Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Kendal Dark

I have been on a Gawith run for the past several months and this is by far the strongest and most nicotine laden example I have tried of the bunch. Being a shag-cut it was easy to pack and after a false-light and tamp I was off.

Wow! What a delightful, full, peppery, mature, smoke! Caution to the fast-puffer however, this Virginia will incapacitate you if you go too fast. Blowing some through my nostrils I find my eyes opening wider and I slow the pace even more. Halfway through the bowl the smoke really settles down to a mezmerising, almost meditative experience. A slight cigar-like flavor permeates more the farther down the bowl I progress.

It burns to a fine grey-white ash. I did not need a pipe cleaner the run of the bowl, (Probably due in large part to my slowing down as I progressed), and it left just a small dottle at the end.

This is definitely, IMHO, not a smoke for the beginner or first time Virginia smoker.

My first time I smoked this in an older Charatan Extra Large Pipe. Hmmm, maybe this is why after finishing it around Midnight, it took me roughly 2-3 hours to get to sleep. I plan to smoke it again in a large pipe but will do so in the early afternoon, not late at night!

Package note of mildly tangy, mild barbeque and musty vegetation. Tobacco is a shag cut of brown, dark brown and a little light brown. Moisture content is good, a few pipe smokers will want to dry it a bit. Burns moderate to fast with few relights. The strength is strong and nic is medium to strong. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and mostly consistent, with notes of sweet hay, spicy, sugar, bread, savory, rich dirt, nuts, wood, dry, floral, acidic, mildly sour, peaty vegetation, mild herbal, citrus peel/zest, a tangy dark fruit background note, and a very peppery retro. Virginias are leading with some support from the Kentucky. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Many reviews of this so this will be short. If you are looking at these reviews you must be interested pure strong tobacco, which this is. Perfect, easy to pack, light and smoke. Don’t worry too much about the nicotine. Just take it easy and all will be fine. I love these shag tobacco’s. Along with Kendal Kentucky and Dark Birds Eye this is a wonderful smoke. Just go for it. I haven’t looked back since.

Doesn’t have much pouch aroma, but is very tasty. Caution: DO NOT INHALE. Looked at the shag cut and thought “That’ll make a good cigarette”. After three drags I lost control of all fine and most major motor functions. When I recovered, I was in love. Also an excellent cure for a headache.

This is a great, deep flavoured, satisfying tobacco for those times when you’re looking for something that’s strong and dependable. Take Kendal Dark Shag slowly. The more gently you savour, the better it is. Packs and smokes dry but can be moistened with (dark) spirit, which I recommend if you’re storing. Can be re-lit to a degree, but best finished in one or two smokes. I’ve used it as an all dayer. I’ve smoked it in small churchwardens - for those short, life saving hits – up to Oom Paul pipes, when I need something that offers long term comfort and resonating contentment. Highly recommended.

Well, it's strong. I'll give it that. If you want the novelty of smoking the single most nicotine laden tobacco that is readily available you need look no further than Kendal Dark.

If you want something with a bit more flavor or complexity, you may have to look elsewhere; but nicotine? No problem.

The flavor's raspy and smoky. Something in the way of a dark cheroot cigar. Dirt and pepper come to mind as the primary taste and more than a little ammonia. The membranes of the nose and mouth start to tingle and tighten shortly after lighting up. Kendal Dark almost immediately induces hiccups and a racing heart rate. It's not actually unpleasant, but it's wholly unlike what we've come to expect out of modern pipe smoking. The smoke doesn't last long enough to maintain this sort of rough treatment as that fine shag cut really does burn hot and fast.

All things told, I smoked over a pound of Kendal Dark in scarcely over a month's time, so you know that I gave it more than a fair shake. I am sure that all sorts of comparisons could be made between this and the dark, foul shag of Sherlock Holmes fame. Make those comparisons all that you want, but that doesn't mean that I would ever want to smoke this again.

