Not to me, but cilantro doesn't taste like soap to me.
Evil Lakeland Essence
- Thread starter Zartoon
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
- Status
Fresh cilantro tastes like green palmolive bar soap. And as others have pointed out Lakeland tastes somewhat like the smell of the small pink decorative soaps your grandmother had. So not the same.
I've only had a few bowls of Lakeland infused blends so far but I've found that the aftertaste when having smoked Lakelands is reminiscent of the taste in your mouth the morning after a night of hard partying or sort of Chinese sweet and sour sauce-ish taste. Maybe just my taste-buds that are weird. Personally not a huge fan so far but I'm not giving up on them yet.
A picture of the culprit: Pelargonium graveolens that the Rose Geranium oil is extracted/distilled from.
Also found this:
osmiaorganics.com
Apparently if you are the type of person who believes in shoving healing crystals up your Va-jay Rose Geranium has plenty of healing and calming properties...
What's So Special About Rose Geranium Oil?
We're digging in the dirt to uncover the magic of the rose geranium. Learn about the aromatherapy and skin benefits of rose geranium, and what makes rose geranium essential oil different from rose essential oil.
osmiaorganics.com
Apparently if you are the type of person who believes in shoving healing crystals up your Va-jay Rose Geranium has plenty of healing and calming properties...
At last some
I have said many times that there is many different types of "lakeland"
People who say I dont like lakeland it tastes of soap or smell of granny panties draw are just generalising things.
I personally like most of the blends but go for the Rose Geranium ones more
At last somebody who "gets it"
I have said many times that there is many different types of "lakeland"
People who say I dont like lakeland it tastes of soap or smell of granny panties draw are just generalising things.
I personally like most of the blends but go for the Rose Geranium ones more
It's just a generalization like calling Virginia blends "Virginias". Many of them taste world's apart but it's just easier to have a genre to place them in. Lakeland tobaccos in themselves aren't technically how they are flavored, it's where they are made.
I only smoked a coupled of bowls of Dark Flake Scented, which to me was delightful as the topping really fit the blend. I don't know why I didn't buy big on this one but always had it in the back of my mind.
I support this thread because in it members are being object time about the scenting. So many threads I've read on this topic were not Lakeland discussions but Lakeland bashing, "granny's panties", etc.
When I smoked a full Lakeland blend I felt that my mouth was being coated by the scenting, and it was so strong that the tobacco taste was subordinate. Not a bad thing, but I didn't buy more.
Coniston Curt Plug was a favorite as it was topped, not cased, and I liked the dark fired, and in the sense we are discussing not a Lakeland. I smoked a lot of Dark Flake Unscented and a good bit of GH Brown and Black rope but not much of anything else.
I support this thread because in it members are being object time about the scenting. So many threads I've read on this topic were not Lakeland discussions but Lakeland bashing, "granny's panties", etc.
When I smoked a full Lakeland blend I felt that my mouth was being coated by the scenting, and it was so strong that the tobacco taste was subordinate. Not a bad thing, but I didn't buy more.
Coniston Curt Plug was a favorite as it was topped, not cased, and I liked the dark fired, and in the sense we are discussing not a Lakeland. I smoked a lot of Dark Flake Unscented and a good bit of GH Brown and Black rope but not much of anything else.
This forum and its members have provided me with a social outlet that Covid has largely deprived me of. I truly enjoy the banter and information from all members.
Yesterday, I posted this comment about my desire to try Ennerdale to further my common experience with you gentlemen. To my incredible delight, at about 5:00 last night, at my brewpub, Scott (scloyd) pulled up to our curbside service door with a 20 month aged tin of Ennerdale for me. My wife and brother couldn’t help but notice how extremely touched I was by the thoughtfulness of a fellow pipe smoker. I am truly grateful for this community of smokers and will keep the tin at the brewpub to share with anyone who wishes to partake in a bowl with me to pay this kindness forward.
I woke up this morning like a kid on Christmas morning excited to crack the tin and try this tobacco that was on my wish list at a couple of tobacco outlets. My expectations were rewarded with a really nice smoke. I now understand everyone’s opinions on this smoke regardless of if they were speaking it’s praise or disgust. Yes, there is a perfume to it but there was so much more. It was a cool smoke that allowed me to pick out much more from the constituent ingredients. The flavors were varied and the tastes ebbed and flowed from first sip to the last. I can’t wait to have my next bowl and will have to explore the essence of lakewood in other blends.
Thanks again Scott. For other new pipe smokers, don’t be discouraged from trying Ennerdale. Now as I start my work day, I’m hoping for my beard to be saturated with the aroma of Ennerdale as the OP has experienced.
I live the next town over from Mark and his brew pub. It was a pleasure to drop off a tin of Ennerdale and meet another forum member in person. Let me say, he doesn't look anything like his avatar. Mark gave me a howler of his stout beer, Koziolski BBS. Stout beer is my favorite and his is excellent. I'm looking forward to the brew pub re-opening after the Covid-19 and having a couple of beers and pizza.
