Samuel Gawith Kendal Cream Deluxe Flake

Not bad, not great. High quality tobacco, very thick and irregular thickness of flake. Have not been able to smoke a full flake, it's too wet, comes saturated in the tin. Dried out, rubbed, still hard to keep lit. The only way I have been able to smoke it is cubed and dried. It tastes, well it's hard to explain.. Burley and a bit of something, I get a faint aniseed taste at first, then sorta coco, bitter nougat. Its not really creamy as far as I can tell, but it's not rough either.

I won't buy this again, but I'm glad I tried it, I can see how some people would love this stuff.

EDIT - After smoking the last few flakes, I sorta miss it now its gone. I'll buy another tin or two if the opportunity presents itself. I just wish it wasn't so wet. Maybe I'll dry it with the air conditioner.

Nice bendy flakes (which accounts for it needing the odd relit) and to me an interesting flavor. Depending on the pipe, about 1/4 to 1/2 the Lakelands I found in G&H Bob's Chocolate, and this level was about right for me when I was first trying Lakelands -- I can see how some might miss it entirely. I found the 'milky tea' note others have, with a little chocolate cream now and again. Not sweet at all for me. The Nicotine creeps up on me in this blend. After a bit of an internal debate, a three for me.

Since I know there are many tobaccos out there I would rate a 4, the question arises would I rebuy this particular tobacco, assuming my tastes don't change much more. In this case, the answer is probably not too often.

Kendall Cream Flake is obviously a quality flake that gives, as advertised, a creamy full smoke. But I found it lacking subtlety and depth, "two dimensional" as OSR put it. Plus, it was strange.

Once I realized what I was smoking it was way too sweet, floral and weirdly soapy for my taste buds. I say "once I realized" because it was hard for my senses to parse this tobacco. Indeed, my first few bowls of it I felt an odd disconnect between the flavor and the tobacco, that they were out of sync in some way: I was clearly smoking a quality tobacco, but tobacco doesn't taste like this: it was smooth and creamy and filled the mouth nicely, but where's that strange flavor coming from? Oh, is that the tobacco?! It actually took me a couple of bowls to realize that yes, that is the tobacco. (Though I disagree with the strength of the insult, I think BriarLaw is not incorrect when he likens it to a "mix" of "stoved VA/Burley flake with Glade air-freshener".)

Each time I smoked it I had to follow it soon after with a latakia heavy english blend just to get the taste out of my mouth. An odd smoke and I'm glad I tried it, but I'm sure I will never feel a need to go back to it.

Update 08/12: Never say never, eh? Years later, I felt a need to go back to it. Go figure. There's something about its unique flavor that has stayed with me all this time. So I just had to try it again. I'm not sorry I did.

It's still the quality flake I remember; but now that weird "glade air freshener" essence doesn't strike me as unpleasantly obtrusive, but kind of refreshing. I've upped it from two to three stars. KCF won't be a regular in my rotation, but it is one that I may revisit every so often.

One of the three best offerings by SG, the other two for me being Full Virginia Flake and Balkan Flake.

Kendal Cream has that delicious bread taste and aroma combined with some intoxicating flavoring. The smoke is really creamy and incredibly fragrant.

It's strong - don't let the word 'mild' on the tin fool you. It's mild in the taste, but not in the strength. I have smoked the first bowl of it at about 7 am and almost fell asleep. The tickling in the back of the throat will tell you it's got plenty of nicotine.

A very high-quality weed with unique taste and aroma.

I'd give it four stars if it was a bit milder on nicotine.

Okay, here we go! You wanna go out tonight with your nice savinelli pipe, drink a couple of scotch or some pints of Guinness and smoke a strong tobacco that will not make your aura remind of a wet dog? what you do?? You bring along this dark sugary animal! It?s definitely NOT the best of SG collection but it IS definitely worth a night out!

However, I don?t thing I will buy another tin of this animal in the near future as FVF wins the race.

Happy new year to all of thee and happy smoking!

?Oooooh Gwaiiiith? rule the smoking waves?.!?

Kendal Flake is the most approachable of the Lakeland flakes.Feminine in its grace and lack of aggression, it is a delightful introduction to scented flakes. In the genre, 1792 Flake is a class apart, but an acquired taste. This will satisfy any seeker after tobacco taste moderated with a bit of perfume.

Kilted1's review is spot on.

Recently I too have been trying some of the Lakeland scented tobacco's and I found this one to be, if anything, milder in topping than many of the others. In the tin it has a very nice aroma, but when smoked its pretty low key. Once lit this is a nice, cool, even burning smoke. The interplay of the flavoring and the natural tastes is nicely handled.

Granted there will be many who hate the thought of trying anything with the Lakeland flavor, as I did once myself. This would be a good one to try to see what can be done. A quality tobacco and a good smoke. Recommended.

Quirky lakeflake with the standard floral undertone and a "creme" flavor more akin to witch hazel, rosehips, and milky tea. Almost sharp at times rather than cremey, but very intriguing. Some considerable drying time prior to smoking helps this blend behave in the pipe.

As can be expected with Gawith, even their "mild" blends have a bit of kick in the nicotene department, particularly for a sensitive soul like myself. Although this one will set my nerves on end by the bottom of the bowl it's not quite strong enough to make me feel sick. So that's a bonus. This is indeed a fine looking tobacco, a flake that is already a little broken up and easy to rub out. Many people find that all of their blends, which are produced in the Lakeland District of merry ole' England, in fact have a "flower essence". In any case, my tongue wasn't sensitive to notice any particular essense at all. The first time I lit it I detected a sort of "creamy flavour" but I may have been unduly influenced by the blend's name because this never really came through in subsequent smokes. I found this tobacco to be mostly natural in flavour with the slight nutty flavour of the burley poking through.

The quality of the blend is clear in its burning characteristics: Smooth, bite-free and burns down to a fine white ash with minimal relighting. This is a fine blend for those who prefer their tobacco a little more natural and want very little from the flavouring aspect.