Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Ennerdale Flake

UPDATE: It's been about a year since I opened this tin, almost gagged on my first attempted smoke, and hid the remaining tin out of sight. I noticed it the other day and gave the contents a quick sniff. I was reminded of the things in the aroma that were initially very enticing: citrus, almond, rum, maple, etc... And now being Sahara desert dry, a good amount of the perfume had faded (although not entirely).

I decided to give it a go. Found a cheap cob I could sacrifice if need be, crunched up some of the super dry flakes into the bowl and gave it a light. What a pleasant surprise!! I can smoke this now, and it's pretty tasty. I've had a few bowls in that cob and the results are recurring, so I can add Sahara desert dry Ennerdale to the list of tobaccos I enjoy. There's a good amount of similarity to Rum Flake in my opinion, with some extra flavors present, not as 1 or 2 dimensional.

Plenty of other reviewers have hit on the vitals: good base leaf flavor that isn't entirely hidden by the firmly present toppings. Once the soap / pine floor cleaner / perfume note wasn't dominating the song, I could finally sense all the other players and enjoy their contributions.

I've decided to go all the way to 3 stars on this, I'm liking it quite well in this super dried incarnation. When I first tried it, the tin had just been opened and the bowl worth of rubbed out leaf had been dried for about 30-45 minutes, nowhere near enough drying time. Interesting note, even when criminally dry, it doesn't burn fast or hot.

So if you hate this initially as I did, let it get very dry and try it again, you might be surprised.

Original Review: All I could do was laugh. It's rare that something disagrees with me so greatly that I lose my calm for a minute. For this raw emotional response, I'll give you credit where it's due Ennerdale.

I can't give this a proper thoughtful review though. The tin note was of pine floor cleaner, although if I could get past that for a second I could sense the bergamot, slight almond, and vanilla hints that had potential. I thought "ok, many blends that smell amazing are awful when smoked, and some that make you recoil in horror in the tin are actually amazing in the bowl." Let us never judge a 'baccy on its tin note alone, so I jump through the hoops of rubbing a little out and letting it dry to a reasonable moisture level.

It lit well and easy, and instantly unleashed a dominating smell that I think my great grandparents would have loved, while discussing the merits of this newfangled automobile contraption compared to horses. Having somewhat recently experienced Gawith 1792 flake which has the same 'time machine' effect, I powered through half the bowl waiting for something to change that made me want to like this blend. It never arrived for me. I thought about trying to detect the tobacco flavors, but it seemed futile trying to pick out subtlety. I envisioned a tasting panel, where an auditioner asks the test subjects "would you say this floor cleaner product tastes nutty, woody, or grassy?"

Ultimately, I raised the white flag with the thought "smoking through the rest of this bowl is robbing me of time from one of my favorites." Life is too short for leaf you don't agree with.

But, lots of people love this, and I won't fault them for it in any way. We're rather fortunate to live in a time where there are so many excellent choices in tobaccos. Ennerdale aggressively did not work for me, yet I tip my hat to those who like it and to the venerable company that makes it.