Reviewed as a cigarette tobacco: This is the best cigarette I've ever smoked. It's like smoked chocolate cake. Peat, mushroom, barbecue, woodfire, very autumnal notes. It's too heavy to smoke all day. This is a cigarette you enjoy after a meal. It's delicious, like an old scotch, something to savor and enjoy. This tobacco is probably equally good in a pipe, which is something I wouldn't say about many cigarette tobaccos. A real treat, A+

I found myself being particularly underwhelmed by this blend. That is not to say that it was an essentially bad tobacco, but given past reviews on here, I was expecting something spectacular. This tobacco was bought for me by my sister along with a few other tobaccos at Christmas, and this is the first of them that I have smoked, as I type I am finishing off the sample she got me (I think it was 25 grams). Straight out of the pouch, the aroma that hit me immediately was a farmyard aroma. Not an unpleasant smell, but one reminiscent of farmyards where the freshly laid cow pat mixes with cut grasses, hay, pollen and fresh air. A nice evocative smell of sunny afternoons in rural settings. The tobacco packs easily, and takes the light well, it burns consistently and needs little maintenance throughout. The cut is lovely for this tobacco, no lumps or clumps, separates into strands with no effort required. Burns to a fine white ash. It's strong, to be sure, but not the knockout punch that many appear to be labeling it as. That could be because I'm smoking it in a fairly small bowl. The taste is somewhat flat. It has an interesting sourness but also a tempered warmth to it, again, not unpleasant, but it appears that the Burley may well be the main player, with the Virginia somewhat muted. I detect a faint topping, but the tobacco is so robust that it's flavour comes through powerfully. I also didn't find the room note to be overpowering, but I only smoked it when alone, and would imagine that to a non-smoker it may be somewhat intolerable. I think it lingers as well if the area is a closed room (like mine - it's too cold to have the windows open at this time of year). As I have no opinions from others to gauge by, I have given this a 'tolerable' room note based on my guesswork.

Overall, I would give this 2.5 out of 4, but on my rating here, I'm going to round it down to 2. I just can't justify a rating of 3. I may well buy some in future & jar it, but at the moment I can only speak for this particular sample that I had, & I would recommend that it is tried, as it is not in any way really bad - just don't build you hopes up like I did for this one, as it's not - in my opinion - as good as a lot of the previous reviews made it out to be. Maybe I had a dud sample, but I think the likelihood is that I was just expecting far too much.

20230306 edit: Out of a Dublin meer, it's coming across much milder, in bite, and general DFK and Lakeland notes. Apparently I can't count on it for even a mild reliable Lakeland note when using my favorite pipes, and out of the meer, dark bird's eye was much better at providing the other DFK aspects which I love. A lot more plain burley taste throughout the smoke. I think I have to drop this down a star; it can provide a couple different profiles depending on what you're smoking from, how you smoke, and maybe the day of the week, but I think when I'm searching for any of them I'd probably choose something else which does it better. This is still very good, maybe 3.5, but I can't call it a 4 anymore.

Edit: After spending more time with some other tobaccos, the Lakeland/floral aspect is coming across much stronger, and it's coming across as less smoky. This may be more evident in the tiniest bowls, at the front end. In larger bowls, the floral essences may burn off quickly leaving more of the characteristics I originally mentioned. It is still incredibly biting. Reading more as a dessert tobacco than I initially pegged it, from this tiny clay and smoking little more than a pinch. Still 4 stars, just in a slightly different way than I had initially intended.

One of my favorites so far. Very strong, spicy, bitey if I don't sip very slowly. A good tobacco to help you moderate your pace; gets incredibly unpleasant if smoked too quickly. Moderate sweetness, sometimes I detect a slight essence of baby powder (Lakeland); not sure whether or not this is an intentional additive, or as I've seen speculated, maybe rubbed off from the processing equipment. Whatever Lakeland essence there might be is very light. Very smoky, barbecue character -- a flavor bomb. Everything I love about this tobacco lasts from the beginning to the end of the bowl. Regarding nicotine content, it's up there with the strongest tobaccos I've smoked.