Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Dark Flake

This is a good, wholesome tobacco. Dark and dusky, flavoursome and strong.

And it gave me hicups.

I hit upon the idea to put some through the coffee grinder. This resulted in a much more manageable "shag" but it still gave me the hicups.

Oh well, there's probably nothing I can do about that.

Not as much of a cigar taste as I was afraid of, a good thing to my taste. A great cold weather, outdoors kind of smoke; plenty of punch from both the Virginia and burley tobaccos. Indoors, I find it too much...if someone needs more nicotine than this blend provides, someone needs to reconsider their relationship to tobacco!

Glad to have tried it, I don't see me revisiting it soon: I prefer a more subtle smoke.

This blend is similar to 1792 to me. I felt this blend to be slightly stronger than 1792, which is ok in my book! Lakeland essence is present in this blend but not as strong as 1792. Dense, thick and creamy smoke on this blend. I enjoyed this with a strong coffee.

Just a little scented,I think.That Woody woodpecker scent.Not Chanel.Very full of flavour with a strong nicotine hit .Yes, this delivers a plenty,but have this just before bedtime or you will lose your job and your licence .No cigar taste ‘cos I used to smoke Puros Habanos.Quite complex in taste.It's very seaman in style and I can see my grand pappy puffing on this ,big time ,land lubber, I believe.Tobacco really at it's killer best.Woody, smokey, floral. What more to say. Don't inhale.

I much prefer the scented version of this blend. This is OK, but it just didn't ring my bell like its relative does. The blend also turned sourish mid-bowl and that was a little off-putting

I will give this four stars, because I can't do otherwise. It is quite a good blend, and not the usual GH fare. It is a bit too much in the "Kentucky Cured" style (though the tobaccos used are Malawi and Indian) to be a frequent smoke for me, though I enjoy the occasional bowl, as I am doing right now. Though it could never be an everydayer for me, I will most certainly buy it again (I have five or six bowls worth left at this point), for the plain and simple reason that I have had great results with it as a blender.

It seems that this is a tobacco I generally prefer not straight up, but in smaller doses. I have blended it mainly with other GH or SG flakes on the untopped side of things, and the best blend I have come up with, after much experimentation as to proportions, is the following:

40% GH Dark Flake U/S, 40% GH Brown Flake U/S, 7.5% GH Kendal Kentucky, 7.5% McClelland Blending Perique, and 5% C&D Pirate Kake (itself being 70% Latakia, and 30% "Turkish and Cavendish-cut Burley," according to C&Ds description).

The high Perique percentage is right up my alley, and the Kendal Kentucky adds some kick as well! The moderator here is that 5% Pirate Kake, really a very mellow Latakia cake, and one can hardly sense the Turkish and Burley in a 70% Latakia blend...

So, I will have to get some more just to make another batch of the above blend, which I think may be my best blend ever, as heady as it sounds. It is indeed pretty strong, yet mellow and not overpowering if taken slowly.

The same thing can be said of Dark Flake U/S itself. I'm slowly sipping this bowl in my quite ugly yet nicely-smoking Brebbia Whitehall (flawed second basket pipe) rusticated billiard, and enjoying it quite a bit. I love this blend, but again, just not an everyday thing.

Some seem to be able to detect those GH Lakeland toppings in this, but I really can't, probably due to my having smoked so much Ennerdale Flake, Kendal's Flake, Glengarry Flake, etc. I may therefore be somewhat jaded to Lakeland toppings, but I can certainly see how certain smokers not as used to such toppings as I am being able to taste them, perhaps simply from this blend having been in the same room as the tobaccos mentioned above! They probably added some sort of topping to this, despite the name "unscented," but I simply cannot sense any flavorings due to the dark-fired style of the flake.

Summing up, it will never be in my regular rotation, but since the occasional bowl is always very nice (especially when I'm in the mood for it, as I seem to be right now), and since at other times I have had such success with it as a blender, I will always keep some on hand, even though I will not be buying it by the pound.

I was lucky to try this as a friend had but a little left for me to sample which was somewhat dry. I was a bit gloomy at the prospect. However my fears were unfounded and I was pleased with the smoking result.

The Tin-smell was dark and earthy with herbal notes. And it filled and lit well. The smoke was cool and it did not burn very hot. There was next to no tongue bite. The taste was very pleasing rich, full, and natural with a hint of coffe, spice and woodsmoke.

My only gripe with this blend is the rather large moist dottle left behind, rthis however can be dried out and resmoked with remarkably little loss of quailty.

I like this blend and and would recomend it as a fine natural smoke for those who like no topping on thier tobacco.

This one is awesome. It smells a bit of ground, forest. It smokes VERY VERY easy and also VERY cool. Untitl the end. Tobacco is strong, but I think it's worth a try.

Dark Flake has been with me for the duration of my pipe smoking days, a mighty six years. Early on I was given an ounce sample from Ed's Pipe Shop in Santa Monica and it scared the hell out of me, smoking side by side with Orlik's Golden Sliced and Sam Gawith's FVF. Over time it occurred to me that I could smoke the blend as a mixer, rather than straight, though it took a while to convince myself that people wouldn't be ashamed of me for wimping out.

It took some time before I could make my various combinations work, generally employing Dark Flake in small doses to toughen up a blend. In that regard, the blend is indispensable, and extends a sweetness that some of my other favorite mixers lack, Perique and sliced rope. Dark Flake works well with lighter Virginias, and generally I will add some Turkish leaf to a pure Virginia blend, which will dilute the strength, which is corrected by adding a bit of Dark Flake to boost it back up. The flake cut can be difficult to incorporate into ribbons, which makes it necessary to rub out the flakes in a manner that approximates the texture of the native leaf. I always keep a few ounces on hand for this purpose, and rarely I will smoke a straight bowl, preferring lighter Virginias with a higher sugar content.

Given the protracted unavailability of Samuel Gawith blends, G&H makes a perfect counterpart for one seeking that Lakeland fix, and it's a bit of fun to run through the catalog comparing their similar blends. The two companies have that Coke vs. Pepsi rivalry, very similar in many ways with legions of fans on both sides. G&H may be the underdog here, their offerings scrappy and more unconventional, their floral scented flakes offensive to many. I can't complain. Who doesn't like to see a good fight?