Hearth & Home Anniversary Kake

Since McClellands is no longer, I’ve been seeking a replacement for 2015. This satisfies my want. The sweet Virginia marries nicely with the fig, peppery perique to give a taste similar to 2015 + a kiss of cinnamon. I don,t think it’s topped with it, but has the same affect on my palet. The nic level is a solid medium and satisfies. AK has a refreshing effect like that of big red chewing gum, but with depth & a solid tobacco taste. What I find interesting, it smokes well in a number of my pipes, and has not failed to taste delicious. Blend is consistent, yet enticing.

Still on my search for a McClellands Virginia and Dunhill Flake replacement.

I purchased a 2 oz sample. It came pretty moist but I left it as is. The bag aroma smells just like Levi Garrett or Red Man Golden. I also get a deep dark sweetness and chocolate like scent.

First light was a bear due to the moisture, but stayed going after the first 5 minutes of fighting it. Flavor is very consistent from first puff until last. A deep, dark sweetness, with some earthiness, figs, spice and light chocolate.

The flavors even hold after letting it rest for a couple of hours. The room note is amazing. Will bite some if you hot box it.

This is a great blend. Very well crafted and quite affordable. I am becoming very keen with Hearth and Home's Virginias. Obviously not exact with McClellands but very unique. This is my second offering from H and H. They have a few more Virginias that I can't wait to try. But so far between Anniversary Kake and Marble Kake, I believe it's safe to say I found my go to Virginias.

Update 5-28-19 as I've gone through 2 more oz of this blend, I find this is better suited if you're looking for more of a diabetic coma desert smoke. It does have a tendency to bite if you're not careful as with most Virginia. Definitely have to have a sweet tooth to smoke this blend frequently.

Gifted by a friend from my birthday in October, tin note is very good. This blend has nice sweetness, virginias are complex and I get everything from lemony citrus, to breads, wine, and vanilla from this blend which could be from the Rum. I don't get much chocolate however- more pastry. Perique is more on the peripheral and adds some fruit/plum notes and some earthiness, virginias are the star of the show. Kind of roundness that makes you think there could be burley but it's just well balanced. Needs some drying time and some further breaking up of the broken Kake pieces.. smokes easy with no bite, some moisture- can be an all day blend and have smoked back to back bowls with ease.

I assume, as the name implies, that this stuff was an intact cake at some point in its life, but what I got was soft fluffy ready rubbed. There were a few larger chunks in my sample, but they crumble and fall apart with the slightest touch. It feels very soft between my fingers...sensual, almost! I thought at first that it was overmoist, but it retains that silky soft feel even after drying. The small and irregular cut means it's easy to over load your pipe...but as long as you keep that in mind and use a gentle hand, it's very easy prep and load.

It takes a couple of matches to get started, but is relatively fuss free once it's going. I mainly get typical VaPer flavors. There's a little taste of some sort of fruit that I can't identify...kiwi comes to mind, but that's not quite right. Nice subtle sweetness from the Virginias. I find Anni Kake to be very well balanced...that said, I do like perique, and Anni Kake has quite a healthy dose, IMO - peppery in the mouth, and a nice ZING! in the nose on retrohale; thus, I wouldn't recommend it to the perique-averse. As is typical for me for quality virginias to do, the flavor really ramps up and develops more complexity near the bottom of the bowl. I've smoked Anni Kake in cob and briar...as is also typical for me with Virginias, I much prefer it in a large bowled briar.

Objectively, this is fantastic stuff. As good as this young sample is, I'd be willing to gamble that it is phenomenal with some age on it. I'm tempted to pick up a couple of tins and hide them for a year or two.

Subjectively.....yeah, I like it for what it is. But it's just not the type of thing I reach for very often. While I certainly wouldn't turn it down, I don't anticipate Anni Kake making its way into my regular rotation.

originally reviewed 12/19/2012

Upon opening the tin I was stunned by the wet, liqueur-sweetened sight and smell. I was used to VaPers that were dry flakes. In fact, my first reaction was, "how could the tobacco reviews have been so good for this obviously aromatic VaPer?"

And, to be clear, my first three bowls of this were hard to understand. The unnatural wet feel and smell of this blend made itself known.

BUT... a couple of weeks later I tried again. I left the tin open here and there to see if it might dry some (it didn't). I loaded up and surprisingly enjoyed it.

Since my change of heart on AK, I have continued to enjoy it almost against my will. The flavor really is something. And the topping is a joy and (almost inconceivably) not that abundant during the smoke.

I still don't understand how this can be considered an all natural VaPer, like Solani or others, but it's good, really good, in its own right. I would probably buy this occasionally Simply because I can't say I've tasted anything else like it.

