That Lakeland Essence

[pipesinperu]

I have been working through a tin of G&H Rum Flake that I bought as my introduction to Lakeland tobaccos and I've been enjoying it quite a bit. It was recommended as a good first experience with the infamous Lakeland toppings, and I would agree with that. But it has brought up a few questions and observations.
I'm wondering if all tobaccos with the "Lakeland" essence use the very same topping(s), just at different strength levels, or do the ingredients vary? Is the G&H essence much different from the Samuel Gawith essence? Or the Condor essence? All I've got is the Rum Flake to go on, so no basis for comparison. I've seen essence of rose and geranium, musk, etc., listed as ingredients in the Lakeland flavoring. Are some added or taken out depending on the blend? Also, in an old thread on these forums, someone said that these ingredients were typical of traditional British sweets, and so the Lakeland tobaccos would have been the 19th-century British equivalent of what a caramel or butterscotch aro is to us today. Can anyone verify this? Some hunting around on the internet mostly turned up references to perfume ingredients, not sweets (or tobacco!).
Can anyone with more experience with the Lakelands offer a sort of ranking as to the strength of the added essences? Where does Rum Flake fall? Somewhere in the middle?
Finally, a few tips to those looking to try Lakelands, and those who already know they enjoy them a bit. I've found that, just like Virginias can taste like ash/cigarettes if you puff too hard and smoke too fast, the Lakeland essence seems to dominate and get bitter if you puff too hard. When I slow down and sip on the Rum Flake, those essences mellow out and there's more of an interplay with the (very tasty!) burley and Virginia of the flake. A nice balance, really. Also, for those who like these Lakeland blends but maybe find the topping too strong sometimes, try smoking a bowl while drinking a good porter. I tried this out the other night, and it's a great pairing! The tobacco and the beer really brought out some nice flavors in each other, while taking the slightly bitter edge off of the Lakeland toppings and still allowing the tobacco and other toppings (anise and vanilla) to shine through. Fantastic!

 

[papipeguy]

For me the quintessential Lakeland is SG's Grousemoor. I happen to like it quite a bit although I hear from so many that it is a love it or hate it blend. I also like their 1792 which is a different animal all together.

I have also recently been gifted a packet of Condor. My memory of Condor from 30 years ago was the taste of ivory soap. Not so with this packet. So either something has changed or I have. I'm still working in this one.

 

[brewshooter]

I think a lot of Lakelands can be variations on a theme, but there seems to be quite a variation in the ones I've smoked and the stuff with the tonquin bean, like 1792, is a completely different animal.

 

[petes03]

All I know is that I DONT like it!

 

[agnosticpipe]

I haven't tried the Rum Flake, but I like Lakland tobacco from time to time. The weirdest for me was Ennerdale, old lady perfume to the max! I found that Brown Flake Scented is actually a little different and milder in flavor. Glenngarry Flake is milder yet but still has the flowery scent and flavor. Grousemoor is the only other one I've tried, and I enjoy it too, but find it totally different from the others, as it doesn't seem to have as strong a flowery flavor. It's hard to say how they taste and smell as I feel that everyones senses are different. Out of all the tobaccos I've tried, I'll have to admit that they are more different than anything else I've tried. I would recommend trying a few different types, and remember to dedicate a pipe or two to use only with them, as they will really leave a ghost flavor in your pipe.

Me, I like some Guinness Draft with my lakelands. ::

 

[lostandfound]

Best Brown Unscented was my first foray into Lakeland tobaccos, and all I can say is, that I totally understood all the references to old lady's perfume, soap, lavender, etc. the moment the first leaf started to burn. I can, and probably will only ever imagine, how a full-blown Lakeland style tobacco would compare. Since then, I've smoked a few bowls of Rum Flake, as well, and also get the Lakeland in that. Rum flake honestly feels like BB U/S cased in rum. Both are high quality tobaccos in my opinion- I like the way they burn, neither leaves a goopy mess in the bottle of my bowl, and the slight floral aroma, paired with those high quality Va's, is actually quite satiating after a day at work, a wholesome dinner, and taken with a glass of scotch... or rum. :lol:

