Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Kendal Kentucky

Smoking Kendall KY, for the first time, is like going to the senior prom with the bouffanted barmaid from the local taproom and she's driving her '72 Eldorado with the leopard skin seat covers. This is a serious experience, not to be taken lightly and not to be forgotten. It is life transforming rite-of-passage. KKY pushes the limit of the matured smoker. It is a mostly black fragrant shag cut tobacco blend of cosmic strength. I was fortunate enough to have ordered my staple 5Bros from Marscigars. Small samples of Kendall KY and the GH Dark shag were included, clearly for seduction purposes. 5Bros is legendary for strength and flavor, full-bodied and unpretentious shag cut for pipe or chew. Kendall KY is about halfstep above 5Bros in taste and burn, with the added charm of a roomnote like all-night smoking Parodis little cigars. Not unpleasant but real tobacco. After I smoked all of the sample, I bought another 8 oz, perfect with an apple meer of great reliability. Kendall KY doesn't burn clean or smooth, or handle relights well. But, it provides a thoroughly enjoyable experience to the bottom of the bowl, and a wonderful lingering aroma to your clothes. If this were a movie it would clearly be NC17. Good stuff for the experienced pipesmoker.

Over the past few weeks, I have been waltzing my way through a trio of the G&H shag-cut offerings. I'm enjoyin' 'em all, but Kendal Kentucky is the real bell-ringer.

Pouch note is slightly floral, a bit musty, and reeks of something like rancid chocolate. I realize that might not be everyone's idea of fetching, but it works for me.

Pack it tight, easy to light. The taste reminds me of Dark Flake and Dark Plug, with some woodier notes creeping in. Lots of flavour and nicotine. Burns well, and if you don't tug too hard, is lightly spicy on the tongue and through the nose.

Very good all by itself, but makes a terrific mixer, too. I have been adding pinches to some lighter English mixtures, which fills them out nicely.

Firmly recommended for those who like this sort of thing.

I had been wanting to try this for some time, but it seemed to be out of stock every time I checked. Then I met a new friend who gifted me a very generous sampling. Many thanks, Dustin.

I really enjoyed my first bowl of this. At the time though I was both smoking and talking and was unable to fully concentrate on it. I would have given it 4 stars based on that bowl. After having had several more I have to downgrade it to three. The problem is my normal pace which can be rather quick. At that pace it's slightly acrid due to the nature of a smoked tobacco. I do get some very nice nutty notes and a fair amount of earth and smoke. It taste very good, but that slight acrid note is a little distracting from the pleasure. Not terribly so. Just enough to detract. It can be avoided by adopting a slower pace and then it's an outstanding smoke. Problem is, I have to force myself to do so.

Smokes very much the same in cob or briar. The nuances are a little clearer in a clay. I like this best as a blender. A dash of this with some Bright Virginias is delicious.

Body is medium to strong. Taste is full. Has a near perfect burn, although a little quick. A very nice smoke.

The cut is not so thin as 5 Bros or something like Drum. I would characterize it as very fine long ribbon. The color is a uniform dark brown, and the pouch note is smokey and slightly sweet. Mine was delivered slightly moist, but I smoked it as delivered and did not worry about drying it. I was careful not to pack it too tight initially but found it smoked better firmly packed.

The first observation is that this is a strong tobacco. For me it is stronger than OJK, and up there with Irish Flake. The flavors are very good, and there is spice and toast. It is (as expected) smokey, and a little thick in terms of mouth texture or "feel." There is a flavor in it I can't quite identify, and it is a heavy fruit with just a whiff of Lakeland sauce every now and then.

I liked this, and I found it smoked best in a wider bowl. This quality combined with the strength means it may not be suited to every smoker. It is expensive for a cheap guy, but I do find I am very fond of it. It is a solid 3. If you need a "fix," this will do it with style.

Edit 9/12/17: I am half way through a 500 g sack of this, so it is really a 3.5 on my scale.

