Hearth & Home Classic Burley Kake

Do not be fooled by appearances. This is quite a visually unappealing blend. It looks like a monochrome pile of squashed-together shreds of ugly brown leaf. But it is delicious. A darker take on an American OTC burley blend, it has more cocoa and less anise, more dark burley and less white, a touch of dark fired so you can even taste it with a head cold, a random dollop of rum because why not. Some sweet and sometimes sharp VA for interest, and a healthy moderate helping of Vitamin N. Sweet, old-timey aroma. It is true aromatic in that it tastes like it smells in the bag and the room, and the whole time. It's an elevated codger blend, not a sophisticate's tobacco, and excels at it. Yet the hand of a master blender is evident. Smoke this in a cob, it's what it wants.

H&H Burley Kake - arrived moist in the bulk plastic bag and needed some dry time .Strong smell of chocolate from the bag and it DOES translate to the smoke. Mostly a Burley blend but the Red Virginia grassy hay thing is there . I really can’t say I taste the Kentucky. This is a little more Aromatic then say Carter Hall . The Rum is obvious and the Chocolate as well but i like it ! The white Burleys seem to absorb the toppings quite well . It still has a nutty , earthy woody and a little bitter Burley taste . It like it better than Chathom Manor and even Carter Hall . Good Job 3 1/2 stars for me .

Bought this blend in bulk from p&c july 2019, the first time I tried this blend it was not what I thought it would be, I let it sit in a jar for 4 months and went back to it. I took a drastic undertaking when I realized how many open tins I recently had along with various jars. I came up with an idea that I would fill my tobacco pouch up and smoke it for a week or until it was gone, and post a review. A week later and here I am.

This blend brings me back in time, as I imagine like it says in the description the smell on a passing street.

This tobacco primarily consists of burley, mixed with a small amount of Virginia’s which I detected on occasion mid way through the bowl and that was more so the maple flavoring. The cocoa from the burley was most prominent for me along with the nuttiness, on the retro-hale I got a deep chocolate nutty taste which o thoroughly enjoyed, as I was worried by the tin note that the cocoa would overpower everything. Upon first light this blend is a little sharp and rough around the edges but once you get your cadence down it taste amazing, sip it slow and it will love you back, if not enjoy the wrath of the tongue bite.

This for me is an all day codger smoke, I prefer this over Carter hall anyday. This is a reasonably well priced blend, that’s on my radar to be added to the final tobacco rotation.

I would not rate this a 4/4, but definitely a 3.3/4 stars.

First impression: a decent burley, no noticeable nic hit, tasted like other burleys, smoked slow in the bowl, had a very nice smell in the bag. I packed it like usual and it smoked just a little hot. Moisture level seems perfect. Nothing special about it.

The second smoke, a day later, I packed loosely. It smoked just right with only the usual amount of relights. This time I noticed some very fine burley flavors which were there right up to the end of the bowl. I detected no sweetness although some reviewers say there is. No nic hit at all. I enjoyed it this time. Some of my mild tobaccos give me a muzzy-headed feeling afterwards but this one does not. I can't taste any of the toppings which is something of a mystery.

After smoking a couple of ozs: All tobaccos are sensitive to how firmly they are packed but this one is a little more so. Not as strong a flavor as Carter Hall. Not as tasty. But it is a good burley tobacco overall. I still can't taste the toppings. An all day tobacco.

The description is pretty much right on target. I keep mine in a Fido reasealable glass jar and it stays at just the right moisture level for many months. Jar note is molasses and vinegar. It packs well, lights easily, stays lit well and is bite proof if smoked slowly. Nice sweet Burley and Virginia flavors top to bottom. Smokes sweet and dry with a dark ash. I broke up the cake for storage and ease of use. Russ nailed this one...you can almost hear the swirl of 1950’s traffic along Main Street. Probably would smoke well in an old Yelobole. In my good size Peterson Billiards, it’s just the thing for a relaxing, enduring smoke. No complaints from the wife either. If you’re a Burley lover, this would be a fine choice. Sutlif did a better than average job producing Russ’ recipe. It’s a little too commanding for me to think of it as an all day smoke but good for a relaxing evening pause. Think it's best in a larger bowl.