 

[condorlover1]

I have always as you all well know been a Condor smoker. A couple of chaps here have recommended a few Lake Lands to me and I have tried them. I think that since everything I own in the pipe department is so heavily ghosted with Condor I cannot tell the difference. The Lake Lands I have run through a clay pipe seem to taste very different to me. In fact outside of Tambo-Condo-Black Twist mixture I smoke daily I have never found the other blends particularly satisfying, sort of like chinese food, you feel hungry an hour or so after pigging out on the stuff. The only other stuff I really like is 'woods roads' blends which I reviewed a few weeks ago as they seem to remind me of blends from my youth but again they are to my taste very mild.

 

[sallow]

Rum flake is on the mild side as far as any essence goes. There is a nice sweet rum flavor that intensifies with a bit of age. To me it is a very pleasant smoke and one of my favorites.
Ennerdale is on the other end of the spectrum, and heavy on the essence.
One I also enjoy is the Kendal (cream) flake, either the G&H or the (Sam Gawith). I have been told they are both rose.
Either way, after a few bowls, my palette becomes less sensitive to the essence and I begin to taste the underlying tobacco more, which is top shelf.
I also enjoy glengarry flake. I have some Grasmere coming, which I haven't tried.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

All I know is I tried Ennerdale Flake and tossed the tin after half a bowl lol. It's taken almost a year to smoke the damned ghost out of the pipe.

 

[pipesinperu]

a lot of Lakelands can be variations on a theme

There, you just said it way better than the way I put it! That's one of the things I was getting at. Well, I guess I'll just have to try them all, then, haha.
If Rum Flake is on the mild side, Ennerdale sounds a bit nuts. I'll have to try it just to have a frame of reference, if nothing else. The Grousemoor, Kendal Cream, and Glengarry all sound good. Anyone ever try the Coniston Cut Plug? That sounds like quite the nicotine hit, to boot.
@condor, I will have to give your signature blend a try, with all this talk about it on the forums. You've convinced another piper!
Re: 1792 flake, it's quite different from the typical Lakelands, from what I understand. I've been using a cob to try out the Rum Flake (and don't currently have enough pipes to dedicate one specifically to Lakelands yet). Can I crack open my tin of 1792 and smoke it in the same cob, or is that going to make a mess of things, flavor-wise?

 

[phil67]

All I know is I tried Ennerdale Flake and tossed the tin after half a bowl lol. It's taken almost a year to smoke the damned ghost out of the pipe.

I tried Ennerdale once (my first and LAST Lakeland blend). Thought I was going to gag on the shit and quickly sold it. lol Hey... whatever suits your palate, but smoking soap just isn't for me. Simply amazing how tastes can vary. :wink:

 

[andrew]

I have a sample of ennerdale and kendal flake coming, so far I've enjoyed the mild lakeland essence like BBF#2 and find now that the blends like CH bright flake that people say have a slight essence I can't even pick up anymore, I think it's like a getting used to thing that over time you don't really taste it after. I have some rum twist and can't really taste any lakeland essence in it, so I don't even know if that would classify as a true lakeland, I think it's probably more just a bit of crossover essence from the press happening. I don't find stuff like BBF#2 or rum twist ghost a pipe so I'd just go with a Virginia pipe for it, and use a cob for something like a full on lakeland.

 

[mso489]

Could someone back up and give a paragraph primer on Lakeland blends. Are they strictly the province of

G&H and SG? None of their tobaccos are named Lakeland, so which ones qualify? I see a few named here,

but do they all qualify? Does the name Lakeland have anything to do with the Lake District in England?

I've been there -- great, great country. I keep seeing Lakeland discussed on Forums, but I'm in the woods

on exactly what tobaccos are Lakeland. I only know they are notorious for ghosting, but much admired

by some/many. Any clarification would be a good education to me. Sorry to have missed this lore.