Looking threw my cellar for something for xmas morning I discovered a 6 yr old gallon jar of this blend pop the lid and was greeted with a nice moist & sweet burley smell very unique, knowing shag cut I grabbed a fair amount for a couple of bowls , let it air dry on my tobacco bowl(paper plate) for 30 Min. stuffed my favorite chimney meerschaum & 2 charing lights& some steady puffing,was hit with a smooth & more mellow KK then when it was young very nutty ,sweet & much more mellow no tongue bite no matter how aggressive I smoked ,detected a sweetness that was not there before ,what can I say if you like 1 diminutional tobacco (not a bad thing in this case) with a little N kick in the pants this is a good blend for that but I would recommend put some in the cellar(office closet)for several years.

I recently picked up two ounces of Kentucky from my local shop. I love burley and, this variety will surely please those smokers who favor the natural essence of dark cured burley. Although there is no scent added to this variety, a wonderful aroma of charred vanilla and pepper are released during the first few pulls after the initial light. Following this initial phase, the robust characteristics of full-strength burley dominate the pallet the entire life of the bowl. This is one of my favorite's that I smoke straight or, use for my own blends that are burley based. When used as a base for blending, its shag-like consistency makes blending a bit difficult with cube and square cut tobaccos. Although most of the reviews that you made read for Gawith-Hoggarth tobaccos refelct an air of dominating strength and potency, I viewe them as a throw back to the old days of uncased, well cured, natural tobaccos that yeild pleasure for all pipe smokers.

A blend consisting of African grown Kentucky cured burley and nothing else. In the UK this tends to be sold in bulk form as “dark Kentucky shag”.

I can detect no additional flavouring at all in this blend, other than the smoke that was used to cure the tobacco. I detest some of the floral scents used by G&H and I can’t detect any in this tobacco.

I sometimes wonder if what people identify as “Lakeland soap” is actually the result of the wood and other plant materials used to make African dark fired tobacco. The process is very much the same as the way latakia is cured.

Anyway, on to the tobacco. It’s a shag cut, which means it’s not really a proper shag but more of a narrow ribbon - EU regulations mean any tobacco cut as fine as a traditional shag attracts a higher tax rate as a “cigarette tobacco”. I don’t think the narrow ribbon cut makes any difference to how it smokes in a pipe compared to a true shag cut other than slowing the burn rate a bit. It handles easily, packs easily and lights easily even straight from the pouch. Moisture level is fine as supplied.

Taste-wise this is a typical old-fashioned Kentucky tobacco. Elements of woody smokiness, a touch of spice, some herbal elements and the nutty burley itself blend really well together. It reminds me of the little Italian Toscanino cigars which are made from a similar tobacco. Only this is better. I smoke quite a lot of this and the Virginia based G&H Dark Birdseye, which it resembles except the Kentucky is less brash and assertive. It’s not much like the Dark shag/flake, which has a tang all of its’ own.

The flavour is definitely full - I’ve a serious cold at the moment, can’t taste anything - except this tobacco which has the worst the cold bugs can do beat. It’s a good outdoor tobacco as well, retaining its flavour in a way many tobaccos somehow don’t. Aging doesn’t add anything to the blend, but so long as it’s kept well sealed and moist doesn’t seem to harm it either.

It also packs quite a nicotine punch. Like a lot of traditional old-fashioned British tobacco blends it’s one for pipes with small bowls.

I can’t recommend this enough if you are looking for a straightforward, full flavour, full strength tobacco that you can just load into a pipe and light up.

I was given a sample of this with several other shag cut GH blends. All of the samples were large as the person who gave them to me used to use them all for RYO and he no longer wanted to be reminded of his cigarette habit.

To start, I don't like a shag cut. It has nothing to do with the actual smoking of the blends although with the additional surface area, I do find these blends to burn quicker. They are really, to me, a pain in the ass to pack. You take a pinch and you have this large clump that won't even fit into the bowl. On the fact that it is a shag cut alone keeps it from me truly recommending the blend, but I will say that this one is a pleasure to smoke.

It is tasty, strong and has a rich sweetness to it. Underlying all of this is that slight Lakeland floral touch that is almost undetectable in this one. I really like Gawith, Hoggarth and if this were more a standard ribbon cut or a flake I think I would love this one. It is a little like Rich Dark Honeydew in taste to me, but not as aromatic as that one is.

Admittedly a must have baccy for every cigar aficionado. Its very very very cigary. If u like cigars then this blend is perfect for you. Personally, i hate cigars so this blend is not my cup of tea.