Samuel Gawith Kendal Cream Deluxe Flake

Well, good luck to all those who enjoy smoking this ghastly tobacco. In fact I'm not sure tobacco is the right word.

When opening the tin one is presented with a strong floral smell, perhaps some vanilla, perhaps something else that's a bit chemical. Smells like an old lady's perfume collection from the Victorian age.

Difficult to light, doesn't produce much smoke, and when it does the smoke is full of the perfume aroma. Disgusting.

How on earth they've managed to sell this stuff for so many years is beyond me, but then all tastes differ and to some people this stuff is an absolute Godsend. Not for me though. Never again. After half a pipeful I threw the rest of the tin away. Loathesome.

KCDF is a dark, moist flake with an aroma suggesting a lengthy fermentation. I am not picking up the Lakeland essence in the tin. It is an attractive flake, but not with the precision of the F&T CVP. What does F&T do with their trimmings? It looks like SG adds some loose stuff in the tin, or maybe it gets jostled in transit and breaks up.

It rubs out, sort of. I don't dry it because it lights up and burns dry and cool. It clings to the bowl when burned, but that maybe related to the blend that preceded it. It is smooth, though I am not sure I would call it creamy. It is sturdy, and the nicotine rings in my ears a little. It starts with subtle sweetness and floral essence, and becomes earthy, leathery, and woody as it progresses. The Lakeland essence does not disappear, but persists mildly in its floral and tonquin qualities.

I think the Warrior Plug comparison made by hagen is on target. It is similar, too, to the Yachtsman Plug, though not as sweet. The Burley/VA ratio is weighted more to the Burley here, and then there is the Lakeland essence.

Folks who may be wary of the essence may find this one acceptable. This is foremost a great VA/Burley blend.

07/27/09 UPDATE: I am revising some of my reviews. I have given out more 4 star ratings than anything else. That practice is probably not helping. So, I am reducing KCF to 3 stars, not because I like it less than I did before, but because I am limiting 4 stars to fewer than 25% of all my reviews. One day I may use the 4 star rating to designate my top five.

After finding this very enjoyable & affordable smoke I'm not feeling so sad about the departure of Edgeworth R/R.

IMHO Kendle Cream is superior to that Lame Lane Limited offering.

It's good to know that a company like SG will probably be offering quality tobacco long after my last pipe as gone out.

This blend really shines around mid bowl, and as with most burly blends it taste better in a $10.00 cob than a $300.00 briar.

Kendal Cream Flake is a typical SG flake that needs to be dried out. After quite a bit of experimenting I fully rub-out SG's flakes; to be fair I never tried the fold-and-stuff approach with this flake. Like most SG flakes this one has some burning difficulties: it typically requires re-lights and seldom burns to a fine ash. Indeed, Kendal may actually require a bit more attention than others. I get a mild Burley-Virginia tobacco taste with a pleasant mild flavoring. I think the flavoring is liquorish. Regardless, the flavoring is subtle enough so as to augment the tobacco and not overwhelm: I certainly don?t consider this an aromatic blend. This tobacco will produce nice nicotine bearing clouds of pleasant smelling smoke without bighting the tongue. Ultimately, Kendal Cream Flake is a pleasant though forgettable smoke. I?ll only give this two stars as it didn?t really distinguish itself. I don?t think I?ll buy any more. I would recommend Stonehaven as a similar and superior blend.

Kendal Cream Flake is dark. I was really expecting something different, but I really like what I've found. The references to some other tobacco blends in the reviews here have me stumped. I was going to start out with a joke about getting this mixed up with GH's Kendal Flake, which for me is impossible. But, I see we all have different tastes--that's cool. So, I confess:

This has everything I like about Braken, St. Bruno RR, 1792, and Royal Yacht )yes Royal Yacht(, and nothing I don't. It's smooth. It's hard to get hot or bitter.(slight fault-1792). It's mildly cased. (bulk buy=air exposure). It's available. And, it's tasty, though I can't say what it tastes like. (Royal Yacht). Plus-Nicotine! From the beginning, this is a great smoke; with a year or more of age it's fantastic.

I can't find pounds of FVF these days and, alas, I smoke too much to have any cellared. Don't confuse the two but, could this be a stand in?

Nah----just Highly Recommended.

Yes, this is a VA, Burley blend of the Lakeland variety. Unfortunately, in the tin, it is a stickey, not-easily-rubbed-out flake with a keen nicotine hit. Grousemoor is one of my favorites and does everything this flake would ever hope to do. Plus, Grousemoor is ready-rubbed and smokeable from the start. Don't smoke Kendall Cream Flake as your first SG floral belnd, else you might swear off the brand. Try Grousemoor first, and if it sits well with you, then experiment with Kendall Cream flake. Drying required!

