Robert McConnell Scottish Cake

Consists of mostly rubbed out flakes of mostly (red?) Virginia. Tobacco is on the moist side, but smokes well right out of the tin.

Aroma of the tobacco from the tin is intense and seems natural with yeasty/fermentation notes, stewed fruit, orange zest, chocolate and a whiff of vinegar. Even if there is a topping here, the aroma is beautiful and complex. Even if not dried at all it takes easy to light and stays lit and burns cool to the end. It is a juicy, sweet, yeasty and tangy tobacco. Has medium strength and produces a rich smoke. Perique adds fruitiness more than spice which is mild. Yet Scottish Cake is not a flashy tobacco. Though it is evidently a quality tobacco I was not impressed from the start. Maybe a little difficult for me to understand, sort of unadorned despite the fruity tones. But I did not want to give up on it and soon I came to appreciate it more and more and found quite a few things to commend it.

For starters its taste has complexity and seems all natural with its Perique-induced fruitiness and the Virginias have a nice tanginess. It also has a perfect strength. It is potent tobacco that satisfies nicotine-wise, without being strong. It’s also teasing, after mid-bowl the smoke becomes more woody more pure tobaccoey and nutty with sweeter spice (nutmeg) which is very pleasing but you never get the full nuttiness that is promised; only a tease… But as Oscar Wilde said for smoking (cigarettes), ‘it is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure, it is exquisite and it leaves you unsatisfied. What more can you ask?’ I tried to get the full nuttiness cutting it with some Burley and had good results. I recommend adding a little Semois (Tabak Manil) for a change.

I do not know if it is among the best Va/pers, but not a single bowl failed to either intrigue of satisfy me. Scottish Cake is a solidly good tobacco that possibly hints at something even more exiting that it never fully delivers, but being quite generous with my stars I cannot but give it four.

Was dying to try this.

Opening the tin, I was greeted with a very, very nice smell. Earthy, sweet, sour, figs.. it just smells glorious. But it also smells like it's been cased with something. I'm not sure exactly what, but if it isn't cased with anything I would be very surprised.

Comes very moist out of the tin, to the point where it sticks to the paper on the top. While taking the paper cover off, half the tin of tobacco came up along with it. I thought alright, I'll let this one dry for a bit. And after drying for a good 15 minutes or so, I loaded into my Croci (with a balsa filter) and off we went.

Despite being not fully dried out, this took to a flame with no problems. Char, tamp, initial light - done. It just keeps going after that - maintenance is so easy you don't even have to think about it. Just enjoy yourself, it'll go on it's own. It also does not bite at all. Absolutely zero.

It's quite a complex blend. I can definitely get the perique in there (VaPer's are my favorite blends) and trust me, it's more than just a pinch. You can feel it throughout the smoke and in the back of your throat - it's definitely there. The Virginia's are very nice and packed full of flavor, but they are not bright Virginia's, so don't think Orlik Golden Sliced or anything like that. The Kentucky adds body and a deeper character to the tobacco.

It's a pleasant smoke, but it's also quite different from pipe to pipe, I find. While not radically different, the differences are there. It smokes horribly in my Nording, for example. Don't know why, as that one is reserved for VaPer's and straight Virginia's. All of my other pipes, it behaved quite well. Does get a bit ashy tasting towards the end, which I guess is kind of a testament of how nice and even it burns all the way to the bottom of the bowl.

It's good stuff. Recommended.

Update : I must admit that after my first tin of this finished, I was swept with a deep and pronounced sadness. It really finished on me quickly, so I went out and got a few more tins, and those finished extremely quickly as well. Not because it burns fast, but because it is just so damned good. One of my favorites. It's very addicting stuff.

Edited REVIEW: I just have to bump this up to 4 stars, I'm glad to say I now very much 'get this blend'. I love it's chocolate sweetness with its grassy taste along side it. Good strength, nice in the tin, a must have in the cellar. A great Va/perq

I bought this as it is so highly considered by 'experienced' smokers. Then I thought 'what the hell are they on about'. Halfway true the tin I am beginning to see. For me it has improved over the months the tin has been opened. Presently I smoke it in my University Flake pipe, when I am not in the mood for that flake, and, I sometimes mix it with J.Fox's Dorisco to ease the bitterness (in my latakia pipe). The aroma has grown a bit more chocolatey as it has aged, but that cut grass, summer hay flavour is still there, and, that I don't quite get. Good tobacco, good quality, interesting, different, more for the experience smoker though.

