Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Louisiana Perique Flake

I find this tobacco to be fruity, chocolatey and sweet. Being called Louisiana Perique,it left me wondering where the perique until I read a review saying just enough perique was used to bring out its raisin or plum flavors. As for citrus flavor, to me it's very subdued as is the hint of lakeland. With the riot of plums and chocolate going on I'd have to be looking for it to notice it. If Stonehenge came in bulk, it would be a toss-up between it and Louisiana Perique. I think that I do prefer the Louisiana Flake over Stonehenge. I find Stonehenge more subdued in it's flavors, at least the tin I got. Not having the patience to "rub it out" I usually take a chef's knife and cube it. In the future I'll give it more drying time so it's more easily lit. Without drying it takes three or four times to get it lit. Which may be a plus for Stonehenge, which is a thinner flake,thus easier to light.

I find more chocolate flavour in this particular blend than in Bob's chocolate flake. All and all, it is a better smoke too. The Virginia/Perique leaf is quite apparent and it is all combined in a rather pleasant package that will deliver a very nice and satisfying smoke. These flakes are presented in this sort of irregular well aged format that it is so pleasing to look at. In my personal opinion this is one of the best Gawith Hoggarth VaPers, but the Kendall casing is somewhat missing in this particular blend. If you are undecided due to the fact you are not so much into aromatics, just to say you might like this particular one as the casing does not feel artificial and it won't bite your tongue. There is a huge difference in between English and Danish aromatics and Gawtih Hoggarth is quite representative in this sense. As a matter of fact, I don't regard any of the English aromatics as "aromatics." Rather, I call them "Kendals," for this is what they are.

Mine arrived quite moist, in a very dark velvety flake. Delicious cocoa drinking chocolate scent. Required an hour of drying before full rubbing out and packing. Upon packing, I was surprised at a green leaf or two skulking at the back. Extra drying revealed a Lakeland floral.

No problems with the light, and no real problems staying lit. No bite. The only problems henceforth were its lack of character. I know this review is at odds the the body of reviews before it, but if this is supposed to be an approximation of an American blend, then someone tell me why Lakeland floral is in evidence? Couple that with the fact that the chocolate notes in the tin were so muted when combusted, as to be outdone by the florals that I wonder why they were there to begin with.

I was recommended this as a replacement for Edgeworth RR, I couldn't make that comparison personally. I also got no nuttyness, more dry talcum powder. Not one that agrees with my preferred flavour profile.

EDIT: I tried this again with 5 months of age on my flakes, as though I didn't enjoy my first outing with this leaf, I thought I could have been judging it a little harshly. I wasn't; folded and stuffed this time, though the florals weren't evident, the talcum powder was all over the place - dry and dusty mouth feel, terrible taste.

These are nicely prepared, predominantly dark flakes, that pack, light and smoke evenly. However, to my taste, the advertised 'nutty/chocolate flavor' is absent and replaced by the 'Lakeland soap' too common to G&H blends. Although less evident than in some of their other blends, it's still enough to spoil the enjoyment for me. Unless you enjoy these floral trips, skip this one.

Bag note musty sweet coco this G and H is not wet at all and surprisingly it was a bit on the dry side. This may be because it was purchased from a B & M in bulk. Rather than rubbing it out I break the flakes in half and stuff them in the pipe length wise I think this allows it to burn a bit cooler. This is much milder than I expected from the other reviews. The perique is present but not excessively but it builds as you progress through the bowl. Gives just a bit of tongue tingle. The most prominent notes are coco and some lite sweetness with the spiciness of the perique. Full tobacco flavor. The Lakeland soap is only slightly noticeable. Not an all day smoke but a super nice change. Nic hit is middle. quite enjoyable if you like perique.

A different class of VaPer ... flakes are dark and notes are of typical G&H tobacco. Packs and burns easily it gives you a spiciness feel upon lighting and continue through out mid to quarter bowl I don't think its of parique but some other ingredient there is just a hint of chocolate coco taste. As they say vapers are for summer days but this is well intended for the cooler afternoons. A very good enjoable somke.

Plain and simple, this is a delicious high quality pipe tobacco. The Perique in it does not offer the deep, plummy notes and/ or spicy/ peppery flavors one looks for in a VaPer, but I do not miss them when I smoke this flake. There is probably an equal amount of cocoa essence. Has a very nice fresh, oven baked bread like quality, as well.

I started out by getting a couple of small samples over a few months, but now have one 1/2 pint jar cellared, which I intend to let age. I expect it will become even sweeter. More will be ordered because I also like to smoke this new.

