GQ Tobaccos Askwith Kake

Love at first pipe. The Kake is fragile compared to plug but that's the beauty, this stuff just fluffs up and is ready for the job in seconds flat so for me the best all round solution for shipping/preserving/use.

I am no hardcore piper I struggle with royal yacht and after reading some descriptions and reviews was a little worried this one might be to much for me. So happy to say its perfect.

I get all the things I love from vg without all the zing not tongue bite zing but the alkaline zing. The vg is sweet and juicy with the ripe fruity tastes from which baccy I'm not sure but it is very well balanced in my not so well educated opinion. I was expecting pepper from the perique and found it at first but not mad pepper burning or OTT in any way.

The pipe soon settled into a solid CREAMY dense smoke which is exactly what a good smoke should be thick and without need for caution or heavy puffing in order to get it. Quite simply the best tobacco all rounder I have ever smoked I can find nothing lacking and no over the top notes that give instant attraction but you would soon tire of.

It's not what I expected its ten times better, No bite balance and pepper but not OTT, CREAMY and I say again creamy. Vitamin N is perfect

This is currently my number one tobacco. I used to smoke English / Balkan tobacco exclusively but recently have been smoking this and revor plug. This tobacco has so much flavour, sweet virginia with a big but remarkably balanced Perique kick. At 20% the Perique dose is huge but it never dominates. With the sheer quality of this blend I am going to be forced to try more of the house blends from gq. I have read somewhat enviously of greg pease exploits and his blends sound great but it seems we have our own blending genius this side of the pond in Glynn Quelch

I'm experimenting with many different types of tobacco. This is my first VaPer. From what I can tell, in my limited experience, it's a great VaPer. It's complex. It's earthy (in a Spring-time hay way) and smooth. It packed a pretty big punch compared to the Englishes I've been smoking. (I'm feeling the N quite a bit right now.) I don't think VaPers are my cup of tea, but I suspect that if they are for you, this would be a knockout blend.

1st attempt with this. I buy from Glynn regularly so I know his quality. This surprised me. 20% Perique is 5% less than my home-mix. This was gentle, not soft but early morning, coffee, ham and eggs and a bowl early morning. I tried it outdoors on a moist day and back in the 'hole'. This was light enough for a few inhalations fixing the N for the day. All in all a very amiable smoke. I shall get me a little more of this to age and report back.

GQ Tobaccos - Askwith Kake.

I have been really looking forward to this as I understand that Glynn Quelch is a really eminent blender.

Firstly, lightly snap a piece off the block then rub it with great ease to as finer constancy as you desire. Once rubbed out it again (like the pouch note) exudes a lovely Va-Per note and it has in the background a really slight floral touch, its fair to say that I am really eager by now! I rub my kake to a medium consistency, generously fill my pipe and it's time to begin!

I'm impressed right from the first touch of the flame! To get this lit is easier than a flake, partly to do with the superior moisture content and partly as it has allowed me to gain a good amount of rubbed tobacco where there are no larger clumps. The flavour from Askwith is a beautiful one: I get a fair taste of both Virginia and Perique without either being over dominant whilst all the way down the Pipe there is a resplendent spiciness of a superb weight. I don't get tongue-bite from Askwith Kake, not even if I draw my Pipe with prodigious vigor! The burn from Askwith Kake is excellently even and steady, making my lighter seem superfluous! To give a good example of this quality I'll point out that I have smoked a bowl whilst writing this review and not once have I had to re-light my pipe, once! The room-note from this is nothing to shout home about, it's by no means a malodorous note, just a very basic Va-Per note, one that scores highly due to the fact it isn't at all heavy, overpowering or thick.

I wrote at the beginning of this review of "understanding Glynn Quelch is a really eminent blender" and smoking this has really confirmed that! Superb!

Phew! This is obviously a really high quality blend that is carefully tuned to provide a perique powerhouse, and as a result, is the only GQ Blend that I have tried that I just can't get on with! I am a big fan of VaPers such as St James' Flake and Cabbie's Mixture, and even enjoy the occasional bowl of Dunhill Elizabethan (which is a blending house that has lost something for me in its various recent evolutions), but the 20% perique content is simply too much for the faint hearted. There is no way this could be described as condimental use, as it dominates the bowl for me and rather than giving a spicy tingle, gives me a nicotine hit that upsets my stomach and leaves my head spinning.

Plums, earth, raisins, spice - all there and never lacking in flavour.

Definitely go and buy some for the experience, and you may find this to be a winner if you love higher content perique blends, but be careful if you are nicotine sensitive. I can't fault the quality, but I also can't finish a bowl.