Tobaccos Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. - Scotch Flake

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2081)	2014-03-17		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Very Full	Pleasant

Gawith Hoggarth - Scotch Flake.

Somewhat broken flakes, just needing a 'finishing rub' to load. Scotch Flake lights easily, and then gives an uncomplicated smoke.

There's a soft background note of creamy chocolate, but don't expect a casing such as Bob's Chocolate Flake has. This sits behind a hay/grass Virginia flavour which dominates the smoke. It burns well, gives no bite, and is one of life's simple pleasures.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: quite pleasant.

A good smoke.

Four stars.

Pipe Used: Mr Brog

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smoke King

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3048)	2013-10-18		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

The Lakeland scent is just a step or two past the mild level, and does sublimate the tobaccos a little.There's a very light floral taste mixed in with the bready, citrus, dark fruit and earth of the Virginias. They also offer a hint of wood and a few blades of grass. The cocoa notes are very faint, and not present in every puff. The nic-hit is mild. It didn't bite, but fast puffing may tingle your tongue. The flake is a little moist, and may need a light dry time. Burns a little slow and clean, and gets sweeter as you smoke it down. Needs a few relights. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl. Can be an all day smoke.

-JimInks

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-11-02		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Another bulk sample and beautiful presentation of flakes. This one is darker in color than Bright CR Flake and is infinitely more interesting to me.

Very slight bakers chocolate aroma and flavor but it's way in the background. Not noticed with each puff but occasionally rears its head, however slightly. It melds with the virginia and provides a nice, spicy, semi-sweet smoke. While Bright CR was in the grassy realm, this is more of a baked bread flavor. Somewhat more robust in stength and quite a bit more flavorful. Very faint Lakeland aroma but I can't be sure I tasted any. I'd call this an unscented flake. This is more prone to bite if pushed but a normal puffing cadence will show this one to be quite the lamb. Complexity is there but is somewhat subdued.

This is the one I'd most recommend for those who want to try a Lakeland flake but don't want the heavy floral flavors and scents. Strong 3 recommendation - probably closer to 3.5. I doubt I'll buy more, as there are other VA flakes I prefer, but this one is definitely worth sampling.

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2003-05-24		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I know the description says no added flavoring, but dadgumit, the G&H perfume is in this one too. Maybe the crop dusting machines for G&H Virginia tobaccos spray Chanel #5 as they protect the leaf from bugs.

This one burns cool and dry with little or no bite. But, I find that Scottish Flake leaves some roughness in the back of my throat and a perfumy taste on my palate.

Like BriarNorth said, the tobacco is sweet and of good flavor, but just too much perfume to make this one a regular.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-11-18		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I just keep coming back to this great tobacco because I love it. It is a pure steamed/pressed VA flake that has a great natural tobacco taste with a bit of natural sweetness. Not like McClelland VAs, which are great too, but much more tangy. There is something about how Gawith steams and presses the tobacco that makes it so approachable. It is just so easy to smoke. You don't have to be in the "mood" for it like you do many other tobaccos.

None of that perfume stuff that taints (in my opinion) alot of the other Gawith flakes. Just good, mellow yet rich, tobacco.

The only thing I don't like is the hassle of the flakes. While thin, they are very long (6" or so long), and must be broken up to smoke readily. But heck, I will deal with that.

If you like good old-fashioned tobaccos with no frills, give this a try.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stefanos (222)	2018-04-03		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Scotch Flakes come in long, quite thick pieces of differing hues of brown, from bright to almost black. The ones I received were quite dry, yet moisture can vary depending on how and how long the seller has had them stored. Put in a jar they smell of a combination of dry hay-like Virginias with dark chocolate. Rubbing out was easy at so crisp a condition as I received them. Needs some effort to attain an even light, but then on it gets going fairly easy needing only a few relights.

The main flavours upon lighting are of a mixture of different Virginias: mildly sharp hay-like, citrucy and even some bready Virginias. Besides the Virginia flavours I think I get a whisper of Lakeland florals and even a touch of chocolate. The smoke has medium strength and it is quite flavorful with considerable sweetness but a little rough though I did not experience any tongue bite. There’s nothing here for a Virginia smoker to not like. Burns completely and at a decent pace, to a very fine grey ash. Does not produce much moisture nor does it produce a lot of smoke. Room note is rather discreet as is the flavoring.

