Let’s Talk Lakeland’s…

[Franco Pipenbeans]

I’m planning a trip to the Lake District in the summer and I have some Lakeland tobacco related questions.

I appreciate that Lakeland’s aren’t everyone’s cup of tea so if they aren’t, this thread isn’t really aimed at you.

if they are; could you help?

Lakeland tobacco - are these only produced by Sam Gawith’s and Gawith and Hoggarth or are there other blenders? If so, who?

Is “Lakeland” the rose water/marzipan/tonquin/fruit sauce type of topping and can be made anywhere or is it geographically fixed; like Melton Mowbray pie and Cheddar Cheese?

Do Cornell and Diehl in the States or, say, STG on the continent, produce any “Lakeland” blends like they do “English” blends?

Are they any good if they do?

Are there any other “Lakeland” blenders in the Lakes, beyond, maybe, a local tobacconists in Cumbria?

if there are local tobacconists who blend their own Lakeland blends, can you recommend them and any particular Lakeland blend they sell?

Are Grousemoor and Bob’s Chocolate Flake really “Lakeland’s”? Beyond the fact that they are made in the Lakes?

So many questions, not enough time.

Thank you for your time and help.

 

[karam]

I’m planning a trip to the Lake District in the summer and I have some Lakeland tobacco related questions.

I appreciate that Lakeland’s aren’t everyone’s cup of tea so if they aren’t, this thread isn’t really aimed at you.

if they are; could you help?

Lakeland tobacco - are these only produced by Sam Gawith’s and Gawith and Hoggarth or are there other blenders? If so, who? Only the Gawith house makes them, I have tried McConnel Latakia Flake which was meant to be Lakelandy…it isn’t.

Is “Lakeland” the rose water/marzipan/tonquin/fruit sauce type of topping and can be made anywhere or is it geographically fixed; like Melton Mowbray pie and Cheddar Cheese? No, lol, but the ingredients and ratios of the saucing are proprietary to Gawith.

Do Cornell and Diehl in the States or, say, STG on the continent, produce any “Lakeland” blends like they do “English” blends? Not even close, it’s not just the sauce, it’s the leaf and processing too.

Are they any good if they do?

Are there any other “Lakeland” blenders in the Lakes, beyond, maybe, a local tobacconists in Cumbria? Don’t know, maybe in the past there were more UK blenders doing similar tobaccos but I’d doubt nowadays.

if there are local tobacconists who blend their own Lakeland blends, can you recommend them and any particular Lakeland blend they sell?

Are Grousemoor and Bob’s Chocolate Flake really “Lakeland’s”? Beyond the fact that they are made in the Lakes? Groosemoor yes, Bob’s less so. My personal benchmark is whether the sauce is complex (Lakeland) or not (not Lakeland, like 1792 Flake)

So many questions, not enough time.

Thank you for your time and help. Pleasure

Answers in bold

 

[Chasing Embers]

You're about a year too late. For some reason the Lakeland flavoring has been greatly diminished across all of their notable blends. Even GL Pease's Stonehenge surpasses the florals of the most recent GH Lakelands.

 

[timelord]

Just a point of order; Cheddar Cheese is not geographically protected and can be (and is) made just about everywhere in the world that has a cheese industry. Stilton is protected as are Melton Mowbray pies and Cornish Pasties.

 

[karam]

Just a point of order; Cheddar Cheese is not geographically protected and can be (and is) made just about everywhere in the world that has a cheese industry. Stilton is protected as are Melton Mowbray pies and Cornish Pasties.

Bold: is to protect the rest of the world from them, actually.

 

[timelord]

Bold: is to protect the rest of the world from them, actually.

 

[SmokeClouds]

I’m not aware of any other company that manufactures tobacco in such matter, both flavoring and leaf sourcing/processing, at the moment. I would contact GH and see if the facilities could be visited. Would be an extraordinary experience to be able to talk to the workers and see the very old machinery used.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

All of these "Lakeland" additives are from the historical perfume industry. This is why they smell like old timey soaps, perfumes, colognes, and bath stuff.
The leaf they use is from the regions of the British Empire. This is why they use the term "Virginia" very loosely when they include African Dark Virginias, Malawi, and such... since they are nowhere close to being what we know of as Virginias in America.