Interesting blend. I don't get much of the aromatic flavors. I get the burley and really get some Virginias towards the end. Slightly sweet and nutty. A decent tobacco if you want just dab of burley. You need to puff easy on this one as there is a slight tongue bite if you go crazy.

Got this one by mistake, am glad I did! Good flavor and aroma from the time you open it through the last puff. Reviews are all over the board, but I guess that is why there are so many blends! For my part it is a great all day tobacco. No bite here, I guess I am kinda partial to burley tobacco being from central Kentucky.

This is a unique burley aromatic that although described as a kake, I found it to be loose and "rubbed out" by the time it made it to my door step. The anise flavoring is quite apparent and perhaps a bit too overpowering when fresh. Some age and air tends to mellow that a bit as with most aromatics. Burns clean and has a pleasant, sweet taste. Best smoked after about a year in the humidor to calm it down. The Virginia in the blend does add a bit of an unnecessary bite to it.

I am admittedly averse to Burley blends, and often shy away unless the leaf serves as a minor component, as in, for instance, many of the Lakeland tobaccos that are primarily Virginia based, with a bit of Burley to extend the blend's body. But I do like to sample tobaccos of every genre, it just seems that my cabinet of smokes is full of those optimistic Burley purchases that went nowhere but upon a shelf, waiting for their day.

And today I decided for a break from the Virginias and the Englishes that populate my pipes and palate...and so pulled a pouch of the old Carter Hall for a rare resampling. The past few weeks I've forced myself to cease my monthly tobacco restocking, simply to finish off a few the many blends that I push off to the side in neglect. I chose to smoke my rare Burley sampling in a very small pipe to limit my discontent, as the leaf tends to wear on me in larger pipes.

I got that "nutty" flavor of which so many remark, though I only call it "nutty" for lack of a better vocabulary. It is that characteristic taste that grates on me over time, endemic to most of the lower end OTC blends, but seemingly lacking in the higher end blends like Solani's Aged Burely Flake, which I admire most of all.

The smoke was decent, and I put together a pipe to immediately follow my most recent Carter Hall experience, filling her with Russ's Classic Burley Cake. My sample is nearly a year old at this point, and has a peculiar rubbed out consistency. Either the press failed or was forgone entirely, of which I'm not certain. This has happened before from Russ's blending house, as in my purchase of Plum Pudding, also conspicuously absent of the press--though not that it would matter much in the smoke. The blend itself smells sweet out of the mason jar, and quite inviting. The moisture content is quite high, and the tobacco itself is very soft but not at all sticky to the touch.

Upon light, the casing is more muted than what I have read from the reviews here. It is indeed evident, but never detracts from that nutty flavor of the Burley. I do see some darker leaf in the jar, which I suspect might be the Kentucky referenced in the description, though it appears to be minimal, perhaps less than five percent of the blend. At no time could I detect the Virginia, though its inclusion might explain a limited profile of that characteristic Burley nuttiness.

Classic Burley Cake is a mild blend, more so than the Carter Hall, and never builds an intensity that I find objectionable. It will be admittedly difficult to finish off the remainder of these 2 ounces, but that is of no fault of the blend. I can't speak for other reviewers, but I don't suspect the flavoring will repel the more hardened Burley admirers out there--toward the end I could pick up light chocolate notes, but the primary character of the topping seems to me a an added sweetness that compliments the leaf. Or maybe that's just my sample, as perhaps I got an odd batch? To be fair, I wouldn't have picked this up had I known the tobacco wouldn't have been caked as promised.

Regardless, this is a decent blend, but not one for the Burley connoisseur. It's simply a light, sweet Burley blend with no pretensions, very fitting for those times one would enjoy a kind, mindless smoke.