With the caveat that the flakes I received might have dried out I have to say that this is a very mildly scented Virginia flake. Can be an all day smoke for those who enjoy good quality Virginias on the hay/citrucy end of the spectrum.

Purchased From: Synjeco

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	THROATHIT (38)	2016-03-01		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Scotch mixes are a fairly light and easy smoke and this thin cut flake is no exception. The cut of this flake is thinner than most from the same stable and this lends to an easy to use tobacco that will dry if needed very quickly. My batch was very dry when I got it and perfectly ready to review.

The pouch note is sweet and chocolate is detectable a light brown coco leaning towards white chocolate type. Also present is the so called "Lakeland topping" if you know this then one then skip to the next paragraph. If however you don't the topping is a floral type which may contain geranium a bean extract called tonquin and even rosehip. This topping is a secret I'm sure so the exact flavours are rightly so a mystery. The Lakeland style topping is a feature of many tobaccos from sam gawiths and gawith hoggarth.

The taste upon lighting is floral but not strong and to date this is the lightest application of the Lakeland I have found. The Virginia is a fairly light one and easy to smoke it burns quickly and smaller pipes will give a very short smoke. The tamper will be in use throughout to keep the whole lot tight due to the fast burn.

About halfway down I got a nice change of pace as the coco kicked in and rounded out the floral somewhat, the whole smoke became very solid and the light start was left behind. The Virginia was now also much fuller in flavour and became a main player, as opposed to a carrier to the toppings. I was enjoying this tobacco very much by this point and was wishing I had been more brave and chosen to load a bigger pipe.

Taste notes to me were, sweet, caramel, toffee. floral, (hay mild)(grassy medium to strong) chocolate and a medium dry style with no bite and moderate heat, Good temperature for a all vg smoke as my sample was very dry and I was expecting some fire.

So overall a pleasant smoker with much more going on flavour wise than a straight vg tobacco could offer. The topping is lightly applied but not so light as to be hard to follow. This was not what I expected from scotch flake but a very welcome surprise as the tobacco exceeded my expectations. So for this reason I can only give a full four star review. If you have never tried a Lakeland tobacco this would be a great place to start as it is the thin end of the wedge.

Pipe Used: poul winslow 9 mm filter

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: g q

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2015-07-20		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I'm either getting accustomed to the Lakeland scent or it fits in really well with this flake. Probably a combination of both. Either way, I really like this smoke. You can tell that the sweetness has two sources. Some from the Lakeland and some from the Virginia. The two have a contrast that I find very appealing. I love the way they interact. In my sample the Lakeland is just a little stronger than mild and I would classify the natural tobacco flavor as mild. Overall a medium flavor experience. Medium in body as well. Burns very nicely. This is a great flake.

Pipe Used: MM Country Gentleman, Diplomat Apple, Mark Twain

Age When Smoked: fresh bulk

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-07-19		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I can't tell if this is scented. My gut is that it isn't, that it displays a pouch aroma created by steam-pressing and leaf selection. (Remind anyone of that never-ending silly rumor of vinegar being added to McClellands?) If it DOES have a top-note, it is applied more lightly than Glengarry Flake, and that is almost completely unnoticeable in the flavor.

Anyway, this is sweet (I believe naturally), friendly, easy-smoking. A good choice when you want a tasty blend that you don't have to concentrate on while doing something else. This would be a good choice if recommending a tobacco to a new pipe smoker or an aromatic-only smoker.