In all honesty, I believe that we keep this company going out of a sense of historical preservation. I do like that they have some very strong tobaccos, and I can tolerate some of their topping bathsalt tasting shit. But, I would never chose to smoke something that smells like roses, or rose soaps. If a new company in the US tried using these perfumes in their tobaccos without any link to this ancient company, I don't believe that they would fair very well. But, we can negate our repulsions for long enough to appreciate that some men back in the day were attracted to these nasty flavors, and we even have some men nowadays that prefer them too. But, these are strange people, with an affinity to strange things like spicy curries, hard ass biscuits, and weak limp wristed teas. The rest of the majority of their sales are to the curiosity seekers, new pipe smokers that have heard about these weird flavors and perfumes, that want to see for themself. I am absolutely certain that if GH&co blends were always on the shelf available, that the curiosity seekers could try them to sate their curiosity, and then move on to better tasting offerings by other blenders. YMMV

 

[karam]

Nicelly said cosmic, despite the obvious humour involved, i think you’re spot on.

Oh and I don’t do curries or tea yet am known as a Lakeland fiend around these parts

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Nicelly said cosmic, despite the obvious humour involved, i think you’re spot on.

Oh and I don’t do curries or tea yet am known as a Lakeland fiend around these parts

There are a few that I really like as well, but they are not the rose geranium ones. I have composted a few that I tried though.

 

[timelord]

...these are strange people, with an affinity to strange things like spicy curries...

That's me! I love hot spicy curries.

 

[Bengel]

Do Cornell and Diehl in the States or, say, STG on the continent, produce any “Lakeland” blends

Congrats on the trip, enjoy!
GLP Stonehenge is produced by C&D in conjunction with Pease and Gawith.
I like that one and Louisiana flake, still to wade into the heavyweights!

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Just a point of order; Cheddar Cheese is not geographically protected and can be (and is) made just about everywhere in the world that has a cheese industry. Stilton is protected as are Melton Mowbray pies and Cornish Pasties.

Well I guess nothing is protected; if manufacturers don’t respect heritage, intellectual property, trademarks, patents and all those kinds of things, anything is fair game. As an example, present day China where just about anything can, and is, copied, often without any attempt to hide the copy.

It would be interesting to know why Stilton is protected but cheddar isn’t? Is this like Alan Partridge’s discussion on the Hoover And Tannoy?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

You're about a year too late. For some reason the Lakeland flavoring has been greatly diminished across all of their notable blends. Even GL Pease's Stonehenge surpasses the florals of the most recent GH Lakelands.

Typical ?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

I’m not aware of any other company that manufactures tobacco in such matter, both flavoring and leaf sourcing/processing, at the moment. I would contact GH and see if the facilities could be visited. Would be an extraordinary experience to be able to talk to the workers and see the very old machinery used.

I have been trying to email them but the website has been saying “Under construction, new website coming soon”. No one seems to answer the phone either.

I wonder if others have visited? It would be great to go and have a look around - can you imagine the smells? ?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

All of these "Lakeland" additives are from the historical perfume industry. This is why they smell like old timey soaps, perfumes, colognes, and bath stuff.
The leaf they use is from the regions of the British Empire. This is why they use the term "Virginia" very loosely when they include African Dark Virginias, Malawi, and such... since they are nowhere close to being what we know of as Virginias in America.

