Samuel Gawith Kendal Cream Deluxe Flake

Even when I don't really *like* a Gawith blend, I am always impressed. That's the case here.

KCF (not to be confused with KFC) is a well made, idiosyncratic blend. The flavor is so distinctive, in fact, that reviews are not so useful: it's a real love-it-or-hate-it blend. The most useful thing I can say is that it's a quality leaf and worth trying.

In the tin it smells like a significantly milder version of Bracken Flake. In the bowl, the difference is more pronounced. The topping is indeed milder than BF, but the leaf is lighter and the burley gives a nutty sweetness (just as it should). That said, I found the topping heavier than some other reviewers. In the end, Kendal Cream is a Lakeland, that is to say, an aromatic: a VA/Burley with that distinctive Gawith "essence" (tonquin?) and a dollop of vanilla. On the bright side it is sweet, full, creamy, but never monochromatic; the added flavors never overwhelm the tobacco. On the downside it gives me a headache, and the flavor is one that I never find myself craving. Neither fish nor fowl, perhaps. Don't buy it if you are after a good Virginia/Burley. Do buy it if you want to experiment with Lakelands, or are exploring quality aromatics, or like vanilla, or just want something new and unexpected.

Let's face it, scented flakes often come down to whether or not one likes the scent. Even if the underlying tobacco is of high quality, and in this case I think it is, and the scent isn't appealing then it just doesn't work. I like scented flakes very much, and I have tried this fresh from the tin and with two years of age on it and the result remains the same. It just doesn't blow my skirt up. I don't get the described chocolate at all and being too bored to pull out the thesaurus, I am going to go with a “minty” taste. Two stars because it is a quality tobacco, just not for me.

Interesting blend. As is my usual custom, I smoked it fresh out of the tin (no drying) and with close to two hours drying time. It behaved rather differently in the two cases.

Fresh... very annoying tin aroma, kind of a soapy floral smell (Lakeland... duh!) but with a hint of something like licorice, like they put in the Pall Mall cigarettes. At the match, I got a pretty good snootful of this aroma, and the taste was a carbon copy of the aroma. Reminded me of Erinmore Flake, which I haven't smoked in decades, and that I don't miss. The flavor became bland as the top note burned off. Very one-dimensional, which was an improvement over that cloying original taste.

Dried out... the tin aroma was less pronounced and finally the actual burley taste won out over the flowers and soap. Much better! I didn't actually *taste* the virginia (I suspect it's of the stoved variety) but I think it toned down the burley... which I felt was a positive. Still a fairly one dimensional smoke and it is bettered IMHO by Stonehaven and a couple of Solani blends and I would have liked a little more virginia flavor to help the blend develop, but this is certainly a decent enough smoke if it's what you're wanting. No glaring faults but not much to recommend it, either.

I’m reviewing this as the only tin (almost ten years old) I’ve got in my hands, received as a gift from a dear friend. Before that, I had just some three bowful trial from a generous tobacconist, and I knew this is not the kind of blend in my preferences. And I have to confirm.

When talking of Gawith’s we are always in the top notch quality. Due to the decade the tobacco came in a perfect smoking status. It took me at least five bowls to take the measure, but at the end this VaBur (or BurVa ?) composition, with a mild flavour (some whiskey? Some tonquin?), has not seduced me at all. A matter of personal preference. I felt it bitter, and a bit too much for my smoking habits, with a non-distinct/muddy flavour. Instead, I did appreciate very much the strength... but that’s not enough for this smoker.

Three for the quality, two for my personal taste. I will not buy it again.

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.

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. **

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.

Grousemoor light?

Kendall Cream is something more than that, but Grousemoor haters beware: The same floral essence is present here, albiet laid on with a somewhat lighter hand. Upon popping the tin, the infamous Grousemoor potpourri scent is immediately noticable, although it seems tipped a bit toward the fruity end of the spectrum. This is not the case upon lighting up, however. The flavoring tastes pretty much like Grousemoor, just less intense (and less intensely sweet).

The real story here is the tobacco itself. Unlike Grousemoor's light, all-Virginia ribbons, KC is a fairly dense flake of both medium-steamed VA and burley. The result is a smoke with more than a hint of Grouse-moor's flavoring, but considerably gutsier and fuller-bodied. And that, I'm guessing, is the cream of which the blend's name speaks.

