Tobacco: Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Kendal Flake

Pipe: MM Country Gentleman

Prequel: This is my first go with a "Lakeland" blend. I am not a aromatic smoker, but something about these fabled blends have made me too curious, so I had to buy some 2 oz samples. This review will be written off of my 3rd bowl. If my views change after smoking through the 2oz sample, I will update it here.

Tin Note: The aroma that has come to be known as the "essence" was very apparent before I even opened the baggy. Upon opening it I was hit with the scent of lavender, rose, and geranium. The tobacco note was of a strong Virginia. Being that I rarely smoke anything aromatic, I was at first put back by the scent, however I must admit it does smell quite pleasant in a perfumery sort of way.

The Smoke: This flake came ready to smoke in my opinion, so I took a chunk, folded it up, and put it straight into my cob. The initial charring light was easy and keeping this tobacco lit was no problem at all. I found that Kendal Flake produced good, robust smoke. No tongue bite whatsoever. Kendal Flake smoked down to a clean white ash all the way to the bottom of the bowl no problem.

Flavors: Well, wow. This stuff is like nothing I have ever experienced before in the tobacco world. The first 4th of the bowl was very casing heavy in my opinion. Lots and lots of floral notes, strong hits of geranium and rose. From what I smelt in the bag, I assumed I would get hit with a lavendery-bath-soap-salts like flavor, but the rose and geranium were much more noticeable in my opinion. At around the half way point of the bowl, the rich Virginia started to really shine and the aromatic portion started to take a back seat. This is where I felt like this blend really shined. You can really tell that HG&C use amazing quality tobaccos. The flavor at this point was much more tobacco heavy, with an rosy-almond flavor. Towards the end of the bowl, I finally started to feel the nicotine hit. Nothing to strong but a respectable medium strength. The "essence" seemed to rear its head again here and the floral notes really began to take over. A very sweet/almond/rose flavor to the finish line.

Conclusion: Kendal Flake is something that is completely out of my realm, but I have to say that I didn't hate it! It is far and above the best aromatic that I have ever smoked and something that would make a great change of pace smoke for someone who mainly smokes a lot of Lat/Va/Vapers. The quality of the product is just top notch. It is easy to see that GH&C only use the best of the best tobaccos, and the price is super reasonable. All in all, I would recommend Kendal Flake to someone who is looking to see what a Lakeland is all about.