Hearth & Home Anniversary Kake

I hesitate to review this blend only for selfish reasons. I, as all veteran pipe smokers, are very finicky. When we find something that rings all the bells in the tower, we get alittle selfish and want the blend to remain available and in-stock when we want to order it. I hope that the life for this kake is long and storied because I think t deserves it.

As usual, I used the reviews on this site to research this tobacco. It was hitting all the right buttons with all the right reviewers. I quickly ordered 8 ounces to try, along with a pound or so of other tobaccos on my list.

At this point, I must give the people at pipesandcigars.com alot of credit. Their customer service is second to none. I would not do business with any other tobacco house if they carried all that I consume. Admittedly, that would be a monumental, and clearly impossible task. But, I encourage you to call and talk to them abou your next order if you have not already. Great people, can't say enough.

The kake arrived in the expected moist condition. I divided it into the 2 ounce portions that I always jar, and left 2 ounces out to try. I fully rubbed out the kake to dry to a smoking level.

If you didn't know better you would think that there was a topping on this tobacco. Of course, there isn't. This is the true range of natural aromas from several Va.'s treated in different ways. Absolutely fantastic!

After acheiving the humidity level I deire, I packed one of my favorite cobs and fired it up appropriately.

The first true light after char will provide a mix of roasting marshmallow sweetness and the dark mustiness of the perique. It is a youthful expression to be sure, but pleasant.

About 5 minutes into the bowl, the tobacco takes on its true character. Creamed coffee, yellow cake, and the ever so slight tang of some orange and red VA. in the blend. The perique is there, but exhibits the full on earthiness that you only get at the start. Fresh turned rich soil aroma is the flavor.

All starts to sing nicely together by mid bowl and the it just stays sublime to the end. The perique starts to shop more of its pepper and strength at the end of the bowl without turning too powerful to enjoy. The balancing act is just magnificent.

Smokes dry, if prepared properly, to the end of the bowl. Slow burning and prefers to be sipped to get all the nuance that is there in abundance. This is a very well done Vaper of a different stripe. Fillmore and Escudo are more of the savory and tangy vaper variety, this is in the sweet genre. But, never even close to cloying.

Please try it and see for yourself. This is one of the top vapers out there and in a class all it's own. There are some tobacco houses that have some catching up to do, because Home and Hearth has created what I think is the first new class of vaper in a long time worthy of near classic reputation from the start.

I recently acquired a sample of this blend with some age on it, tasted it blind, and must say I was very impressed. The sweet/sours of the Virginias were very well rounded and smoothed out. The Perique was a light condiment touch on the flavor of this blend, but provided a nice backdrop of plum and stewed fruit. Presentation was gently crumbled cake with a few clumps - this held together well despite aging and shipping via post. Overall a very nice experience. I will be purchasing some of this to jar and set aside.

I've found that some age adds a very subtle chocolate note which adds some depth to the stewed fruit flavors that predominate. I've also found that packing this one a bit tighter than usual helps draw out all of the flavor from this sumptuous blend.

Edit: after smoking more of this fantastic blend, I am raising my review to four stars from three. However, I've also recently smoked some new Anniversary Kake and, while good, it was nowhere near the experience of smoking this aged stuff. So guys: set some of this aside to age for at least a couple of years. You will not regret it.

One of the bulk H&H blends I got in today is Anniversary Kake.

It's a Va/Per and a true cake; the bag contained a bunch of dark, almost black, 1X3X1 inch moist "bricks" that smelled sweet, like plums and molasses. I got busy jarring the stuff. The room smelled great! The bricks crumbled rather easily into a nice combination of small ribbons and flakes and were easy to jar up. I, of course, kept a small baggie to smoke, leaving a bit out to dry for a while.

It's been four hours now and I just packed some of the H&H AK in a Brebbia Pura Squat Tomato, about a Group 3 or small 4. The charring light was it -- didn't need a true light and only needed one relight half way. The initial flavors are of a sweet bread and plum/fig with a bit of tartness from the virginias. The Perique quickly makes itself known but, surprisingly, this is not the Perique I am used to. This Perique amps up the plum sweetness and while the spice is there, the pepper is almost nonexistent. I thought this blend, as I prepared it for jarring, would be goopy -- far from it. It burns dry and completely to a fine ash.

Anni Kake, while not very complex, does deliver some interesting and unusual flavors. It's hard not to love this stuff. I am very interested to see what a couple years of aging will do.

Anni Kake is yet another unique, true masterpiece from Russ Ouelette. Recommended for everyone, not just Va/Per lovers. Even die hard aromatic smokers should try it.

Hearth & Home - Anniversary Kake (Signature Series).

I've always wanted a Jake Hackert and I got one for Christmas, so that's what this review's done with!

The tin contains a Krumble Kake that's very easy to work with. The parts of the blend that are still in kake form aren't big or plug sized but slim and manageable, and the remainder's just ready to be stuffed and puffed. Of all the Hearth & Home blends I've had this is the only one that leans toward the moister side of things; that's good though, it's not TOO moist.