As usual with GH steamed Virginias, you aren't going to get a McClelland or Esoterica-type of complexity, but you won't have to walk that fine line of overpuffing either. The African Virginias are rounder, with a dark brown sugar mellowness to them. Highly recommended.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jorge Soler (203)	2015-12-17		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant

I am not sure whether the Lakeland essence was meant to be present in these flakes or if this is by accident, but you can barely notice it. This tobacco seems to comprise flue cured leaf, but it feels more or less like your ordinary straight Virginia tobacco. Quite mild as you light up your pipe, it gets somewhat stronger as you progress with your smoke, but never to the point flue cured tobaccos will. It is only as you go past half your bowl that you start thinking these flakes might contain a little bit more than just unstoved Virginia leaf. There is this sort of subdued smokiness, most particularly when you pass the smoke through your nose, that gives it away. I think there is a gap in the market for these kind of flakes, but due to its intrinsic complexity and sophistication I am not sure every Burley/Kentucky lover will be able to appreciate them.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Smoke_Ring (158)	2013-07-24		Very Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Very Pleasant

Scotch Flake;

Star Rating = 4.0;

Rating Scores - 10 is the Best and 0 is the Worst;

Pouch Note = 10;

Room Note = 10;

Flavor = 10;

Bite = 9;

Burn = 10;

After Taste = 10;

Raw Score = 59;

Rated Percentage = 98%;

Comment = Very Smooth, Very Mild, Nice light Whiskey Flavor, No Bite, White Ash Burn.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PipesterJim (47)	2012-07-07		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Another venture into the world of GH&Co and this time I wanted to try one of their milder, 'straight' VA tobaccos. Taking my cue from the reviews of Mr DK (below) I thought this one was most likely to please, and I am glad I followed his judgement.

I have little to add. Yes, the chocolate notes are there in the aroma. Yes, it is a sweet, bready VA. Yes, it smokes impeccably as is typical of GH&Co tobaccos.

Benefits from a bit of drying time, but I don't let it get as crispy as I do most VA flakes.

The only important thing I have to say is that my sample has quite a noticable level of Lakeland soap, apparently more so than experienced by other reviewers. No floral flavours with it, but definite soap. I could have been experiencing some ghosting, as the pipe I have been using for this tobacco was previously host to Bosun Cut Plug, although it has had an alcohol clean since. Anyway, it wasn't a problem for me, but the usual warnings apply for those who are not keen on the soapy stuff.

I can understand that VA purists might prefer a more fullsome, flue-cured number over this (edit: okay this is flue-cured, but you know what I mean). Yes, it ain't the most complex VA flake in the world, but it is a darned good smoke with plenty of flavour. Sometimes that's enough. Will buy more, in larger quantities...I suspect it might cellar wonderfully.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BostonPipe (84)	2009-10-29		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Just a really nice sweet smoke. The sweetness does not intensify as one progresses down the length of the bowl. It stays consistently steady, with an ever so slight floral presence wafting in and out of the smoking experience. Definitely one of the 'milder' flavored blends by this company. The steaming and pressing also adds to the smoothness.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2006-03-25		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Sweet, sweet, sweet. This is the sweetest tobac I have ever smoked. It is smooth, one dimentional, smokes well, and a nice break from heavy Latakia blends. Very nice tasting & DGT's well.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-05-29		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Another winner from Gawith Hoggarth. This flake looks very much like Bright CR Flake, which is becoming a daily smoke for me. In the past few months I've been exploring the GH flakes and so far I've enjoyed them all. Whatever they do during the pressing and steaming process, produces a flake that tastes like it has been aged for years.

The flakes came with exactly the right amount of moisture for my tastes, which is to say, a little on the dry side. I fold the flakes and pack them vertically in the bowl. The lights are easy. I would say that Scotch Flake has just a touch of that floral aroma that I am beginning to love, but it disappears slowly and yeilds a pure, sweet Virginia flavor. (If you are searching for a GH flake with no floral aroma, try Bright CR Flake.) Mid-bowl, the flavor is supurb. It has everything that I am searching for in a VA flake. It may be slightly less complex than Bright CR Flake, but maybe not. I don't find GH flakes to be as complex as McClelland flakes or Rattray's Marlin Flake, but they give me a more consistant excellence from bowl to bowl. I am currently smoking my second bowl in a row of Scotch Flake and I rarely do that with other flakes.

The end of the bowl always comes too soon. I find myself longing for more free time to sit and enjoy this wonderful flake tobacco. Gawith Hoggarth are producing some of the best blends currently available and I hope this will continue for a long time. Highly recommended.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Arank87 (4)	2019-10-10		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

Cut into cube. Smokes cool to a grey ash. Lakeland topping is there but not overwhelming. This was my first Lakeland blend and I found myself wanting more. Flavor impressions: chocolate, fresh baked bread, floral perfume, raisin, cardboard, musty books (in a good way).