To many flavors for my taste, also slight tongue bight. I would recommend this tobacco to aromatic smokers.

You must dry for quite a while to be smokable

I see a few reviews stating the lack of a topping, but I have to disagree. Leaving it to air dry for a couple hours will show this...moisture seems to drop only minutely. There is a humectant/topping, but so what? It doesn't detract from the overall fine smoking characteristics. It has not ghosted my pipes, and the pure tobacco flavors are there. This a great variation on a Vaper, and a mainstay in my rotation.

Nice aroma of chocolate, figs and hay in the tin. If I have any complaint at all, it's that the Virginias are comparatively mild and mellow. Like McClelland No. 27 when you want Blackwoods. I like mine rich, red and robust as a general rule. But where the VAs lack, the perique makes up. And there's a healthy quantity of it too, though never overwhelming. It lends just the perfect amount of plum sweetness and nasal spice to keep the blend from falling flat. Also, it smokes nicely with no bite.

This is a very good blend, expertly blended as always, and I recommend all Vaper fans try at least once. I liken it to Viprati's less mature brother. It may be worthy of 4 stars, but for me it sits very well at 3 to 3.5, if only because I so enjoy the extra richness of AJs Vaper and Viprati from the same blender.

There isn’t much more that I can say about Anniversary Kake that hasn’t already been said, and I must say that this blend is deserving of every star that it has earned, however, the blend is so good that I felt compelled to write a review and share my experiences with this wonderful tobacco from Hearth & Home. The 8oz tin that I am reviewing just arrived from PipesandCigars.com fresh, and to my knowledge has no age on it. Upon popping the lid on the tin I am greeted with a wonderful mixture of deep rich brown tobaccos in the form of a crumble, being mostly medium chunks, with some smaller loose bits mixed in. The tobacco is of excellent quality and I have never found any twiggy or woody bits mixed in with the tobacco in any tin that I have purchased. The tin note is absolutely amazing with aromas of sweet fresh baked bread that come from the Virginias, and a smoky coco powder or bakers chocolate that I get from the Perique. The moisture content of the crumble cake was a little on the damp side, and in order to achieve a bit dryer smoke, I rubbed out a portion of the tobacco fully and set it aside for thirty to forty minutes to dry. After the tobacco had set out for a bit, I chose a small Group 2 Dunhill Chestnut, with a rather shallow and narrow bowl to enjoy my evening smoke. Upon lighting the pipe, the first flavors that I am confronted with, are the wonderfully sweet and bready flavors of the Virginias. The Perique quickly joins the show and presents itself with a slightly smoky and yet slightly sweet flavor as well. The Perique is also noticed in mouth feel, as there is a slightly spicy tinge that is noticed on the tongue, however it is not overbearing and never goes so far as to make me uncomfortable. The tobacco is incredibly smooth and balanced and remains so, down to the last draw on the pipe. As for the burn characteristics of the tobacco, I never once had to tend to the pipe, even when sipping slowly, and even setting the pipe down for a while to carry on a conversation. The tobacco burned down to a fine white and gray powdery ash that made cleaning the pipe a simple procedure, only requiring that I run a pipe cleaner through the stem to collect any moisture. As for the room note of the tobacco, those around me never seemed to be put off by the smell of the smoke, and one individual even made mention that the tobacco smelled sweet, so I take this to mean that the room note is pleasant to tolerable. I would say that the nicotine level of the tobacco was a medium, and I was left feeling satisfied after the smoke, and did not feel the need to immediately smoke another bowl. Overall, I am very satisfied with Anniversary Kake, and it has quickly become one of the top VaPer blends in my rotation. I would recommend this tobacco to anyone who loves a good VaPer blend, but also to those that enjoy a tobacco that has a natural sweetness to it.

This will be my first review here. I created this account because I had to give my opinion of this blend. I stayed away from AK as I had tried other VaPer blends and they just didn't jive with my palette. I finally broke down as a last minute add to my order as it was on sale. I figured I would buy 1 oz. and likely wouldn't finish it but I had to say I tried. Boy was I impressed with this blend! I burned through that 1st oz. quickly and ordered more ASAP. This blend was good to go right out of the pouch. It came slightly crumbled with some large blocky portions as well. I broke off a piece and stuffed it in my pipe and lit it up. There is a sweetness with just the right amount of spice. I almost get a caramel flavor with a little pepper zing which doesn't sound good but they marry together well when smoking. This is now in my rotation of three at this time and I really don't think ill get tired of smoking this anytime soon. Another note to add is that it seems to have a slightly different profile if I fully rub it out as opposed to just breaking off a piece of the kake and stuffing it. Either way I really enjoy this blend and recommend it to the newer pipe smoker that is looking to venture outside of aromatics.