Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Kendal Kentucky

I wish this had been the first pipe tobacco blend I ever tried. Could have saved me a lot of time and money. Once I smoked Kendal Kentucky I pretty much stopped wanting to smoke anything else. Of course the problem remains, I haven't tried everything else. Maybe there's a blend out there on par with this, or somehow surpassing it, but I haven't found it. I haven't tried Dark Bird's Eye yet, so we'll see. I suspect I'll like that too. Kendal #7 is very similar to this, though in that blend you can taste a little fruitiness from the Virginia which this is lacking. This is spicy, smoky, earthy, a little sweet, leathery, a little incense-like (the faintest of Lakeland essence far in the background), and a bit chocolatey. I imagine it tastes like the tropical sun and ancient soil of East Africa. It does taste somewhat cigar-like to me.

I was always a huge fan of Drum tobacco when I used to smoke RYOs, and that contains to my nose, the same Kentucky leaf as this. What I love about this though is it contains nothing but Burley, and yet the flavour is deep and complex. Who needs Virginia? The shag cut burns perfectly every time too. Who needs flakes or ribbons?

The nic hit is pretty heavy so use a small bowl. I purchased a Peterson Belgique with a .60 inch bowl specifically for smoking KK. Love it.

Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. - Kendal Kentucky.

The blend is fairly coarse for a shag, nicely hydrated, and dark brown.

I don't find this too bad a smoke, but not that appealing. There's lots of Kentucky flavour, which is pleasant unless the pipe's puffed with too much force; it can become a touch acrid if it's pushed, but gentle sips bring out the best. The burn from it's good, giving a cool smoke.

Nicotine: strong. Room-note: strong, also.

Kendal Kentucky: a good blend, but too heady for my taste.

Two stars.

Fairly uniform in color, medium-dark brown, fine shag cut. Bulk only, so YMMV on moisture, but my sample is fairly moist. It burns ok as is, but does benefit from some drying. The moist fine shag cut is all too easy to clump into a big plug when filling the pipe - filling a bit looser than normal is necessary. Drying it a bit helps with this issue, though.

I've tried KK in a couple of different pipes (cobs and briars) and notice no appreciable difference. This stuff is supposedly 100% dark fired Kentucky leaf. I catch hints of that signature DFK flavor, but it's not nearly as intense as the flake DFK blends I've tried. Overall, the tobacco flavor seems rather bland to me. There is a Lakeland floral component - others report this as being a very light topping, but it comes through quite distinctively for me. I wouldn't say it's a particularly heavy topping, but it's very obviously there. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive to this topping (in a word, I despise it), but I would not recommend KK to a smoker who doesn't like Lakeland perfume flavors. Nicotine is towards the strong-ish end of the spectrum, but isn't overwhelming.

Overall, I don't care for it. GH&Co bulks aren't particularly inexpensive, and there are much better dark fired Kentucky blends out there for just a few pennies more. Maybe Lakeland fans will like this one more than I do.

I think someone wrote that this is like the espresso of tobaccos. I agree, in fact, that is pretty much how I like to smoke KK. Unlike other strong tobaccos the effect of this one is more mental than bodily; it perks you up rather than make you feel heavy or drowsy. Tastewise, this is a very stout tobacco. If smoked carefully, KK is tasty, full and rich. But on the downside, if puffed to hard the smoke can easily turn acrid; and the shag cut also makes the burning a bit sensitive. It burns a bit fast but all the way to the bottom leaving a fine grey ash.

This is not an all day smoke. And for my personal taste the stoutness can be a bit owerwhelming. I therefore prefer to use a filter pipe to reduce the unwanted acrid taste. Also, it is good with a sweet drink to keep the tastebuds in balance. I do get a taste of lakeland essence, only mildly present but enough to ghost my pipe. The lakeland taste first made me hesitant to use KK for blending. But I tried blending it with other tobaccos and the result is ok in lesser dosage.

I think this is a tobacco that is fit for its purpose, it has an inspirational quality that can comes well to hand when I want to be perked up. And it is also ok for blending if you want to add some extra streangth to a milder tobacco. But be careful not to light up a big bowl of KK before having gotten to know this tobacco, because it has a lot of nicotine in it.

My review comes again from a very generous gift from a friend, some 6 bowls coming from a bulk.

Maybe during the time the cut has been changed a bit, my sample is a thin ribbon not a shag. Apart from that, I do completely share the review of the esteemed DK: this is how I like Kentucky to be. Strong but not too much, cool (exagerately cool), smokey but in a very rounded way, with sweet facets. It has some Lakeland remembering in the far distance, maybe just because it’s stored near some scented. Burns like heaven (not too quick).

Italy is one of the producers of Kentucky (to the purpose of manufacturing the “Toscano” cigars) and I’m just wondering why some of this beautiful weed cannot be processed the way the Lakeland manufacturers do, for us poor pipsters.

In the top list of my preferences as pure Kentucky.

I bought this in bulk and smoked a little bit of it when I received it. Then and now, the smell of the unlit tobacco is such a strong, room filling essence of smoke and fermentation as to induce head spinning. A minute after opening the container I had stored it in my wife said to me "I can't sit here!" and we were on an enclosed porch with the windows open!

As terrifying and hyperbolic as Bob Runowski's (RIP, Bob!) review sounds, when lit, all things considered, this is really a remarkably well-behaved burley bordering on possible desert island smoke status. It's wonderfully full-flavored, honest, clean, smokey goodness. It's not the smoothest burning tobacco and does require a few relights despite the shag cut but it is really, really good and although when you are done you know you smoked a pipe there is no reason to fear this excellent tobacco.

Although the contents of my gasketed plastic container was pretty dry the tobacco seems to age really well. I have another nice stash of this still vacuum sealed and am looking forward to enjoying many flavorful bowls of this in some of my larger cobs.

Most surprising of all, my wife who was unable/unwilling to sit on the porch along with the opened container of tobacco was perfectly happy to come back and sit with me and eat her dinner after the container was closed and the pipe was lit. When I asked how the room note was she said it was fine. There you have it, gentlemen!

Too finely cut for me to keep a decent light, and just a bit too much to really enjoy straight, for me this is a great tobacco to have to add a bit of Kentucky 'edge' to the milder blends and OTCs. On its own, not for me.

Kendal Kentucky;

Star Rating = 3.85;

Rating Scores - 10 is the Best and 0 is the Worst;

Pouch Note = 10;

Room Note = 10;

Flavor = 10;

Bite = 10;

Burn = 10;

After Taste = 9;

Raw Score = 59;

Rated Percentage = 98%;

Comment = Very Smooth, Medium Strength, Nice Full Body Natural Tobacco Flavor, White Ash Burn.

I love Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.'s shag cut. Perfect lazy man's smoke. Packs easily. Smokes easily. Burns well.

There is some sort of topping and/or casing (or that famous Lakeland essence) that gives a very pleasant herbal-spicy aroma. KK has a floral taste with occasional soapy tones. The Lakeland essence fades with a little time to air out, and is not nearly as pronounced as in other G, H & Co. blends.

But the main attraction in KK is its powerful nicotine hit. It has one of the strongest doses of nicotine available.

If smoked too fast, the flavor is lost and the smoke becomes bitter. The floral taste gets a little old by the bottom of the bowl. And your pipe will smell like Lakeland "essence" for a long time after the tobacco is gone.

I wouldn't buy this one again. I will probably mix it with some weaker and milder aromatics or Virginias that need a little kick.