Hearth & Home Classic Burley Kake

I have fallen in love with Russ Ouellette's blends. This is a delicious, fairly simple, old-timey tobacco. It has a sweet, rich pouch aroma with the maple and rum pretty forward. There's a mouthwatering earthiness to it. This old dog burns readily, smokes with exceptional smoothness, and only bites if you poke it with a stick lots of times. The flavors are quite subtle, and I find that it smokes best in a clay pipe. A lot of the more gentle flavors in this one seem to vanish in a briar, and it can come through as somewhat bland, though still very nice. In clay, however, every nuance comes through beautifully, and it really shines. This is very good, smooth, civilized tobacco, and at a great price.

This cake does taste as good as it looks. If I had a choice, I would prefer a bit less flavoring but it is without a doubt a good burley blend. Someone likened it to ESB. There are similarities but this is not Edgeworth. I say that only to keep others from expecting a copy of ESB.

This burley, like others blended with rum, refuses to bite. I pulled pretty hard (which is necessary if not dried a bit) and received no teeth from this delightful blend.

Upon lighting there were hints of a smooth nutty flavor beneath a mild semi-sweet to lightly sweet chocolate chip flavor. I did not taste any anise, and my wife did not immediately detect such a note. About halfway through the bowl I noted a mild nutty flavor that was a bit different than the usual Burley-Nutty flavor. I can best describe the flavor as "toasted sunflower seeds". The "full-on" "roasted-nut" flavor was detectable beneath the other flavors, but did not dominate as with other burley blends.

This tobacco must be well dried in order to ensure a dry smoke.I filled a bowl a day previous to smoking in order to ensure this. This is reasonable since it does come in broken cake form and so probably retains much of the moisture that develops during processing.

I gave this 3 stars because I would maybe have preferred slightly less flavoring, but I also will say that as the bowl continued it became much better. Also, my second bowl was better than my first, and the third better than the second. From this, I conclude that this tobacco is a very good "all day" smoke that could easily become a "go to" blend in time. I ordered 7 lbs all told and will see how it ages over the years. Thanks Russ!

I'll report back in a year.

find this a wonderful and comforting smoke. sweetly and discreetly flavored. soft and caressing plumes of room friendly smoke. and a forgiving nature make this just about a must have in my rotation. smokes easy as breathing.

Nice tobacco. I am learning how to prep "Kake" to smoke so the bit of over heating and bitterness in my first few bowls I chalk up to a learning curve.

After I figured it out this smokes nice. Tasty notes of nuts and vanilla. I really enjoyed it. Seemed different from the other burley I have had. I think if you like burley it is worth a try. I think as I get better at the prepping and packing this will get wven better.

Russ did it again! This is one fantastic baccy! Never really went for Burley before but the reviews here piqued my interest and I ordered up a batch. One of my really good decisions.

Comes as a bunch of somewhat soft, very moist chunks that are really messy to rub out the traditional way. After developing a whole new rubbing technique, laid about 4oz onto a cookie sheet and dried it for a day. Very difficult to get some small flakes/patches to separate but very, very few sticks which makes me happy. After the drying, still a little too damp but loaded up a pipe with it and had at it. Really great stuff! First light tastes about like the pouch aroma smells, kind of sweet and fruity/nutty but not what I would call an aromatic (never really tasted the rum, either). Lights easily, even when too damp, smokes cool with no hint of a bite, lots of tasty white smoke, VERY pleasant taste all the way down and no goopies left in the bowl. Smoked 3 bowls full in one morning in the same pipe and everything was super smooth and pleasant without leaving any objectionable residue in the pipe (or my mouth). The wife also had no complaints.

Will continue to dry this out some more, but I foresee no problems. I really don't think that there is any humectant in this and it feels like the most natural flavored and tasting baccy I have ever tried (at least as a Burley). Expect to keep this around as a regular and am putting it in my very favored shelf.

Thanks again, Russ, you're the greatest!

This is a solid smoke, sweet and tasty throughout the bowl. Although cased with Rum, Cocoa and Anise I would not describe it as an aromatic. I could not detect any of those flavors in the pouch aroma nor the smoke, yet an added sweetness was obvious. Not being a big fan of Burley dominated blends, I do enjoy this one. I would give this four stars if not for the looong lingering aftertaste. Finished a bowl about an hour before dinner one day and could still taste it after dinner. Some people enjoy this type of long finish, I do not.

It took me a fair number of bowls to get past this blend's aromatic pretensions, and then ... In a word, excellent, although purists who can't stand the thought of a flavored tobacco passing their lips will probably hate it. It consists of top-notch burlies sweetened with Va and a sublime mixture of flavorings. The burning characteristics are superb, and it's one of the most bite-free smokes I've had the pleasure of trying. My one complaint is that it burns a bit hot, but going slow tends to curb that tendency. If the idea of a sweetened tobacco appeals to you at all, this is a must-try blend. If not, give it a shot anyway -- you might be surprised! Four stars as an aromatic, 3.5 stars as a burley mix.

Well, on the strength of the reviews here I ordered 1lb of this weed and tonight filled an Inderwicks I am breaking in with burley, sat back and watched 'A river runs through it' directed by Robert Redford, really a film tribute to fly fishing. This is one fine burley...smoked gently and contemplatively it has a wonderful taste and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mellow and pleasant it certainly is with the lovely undertones of bread, nuts and chocolate slipping through. I'd say that it's definitely one to smoke slow and sure, not puff away like mad at or you'll suffer as others seem to have done in the reviews before mine. For me it's a winner...gets my 4 stars.

Added 20th August...I am absolutely loving this; so long as you smoke it gently it has the nicest flavour. I'm ordering another 3lbs as we speak. One of the nicest tobacco's I have come acrosss in years.

This Tobacco filled a void in my smoking world. I am a certified Va Va/per lover but was looking for something with a little change of pace. This tobacco is a very smooth good tobacco base of several burleys and a small pinch of virginia, then flavored lightly with a slight cocoa rum and anise (a licorice like flavor). This is not a goopy aromatic. This is a fine tobacco base with a slight sweetness that complements the tobacco.

I love it!

Maboman