Bottom line: If you like Grousmoor, give it a try. If you like scented/cased blends and are looking for high-quality tobaccos, give it a try. But if you hate the whole English floral/Sen-Sen thing, step to the left please.

And by all means do NOT confuse it with Kendall Plug!

My acquaintance with this tobacco started with a bit of trouble. A friend gave me a sachet saying, "Take it for free. There's a hole somewhere in the pouch, the tobacco has dried out...". And indeed, there was something crunching inside the forty-gram sachet with the excise stamp "Q1 2016". When I opened the bag and emptied its contents on the table, it became clear to me that the case is frankly difficult: tobacco is badly dried, becoming a monochromatic dark brown color. The strips of flake, already sliced as it was, had partially shattered into separate fibers. There was virtually no dust, however, and I decided to try to restore the mixture. I placed it in a tightly sealed jar with extra moisture, checking twice a day and maintaining the moisture level. It took me two weeks for the tobacco to become normal moisture throughout, at which point I could see that the burley in it was clearly darker than the Virginia, the bulk of which was closer to a shade of baked bread crust.

There was a striking change in the flavor of the tobacco over the time of the recovery. Initially, when dry, the tobacco only smelled strongly of camphor and anise. But, as I moistened, those two notes began to fade and smooth out, and other nuances emerged. After a few days, I smelled clove in the mixture, but not confectionary, but floral. Then the scent of buckwheat honey and a faint woody tone added to it. Finally, around the seventh day, I smelled a light aroma of cream and notes of Virginia - a faint malt note, and variegated herbs - and the honey and woody notes became somewhat brighter. Then there was a slight smell of baked apple. The overall tobacco aroma became smooth and stable by about the tenth day, reminiscent, in general, of the smell of Highland whiskey, but without the alcohol flavoring. The honey note was certainly dominant, woody and meadow notes were supporting it, baked apple, light hints of malt and cream were also present, but to a slight degree. As for camphor and anise, so bright at the beginning of acquaintance, only a slight hint of spice remained.

Of course, it was out of the question to smoke such flake plates whole - during the recovery I repeatedly stirred the tobacco, and therefore the flake almost completely crumbled. So I broke up the flakes definitively, filled the pipe with the mixture, and lit it. The most interesting thing is that in the five minutes of preparation the tobacco had time to dry out a bit. I was immediately struck back with quite a bright nutty-woody note of burley and a slight earthiness in the flavor, as if I had some dust on my tongue. There was also a light, slightly sweet, tonka bean note which I like a lot. Gradually, a slight honey note came into the taste. The essence affected the overall flavor, making it a little "chemical" if I forgetfully took too long to puff. As for the Virginia taste, until about halfway through the pipe it felt like I was smoking a blend consisting of pure English processed burley. I didn't feel the slightest trace of Virginia for a long time - no grassy flavor, no malt or bread, even though there was clearly more of it in the blend. Only by the middle of the pipe did I feel a slight herbaceous flavor. Then a faint note of cream and a faint hint of anise appeared in the bouquet. Overall, the taste remained mild and smooth. The tobacco burned very slowly into a light gray dust, leaving not a drop of moisture in the pipe. The blend gave a slight nicotine kick to the end of the pipe, from which I conclude that, given my sensitivity to burley, the strength of this tobacco is medium or a little higher. The aftertaste is sweet, not persistent.

The smoke from the tobacco has a woody, earthy smell without harsh notes, it is not persistent in the room, in a draft it is dispersed immediately.

What's the result? I don't know how successfully I recovered the mixture, but judging by the rich flavor I got, I mostly succeeded. The resulting tobacco, on the whole, I have not been very impressed. It is very interesting in flavor, but absolutely neutral in taste, being devoid of bright notes. Fans of the Lakeland with a good dose of burley will probably be happy with it. I, on the other hand, think that once I finish it, I won't regret its absence too much. It is a quality everyday tobacco, but no more than that. By the way, I found another tin of this tobacco on my shelves. Maybe in a couple of years I'll open it and compare the experience. But, most likely, I'll just trade it for something more worthy of my attention.