Pipe Used: Stanwell 217

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Gift from a friend

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LightMyBriar (18)	2019-05-15		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Similar to other Gawith Virginias (darker taste, a bit earthy), although this blend features a touch of a cocoa taste, somewhat reminiscent of G.L. Pease Stonehenge Flake. There is also a bit of a bran-flakes type of taste. I like it very much.

This isn’t something you’ll seek out when your palate is calling for “Virginia.” It has its own unique taste that will create a side-category of cravings for you, I think.

Pipe Used: Morgan Arbutus, Dunhills of all types, Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: G. L. Pease - Stonehenge Flake.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Goose55 (33)	2017-06-03		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I have just so enjoyed the bulk Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. flake tobaccos I have tried so far (with the exception of Ennerdale). Brown Flake (unscented) and Brown Flake Vanilla are outstanding, as is this one. So rich, smooth, creamy, and very sweet, with an absolutely delicious taste and aroma.

Even though the tobacco description in the heading says there is a floral essence added, I do not detect any floral, herbal, or perfume toppings that some complain about with GH. GH Ennerdale, and Grasmere, yes, but not this one, nor Brown Flake (unscented), or Brown Flake Vanilla.

I often think that if I had discovered these tobaccos when I first began pipe smoking, I'd have never tried anything else, and that may be true. The tobacco is that good. Some have jokingly said that Scotch Flake is an aphrodisiac. Well, I don't know about that. Perhaps I need to get out more often!

Folks, if any of you have not yet tried these Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. offerings, by all means, do. You won't regret it.

Pipe Used: Uphall Tilshead Billiard & a Tinsky bent Poker

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	greenmtntenkara (1)	2016-12-10		Very Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

As with any review, this is my opinion and based on my personal tastes and preferences. Your opinion may well be different. There are variations in tobacco, in production runs, and in storage practices (to name a few). The retailer from whom the tobacco is purchased also has varying practices, which may or may not influence the tobacco prior to your smoking of it.

The flakes were immediately transferred to a glass Mason jar upon receipt and left there for two weeks.

Appearance: Very nice, relatively thick cut flakes, most of which are 4-5" (10-12cm) in length and about 2" (5cm) wide. Almost all of the flakes that I received were fully intact. There were very few broken pieces. The flakes are generally a dark fudge-like brown color with smaller milk chocolate like pieces and streaks that resemble tea with a little too much milk added. The batch I received was relatively moist.

Aroma: Upon opening the jar I am greeted first by the "bready" note typical of many Virginia tobaccos. There is also a sense of sweetness to the "bready" note, similar to a baking sweet bun (that is one without any spices). There is also a mild smell of light tobacco. In the background, there is a slight hint of baking cocoa or semi-sweet chocolate. None of the aromas are strong, even with having the jar open for ten minutes. Upon closing the jar, the aromas dissipate quickly.

Handling: Personally, I prefer to rub out flakes fully before packing my pipe. Beginning to rub out the flake immediately after removing it from the jar, the moisture content is noticeable. The pieces that crumble off the flake initially stick together slightly because of the moisture content. Rubbing out with a lighter touch and for a little longer time reduces this issue and I feel leaves me with a moisture content just about right for smoking. With this method, the flake rubs out to mostly small crumbles with the occasional thin strands of tobacco. Allowing a flake to air dry for 15-20 minutes before rubbing it out reduces the amount of time needed to do so and creates a relatively nice, albeit somewhat chunky, shag-type texture. I find it is relatively easy to pack this tobacco too tightly in my pipe.

Flavor: The first light (after the charring) I initially taste the sweet "bready-ness" evident in the aroma. With the first quarter of the bowl, this is noticed even more in the retrohale. That is also when the cocoa note is most noticeable. In the beginning of the bowl, upon exhale, there is also the occasional citrus note; although it is not there with every puff. Even with a medium cadence, there is no noticeable tongue bite to me. (On a side note, I have tried puffing this one quickly to see if it does bite. If allowed to get too hot and pushed too fast, it can bite slightly, but does dissipate quickly.) I personally find the sweetness stays relatively constant throughout the entire bowl.