This light brown flake is relatively easy to rub out. It is at a moisture level where it is just fine for smoking right out of the bag. The taste is very pleasant, with Perique spiciness and Tonquin flavor. The Virginia is sweet and the balance of flavors is superb. This smooth smoke has finesse and is of moderate nicotine strength. With the Virginia, Perique, Tonquin bean, and whiskey flavor, there is depth and complexity. I really enjoy this tobacco and it is one of the best Vapers I have smoked. Particularly I like the creamy smoothness and the spicy, sweet taste. I smoked it in a medium/large Comoy's Guildhall billiard and a small/medium BBB Sovereign Dublin.

For me this is a ..... scam,I was looking for a honest VaPer and I found a horrible tutifruti broken flake.People that like aromatics probably would fly away only by reading "louisiana",and by our side,non aromaticians,we fall in the trap.If GH call this something like "Tropical Surprise",all would be right.Sorry if you perceive a certain note of hate in this review but I really hate this blend.

Bought loose. Supplied as lovely large flakes that are almost the perfect dryness straight from the pack, they rub out easily and require just a few minutes drying. The tin note is overwhelmingly one of milk chocolate, it's not subtle, maybe just a hint of stewed fruit in the background.

I found the generic lakeland topping incredibly over powering for myself. I honestly couldn't taste any tobacco flavour at all, just topping. I often see lakeland described as soapy, this one isn't.

January 2006.

Before lighting,I removed just enough tobacco to fill my pipe and let it air-out on a sheet of paper for about 10 to 20 min's.

It lit with-out alot of fuss,and just a few tamp's along the way was all that it required.

Here's a real treat that doe's not blow you away with any tongue bite,but doe's have just the right amount of delicious flavour's of both the virginia and perique.

Delicious,but not overpowering at all,and is a great all day blend.

My top 4 Virginia-Perique's are,Escudo,Three Nun's,Mc's 2015 & Louisana Flake.

Highly recommended.

El olor en lata es el de una onza de chocolate con leche. Es de fuerza media y sabor un poco más de medio. El perique se nota poco y y el sabor jabonoso yo no lo noto en absoluto. Sabe a cacao, a chocolate, a bombón. Es dulce y suave con un pequeño toque picante y algo terroso. No es un vaper típico pero está delicioso. Ideal como tabaco navideño y a los que están a tu alrededor les agradará la nota de habitación que deja. Recomendadísimo.

LOUISIANA PERIQUE FLAKE (a.k.a. Louisiana Flake): Without any doubt it is a superior tobacco compared to a lot of junk you can find around. However, I will not give it four stars, but three and now I’m going to explain why (my review refers to the 50 grams tin). Excellent Virginia (really pleasant), perfect Perique, but Louisiana Flake is also a flavored mixture. The Lakeland flavoring is extremely mild but noticeable and it is on the side of the casing. Nothing to say, it is perfect, it integrates completely. Not so for the chocolate topping which seems to me a jarring note (for this reason only 3 stars). Obviously, it’s a matter of taste and this is only my personal opinion. Anyway, a very good tobacco with a medium strength (I confirm). Despite being a Virginia based blend, the Perique is well present and you can taste it from the beginning to the end of the bowl. Justly not overwhelming but in the right proportion (a spice must be felt, it must not cover). So, in my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 9 and three stars.

I thought I would give this a try after recently deciding to try Virginia perique’s again. So I ordered 50g as a starter. So the flakes are as I would expect from Gawith and Hoggarth. They are very long about 1mm thick, straggly and rough around the edges. Rustic really. The smell in the bag is actually quite nice. You get the grassy hay sweetness from the Virginias, some sour notes and a very subtle smell of cocoa. If you pick up a flake and rub it out, you can smell the cocoa a lot more. The moisture level was excellent but I don’t know how it has been stored previously. So with a whole box it might be a bit moist.

It lit really easily and I only had to do the charring light and the full light. The burn was consistent and the tobaccos burns into a fine white ash leaving nothing at the bottom of the bowl. The taste is what I would describe as subtle. You get the sweet grass/hay notes that you would expect, I did have a little tingle which would be the perique and this is topped off by a sweet cocoa taste. It’s not overpowering though. In some of the G&H tonquin blends that is all you taste. It is not like that with this. I think with a big bowl you could spend a good couple of hours trying to pull out of the flavours. The beard note is very pleasant! There is not bite, I smoked some this afternoon between rain showers and in the wind, nothing at all. It was very pleasant.

What I would say is that it doesn’t leap out and grab you. It’s very middle of the line. It’s enjoyable and tastes nice but it feels very “meh”. It would be a good place to start with flake tobaccos and Virginia perique’s because it is middle of the line, doesn’t bite and has a nice cocoa after taste.

The past month or two has been very exciting and productive, as it pertains to my discovery of new tobaccos. I’ve been on a very lucky streak it seems. It’s as if nearly each new blend I try becomes my new favorite.

Such is the case with Louisiana Flake. I’d only just discovered—and fallen madly in love with—Dark Flake Aromatic (also by Gawith Hoggarth) and Rattray’s Marlin Flake, only to be even more blown away by this great VaPer from our dear friends in the Lakeland region.

