Hearth & Home Marble Kake

I enjoy cereal and buy numerous and different types and blends every time I'm shopping and the ubiquitous "cereal" is on the list. I've had countless boxes and bags in my cupboard over the years (you see, I'm sure, where this is going) containing clusters, different fruits, honey, nuts, seeds, presentations of oats, bran, wheat, multi-grains and the like. With all that, sometimes I just want a big bowl of Corn Flakes. To me, Marble Kake = the Corn Flakes of my tobacco array. Pease tonight? Nah. Dunhills are a good idea? Not in the mood. Sam's flakes of one great sort or another? Too much work. Escudo, Presbyterian, a Peterson, Black House, Davidoff Flake Medallions, other medallions, MacBaren Old Dark Fired? Just had some, too much, too little, who knows? Hard to decide. But I really want to smoke. Maybe I'll think it over with some Marble Kake. I forgot how easy it is to break this stuff. Tin note is so simple and pleasing -- pure VA hay/citrus/baked bread. Hell, almost smells like Corn Flakes. Wow, it lights as nicely as the last (100) bowls I've had of this uncomplicated bit of VA "try it you'll like it" tobacco. No thanks, I don't feel like pepper or fruit or BBQ sauce or smoke on my cereal. These Corn Flakes are really hitting the spot. Maybe when I'm done, if I'm still peckish, I'll have something with a few more flavor profiles. Coffee coated muesli? Or, hey -- I'm the maker of my own destiny -- maybe I'll just have some more of those Corn Flakes. They're leaving such a rich and rewarding taste (not too sweet, not too lemony and not too spicy) I'll probably have room for another bowl. Why not? Recommended to all those who like Corn Flakes and don't believe that simplicity well executed cannot peacefully co-exist with complex sophistication and satisfaction.

The Marble Kake I have been smoking was jarred for two years. That has to have some impact on the taste and smoking experience, so it seems appropriate to mention. It came a little drier than I like Virginias and I humidified it a little. I have been smoking it rubbed out.

This is a very good Virginia blend with no topping that I can discern. It is slightly sweet and sometimes has tart or citrus notes. It was an easy smoke and the sweet became more prominent as I smoked through a bowl. I like this a lot, and recommend it.

It is not a bomb, and it is not especially complex. It is good though, and if you like Virginias, I predict this one will suit you.

I received a good sample of this from a friend of mine. It was good and reminded me a lot of Best brown Flake by Sam Gawith in the way it tastes, but not in form, cut or performance.

I love BBF and I did love the taste of this, but the cut of this one has me holding this one at three stars. It is too tasty to get two stars. Here was my problems with it. Normally, I love a kake. A simple squeeze at a portion of the cake, usually leads to a crumbling of easy packing pieces. This one is different. The pieces are in more of a fish food flake cut and come off as shards that need to be pulled apart.

This also makes packing the bowl somewhat odd and it usually takes about a third of the bowl before it is burning good. At least this is my experience, YMMV.

As for taste. It is wonderful. It is grassy sweet with a good bit of earthy body to it. It is sweet, but doesn't leave you wanting a bowl of something else. A really tasty Virginia, but it is so close in taste to SG BBF, that I will likely stick with the latter for my own rotation.

To quote the late seventies band The Adverts, I found this tobacco blend to be a "heads down no nonsense mindless boogie". Now, I'm not using the term mindless in a negative way, as I found this blend to be so straight forward in its smoking qualities as to be effortless to accept. It is what it is and doesn't pretend to be something that its not - no flavorings, no burley, no perique, no Cavendish (black or otherwise) and no latakia. You either like this type of pure tobacco pleasure, or you don't. MK is about as definitional a Virginia smoke as you can buy. As an English smoker, it isn't something that I will smoke straight very often. I used it in micro blending and it's purity and strength moved all of my English micro blends toward dead center whether light, medium or heavy varieties; i.e., it made them very straight forward and ordinary. I don't take this as a negative, just something I have to accept. This is a bedrock blend of high quality and shows you how pipe tobacco blending started out in the past - about 200 years ago. Three stars for valor.

I have made the statement in other reviews that I do not really get the hearth and home Virginia blends. They are quality products but they never really peaked my interest much.

Marble Kake is the best one of the bunch I have had so far. This nice krumble kake is a mixture of mottled browns and has a beautiful Virginia aroma.

Keep in mind the sample I smoked for this review was aged about 6 years so your mileage may vary. This blend had a nice deep fig and raisin taste that any good middle of the road Virginia should have. It was very rich and definitely resonated with me as a Virginia lover.

Definitely recommended.

This tobacco was my first pipe experience with straight Virginias. I particulary enjoy "working" the kake slices, cutting them into little chunks and then rolling them out. I gravity feed and lightly pack a Missouri Meerschaum General I reserved for smoking straight Virginia tobacco and it seems this was an excellent choice combination. The smoke is ample and the flavor is enticing, developing from very faint in the beginning to moderate in the middle to great in the end. I experienced no bite with Marble Kake but I do suggest smoking this blend in a pipe that has an easy draw. I smoked one bowl in a vintage MM cob with a small bore cane stem and after working very hard to keep the smoke flowing and the bowl burning my tongue was slightly raw from the effort. 🙂 I started out with a 2 oz sample and I've since ordered more to cellar. I recommend this tobacco.

I don't have the discernment of a blender, and I usually compare the smoked tobacco with something similar.

There are several ways to enjoy the cake, and breaking it by machine is the easiest way to light it..

It's a little bit stronger than Samuel Gawith Golden Glow, it tastes very similar, but it's twice as cheap,

As the only variety that can be sold on its own (Straight Virginia), I never expected it to have the complexity that other blends present.

I get a lot of the bright VA's out front, some citrus, and notes of grass and hay. Perhaps this is why the notes compare it to Dan's HV? The comparison really end there, for me, however. There is also a lesser dark fruit note from the red VA's that is tangy and there is also a sweet spicy note which (I think) comes from the reds as well. There is also a slight earthiness as well but this is far in the background for me. It does not have the depth or complexity that I really look for in VA's but it was a very nice change of pace. It will bite if pushed so slow and steady is the key to this blend.

In the tin it's presented as pieces of broken kake instead of one big cube crumble kake. Very easy to rub them out and pack lightly. Bright and deep sweet virginia flavors floats out in the first puff and it may get a little hot if fast puffs. Not as complicated as some of Russ' Vapers, but really easy to fall in love with. I will give it 3 1/2 stars if I could.