The "Bob" of Bob's Chocolate fame is....

[oldgeezersmoker]

Bob Lynch, of the Boston area. At the first pipe shows I attended around 1980,a college professor named Tom Colwell was in attendance. In addition to being a wealth of information about obscure pipe manufacturers, Tom had samples of various Gawith & Hoggarth tobaccos that he kept in rolled up brown paper bags. If you liked it Tom would sell you a bit if he had enough to spare and still leave room for samples. If you wanted more, you could let Tom know and he would put you in touch with Bob Lynch. Bob would likely be out of stock, but the next time he got a delivery from England, Bob would write you and you could send him a check. This was, as far as I know, the only "distribution" that G & H had in the US in those days. They did it as a labor of love and I doubt either of them ever made a nickel. It is a certainty that Tom didn't.
The famous Bob's Chocolate came about, to the best of my memory, when Lynch asked them to add a touch of Latakia to an existing product. It was already a favorite when I was first exposed to it back around 1980 and 1981. You can find several references to Lynch, Colwell and G & H in issues of The Pipe Smokers Ephemeris from these days. In those days, it was very definitely understood to not be an aromatic.
Tom co-authored "Who Made That Pipe" that has been referenced in a thread here
There are tons of reviews of Bob's Chocolate flake out there. I have not smoked it in years, and I will not attempt to review it here. Suffice it to say that it is a tobacco that I will smoke again at some point. If you do try it, it needs to be dried, dried some more, not packed too tight, and with some attention to not ghosting your pipes. It is outrageously good with stout or espresso and ages well.

 

[deathmetal]

I had wondered. Cool history.

 

[rigmedic1]

Bob's Chocolate Flake is a favorite of mine, and I have wondered about the identity of "Bob". Thanks for shedding some light on that subject.

 

[markus]

I love G&H Bob's Choc. Flake, it's definitely a favorite.

I keep plenty on hand and I cellar plenty too, it's a great blend.

 

[texmexpipe]

Thanks for posting! Love the history

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Awesome story! I love stuff like this.

 

[jvnshr]

I guess we all love stuff like this. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Very interesting. So, there's no actual chocolate in the blend? (Meaning it has no topping with that flavor; it tastes like chocolate due to natural ingredients including the latakia?)

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

Jpm

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

@jpmcwr, as far as I know, the chocolate flavoring was in a form where it complied with the English purity laws as did Tonquin, etc. That was kind of accepted by pipe hobbyists back when I first started getting into the hobby as the distinction between aromatics and non-aromatics. Maybe thank of it as the distinction between Hershey syrup and an unsweetened dark chocolate bar with a high cocoa content? That may not be a good technical distinction as far as how the tobacco is actually made, but it helps me distinguish the product as a consumer. Is that responsive?

 

[agnosticpipe]

It's great to have another old geezer on the forums! Thanks for the info, always something else to learn about tobacco.

 

[hmhaines]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

@jpmcwjr, a good discussion of how pipe tobacco gets produced ishere, which contains a succinct discussion of the impact of the now repealed English Purity Laws towards the end. The author is much more knowledgeable about the subject than I am. I suspect, reading between the lines, that there is not a lot of "natural" tobacco around these days. There are still, nonetheless, many blends worth smoking. I can't smoke nostalgia.

 

[mortonbriar]

If you do try smoking nostalgia it leaves the ghost of Christmas Past...
Thanks for the wonderful history Old Geezer! I love the subtle hint of Latakia in Bob's blend, and it makes it complete in my opinion. I have mentioned this numerous times before but Bobs choc flake is the only blend that I get a serious craving for without ever wanting to smoke it twice in the same weekmonth. It is not a craving to be appeased by anything else.
Keep the memories coming!
Isaac

 

[deathmetal]

The English purity laws sound like a good idea, all things considered.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Thanks, oldgeezer!

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

@Issac, Bob's Chocolate is the only Lake District blend that I more or less kept on hand for many, many years, though I rarely smoked it as often as once a week. Last time I ordered a significant supply of tobacco, I simply forgot to add a couple of tins. Part of the price of bring an old geezer.

 

[shutterbugg]

Very interesting bit of history. I always thought Bob was short for Roberta, the blender's grandmother, the smell of whose purse inspired the Lakeland scent with which the blend is contaminated :D I do really like their Kendal Mayor's Chocolate Flake though. Apparently hizzonor the mayor stipulated his blend not taste like face powder. And if you stock up on flints and zippo fluid so you don't need to dry it out, you can actually taste a lovely hint of cocoa.