Originally Posted by RevSmoke
OK, here's the other half of this misfit review group. As you will note, this review was written almost 2.25 years ago. I did not put ratings to it, but you will get the general idea.
Gawith, Hoggarth Louisiana Flake
I have been smoking Louisiana Flake since 1990 or so, and so this review is simply my impressions over the last 20 years – finally put down to pen. I don’t know why it took me till now (1/19/2012) to write up a review. Maybe it was because it has always been such a constant companion and good friend, a comfortable blend that I don’t think about, but simply enjoy its company.
The bowls I smoked come from some I have had cellared since 2005, so this has a little age to it.
1) Aesthetics: I opened the 500g box, and there is this brick of tobacco. You can see that this is a brick of pressed tobacco that it was cut into flakes, but kept as a brick. You can see the swirls of the constituent tobaccos that were pressed into the brick and are layered across all the flakes. It looks really cool. This is a wonderful presentation.
I pulled a few flakes out of the mason jar, and immediately you notice sugar crystals glistening on the flakes. Absolutely gorgeous looking flakes, an inch plus wide and about seven inches long, wonderful mottled shades of brown.
2) Pre-light Construction: The brick is a bit moist, but not overly so. The flakes come off very easily, and seem ready to smoke. I might like them a bit drier, but the humidity level is most tolerable. I know lots of people like to fold and stuff, but I like to rub out my flakes, to me that is part of the ritual that makes smoking flakes so enjoyable, and the LF rubs out easily and packs with little fuss. I love the smell of LF in the tin, the slight hint of fruit (prunes), sweet tobacco, and chocolate is present.
Firm flakes that break up a bit while handling, but not too much,
3) Post-light Construction/How it smoked: Fully rubbed out, I have found that this burns evenly and easily. I sometimes like to get large volumes of smoke, so sometimes I hurf a bit heavily, even then is stays pretty cool to the tongue. When the bowl heats up a bit, that tactile sensation reminds me that you cannot smoke a pipe expecting the same volume of smoke as with a cigars, so then I set it down and let it cool. I must say that LF makes for great DGT smoking when picked up hours or even a couple days later.
I like to let it dry out a bit, and rub it out fairly completely. I think it smokes better that way. I had no problems keeping this lit, it smokes very cool and smooth.
4) Flavor and strength: This is my favorite blend. It is comfortable and consistent, bowl after bowl. This is a blend which exhibits rich Virginias. By that I mean that it isn’t bright and sharp like some Vas (not that those are bad aspects). I find this to have some caramel overtones, with complex, rich, sweet Virginia flavors, and chocolate. The Perique makes it’s presence known by bringing in an occasional prune/fruity note. When I back off of puffing too hard and sip this blend, it is absolutely wonderful.
I do not know whether I really know that there is much more I can say that I found in this blend. It is a constant; rich, slightly sweet, and there is the hint of spice, and that slight prune/raisin taste.
5) Aftertaste/Finish: Slight spice, chocolate, and prunes dance ever so briefly on the palate.
Not much to add here.
6) Aroma: I love the aroma of a pipe in the side slip smoke as it wafts to my nose, after being squeezed from my mouth. Again, this is rich, sweet, with hints of chocolate and prunes. My sons both say that when I smoke this blend it makes them think of fishing, probably because this is the blend that is most comfortable to me, it is what I grab when I want a smoke and don’t want to think to hard about it.
Yup, that is a good summary.
7) General Comments I always have a couple 500g bricks stuffed into mason jars, aging. I like this blend fresh. But with a couple years on it, it is incredible. The stuff I am smoking now is from 2005 and is incredible. I’d like to put some away for a longer time, but…
Well, this stuff made it another two years. I regularly smoke VaPers - Escudo and Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake are a couple Staples. This is richer than either of them.
8) Recommendation: If you haven’t tried this blend and you enjoy a good VaPer, give this a shot. Escudo is brighter and sharper than this, especially when this has a couple years on it. I like Escudo too, but…
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