OK Brothers,
I am officially coming out of the closet....I am a Lakeland Lover!!! I have come to terms with the fact that I enjoy packing a pipe with Gawith&Hoggarth lakeland blends, firing it up, and pretending that I am walking the streets of Victorian London. There are so many G&H blends out there that I wanted to create a thread for people to discuss the blends they enjoy and perhaps give a brief description for those interested in trying them out. Special thanks to a kind gentleman from another forum for hooking me up with a nice little "Lakeland buffet" this week! Anyhow, here is what I have tried:
G&H Dark Bird's Eye - real nice dark fired tobacco with a little bit of an essence. just a tiny tiny bit floral, but mainly the dark fired tobaccos take center stage and produce cigar like notes
G&H Dark Flake Unscented - Dark Bird's Eye in flake form? I can see some similarities but Dark Flake produces more of a bitter cigar note, almost like a Kinky Friedman cigar. Once again, a very light essence, but nothing that overwhelms the tobacco
G&H Dark Plug - Dark Flake Unscented in plug form? Perhaps, but as alfredobuscatti commented once, the Dark Plug almost appears to have an addition of an Oriental tobacco that compliments that bitter cigar taste that I get from the Flake
G&H Louisiana Flake - Definitely the most unique Va/Per that I have ever tried. The lakeland floral essence is there, a high quality Va is there, a little chocolate topping is there, and if you search real hard, some Perique is there too. I get some really deep, "bass" notes out of this blend that you can't find in any other VaPer. Very pleasant tasting and the pouch aroma is a wonderful baker's chocolate.
G&H Balkan Mixture - Having smoked Balkan Sobranie several times, I can honestly say this blend comes closer to the original than any other. I enjoy Blackhouse, Blue Mountain, Macedonian Mixture, and all the rest of the replica attempts, but there is something about Balkan Mixture that reminds me so much of Sobranie every time I smoke it. It is full bodied, has a bit of nicotine, and even has the tiniest bit of Lakeland essence that disappears after the second light.
G&H Coniston Cut Plug - This blend is what you graduate to after you have become to addicted to the smaller amounts of floral essence in some of G&H's lighter blends. There is a WHOLE lot of floral in here, but for some reason I can't stop smoking the stuff. There is also a sweet taste that must be tonquin and probably several other toppings that all meld together into Lakeland goodness.
G&H Broken Flake No. 7 - I have just started smoking this blend from a sample provided from a member of another forum I frequent. Basically, this one is Coniston Cut Plug's little brother. It has the same tobacco components, but their ratios are reversed so that the overall strength of the mixture is much milder. There is also a honeydew topping that adds a sweet, warm cake batter like taste. I am really loving this one and will probably get a pound before long
Other blends that I will be trying from the sample I received during the next few days include Bosun Cut Plug (just started smoking a bowl now), Glengarry Flake, 1792 from SG, Bob's Chocolate Flake, Kendal Mayor Chocolate Flake from SG, and Curly Cut Deluxe. So how about it guys.....what Lakelands do you like and why?
-Scott
I am officially coming out of the closet....I am a Lakeland Lover!!! I have come to terms with the fact that I enjoy packing a pipe with Gawith&Hoggarth lakeland blends, firing it up, and pretending that I am walking the streets of Victorian London. There are so many G&H blends out there that I wanted to create a thread for people to discuss the blends they enjoy and perhaps give a brief description for those interested in trying them out. Special thanks to a kind gentleman from another forum for hooking me up with a nice little "Lakeland buffet" this week! Anyhow, here is what I have tried:
G&H Dark Bird's Eye - real nice dark fired tobacco with a little bit of an essence. just a tiny tiny bit floral, but mainly the dark fired tobaccos take center stage and produce cigar like notes
G&H Dark Flake Unscented - Dark Bird's Eye in flake form? I can see some similarities but Dark Flake produces more of a bitter cigar note, almost like a Kinky Friedman cigar. Once again, a very light essence, but nothing that overwhelms the tobacco
G&H Dark Plug - Dark Flake Unscented in plug form? Perhaps, but as alfredobuscatti commented once, the Dark Plug almost appears to have an addition of an Oriental tobacco that compliments that bitter cigar taste that I get from the Flake
G&H Louisiana Flake - Definitely the most unique Va/Per that I have ever tried. The lakeland floral essence is there, a high quality Va is there, a little chocolate topping is there, and if you search real hard, some Perique is there too. I get some really deep, "bass" notes out of this blend that you can't find in any other VaPer. Very pleasant tasting and the pouch aroma is a wonderful baker's chocolate.
G&H Balkan Mixture - Having smoked Balkan Sobranie several times, I can honestly say this blend comes closer to the original than any other. I enjoy Blackhouse, Blue Mountain, Macedonian Mixture, and all the rest of the replica attempts, but there is something about Balkan Mixture that reminds me so much of Sobranie every time I smoke it. It is full bodied, has a bit of nicotine, and even has the tiniest bit of Lakeland essence that disappears after the second light.
G&H Coniston Cut Plug - This blend is what you graduate to after you have become to addicted to the smaller amounts of floral essence in some of G&H's lighter blends. There is a WHOLE lot of floral in here, but for some reason I can't stop smoking the stuff. There is also a sweet taste that must be tonquin and probably several other toppings that all meld together into Lakeland goodness.
G&H Broken Flake No. 7 - I have just started smoking this blend from a sample provided from a member of another forum I frequent. Basically, this one is Coniston Cut Plug's little brother. It has the same tobacco components, but their ratios are reversed so that the overall strength of the mixture is much milder. There is also a honeydew topping that adds a sweet, warm cake batter like taste. I am really loving this one and will probably get a pound before long
Other blends that I will be trying from the sample I received during the next few days include Bosun Cut Plug (just started smoking a bowl now), Glengarry Flake, 1792 from SG, Bob's Chocolate Flake, Kendal Mayor Chocolate Flake from SG, and Curly Cut Deluxe. So how about it guys.....what Lakelands do you like and why?
-Scott
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