Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Louisiana Perique Flake

The more I smoke G&H flakes, the more I appreciate the remarkable subtlty they exhibit in their flavors. Most of the milder G&H blends don't have anything about them that really hits you in the face; no immediate 'wow' factor. However, they always remain in my regular rotation due to their quality and complexity.

Louisiana Flake is another one of those great, but subtle, offerings from the folks at Gawith & Hogarth. I expected it to be more like a standard va/per blend, but was very pleasantly surprised at how different it was from Escudo or Elizabethan. I don't think I would even classify this as a va/per blend, as it does not behave in the same manner.

Typical of G&H flakes, lighting is a bit ornerous. But once lit, the smoker is greeted with a pleasant tobacco flavor with, as is stated, hints of chocolate. The perique imparts more of a tartness than a tanginess, and really does more to round out the virginias than anything else. The expected lakeland floral taste which I have come to enjoy was quite lacking. I believe that, due to the blending process of this flake, the floral overtones have become the chocolatey undertones.

Halfway through the bowl the tobacco begins to take on a warm character. It doesn't heat up, it's just the sweetness barely peeking through to create a warm taste sensation. The perique tartness goes really well with this sensation, and gives an impression of an even drier smoke than what one is really experiencing. While the tobacco maintained these characteristics throughout the entire smoke, I wouldn't call it boring or one dimensional. Throughout the entire bowl there was a nice interplay of nutty and chocolately flavors dancing around in the background.

If you are already a fan of G&H offerings, this one will be a good fit in your regular rotation. For those of you who have been leary of trying the lakeland tobaccos, this would be a really good one to try.

Very similar to Bob's Chocolate Flake but with the addition of perique. It is probably identical to Tavern Tobacco's Rusty Hinge which is also made by G&H. It has good tobacco flavor with the distinctive flavor of Bob's Choc and the added zip of perique. It can nip if not thoroughly dried. I like to smoke all three back to back. It makes for an interesting evening. Well recommended! Paddy.

If you get this expecting a classic VaPer then you will probably be a bit disappointed as the perique is just a condiment in the same way that some people like to flavour chocolate with chilli. The pouch not is powdery chocolate and some quality Virginia. I don't really pick up on any Lakeland florals here but it doesn't need any. This one lights beautifully and is an absolute delight to smoke from first light to the heel end. This is quickly becoming a firm summer favourite for me and although I prefer something a bit stronger first thing this is easily an all day smoke providing you sandwich it between your favourite VaPer in the morning and evening. The flavour of the excellent Virginia improves throughout the bowl and has just enough nicotine to keep you going. The chocolate that's evident in the pouch note is there through the bowl but I wouldn't class it as a chocolate flavoured tobacco. Rather it caresses the Virginia and Perique and serves to marry them really well. I would recommend that all pipers try it at least once, and if it doesn't work for you then jar and cellar it as the flavours become deeper and richer over time. I'm giving this one a strong 8/10.

Chocolate? Just a pinch. Some kind of floral sweetness and cocoa. Flakes are too moist. Pls dry it as good as it get. Taste is much more noticeable. Taste is sweet chocolate, with hint of figs and again with some kind of floral toping.

Need several relights, but dried well even burn with perfect pace. No need to be afraid of hot bowls. Leave only dot of moisture.

It took some time, when find proper pipe to this tobacco. Can not help to myself, but from cobs it was almost unsmokable.

G&H Louisiana Flake - Here’s the thing w/ Gawith Hoggarth and Samuel Gawith . When Lakeland Essence is applied , you don’t know which one is will be . The rose - geranium or Tonquin is quite nice . Whatever is on this flake is very good IMO and I get a little cocoa also . This flake is fruity also and could be just the Vaper tobaccos but hard to tell . A little hay , baked bread and dark fruit , raisons but not much spice . The Virginias are just sweet enough and Perique is mild bit noticeable, to my liking . Mild to medium nicotine . A great tasting flake . Much better than brown #2 . If I didn’t read the description I would have thought there was a pinch or two of Burley in this . Gawith and Hoggarth is delivering the goods . I have a few more blends to try from them . 3 1/2 stars

I fail to notice any Lakeland-soapiness, as some commenters do, but retrieve a sweet and dry tobacco scent. Being sent as a sampler from a fellow at Oslo Pipe Club, it’s spent some days in the mail box before I was able to open it. It was thus dry, as some others seem to have receive overly moist tobacco. It didn’t bother me, but it required some relights.

