Quintessential Lakeland

Craig Thompson · Post by **Craig Thompson** » 04 Sep 2022, 13:00

It is time for me to actually try a lakeland tobacco. I have a few estate pipes that, based on descriptions, must be ghosted with lakeland.

I cannot decide if I like it or hate it. So I must try some to make that determination.

Therefore please suggest a quintessential lakeland tobacco for me.

If I like it I will dedicate these few pipes for lakelands.

If I do not like it I will need to de-ghost them. I already did several Everclear & salt soaks. Might try another but they will likely need a more powerful de-ghost method.

Hugo Drax · Post by **Hugo Drax** » 04 Sep 2022, 13:37

Ennerdale Flake.

JimVH · Post by **JimVH** » 04 Sep 2022, 14:01

Hugo Drax wrote: ↑04 Sep 2022, 13:37 Ennerdale Flake.

This. Haven’t had it in a while, but EF is, by far, my favorite I’ve tried.

GaryInVA · Post by **GaryInVA** » 04 Sep 2022, 15:41

JimVH wrote: ↑04 Sep 2022, 14:01
Hugo Drax wrote: ↑04 Sep 2022, 13:37 Ennerdale Flake.
This. Haven’t had it in a while, but EF is, by far, my favorite I’ve tried.

I third this. Great Lakeland tobacco.

Del · Post by **Del** » 04 Sep 2022, 21:42

Modern American pipe smokers are a spoiled lot. We have leisure aplenty to savor delicate flavors from our exquisitely carved briar pipes.

Enjoying lakeland tobacco requires an entirely different mindset. A very rural, English, pre-industrial mindset.

When Gawith, Hoggarth, & Co. formulated Ennerdale Flake, it was for an English farmer who was much like Tolkien's hobbits. Nothing fancy. Just something suitable for a guy whose daily life and work were dominated by the scents of sheep and horses and the occasional dairy cow. Thus a strong, floral-scented smoke was welcome comfort for a guy who had a lot more on his mind and hands than just his pipe. And as he only had a couple of cheap pipes to carry him through his work week, he didn't give a thought to "ghosting."
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/56 ... dale-flake

Condor was also strongly floral scented. Boasts of being Britain's most popular pipe tobacco.
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/11 ... bbed-green

Gawith, Hoggarth, & Co. Kendal Flake
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/56 ... ndal-flake

And St. Bruno, which is much milder scented than Condor or Ennerdale. Definitely my favorite of the genre.
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/12 ... runo-flake

Other venerable tobacco blends tackle the same problem with a different approach. For example, Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake skips the bar soap perfume in favor of tonquin bean (vanilla bean's pot-head cousin). This won't ghost your pipe..... more like a zombie invasion.
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/10 ... 1792-flake

As a modern American, go ahead and try these -- just for the adventure. And the ironic thrill of knowing that you're doing it wrong.

But there's a lot more to the Lake District tobaccos than over-the-top scented blends.

Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake is an excellent virginia blend -- sweet, nutty, and (most astoundingly) no bite at all. No added topping. This is one you just have to try. Munkey recommended this to CPS back in 2008, and everyone loved it who has ever tried it.
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/10 ... rown-flake

A weird phenomenon: Several guys report that this tobacco has no flavor at first. Half a bowl, maybe a whole bowl of nothing. Then it kicks in. I've had this experience coming back to other virginia tobaccos, as I tend to smoke around a lot. Just sayin'.

Samuel Gawith Firedance Flake is Best Brown with a blackberry topping. Not goopy like an American burley blend with a lot of propylene glycol "for freshness." Very English, but not as alien as something like Ennerdale.
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/19 ... ance-flake

A_Morley was very fond of Samuel Gawith Grousemoor.
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/10 ... grousemoor

And just for fun, let's remember Rusty and his beloved Erinmore Flake -- even though it was originally Irish, and most adamantly never English.
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/11 ... more-flake

Hugo Drax · Post by **Hugo Drax** » 05 Sep 2022, 09:37

My goodness, Del. It's generally better to know what you're talking about before writing a treatise like that.

Craig Thompson · Post by **Craig Thompson** » 05 Sep 2022, 09:58

Thank you all for the input. I will get some of these to try.

The only one of these mentioned that I have tried is St. Bruno. I did not realize it is considered a Lakeland. My granfather smoked it and I liked it right away.

Hugo Drax · Post by **Hugo Drax** » 05 Sep 2022, 10:08

Craig Thompson wrote: ↑05 Sep 2022, 09:58 Thank you all for the input. I will get some of these to try.

The only one of these mentioned that I have tried is St. Bruno. I did not realize it is considered a Lakeland. My granfather smoked it and I liked it right away.

And that's exactly what I meant. Del doesn't actually know what he's talking about, but that doesn't stop him from confidently writing absolute blither and passing it off as truth.

The Lakelands are a district in Cumbria. Lakeland tobaccos come from the Lake District. Grasmere, Windermere, Ennerdale...They're the names of local lakes and tobaccos produced near them. Lakeland are made by Sam Gawith and Gawith and Hoggarth.

St Bruno isn't a Lakeland tobacco. Ogden's was in Liverpool , and in any event, St Bruno is made in Denmark now, as is Erinmore. Condor is made in Poland.

And for the record, I frigging love St Bruno!

Craig Thompson · Post by **Craig Thompson** » 05 Sep 2022, 11:26

Well I searched 5 tobacco on-line sellers for these tobaccos mentioned. St. Bruno seems to be the only one in stock. I am almost out of that so I will order some more.

Is this a problem with these tobaccos? A seasonal thing? I suppose there is no super-secret supplier that has stock to sell?

Hugo Drax · Post by **Hugo Drax** » 05 Sep 2022, 11:38

Craig Thompson wrote: ↑05 Sep 2022, 11:26 Well I searched 5 tobacco on-line sellers for these tobaccos mentioned. St. Bruno seems to be the only one in stock. I am almost out of that so I will order some more.

Is this a problem with these tobaccos? A seasonal thing? I suppose there is no super-secret supplier that has stock to sell?

Very much a problem with those tobaccos. Importation is a total mess, then greedy fellows buy it all within an hour or so of its importation. I've backordered a metric ton and will gladly send you samples when I get it sometime in the hazy future. Just remind me. If I get any from a private trade/purchase, I'll let you know.

It's just difficult times right now.