Col. & Rev.Views - Gawith, Hoggarth Louisiana Flake

[Col. Kurtz]

Sorry for the long hiatus on these reviews. I've had a few issues that kept me away from piping for a while. Well, summer is here in N.C. and the pipe seems a perfect companion for this time of year. I've been smoking a lot of Escudo, Squadron Leader, Meatpie and Carter Hall. I've had a few bowls of the LF and believe I can give it a fair run now. So here goes...





0.0 - 2.0 = poor/inferior quality
2.1 - 2.9 = fair
3.0 - 3.5 = good
3.5 - 4.5 = excellent
4.6 - 5.0 = superior

1) Aesthetics: the look of the tobacco - This is a dark flake, comes out looking like a five inch slice of jerky. This is a narrow rigid flake. The opposite of Dunhill flake which is blonde, moist and flimsy. Not that there's anything wrong with that. There are lots of medium and dark brown strands. This example is from 2005 and shows some crystals on the surface. Very cool.

Score for aesthetics: 4.9, only because I think coin cuts look cooler. Nothing wrong with this flake.

2) Pre-light Construction: I rubbed out the flake into course ribbons and let it dry for about two hours while the kiddos were bedding down. This didn't fall into thin ribbons like escudo tends to do, rather it held together a bit better. The loading went well. The prelight aroma is of molasses and spring flowers. There are also notes of caramel or chocolate.


Score for Pre-light construction: 4.5 this is a more robust pressed flake. Reminds me of McCleland 22 in structure.

3) Post-light Construction/How it smoked: Smokes like a flake should. Hard to over compress (thankfully for this newb). Even with the two hour drying, there is some gurgle in the pipe. Nothing major. This is a Virginia, but not sharp like Elizabethan or Escudo, so I puffed a little more enthusiastically. I had a bit of a time keeping this lit. I found best results came from dumping the ash off the top prior to relighting.

Score for post-light construction: 4.0 Not terribly well behaved.

4) Flavor and strength: For a Vaper, this is medium in strength. There isn't a lot of body here. Thin smoke most of the way. This is a dry, fruity and floral tobacco. With the dried out pile, I noted that the pepper is more prominent. There is a decent pepper kick on the snork that gets smoother as smoked. The other bowls that I only rubbed and smoked didn't have near the pepper.

Score for flavor and strength: 5.0 I'm combining prior experiences as well. I'll probably smoke this less dried from here on out.

5) Aftertaste/Finish: Medium aftertaste. Very pleasant floral flavors with a very small amount of spice.

Score for aftertaste: 5.0 everything I love and nothing offensive. Very solid and predictable tobacco.

6) Aroma: I sniffed the bowl while smoking and noted that this smells like popping the lid on a fruit cup.

Score for aroma: 5.0 hard to beat in my opinion.

7) General Comments: I smoked this rubbed and dried out. I've smoked it roughed up and not dried. I like the moist better. It seems to smoke a little cooler with less pepper. That's how I intend to smoke the rest. The more moist this is, it gives heavier molasses, chocolate and stewed fruit notes. Either way this is not a powerhouse. It's nuanced and subtle, but not so much that you have to "study" it to enjoy it. This is one of my favorites so far. This one is on my shopping list when I go back down to Smoking Pipes in Little River.

Overall score for the tobacco: 4.7

8) Recommendation: Would you recommend this blend? Absolutely. I can only hope the new production has the same characteristics.