Hearth & Home Anniversary Kake

I really wanted to love this, got it as a part of a sampler from p&c and all the other baccys in the sampler was excellent. This one ive tried in meers and briars and cobs but it still doesn't work for me. It burns cool enough and does not bite easily, love the crumble cake form. However the taste does not tickle my tastebuds the right way, not for me but would recommend trying it. Gonna stock up a macon-jar and let it age some years, the review will be subject to change after that.

Chocolate covered figs served on graham crackers with a glass of port best describes the tin note and initial lighing. Crumble kake does just that, crumbles when you pick it up. Easy to prepare and light, a few months of resting in a jar delivers perfect moisture. I do not get any bite from this whatsoever, and I have a very VA sensitive tongue.

I cannot see myself smoking this all day, but it is a great evening smoke that paired very well with a VSOP Cognac.

After a year of aging, I upgrade to 4 stars. And I can see myself smoking this all day long!

Rubbed out and left to air a while this blend has good burning qualities. Some sweetness of the VA comes through countered by the peppery spice of Perique but I have to say the flavors seemed a bit muted. I smoked this very gently because I could tell from the start that it was trying to bite. ESCUDO is my benchmark for a 4-star VAPer and this one did not reach that height. 3 stars for a good effort and a decent blend. If I were stuck on a desert island with nothing but Anniversary Kake I would probably be content for a while, but eventually would build a raft in hopes of finding ESCUDO or Stonehaven on a neighboring island.

I love the Krumble kake cut, but my initial try with this blend I fought some bite all the way. I cellared the remainder for about 6months and tried again after letting the tobacco dry for about an hour. The smell in the jar has a distinct whiskey or rum topping. The retry was OK, but not something I would get excited about. The tobacco still smoked hot for the first 1/3 of the bowl, even at a sip. It seemed to smooth out after that, and gave a nice sweet flavor with a hint of whiskey, I don't get the chocolate, or Perique fig . It failed the wife test , but then again, they all do. I think this needs to go back in the cellar for about a year. I can't see why I would buy this again with all the better Virginias/Vapers available. I'm surprized by all the 4 star reviews below, what am I doing wrong?

Updated 12/26/13- NOPE ! Just don't feel this is for me . Even after two years of cellar time ,this is still hot and spicy. Less sweet and more sour, dries and puckers the mouth. Flavor reminds me of "Prince Albert". I know , different tobaccos, but still a similar experience, almost tastes like a drug store burley.

I wanted to like this one I really did.I like both english and aros and after reading all the good reviews I ordered this one right away.I was expecting a nice sweet smoke .It was like smoking air.There was nothing there nothing at all.No tobacco taste no sweet taste nothing at all.Il;l finshing the pouch but wont reorder.

Not what I had expected nor anticipated, though certainly not a bad smoke, either.

To set the Record straight, I had previously been smoking a full bodied Turkish blend, strong enough to cause headaches and make my 18" fez tassle spin like a propeller on a beanie-copter. Having finished the Turkish blend, I decided to smoke this blend. It was like listening to a Germanic operetta sung by a tenor barritone and suddenly going to the alto soprano of Tiny Tim, singing "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".

The strength is very mild with the typical Virginia-noted tongue bite characteristics of unaged tobacco. Sipped, relatively no bite remained, to cause alarm. The Room Note, is nice. The flavor, bizarre. Maybe my tastebuds are finally shot after 45 years of smoking a pipe, because what I taste is, sweetened brewed tea (no milk), and toasted bread. Not bad, but definitely not what I expect in a pipe tobacco blend. This is a softer blend which I will venture a guess, that has been aimed towards a younger/newer pipe smoking audience, and there is nothing wrong with doing just that. I rate this blend at 2-stars.

Bear in mind, I love full bodied, robust blends. Latakia, I am immensely fond of. All lovers of lighter blends, or if you simply desire a lighter blend in your rotation, sipping this one is important, to avoid the Virginia tongue bite issue. I would think that aging/cellaring this blend for about three years minimum, will render a thigh-soft smoking experience. As for me, I will continue the Southwestern Orient blends, and Balkan blends, in particular.

First, I was disappointed this blend didn't blow me away after reading all the four star reviews. The blend did smell nice, a bit lemony in the bag and it had a nice tang to it whether it was from the lemon virginias or perique I'm not sure. It burnt smooth but I found it to be otherwise bland. I smoked it intermittantly in rotation over 2 months while keeping it in a flip seal mason jar.

I think I gave it a fair trial, smoking through the bag and going back time and again. But it didn't knock me out and I can't say I ever really got to looking forward to smoking it. Perhaps I got a substandard batch and there's a quality control issue?

Generally, I favor english/oriental blends over english/virginia/vaper blends but I like to have a straight virginia in the non-aromatic rotation to have a change of pace. Importantly, I should note, some of the best blends I've smoked have been predominantly English virginias and I recently rated a virginia flake at 4 stars. So, I am not entirely adverse to predominantly virginia blends.

This blend has no detectable casings or flavorings. Anyone who thinks it's an aromatic has been smoking wacky weed.

Worth a try especially for the virginia fans.