McConnell’s Scottish Cake (by Kolhase & Kopp) presented in my reviewed tin as a well broken “flake” amidst moist, shaggy, golden, reddish- brown, and dark brown ribbons. It took me a while to figure out how best to smoke it, but I suspect that many will not be as “sensitive” to its additives as I am. Tobaccos seem to be mostly orange and red, air cured and stoved VAs (I understand they claim "dark" VA), along with a smidgen of flue cured, some KY, and some Perique. Whatever toppings they put on it, it smells like light, sweet brown bread and currents in a newly popped tin. It comes pretty well ready to pack and smoke after a few minutes dry time, and it loads, lights and burns down OK. I will say right off that I much prefer this blend dried out, as this tempers some tastes I don’t like, whether from the topping or just body chemistry, I’m not sure. Dried, it’s very fragrant off the match, with lightly woody, floral notes along with more grasses than one gets from stoved red VA (let alone "dark" VA), and there also seems to be more zing from the VAs than from the Perique or the KY; but we’re not talking a lot of zing here, in any case. There are dates, slightly musty figs and sourness from the Perique, and fatty nuts, slight BBQ, and some bitterness from the KY. It burns pretty slowly considering the cut, and since there’s no need to pull to keep it lit I like to take it very slowly, so muddled spices and bitterness do not overtake the delicate-yet- satisfying aromas. It stays true top to bottom when smoked slowly, except it gets better for the last part of a bowl, only if I smoke it “correctly”. Although the aromas are sweet like a patisserie it does not strike me as all that sweet until I finish a bowl, when some sweetness appears in the after taste. Strength is a tick over medium by the end of a bowl, and the tastes are just over that. Room note is pleasant.

Variations of VA/Bur/Per are my long-time, go-to tobaccos, and RMSC has some serious “competition”, including in-house competition from McConnell’s Folded Flake, also Rattray’s Old Gowrie and Hal o’ the Wynd, not to mention GL Pease’s Triple Play, which ultimately overshadow and relegate MSC to 3 stars, IMO.

This review is a re-visit of the Scottish Cake. I smoked, loved and reviewed this blend quite early in my "pipe-career", yet I haven't smoked it in a while. "This is THE smoke to me", I was proclaiming in my old review. Well.. now that I've smoked many other blends I don't see it as "THE smoke", but definetly as a wonderful smoke. Yet I have to admit that I find the Old Gowrie to be superior to this blend. It may come down to personal preference though, this blend is "brighter" and sweeter than Gowrie is.

When opening the tin, you'll get bewitched by a lovely aroma that reminds of very ripe and juicy-sweet oranges and tangerines mixed with raisins. The intense fruit-aroma is underscored and balanced by a full-bodied spiciness of black pepper nice! Well conditioned Broken Flakes with intense colors of mainly dark- and medium-brown, that also hold a few brighter stains of yellow and beige. A tad too moist right out of the tin, it can make use of some drying time. Drying it out too much takes some of its "fruity-magic" though (Top-Flavoring that fades?) In the smoke it's not as intensly fruity as in the tin-note, yet it has a decent foundation of a honey-sweet, ripe and juicy fruit like aroma. I get oranges, tangerines, raisins, maybe even a bit of plums, love that! As counterpart a robust spiciness is apparent, that has some good amount of pepperiness to it. They form a synergetic melange of fruits and spices, with some bready, nutty and yeasty undertones, as well as a splash of lemon and grass. It leaves a peppery and slightly fruity-sweet aftertaste in your mouth, that'll make you crave for another bowl!

Even though the taste is very rich with intense aromas, this can be smoked again and again. It's bold and mellow at the same time - if that makes any sense! 😉 Strenght-wise it settles in the "medium"-range, whilst the taste if fullbodied. If you look for it, some complexity can be found, But you might just as well puff it without concentrating too much on it, easy going smoke.

I've found some lists of addities in blends produced by K&K, so I'll have to say there is some very(!!) mild flavouring to it! It's not much, but it's listed in there. Yet this feels and smokes most natural and the flavourings really just accompany with the natural qualities.

3,5-stars, again I find Old Gowrie to be ahead of this! But still... enjoyable smoke!