By the halfway point, I still notice the sweetness and start to taste a rather straight tobacco flavor as the cocoa in the background slowly wears off. It smokes cool and fairly constant with very few relights needed. While the sweetness of this tobacco is certainly present, I do not find it to be a very strong sweetness. This flake has a tendency to leave a little moisture in the bottom of the bowl and if smoked all the way to the bottom (which I rarely do with any tobacco), there can be some bitterness at the end (which is common with tobacco that leave residual moisture). It leaves a fine light grey ash.

This is a very light and mellow tobacco with no harshness and is very easy to smoke; it is far from complex, but nor is it boring and lacking of flavor. The vitamin N is very mild and barely noticeable. It is not what I would choose first when sitting to read Norse mythology, nor to pair with a 10 year old bourbon. Rather, it is something I'm happy to fill my pipe with and puff on as I run my Saturday errands and don't necessarily want to contemplate what I'm smoking. For those who constantly bombard their palates solely with strong, heavy flavors, this is surely to be a disappointment. However, if you are looking for a change of pace and/or will be smoking near people who are oft inhospitable to pipe smoke, this may be for you.

As a side note, Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. make no mention of any Lakeland casing on this tobacco. However, they do state they use a cocoa casing on it. My presumption is that many tobacconists store all of their tobaccos by one manufacturer very close to each other. With that, I believe that the stronger Lakeland tobaccos could easily assert themselves onto a mild tobacco such as this. I also believe there may be simply some guilt by association, if you understand what I mean.

Pipe Used: Peterson Lovat (53), BriarWorks Brandy

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com, Bulk

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2011-09-23		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Another nice flake from GH. There is a very light chocolate scent that reminds me of Bob's Chocolate by the same blender although the chocolate is much farther in the background. I smoke a lot of GH tobaccos and unlike many of them I don't find much of the floral (often described as soapy) taste in this flake. Some reviewers have described it as having a strong soap taste, but unlike many other GH flakes, I don't get that much of it with SF. Scotch Flake burns cleanly and as a puffer I still find no tongue bite, although it can get hot if not careful. I enjoy it best when fully dried. The sweetness is slight at the beginning but grows as the bowl is smoked. I plan of storing some of this as I think time will serve it well. Recommended.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pseudo Nim (129)	2010-02-11		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

I bought this after being advised it was G&H s answer to Sam Gawiths Golden Glow / Medium Virginia Flake. Well if this is their answer, they got the question horribly wrong. Sorry G&H, but when I lit up, all I got was a rush of soap, had I not been driving at the time, I would have put the pipe out immeadiately for fear of ghosting the pipe. Once the soap had burned off, there was a reasonable virginia present. Such a shame to to treat a good virginia with such flavourings.

A fine tobacco for the lovers of perfumed / soap additives. But sadly not for the more purists.

Once again, after a single pipefull, never again. I'm so glad I only bought 25g

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-08-15		Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant

After the initial soap treatment, there was a bit of harshness. This was resolved by simply letting it go out then re-lighting. From then on, it was a smooth cool smoke. It is smokable, but I prefer a bit more body to my smoke. This one a tad bit too mild for me.