Any added flavourings have been applied VERY lightly, the smoke's quite natural tasting; exceedingly high quality, but I wouldn't call it embellished. The only flavour that could be considered anywhere near added is a dark-fruit, figgy, raisin, Perique one. But, I wouldn't personally say that's from a topping/casing; it seems natural to me. I find myself struggling to detect much Virginia, it's Perique all the way with Anniversary Kake!

I'd expect a blend containing this much Perique to be a heavy weight with nicotine but it's actually quite mild, and I like the room-note.

It didn't take me long to want to highly recommend this!

Four stars.

This is the sweet dessert of VaPers. It is mild in strength which makes for an enjoyable change of pace. There is an abundance of flavor while keeping a clean short finish. Chocolate is a major component here along with several spices including cinnamon and nutmeg which may come from a dark rum. The Perique here is primarily fruity with fig and plum. It is spicy but not quite peppery until the end of the bowl. The Virginias are smooth, grassy, and sweet. I've never found a chemical note with this blend and I've never experienced tongue bite here either. I view this as a lightly topped VaPer and of its class it deserves 4 stars.

This Vaper is arguably Russ Ouellette's finest masterpiece. It's no surprise that his name comes up more and more often as one of America's best blenders. This tobacco comes with a wonderful tin aroma of figs, raisins and plums. It is moist and needs a bit of drying time. Being a vaper, it should be puffed with care as to avoid tongue bite. The flavor is on the sweet and tangy side of things. I enjoy this most in a Nording Bamboo. I have been told that the demand for this fine weed sometimes is so great that it leaves the warehouse very shortly after its made. I have cellared a good amount and watching AK's color deepen over the past several months is making it tough to wait things out! Highly recommended!

Holy smokes this is a good one. In my opinion this one lives up to the hype, if it didnt I would say so. It was what I was hoping it was and a bit more. For the VaPer lover it should greatly please. The Virginias were really sweet, and probably the sweetest I've experienced to date and were up front and dominated the first half of bowl. That is something I was looking for as my other vapers are not so sweet and this gives this blend a distinct difference from other vapers. The perique kicked in towards the middle to end and got my nose running with the right amount of spice. I greatly appreciate the easy packing texture of this cake. It also allowed for an easy burn and good smoke. Im giving it 4 stars and I highly recommend this blend. I will buy more in bulk next time. Impressed.

Have been smoking a pipe since around '73 of the last century and have tried numerous blends. Having gone through the usual route from highly aromatic to finally settle on English and Virginia-Perique blends as many have. For the last few years I have been ordering from Pipes and Cigars.com with very satisfactory results. Presently have many of their blends and one of the most pleaaant ones is Russ' Anniversary Kake. At first put off by the smell(aromatic-like but uncased, I'm told) of the tobacco sample I declined ordering any but on a whim I re-ordered a small amount and was most pleaaantly surprised. My tastes seem to have changed somewhat and I was much impressed with this tobacco. I dried it out a little(What does DGT stand of anyway?) and it was even better. I ordered a pound of it.

Very satisfied with the resulting dried our mixture and have enjoyed it since. Russ is ,of course a master blender and a bona fide gentleman with a lot of patience and product knowledge. Correspondence with him is both rewarding and educational as it is with all of the gentlemen at Pipes and Cigars.com.

In short: relly fine Virginia-Perique mixture, a fine morning or anytime smoke and a damn fine price. Great job,Guys - Especialy Russ' blending expertise.

Based on the raving reviews I bought two ounces of this blend a few years ago. To my surprise, this blend was awful. Burned hot, no flavor, too moist, and burned my tongue like hell.. I couldn't smoke it. I left it in a jar for a while and then decided to just put it in my daily tobacco pouch and suffer through the rest of it. When someone advices you to dry your tobacco, you better do it. As it was drying in my pouch, my very last couple of bowls of this tobacco were amazing. I couldn't believe how stupid I was to miss it. Moist tobacco makes you relight and puff harder, making the tobacco hot and flavorless.

Sometime later I decided to buy two more ounces just to check it again. I left it to dry overnight and then some, regularly checking the moisture. Once it reached the best moisture I put it in a jar. This review is a bit less than a year of aging in that jar.

I absolutely love those Hearth & Home / Sutliff Red Virginias. They taste like mature wine, dark fruits, lemon, and a bit of cinnamon. This are also the notes I get in the jar.

The Perique provides both mushroom, as well as black pepper notes at the back of the mouth and through the retro-hale.

Once you rub it out and find your sweet spot in terms of moisture, this tobacco is easy to pack and smoke. It's recommended to sip in order to get the most flavor and keep it a cool smoke, but even with a bit of puffing it doesn't get hot. Flavor remains similar throughout the bowl. The balance between the Virginias and Perique gives it real depth and is perfect for me, makes it very comfortable for an all-day smoke. Not overly complex, but has enough there to enjoy every sip.

Medium body, mild-medium strength. One downside to the Sutliff Virginias, in my opinion, is the room note, which is very musty. I recommend smoking Anniversary Kake in a medium-size tall bowl. Otherwise it's harder to capture much of the flavor.

I will no longer be buying two ounce bags of this blend. It's going by the pound from here on.