 

[lostandfound]

Mso, this is a forum post I found using Google:

A Lakeland tobacco is one produced in the Lakes District of England. The two major blenders (perhaps the only two) are Samuel Gawith and Gawith & Hoggarth. Any tobacco from one of these two blenders is a Lakeland, by virtue of the region. However, the famed "Lakeland Essence" is present in only some of them. This essence is a kind of perfumed, flowery, flavoring that is used. G&H does this more often than SG

So, basically, calling Condor, for example, a "Lakeland" tobacco, is technically inaccurate, but very helpful in describing Condor's characteristics...

 

[mso489]

Perfect, lostandfound, just what I needed, neither more nor less. I'm not sure a "perfumed flowery" flavor

sounds appealing, but I might try one of the blends at some point. I printed off the paragraph to tape to

my paper calendar, repository of all knowledge and wisdom. Some of the great days of my life were spent

in the Lake District, a time out of time.

 

[andrew]

Could someone back up and give a paragraph primer on Lakeland blends. Are they strictly the province of

G&H and SG? None of their tobaccos are named Lakeland, so which ones qualify? I see a few named here,

but do they all qualify? Does the name Lakeland have anything to do with the Lake District in England?

I won't give you a very detailed paragraph, but a Lakeland tobacco would be like scotch, it simply comes from the lakeland district, much like how different single malts come from different islay's and have their own characteristics. The Lakeland essence, which this thread refers to is traced back to the british tobacco purity laws.

The old English purity laws forbade blenders from using artificial flavorings and adulterants in tobaccos in large measure. There was a list of approved additives, which had to be dissolved in alcohol or water, and could only be applied at small percentages. This left the blenders, who relied primarily on Virginia-type tobaccos, Orientals and condiment leaf, like Latakia and Perique, with the exciting task of using the tobaccos themselves, along with different processing techniques, such as stoving, toasting, panning, steaming, pressing and so on, to create mixtures that would stand out from their peers. Some of what we now characterize as the classic "English flavorings" that derive from flower essences, in fact, likely came about because very tiny amounts of these highly perfumed extracts could be used to good effect in creating unique scents in the final product. These essences are still in use by the few remaining traditional blending houses in the UK.

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/ask-g-l-pease/ask-g-l-pease-april-2012-volume-12/
Some of the natural flavors used are: Geranium, Vanilla, Rum, Tanquid, Musk, Heliotropin, Rose Fragrances, Licorice (I think), tonquin bean, honeydew, etc... Basically natural flavors, nothing chemically made.

 

[cobguy]

The only one I've tried so far is SG Chocolate Flake and the Lakeland essence was faint.
The cocoa topping is not that sweet (like Baker's Chocolate) and interacts in a very

interesting way with the light amount of Latakia present.

 

[brass]

So, in narrow, common usage, Lakelands are essentially aromatics from the Lakeland District in England, blended by Samuel Gawith or Gawith & Hoggarth. In very technical terms, any tobacco blended in the Lakeland District. In broader terms, any flowery perfumed tobacco resembling the Lakeland style. So technically, S&G Navy Flakes could be considered a Lakeland, but not in commonly accepted terms. Easy. :wink:

 

[mso489]

'Love the list of natural flavorings. I'm surprised they adhere to the pipe bowls so ghosting is a problem for some.

 

[lawmax3]

I am of the opinion that finding the right pipe is the key to enjoying Lakelands such as Ennerdale.

If you have a pipe that tends to smoke with a slightly bitter taste with a Virginia blend try a Lakeland blend in that pipe. It may not work every time, but I think there is something to it.

I think you will find that the Lakeland soapy taste will become much less pronounced and the flavor of the tobacco will be brought forward. The Lakeland essence is still there it just seems to be a much more rounded flavor profile. I used to hate Lakelands, but now with the right pipe I really enjoy them.

By trying this you do risk ghosting your pipe and still hating Lakelands so be careful.