Review: Gawith, Hoggarth Louisiana Flake

[RevSmoke]

I thought I'd look for some other tobacco reviews I haven't posted here. So, another one.

Gawith, Hoggarth Louisiana Flake

I have been smoking Louisiana Flake since 1990 or so, and so this review is simply my impressions over the last 20 years – finally put down to pen. I don’t know why it took me till now (1/19/2012) to write up a review. Maybe it was because it has always been such a constant companion and good friend, a comfortable blend that I don’t think about, but simply enjoy its company.

1) Aesthetics: I opened the 500g box, and there is this brick of tobacco. You can see that this is a brick of pressed tobacco that it was cut into flakes, but kept as a brick. You can see the swirls of the constituent tobaccos that were pressed into the brick and are layered across all the flakes. It looks really cool. This is a wonderful presentation.

2) Pre-light Construction: The brick is a bit moist, but not overly so. The flakes come off very easily, and seem ready to smoke. I might like them a bit drier, but the humidity level is most tolerable. I know lots of people like to fold and stuff, but I like to rub out my flakes, to me that is part of the ritual that makes smoking flakes so enjoyable, and the LF rubs out easily and packs with little fuss. I love the smell of LF in the tin, the slight hint of fruit (prunes), sweet tobacco, and chocolate is present.

3) Post-light Construction/How it smoked: Fully rubbed out, I have found that this burns evenly and easily. I sometimes like to get large volumes of smoke, so sometimes I hurf a bit heavily, even then is stays pretty cool to the tongue. When the bowl heats up a bit, that tactile sensation reminds me that you cannot smoke a pipe expecting the same volume of smoke as with a cigars, so then I set it down and let it cool. I must say that LF makes for great DGT smoking when picked up hours or even a couple days later.

4) Flavor and strength: This is my favorite blend. It is comfortable and consistent, bowl after bowl. This is a blend which exhibits rich Virginias. By that I mean that it isn’t bright and sharp like some Vas (not that those are bad aspects). I find this to have some caramel overtones, with complex, rich, sweet Virginia flavors, and chocolate. The Perique makes it’s presence known by bringing in an occasional prune/fruity note. When I back off of puffing too hard and sip this blend, it is absolutely wonderful

5) Aftertaste/Finish: Slight spice, chocolate, and prunes dance ever so briefly on the palate

6) Aroma: I love the aroma of a pipe in the side slip smoke as it wafts to my nose, after being squeezed from my mouth. Again, this is rich, sweet, with hints of chocolate and prunes. My sons both say that when I smoke this blend it makes them think of fishing, probably because this is the blend that is most comfortable to me, it is what I grab when I want a smoke and don’t want to think to hard about it.

7) General Comments I always have a couple 500g bricks stuffed into mason jars, aging. I like this blend fresh. But with a couple years on it, it is incredible. The stuff I am smoking now is from 2005 and is incredible. I’d like to put some away for a longer time, but…

8) Recommendation: If you haven’t tried this blend and you enjoy a good VaPer, give this a shot. Escudo is brighter and sharper than this, especially when this has a couple years on it. I like Escudo too, but…