I’m not one of those pipe smokers who loves most VaPers. To me, a little perique goes a long way... but if there’s too little, it may as well be a straight Virginia. The master tobacco wizards at GH have found the absolute perfect ratio of perique to Virginia.

I’m not going to get into tasting notes, just that this one is absolutely amazing, and I now understand why it sells out within minutes of being released to the public. The pouch note I found vaguely reminiscent of Escudo, and the perique flavor reminds me of that one as well, although there may be a touch more of it in this blend.

That’s not to say that this one smokes like Escudo. While I consider Escudo good, this one’s great.

The flavoring is light, and simply enhances the flavor of the tobaccos. Perfect. Just perfect.

I “only” have a 500g (and rapidly shrinking) stash of this fine product, and an already sweating how I'm going to be able to keep some of this perpetually on hand.

Because you see this is one of those rare blends I suddenly find myself needing instead of just wanting. Louisiana Flake from our friends at the house of Gawith Hoggarth may be the best thing I’ve ever smoked.

I just finished a one ounce sample of this I purchased 5 yrs ago and I really wished I would have tried it then, because I would have put a few pounds in the cellar. This is just a great tobacco, albeit not for the lakeland haters as it certainly has a bit of that floral essence so common in many(or all?) of the GH blends.

I am not a big fan of Ennerdale or some of the other heavily scented GH blends and this is definitely not one of the heavier ones, but I would put the essence a touch over what is within Best Brown Number 2.

I had read some of the reviews and most of the disdain for this blend does develop over the aforementioned essence, but I was surprised by some who claim the Perique to very light to almost non-existent in this one. I found it quite prominent in the second half of the bowl.

The first half was mostly floral essence with little Virginia or Perique. As you work into the second half of the bowl there is a very fine flavor that develops as the essence transitions to a deep sweetness that can only come from fine virginia and perique. While the Virginia is in the lead, I found the Perigue relevant in that is added both body and spice.

This was a special smoke for me and I loved every bowl I had out of the one ounce sample.

DK's review hits the right notes for this blend. I'll add a few thoughts of my own here.

Louisiana Flake has a heady chocolate nose when fresh, but this subsides with some reposing. I get a bit of chocolate essence on lightup, but it's largely a whiff, rather than an underlying taste. I also much prefer this very dry; it nips me otherwise.

Taste is on the 'oaty' end of the virginia spectrum, and the perique is very light. If I was tasting this blind, I'm not sure I'd know there was any perique present, but that could be a good thing for those who prefer a gentle hand with the stuff.

Medium in terms of strength, and decent nicotine. I prefer this in cooler weather, as it's a bit flat for warmer temps. Still, very pleasant. Doesn't do anything extraordinary, but I like the G&H flavour profile generally, and am slowly working through a big jar that is about 4 years along.

Recommended if you like Empire virginias and a trace of perique, and chocolate isn't a turn-off. Dry it well.

It's been a while since i tried a vi/per so my next choise was this flake.once the tin opens a nice sour smell comes out.a deeper smell reveals some sweet citruses smell.the mostly brown and dark brown flakes are in proper moisture either to fold as they are or to rub wich a prefer for easier lighting with fewer relights.while burning you realize that perique has the lead.lots of figs,dried fruits,raisins,plums and spices are there from the beginning till the end.virginias are mostly citrusy with grass and some earth notes.there is a light lakeland style topping with some cocoa hints and soapy notes.generally the flavours combine very well giving a pleasant and naturall taste.burns cool at medium speed to perfect ash with some moisture left at the end of the bowl and more at the filter.room note is bareable with a nice sweet and sour aftertaste and no tongue bite.nicotine level is almost medium.an all day blend.in conclusion i liked a lot this blend and i recommend it specially for those who like perique in lakeland style.recommended.

Yes, I agree with previous comments: it is a VaPer for those who think they don’t like VaPers. So, logically, it is not a real VaPer! For more than one reason: perique is hardly noticeable, flavours -imho- don’t fit in with a VaPer (which is already full of natural lemons, figs, peppers..), the classical and well known interplay “ketchupy” va-per does not show, vecause of flavours. Last, but not least, the usual Kendal soap appears. (If so many Kendals are so,d, it means that the soap has its fans. But I am still sorry everytime I smell it, because some of the unscented (u/s) Kendals are oh so great! why do they keep on wasting them with flowers and soap?)?

Said that, the smell is nice, though very little perique reaches the nose. Flakes are well moisted, dark and stiff, with nice sugar crystals blinking here and there. Easy flake to rub and pack, smokes quite humid, so pack it loose. Finally, a vaper flake which doesnt look like a vaper flake, so try it if you don’t like vaper flake! (Huh? What have I just written?)