Upon smoking, a dry, medium-bodied smoke presents some breadiness, nutty sweetness, and a tinge of bittersweet cocoa. As promised by its description, no overly Perique-tanginess is present, but ads a mild figgy taste. Quite pleasurable, this is a unique take on the VaPer tobacco, and recommended for its mellow smoke and flavours - as some other put it: gentlemanly.

Best smoked in my small, bent Norrøna Lillehammer 1212 pipe.

In August 2016 Smokingpipes.com was running a sale on this tobacco. In 40 years of pipe smoking I've never tried any Gawith Hoggarth & Co. blends but since I'm a VaPer smoker thought I'd buy some and cellar it for a while before smoking.

Today, while rumaging through my cellar I found it and decided to give it a try. I opted for an old Stanwell Majestic pipe with a deep and narrow bowl that I haven't smoked for at least 7 years.

This review is after smoking just one bowl - but as they say first impressions are always lasting.

This tobacco comes in long strips of about 5". It rubbed out well, packed well and took to the flame well. The package note is sweet but not that grassy, dried fruit and fermented smell of "classical" VaPers athat I love. It surely must have a top dressing or light casing but I just couldn't identify it.

At first I was getting a mild floral scent off the retrohale, dare I say, akin to Erinmore flake along with a similar taste. At this point I'm thinking to dump the bowl and get rid of this stuff. But after about 1/3 of the bowl was smoked I began to get a more traditional virginia taste and a barely detectable perique after taste. OK I thought, I'll give it my real taste test I give all tobaccos - smoke it indoors and outdoors.

Outdoors it smelled and tasted more like a traditional VaPer - I was able to tease out a liitle more of the perique hiding behind that grassy smell / taste of the Virginia - not to bad I thought.

Returned to my office and the first thing I noticed was the room note - extremely sweet, almost like an aromatic but subdued - reminded me of warm domestic beer and apricots - really smelled good.

At around 2/3 of the bowl the taste changed to a more nutty character with mild overtones of raisins - probably caused by the oils in the perique starting to come out. Quite enjoyable.

The remaining 1/3 of the bowl yielded a mild nicotine hit and the virginia took a seat to the lead of the perique.

The tobacco smoked cool & dry to a white ash in the bottom of the bowl. It is a mildly sophisticated blend and probably best enjoyed by seasoned smokers as the subtleties may escape a "newbe".

It was an overall enjoyable experience. Although it will not replace Escudo or my remainig stock of. St. James Woods it is nevertheless worthy of moving onto my B list of VaPers. I'll leave out enough for a few more bowls and return the remainder to my cellar for another year or so to see how or if it changes.

The flakes come a little wet and heavy/thick. It needs drying and airing out for sure. As usual with G&H blends it starts a little heavy on the tonquin bean/floral essence/whatever. The Lakeland scent steadily begins receding to the background, but I always noticed that damned tonquin bean. I think I have a mild allergy with that stuff tonquin, although it's fairly tolerable here.

A sweet smoke, minus the usual peppery overtones associated with perique, or at least not much to make me sit up and pay attention. Even though the floral essence notches down a bit after the first few puffs, it was a while before you taste the virginia. Just wait for it. While smoking, I had trouble discerning the Acadian perique that was up front in the tin note. It eventually showed up, but remained more of an aftertaste and it certainly didn't get in the way of the virginia or the tonquin. But you can tell it's in there somewhere because of the depth of the smoke as the bowl burns its way down. Once the perique finally makes an appearance, it remains a muted presence, more so than in any VaPer I've tried before. The smoking experience here, however, does finally settle down to a tasty, flavorful and sweet one, once you get past the initial floral and tonquin onslaught.

Flake size is distinctive, larger and thicker than other flakes I've experienced, but fills the bowl reasonably well. I enjoyed that it was a very sweet smoke, in my Ardor Urano pencil-shanked poker. Overall, a fairly solid if offbeat smoke the first time around. The kind of blend that requires several smoking sessions for a definitive personal appraisal.

Good tobacco, it smokes cool with no bite and has a nice sweet Virginia taste. This tobacco I think is Bright CR flake with added perique, mild enough to be smoked all day and strong enough to be satisfying.