Excellent tobacco blend.

arrived in nice little bricks/ kakes with a little shake from shipping. smells amazing right out the bag, very fruity almost like a prune/ fig/ bakers chocolate aroma. very sweet smelling. a little damp but lights very easily. i broke it up in my palm a tad and it packs very well. not fluffy at all so i gave it a light tamp. flavoring is not apparent at first but the smoke is abundant light and fluffy. flavor reminds me of a light brew of good coffee, all the way through. towards the end of the bowl the flavor became very sweet and i could definitely taste the fig casing. no bite at all and very mild and relaxing. i Highly Highly recommend this blend. when i heard virginia perique i was concerned it may be a little peppery but its not at all. room note is very nice and dissipates shortly after a good smoke and doesn't linger.

I would give it five stars if i could.

edit: after smoking this for a while ive learned a few things: keep your pipe clean. Anniv Kake will leave a dusty old resin aftertaste in the stem thats not very pleasant and ruins the experience of this tobacco, cleaning with spiced rum brings out the flavor of this blend: It also combines well with many other tobacco blends, so if youre a mixer like me youll have fun blending this one around. also: i am pretty sure there were several batches made during the single run of this, some turned out better than others, the more compact solid block cakes turned out very nice whereas the light crumbly cakes are lackluster. and: leave it in block form until youre ready to smoke it

I agree with Modelman; I think I got a bad batch. Judging from all the wonderful reviews I was anticipating a sublime smoke from this tobacco. Unfortunately, I did not receive one. I enjoyed cutting and rubbing out the kake, but the taste was just bland. Nothing at all like the reviews on this page.

I must have gotten a bad batch but I'm reticent to purchase more to find out if I did or not. Giving it two stars for merit alone.

Good luck.

I guess I am missing something here. When I received the 2 ounces that I ordered I was excited at first. Interesting, rich smell and very dark. It was from a bulk supply and partially rubbed. I wasn't sure if it was chewing tobacco or smoking tobacco...VERY moist. Too moist. I smoked 2 pipe fulls today and I really can't get a sense of the flavor or the room note. I realize that Perique is supposed to be a big part of this but not with this batch. Very bland and dissapointing. I'm honestly wondering if I got a bad batch. I rely heavily on our reviews to obtain new frontiers. I also live in New York and have to pay the usary tax that is so ridiculus. So, when I saw the popularity of this blend I had to try it. Maybe it will improve with some drying out. I for one would like to experience what eveyone else seems to. I'm drying out the balance of the batch for a day or two and we'll see. If you live in NY, it's not worth the taxation levy...

Extra mild with a slight spicy/sweet perique essence. I was a bit disapointed with the mildness of the blend. However, someone who likes perique blends, but finds most of them a bit too strong, may like this blend.

Just like to add to the number of reviews, this is a fantastic smoke

My first "cake". Yum. A bit peppery when blown out the nose.

Good news: Unlike other reviewers, I got a sample which came as a genuine cake: a 2 oz. block of fine red ribbon pressed into a solid mass. The smell is wonderful in the pouch. The flavor is great; very sweet with lots of perique raisin/fig/prune flavor.

Bad news: This stuff bit me very baddly over and over. Drying, less rub out, and smoking slowly all help, but in the end I had to cut it 50/50 with a very heavy Balkan. Surprizingly, the AK ended up as the dominant flavor in the mix, which I enjoyed very much.

With the four star reviews of this blend, I thought I was in for a treat as I have been liking H and H blends of late. Wrong! This is just smoke in my book. Flat, cigarette like. It is a gorgeous tobacco, in the pouch it is a velvety thickly cut broken flakes with a dark oily appearance, simply looks great and inviting. Very moist so must be dried out overnight. It is fairly dark in color and a mixed brown in color. It smells terrific, the fig like aroma in the pouch of the perique and the tangy aroma of a good Va. After drying, it rubs out to large loose flakes and it packs in the pipe very easily. It lights quite well and with one light after char. It stays lit and burns clean down to a fine dark gray ash. But it never develops into anything. It does not have the sweetness that I like in a Va and the Perique is way in the background and never comes out. I really wanted this tobacco to sing for me as it's well priced and is just a fun tobacco to work with, but flat all the way through is what I get. I don't understand all the 4 star reviews it gets. So, I cannot recommend this one, it's just smoke.

Anything that I could write about AK would be largely redundant. That said, I'll give it three stars for being a very nice and satisfying smoke.

My God I love this stuff! I'm not really big on Perique but it is so well balanced by the sweet Virginias in this blend. Sweet and spicy, complex, smooth and so satisfying. I have had my most sublime smoking moments with Anniversary Kake. This is definitely my desert island smoke. LOVE IT!! LOVE IT!! LOVE IT!!

THANKS RUSS!!!!

The first couple of bowls of this I thought this is going to be a regular smoke. But it quickly lost its flavour and became somewhat boring. The Perique taste at the end of the bowl was tolerable but nothing I liked and without the sweetnes coming through more it was just OK. With all the hype I was diappointed. Not much tongue bite and fairly easy to smoke. 2.5 stars

I got a generous ounce of this stuff from Pipes and Cigars two months ago and it just seemed bland at first. It wasn't bad though. After half a dozen bowls or so, I lost any desire for it, stashed it in a Mason jar, and forgot about it.

I cracked the jar this evening, loaded a bowl, and holy moly is this sheat ever delicious. Smooth, full bodied, sweet, and chocolaty. I'm on my second bowl as I write this. One just wasn't enough.

It does seem on the moisty side and after 30 minutes of air drying, it smokes effortlessly.