a definite "cream" flavour. I would agree with the reviewer who identified it as a "milky tea". This is not to say that it is unpleasant, but rather a nice, light touch.

Since this tobacco is a flake, the smoker has some control over how rubbed out they want this. I personally like flakes, as preparing my tobacco adds some small joy to the smoking experience.

I have lately been exploring Lakeland Scented Flakes. It is a fascinating journey.

Appearance: A mostly dark brown with some light brown and tan mottling leathery flake of varying thickness.

Tin aroma: Kendal Cream Flake is that it is fairly heavily scented, one that most American pipe smokers would likely call ?soapy?. I don't find that soap is a proper description at all. I pick up tones of black cherry, something sweet and vaguely like molasses and hints of rose as in Greek Rose Petal preserves (not a regular on many an American table). I can also detect deep Virginias and an underlying nuttiness which I attribute to the air curred Burley. There is an underlying sour almost citrus scent as well.

This tobacco seems too moist to me, but I find that it generally performs well straight out of the tin. As with most flake tobaccos I simply take several flakes together, fold them in half and insert them length-wise into the bowl trimming off the excess. I find it has a much better burn this way and makes for a long enjoyable smoke.

For this review, I?ve chosen an Peterson Pipe of the Year 2002 smooth spigot Rhodesian.

A first light is brings billows of rich white smoke, followed with a brief visit of the tamper and then a tamping light. The topping or casing is immediately there a nice compliment to the fine quality leaf underneath. Flavors of cherry, rose and a deep nuttiness are exhaled with increasing pleasure. There is a nice inter working of Virginia sweet 'n sour and Burley nuttiness. This is a fairly sweet mixture owing partly to the Virginias and to the topping/casing agents. As is fairly typical of English flake tobaccos when smoked un rubbed it takes a bit to get this blend going; once there though it smokes with minimal re-lights.

Mid Bowl: Approaching mid-bowl, the fullness tends to build getting rounder and building in complexity. The topping or casing gradually fade completely into the background but never leave the scene. The Virginias build in depth and character while the Burley slowly builds and begins to assert dominance. I've not experienced any hint of tongue bite from this blend, though if over puffed the Burley can become bitter and ruin things. If one takes the time to smoke this slowly and methodically a sweet, rich and flavorful voyage is there for the taking.

Home Stretch: As end of the bowl approaches, I find that it becomes more intense though never overpoweringly so. This blend never reaches the strength of some other SG offerings such as 1792 or Bracken Flake. It is more subdued and mild by comparison. The Burley eventually becomes the most dominant component with the Virginias and the topping/casing fading in intensity. Deep and resonant forest, leather and cigar tones emerge from the heart of this blend. The sweetness and topping/casing never fully leave, yet their initial flavors have matured and ripened into a fascinating mixture of stewed spiced fruits and rich adult pleasures.

Overall this is a mild to medium bodied mixture of outstanding quality and flavor.

Supplemental Notes: This is very likely to become a regular part of my rotation as a something to be reached for when a scented flake is desired without the strength of similar offerings. ***1/2

Although the burning characteristics of this blend were much improved over the "mixture" of the same name from SG that I previously received in error and reviewed, I thought the taste was even more artificial and intense in this flake form. It did not infect my pipes as other aromatics have. This nicely prepared flake is truly creamy as advertised but I miss the natural tobacco taste. However it did get excellent reviews from all non-smokers regarding room aroma. Since most of my smoking is done for my pleasure, I won't have this or other aromatics in my normal rotation. If you enjoy them and also prefer flakes, you might like this blend.