I agree Chasing but many just use lakeland as a single flavour (soapy/granny knicker draw).
I guess technically we could call FVF a lakeland as its produced there but of course we dont
I think what would be considered "Most Lakeland" is a bit of a matter of taste, or equally determined by batch to batch consistency.
This is my first tasting notes for Grousemoor: "Fresh from the tin the first puff made me recoil from the pipe. Feels like you're being smothered in baby powder."
I don't think I've heard of very many people having that sort of reaction, but people might react differently to different essences or quantities thereof.
Where Ennerdale shines, in my opinion, is that specific concoction of essences gives a lasting sweetness I haven't encountered in any other blend, lakeland or not.
That said, I probably haven't tried very many Lakelands at full power. In my opinion getting a Lakeland in Bulk is a waste, the majority of the essence is long gone and what remains of the flavour profile could be very uneven compared to fresh product.
If you want full effect it has to come from a Tin, or do one better and visit the factory in England for sampler set of cakes and I'm sure your tastebuds will feel like they've been enrolled in a life or death kung-fu tournament.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if "Lakeland" on the other side of the pond is a dramatically different beast from what usually works its way over here to the newfound world.
(For another example, I bought a 1oz sample of Condor once and found it very subdued, not the stuff of legends, again I'd say you have to get it really fresh out of the supply chain or out a tin if the topping is going to play the role it was intended to.)
Last edited:
Yeah, so many just say "I could taste Lakeland in blend X". That doesn't tell me much. Did it taste like flowers, funky herbal vanilla-ish, or young whiskey/fruity gum? Or did it have a deep note of wintergreen moist snuff?
I must just not be very sensitive to "soapy" because I've never smoked a Lakeland tobacco that made me feel the sensation of soap or perfume chemicals in my mouth.
I try to always say "Lakeland essences" to distinguish the flavor from the place of manufacture. That doesn't really clarify which Lakeland essence, but it works for the purposes of generalization.
Some argue that in the old Bengal Slices (unfortunately I never had the pleasure of trying it) there was a slight floral note and was considered one of the best Latakia flakes ever produced.
Reviews are not always unanimous, sometimes I read things that have no connection with reality...
Reviews are not always unanimous, sometimes I read things that have no connection with reality...
Use a dedicated pipe. Ghosting potential relatively high depending on the blend.
My bad I was thinking of Ennerdale which I have on order and should arrive sometime in the next week or so. Was lucky enough to get 1 Oz of Grassmere about a year ago and still have some jarred up. Very nice floral vibe plus the tobacco used is quality. Almond and Vanilla eh? That sounds great! Looking forward to see how they compare with other Lakelands, have yet to find one that is strong but Grassmere and Boson have been the strongest yet.
Has been said many times before, perhaps in this thread, but perhaps not, there can be a characteristic floral taste to many “Commonwealth” tobaccos that is there before it reaches the Lake District.
Interesting differences of opinion about Balkan Mixture. All I have ever had came from bulk. I never have detected more than a hint of “floral” taste, nor ever anything remotely resembling what I think others mean by “soapy.” A hint of mint, yes. Could there be that much difference between tin and bulk?
Whatever. It seems to stay in stock reasonably well, so threads like this must be doing some good?
Interesting differences of opinion about Balkan Mixture. All I have ever had came from bulk. I never have detected more than a hint of “floral” taste, nor ever anything remotely resembling what I think others mean by “soapy.” A hint of mint, yes. Could there be that much difference between tin and bulk?
Whatever. It seems to stay in stock reasonably well, so threads like this must be doing some good?
Smoking my second bowl of Balkan Mixture now, I think I may see what OP is getting. Like you have described as a Lakeland flavor, I get hints of juicyfruit/ fruity gum. It really is quite nice, imo. I could see where it might turn someone off though. I'm smoking it from a tin, btw. Its bulk version very well could be different in this regard.
"Soapy" isn't entirely a Lakeland characteristic. I've had other VA blends that had soapiness. I'm smoking a tin of Astley's #2 at the moment and it has a bit of that flavor at the start of the bowl. It's not a perfume or fruity taste... it's bland and kind of lanolin-like, maybe like you put your tongue on a bar of Dove. I don't what causes it. Perhaps it's innate to certain types of virginias? Anyway, it goes away pretty quickly.
No7 Broken flake was my first foray into lakelands many years ago and one of the first tobaccos I tried (after the whole cherry thing lost its appeal for me) and I loved it so much that I dedicated two pipes to it, I don't really get the soapy thing that a lot of people do.
I have been smoking a lot of Revor Plug lately and some claim that it has a Lakeland scent or flavour too it but I couldn't discern it, although it was a few years old so that may have had some effect. But there has not been a Lakeland that I have not liked, Grasmere is another one of my all time favourites.
I have been smoking a lot of Revor Plug lately and some claim that it has a Lakeland scent or flavour too it but I couldn't discern it, although it was a few years old so that may have had some effect. But there has not been a Lakeland that I have not liked, Grasmere is another one of my all time favourites.
- Status