UPDATE 01/28/2018:

I wanted to let this one sit awhile and see how it went. I can't say I'd order this one again.

It's an odd one to me because it has a citrusy Va but there's something about the flavour that while it has flavour, it stirkes me as being shallow. It is also peppery from the perique way and I don't happen to be a fan of that. Combining citrusy with peppery just isn't my thing, but if you like VaPers you'll likely enjoy.

Prefer their Oriental blend much more.

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The tin note on this one is the most citrusy Virginia I've ever seen, so much so it makes me wonder if there's an adding topping of a citrus variety.

Flavour wise, it's quite unique. To me it is almost like taking a Va. flake like FVF or Capstan Blue and mixing it up with half HH Old Dark Fired and then add on some perique. (I don't think this blend claims to have any perique but it sure tastes like it to me as there is a peppery quality. It is something I always note because perique and I do not always see eye to eye.)

At any rate, what you end up with is a citrusy Virginia flavour mixed with the darker Kentucky type notes that come with ODF -- but the "dark stewed fruit" angle of ODF is taken over by the citrusy Virginia.

To be honest I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. I've found the first half of the bowl more enjoyable than the second half as I find it builds up to that throat feel that can come with Kentucky and the peppery notes as well, and these are things I'm not big fans of, unless I happen to pair it with coffee -- but to me a good blend should stand on its own; it shouldn't have to be augmented by something else to be enjoyable.

A word about the tin art. It's phenomenal. Love it. I'm almost tempted to cellar some of it just for the tin art. 😀

Anyway, I'm going to rate this one as "somewhat" recommended for me at this point, but it could change. I need to try it with some more drying time as I've found right out of the tin its a bit moist and can be difficult to keep lit.

I imagine this is one of those love it or hate it type of blends.

Ebay tin dated 1/12. Probably the best-behaved tobacco I've smoked yet. The leaf is a spongy, moist lump in the tin, and I adore the tin note: sweet feed, oats, raisins and hay. The mushiness of the tobacco lends itself well to my preferred style of packing, a fussy, modified Frank method. And mechanically, it's almost a perfect smoke. I didn't even use a charring light to get it up and running. The plug up top burned slow and steady, with a plentiful but wispy smoke that disappeared quickly in the fall wind.

Only problem is that it's boring. The oats and sweet feed disappear quickly and the perique comes rushing in, hot and spicy. Slowing down the cadence helps some, but I think age is not kind to this blend. The dominating taste is of burning woodchips, a bit of plum and smoke. The perique is just too much. I've smoked and enjoyed other mixtures with perique, so I don't think it's me, though I know I don't have much tolerance for the stuff. Maybe it is me. I loved the Virginias in here, and if there was a straight Virginia version, it would probably become my go-to smoke. As it is, the Virginias tempt me to dig deeper, but when I do, the perique rears its head and makes the experience go from great to passable.

Everything else was perfect: I got almost an hour out of two-thirds of a bowl and didn't have to relight once. The bowl never burned hot and the leaf never turned bitter- unless I pushed the perique. I liked the nicotine levels: just enough to feel something, with no queasiness or head spin. It's just me. I'm interested in trying a fresh tin, and would unreservedly recommend this to anyone with more tolerance for perique than myself.

This is another tobacco I just didn't get. It wasn't bad but nothing really shined out to me in it. In fact I found it plain boring. I tried this in several different pipes but just couldn't get this one to do anything for me. Perhaps I'll revisit this again in the future.

Soli Deo gloria!

Unfortunately for me, this review is based on a sample only. About four bowls, if you're counting.

Scottish Cake is a blend I can easily see me smoking all day...heaven forbid. It has enough strength, enough sweetness, and enough snork (Perique), to keep me interested. It also can be smoked mindlessly without fear of your palate being taxed, tongue bite, etc. It has the right mix to accomplish both. That is something I thoroughly enjoy. The more blends I attempt, the closer I've come to the personal conclusion that Va/burs are the way to go for an all around smoke...the rarefied highs of a good VA, without the necessary attention to detail, and the down to earth goodness of burley, without the ensuing 'meh' boredom and bitters. The trick is getting the benefits of both, while minimizing their negatives. I don't know if it is the Perique saving the day here, but Scottish Cake succeeds. I honestly shouldn't crow about this until I've smoked a steady diet of it, but too late!

Four stars.