GQ Tobaccos Askwith Kake

Tin Aroma: Subtle grassy knoll with tangy perique goodness, sour notes with nice sweet grass almost sugarcane husk notes. This one fools you in thinking that its a mild blend and the perique hides well as a plummy scent until you light your pipe and go WOW this is insanely awesome.!!

Charlight: After rubbing and airing the tobacco for 15 minutes, the initial light lights up the blend like a charm, if you are in a humid environment you might have to do a quick relight and a tamp.

The First Layer: Subtle play of grassy sweet VA along with the spicy perique, the sweet and spicy taste caress your palate and nose, one word of caution, dont sip fast or you might end up with a scratched throat or nose, the blend really has some muscles thanks to perique. The after taste is quite good, reminding me of sugarcane and hay. Oh my I love the farm life, the hints of plum in the smoke is just so delicious. I'll be bordering on adultery if I keep enjoying the baccy till the end.

Mid Bowl: The smokiness changes from subtle to a little more prominent, giving the tobacco a little more strength, the VA now completely married with the Lord P resulting in a more prominent room note, flavor and strength. The hay flavor is still prominent along with the major periqueness, the spicy straw. I do advice you to keep some sweet ice tea or water handy to refresh your throat as perique will slowly make you thirsty and it helps clean up the tongue for a more flavorful taste.

I clenched my Rick Black freehand sitter and sipped on it in-sync with my breathing cycle, perfection !! the perique tingles the tongue like a sensual mistress, edging you on for more. I must note that by this time your nicotine urges are quite satisfied. Being an ex-cigarette smoker the Kake helps me get my daily dose of nicotine in a slow progressive manner.

If you are using a big bowled pipe like me I would advise you to keep tamping the ash a little instead of dumping the ash, this is a high quality blend which burns gracefully into a pinch of white ash.

Climax: By the time you reach the end of your smoke, you will be in awe of this amazingly creamy, smooth, stout, lightly sweet and spicy blend. The flavors after maturing just a little bit after reaching the mid bowl are now at their full strength. The classy seductive dance of the Virginia and Perique will take over all your senses and in the end after you're smoked your pipe you will be craving for more. A very satisfying smoke. I will give it 3.8 stars out of 4.

The Nitty Gritty

Pipe used: Rick Black Freehand Sitter Poker, Relights: 2, Lighter used: No Matches: Yes, Tamper: Steel Metal Pipe, Companions: Cold water for first and mid bowl stage. Sweet black tea with half a lemon squeezed for the last portion of the bowl to help soothe the plummy spiciness.

Tobacco Components: Steamed Virginia (flue cured) and Perique Age: Fresh Cut: Crumble Cake Moisture Content: Balanced, does not require airing for more than 5-10 minutes depending on the humidity of the environment you are in. Taste: Full Strength: Medium Room Note: Tolerable

Will buy again? Hell yes!

My fairly large piece of Askwith Kake, came apart with ease. I can’t recall smoking a VaPer with 20% Perique that is this smooth and sweet. As mentioned, the Virginias offer some grassiness and a good amount of sugar. There is a definite tang to the Perique, but in a good way. I don’t get any sour notes and not a lot of raisin that I would associate with an aged VaPer. The flavors are very “bright” in this blend as they really pop with a lushes, rich, boldness. The Perique offer more spice in the second half of each bowl. Mindful of another review, I too found this best smoked in a smaller bowl. There is quite a bit of nicotine here, and it wasn’t overwhelming, but I am accustomed to smoking stronger blends. It is stronger than most VaPer blends, so if you don’t get along well with Lady N, proceed with caution. In the final stages of each bowl, there is almost an incense quality to AK. There is no bite, but it will get a tad too spicy for my personal taste if pushed. With that said, the extra spice isn’t enough to keep this from being a four star blend for me. I can only imagine what a few years in the cellar would do to this blend! It is a shame that it isn't available in America or I would have pounds of this cellared as it is a unique and delicious VaPer!

Nothing more to add that JimInks, DK, and Pipemonk haven't said so well already, EXCEPT that this GQ Tobacco Vaper blend is one of the most magnificent, almost magical, alchemy of tobacco genius ever made - now, never to be made again due to granny state regulations, we will mourn a great great loss. Thank you, Glynn Quelch, for Askwith AND Burper Kakes, and so many others - you raised the bar to Mt. Everest heights.

Askwith Kake; I think this could be the start of a long-term relationship. We are already on first name terms, on each other's Christmas card lists, and there has even been casual talk about us holidaying together with each other's families.

This is an outstanding tobacco, blended in the city of Nottingham, home of the infamous Sheriff and his heavy taxation policy, a tradition that continues to this day for anyone purchasing tobacco in the UK.

Tradition dictates that there is a saviour at hand to take from the rich and give to the poor, and although his archery and thievery skills are unbeknown to me there can be no doubt about Glynn Quelch's ability to blend first-rate tobacco.

The pouch aroma is as you'd expect from a VaPer, hay, figs and plums, but perhaps the keener nose will detect the added aromas of honey and citrus. The consistency of the Kake is perfect, with enough moisture allowing it to hold together well, yet being easy to break enough off and rub out like a flake.

It can be smoked straight away but I prefer about 10 minutes airtime before loading. With 20% perique you might be a little nervous but rest assured this is a well balanced sweet smoke with minimal amount of nose tickle. I have tried a variety of pipe sizes and my advice would be to go for the biggest you have, this is a smoking experience that you would never want to end. As a previous reviewer has stated, just lie back and grunt.

Askwith Kake is a great tobacco. Hay-like in appearance, light, golden-brown with darker/lighter flecks throughout. Wonderful, grassy aroma, very fresh Virginia smell. It crumbles and fills the bowl easily. Pleasant feel and perfect moisture balance. First light and the taste hits in with both that Virginia grassiness and then the spiciness of the Perique. Quite powerful, piquant, some pepperiness there too. The fresh tastes that hit the tongue are quite unique and there is a lingering sensation of that peppery tingling, with a sweetness from the Virginias that complements the spicy richness. The smoke is creamy, rich, clean. After the charring light, very few other lights are required provided you sip this tobacco rhythmically and carefully. The room note is clean, hay-like and aromatic. As the smoking continues, these flavours meld together gradually to combine into a mellow, roundedness. All the above flavours are still present, but more mature and, if anything, gentler and calmer, more solid.The adolescent smack of taste develops into an adult and you are left with a soothing, very pleasant latter smoke which is satisfying and extremely comfortable. There is a nicotine kick here but not heavy or hard-hitting. I love this tobacco and have just ordered (and received) a larger amount for cellaring. More will be added soon. I can very firmly and confidently recommend this blend.

Fragile Krumble Kake. Mine was pretty much a ribbon mixture by the time it had travelled half way around the world to me. Tobacco varies in colour from blonde thru to black.

Lovely pouch aroma. Herbal, floral, honey, spicey.

Takes a light easily and produces huge volumes of creamy peppery smoke. This pepper never lets up. Lovely dry, cool smoke with, to my taste, perfectly balanced acidity.

Great intensity to the finish. Just close your eyes and grunt.

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

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!