In all honesty, I believe that we keep this company going out of a sense of historical preservation. I do like that they have some very strong tobaccos, and I can tolerate some of their topping bathsalt tasting shit. But, I would never chose to smoke something that smells like roses, or rose soaps. If a new company in the US tried using these perfumes in their tobaccos without any link to this ancient company, I don't believe that they would fair very well. But, we can negate our repulsions for long enough to appreciate that some men back in the day were attracted to these nasty flavors, and we even have some men nowadays that prefer them too. But, these are strange people, with an affinity to strange things like spicy curries, hard ass biscuits, and weak limp wristed teas. The rest of the majority of their sales are to the curiosity seekers, new pipe smokers that have heard about these weird flavors and perfumes, that want to see for themself. I am absolutely certain that if GH&co blends were always on the shelf available, that the curiosity seekers could try them to sate their curiosity, and then move on to better tasting offerings by other blenders. YMMV

I guess it also had something to do with the snuff making tradition as well? Though mentholated or heavily minted pipe tobaccos don’t really exist or did exist but fell out of favour, unlike with mentholated cigarettes?
I saw some old Grousemoor cigarette packets for sale on eBay, i can’t really get my head around how they would taste as a cigarette? I know that there are lots of flavours of hand rolling tobaccos available but were there a wide variety of different, mass produced, cigarette flavours?
I never really see anything other than “Virginia” cigarettes for sale - Marlboro, Lucky Strike etc; where are the Latakia or Perique cigarettes? Did they used to be available and over time they fell out of favour and therefore fell off the tobacconists shelves?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I guess it also had something to do with the snuff making tradition as well? Though mentholated or heavily minted pipe tobaccos don’t really exist or did exist but fell out of favour, unlike with mentholated cigarettes?
I saw some old Grousemoor cigarette packets for sale on eBay, i can’t really get my head around how they would taste as a cigarette? I know that there are lots of flavours of hand rolling tobaccos available but were there a wide variety of different, mass produced, cigarette flavours?
I never really see anything other than “Virginia” cigarettes for sale - Marlboro, Lucky Strike etc; where are the Latakia or Perique cigarettes? Did they used to be available and over time they fell out of favour and therefore fell off the tobacconists shelves?View attachment 127356

I believe Charleston used to be a latakia cigarette.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

All of these "Lakeland" additives are from the historical perfume industry. This is why they smell like old timey soaps, perfumes, colognes, and bath stuff.
The leaf they use is from the regions of the British Empire. This is why they use the term "Virginia" very loosely when they include African Dark Virginias, Malawi, and such... since they are nowhere close to being what we know of as Virginias in America.

In all honesty, I believe that we keep this company going out of a sense of historical preservation. I do like that they have some very strong tobaccos, and I can tolerate some of their topping bathsalt tasting shit. But, I would never chose to smoke something that smells like roses, or rose soaps. If a new company in the US tried using these perfumes in their tobaccos without any link to this ancient company, I don't believe that they would fair very well. But, we can negate our repulsions for long enough to appreciate that some men back in the day were attracted to these nasty flavors, and we even have some men nowadays that prefer them too. But, these are strange people, with an affinity to strange things like spicy curries, hard ass biscuits, and weak limp wristed teas. The rest of the majority of their sales are to the curiosity seekers, new pipe smokers that have heard about these weird flavors and perfumes, that want to see for themself. I am absolutely certain that if GH&co blends were always on the shelf available, that the curiosity seekers could try them to sate their curiosity, and then move on to better tasting offerings by other blenders. YMMV

Please ignore the peanut gallery.

The charring light on Ennerdale has a lot of perfume notes, but the majority of the bowl tastes like gummy bears and holds a full sweetness through the duration of a bowl better than any other Aromatic I've tried.

 

[karam]

Please ignore the peanut gallery.

The charring light on Ennerdale has a lot of perfume notes, but the majority of the bowl tastes like gummy bears and holds a full sweetness through the duration of a bowl better than any other Aromatic I've tried.

This mirrors my experience, hence why I much prefer Conniston, Bosun and Dark Flake Scented, Ennerdale tends to get too sweet for me at times. All Gawith scented stuff blow that cavendish burley hot air bullshit aromatics out the water though by HOLDING their taste to the end of the bowl.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

It's easy to say that there are nasty components to a Lakeland, or more "shocking" as I like to say, a good fresh tin of Ennerdale feels suffocating on the charring light, but in the end we're all trying to taste burning leaf and everyone started out with the same feelings about any form of smoke.
Ignoring parts of the palette is inherent in all forms of Tobacco, Lakelands just explore genres of flavor you rarely see anywhere else.