Two stars of four. **

Ah, the best of the Lakeland Flakes.

This is one superb flake and one that is very similar to GHC?s Kendal Flake. Frankly if your not smoking them side by side, then you will probably only be able to tell them apart from their tin aromas. Taste wise KCF clinches it with the addition of a milky tea middle that is lacking from KF.

The taste very distinctive, with mint, elderflower, milky tea, witch hazel and many other flavours all rolling around one another perfectly. I?m surprised that there isn?t a review whinging that KCF tastes like pine disinfectant, as this does creep in a little during charring. Apart from this element at the start KCF is a near perfect blend.

This review is based on KCF deluxe, which has a slightly more floral note than the KCF bulk.

Notes: Smoked several batches in several pipes; I found it best in a old Charatan I have dedicated for Lakeland blends. It is rather scented, so you may want to consider a dedicated pipe.

Appearance: Reddish to dark brown densely pressed 6" flake.

Aroma: Strong scent of perfume (a la Chanel No. 5), honey, mead, pink roses, ripe plum, benzoin spirit gum.

Taste: Mildly perfumed, enough to allow the flavor of the tobacco to come through rather well. The tobacco flavor is round and shows a quality Virginia leaf, as is typical of Samuel Gawith's offerings. More on the nutty side, with a little acidic quality that may diminish with age. The palate is dominated, nevertheless by the casing, which provides the flavor of rose petals, crystallized violets, geranium buds, amber, and lime.

Comparisons: Each of the Lakeland blends is similar in that they are all perfumed blends; each has its own unique scent however. This is less citrus and berries than Danish blends or Royal Yacht. Less deep and nutty than Coniston or 1792. More a "Turkish bazaar" sort of flake, I would say.

Bottom Line: For those who enjoy the scented Lakeland flakes, and enjoy a medium bodied Oriental sort of flavor, this may be a winner.

Tim of paylesspipes introduced me (8/03) to this wonderful scented flake -- a true "lakeland" flake. Talk about ecstasy. I had tried, mostly successfully, SG blends before from the Tinder Box, but that SG line seemed to regress (in availability) in recent years. I'm glad they are back plentiful!

I have smoked SG full virginia flake (a little on the dark side but nowhere near 1792) and medium virginia flake (not cooked as long as the full and slightly sweeter) and Brown Flake before. I enjoyed the first two more, as Brown Flake, though liked by many, seemed to have a little edge for me at times.

Kendal Cream Flake is based on the Best Brown formula, they say, which in turn is based on medium virginia flake scented slightly. Kendal Cream Flake adds burley to the mix, for a slightly rounder taste, and a bit more scenting. It seems SG wants to compete more with G&H on the scented flake line (lakeland flakes). The competition is welcome. These English flakes do not use glycerins for preservation like some American aromatics do. They are high quality, if not on the strong or heavily scented side in some cases. Some of those lakelands go over the edge, but not here (but some all natural smokers will feel it's close).

It burns cooly and is quite sweet. Not hot like some bright flakes (the flake here is darker than that). The burley keeps it tame and the sweetness to me is a little reminiscent of G&H broken flake no. 7. I do not know what flowerly-like scent SG uses here. They keep secrets. (It's like McClelland flake no. 27 to the max, but stays cool, and is reputedly sweeter than SG's Firedance flake.) You could also liken the sweetness to Best Brown enhanced, but the burley does add extra taste and mellowness to the blend too.

Like most flakes, it is best to take a slice -- which are easily removable from the tine -- and push or plug it into into the bowl gently while avoiding air pockets. It takes a few swirls with the lighter to get the burn going, but once it's going good, it pretty much stays lit. I usually had to relight it once or twice to the bottom, but not a problem.

I found the taste spicier when I broke up the flakes more. Some may like that sweet-spicy interplay, but I mostly preferred a rounder smoke. So I kept the flakes intact as best as I could during packing. The flakes are plyable.

It smokes dryly in the pipe and the walls stay clean. However, since there is some oil scenting and cooking involved in the flakes, some residue creeps into the shank, which requires use of a pipecleaner during the smoke (I recommend more than once) to avoid any buildup. With a pipecleaner, the taste remained sweet throughout. So use a system pipe or a pipe that passes the pipe cleaner test. You are rewarded with a sweet, flavorful and reasonably dry smoke then. (This pipecleaner use is a trait to some degree with all flakes.)

After finishing the tin, I bought a pound. I smoked the tin in Mastro which I had smoke some Grousemore in and in a Romford I had smoked Best Brown in. So it took a few bowls for the new flavor to settle in, but both pipes tasted similarly after about 10 bowls each. The room aroma was praised (by most). It smelled perfumy to me (nice). Solidly recommended for you lakeland types or new recruits.