I must disagree with Pipestud, this is not flavored with Chanel No.5 ? I think it is Dawn dish soap.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	NEWMAN (305)	2003-12-05		Very Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This blend could be considered the Ivory Snow of the G&H line. My bulk flakes were nicely prepared and as usual, I just packed the long strands without any rubout. A cool, even smoke resulted. Although it subsided some during the smoke, the soapy taste was still present and lingered strongly in the aftertaste. I'm not sure if its the tobacco, processing, or additives. However, I couldn't take a steady diet of this blend due to the taste and overall lack of strength.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sound Dude (10)	2019-10-02		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This past summer I have been exploring Lakeland tobaccos, so that means a lot of G&H. The flakes are large uniform slices that are a little moist, but not Gawith sopping wet like others from this house. I find an hour or two of drying time is all it takes. I prefer the fold-n-stuff method with flakes, and that technique works well with this one. Lights up fairly easily and stays lit provided you do a decent job filling the pipe. It produces a lot of smoke and burns clean and dry to the bottom. SF has a certain maturity in the taste, even though I smoked this fresh from a recent order. Flavor is consistent for the entire smoke and never gets too hot or harsh. As others have said, this flake is more towards the "bready" side of the spectrum rather than the citrusy or grassy side, There is an ever so slight floral "secret sauce" taste that pops up now and again, but nothing off-putting. (In the interest of full discloser, I happen to like the floral tobaccos). Room note ("porch note" - I only smoke outdoors) is nice and should not offend bystanders other than the most vehement anti. This tastes a lot like Samuel Gawith's Scottish Autumn Flake, which I can only seem to get on trips to Europe these days. The fold-n-stuff method ensures the flake burns slowly and in a Savinelli "KS" sized pipe should last close to an hour if you're not puffing like a train. I think there's a touch more flavor here than in G&H's CR Bright flake. After a 2oz order, I ordered another 8oz, as the availability of G&H flakes is spotty at best. I'm curious to see what a few years of age will do. Nic hit is mild (I'm admittedly a nic wimp). Flavor is satisfying and on the mild side of medium. Recommended.

Pipe Used: Cob, Savinelli

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: Mars Cigars

Similar Blends: Sam Gawith Scottish Autumn.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Steden (100)	2019-01-05		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Beautiful, softly pressed broken flakes of different shades of brown. Perfectly moist and ready to smoke with a nice, mild aroma of bread and chocolate with just a faint grassy note. Once lit it doesn’t has a real bite proneness but is very unforgiving: if pushed (even a little bit) it smokes hot becoming flat in taste and harsh; a very “sensitive” not easy-to-smoke tobacco which requires a lot of attention. Taste is mildly sweet, somewhat malty/nutty with hints of chocolate/cocoa. Lakeland scent? Nope,unluckily! It seems they missed to put in my tin the “Kendal cologne”: I have not detected any floral/soapy smell in the tin aroma, taste or room note; a pity cause I really was curioused by that, reading other reviews. Anyway, it’s a good but not memorable tobacco; probably when sprayed with that mysterious essence it increases a lot, otherwise it’s just an average Virginia with a demanding smoking behavior.

Pipe Used: briars and meer

Age When Smoked: fresh

Similar Blends: Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) - Park Lane No.7.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrT999 (318)	2015-12-17		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I'm not sure why I haven't reviewed this before, as I have had this several times over the past few years. For me, this comes across as a solid VA flake, and a mild cocoa topping with a hint of vanilla, not really sweet. This is a pleasant change of pace smoke. Recommended for those Cavendish-based aro smokers who might want to try a VA flake.

Pipe Used: various

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipesmoking101 (63)	2015-03-28		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This is a typical bulk flake (I had not ordered a tin, so my results may vary from the tin flake). Very long, thick flakes. The flakes are somewhat delicate despite their thickness. Mine had a delightful light coating of what looked like icing sugar on them, but I think that this was just because they had been aged for some time. The pouch note was the typical Virginia pouch note, with a slight added essence of what may have been scotch, or possibly just floral, either way, the fragrance was negligible compared to the strength of the tobacco scent. I smoked this flake both folded and fully rubbed, and it was delightful either way. What one would expect from a full, dark straight Virginia tobacco, sweetness mixed with slightly acidic undertones, it was a one-way trip to Pleasureville. The strength is somewhat lacking, however, and this was somewhat off-putting as the dankness of the flake made me expectant of something a little more satisfying in terms of Nicotine. The room note is typical Virginia, not offensive, interestingly, the undertone I got from the pouch did not present itself in either the taste or the room note, both were just straight Virginia, I'm sure I don't need to explain what that means. The burning qualities were fine, the fully-rubbed burned easier & slightly hotter, but that is to be expected. High quality tobacco, well presented, no real development from the top of the bowl to the bottom, just good, straight-up Virginia pleasure. Overall, 3 out of 4. Recommended to get & try, but by no means the best Virginia that I've smoked, as it is just a little uninteresting. I would put it on an equal footing with, say, Player's Navy Flake. Both nice, both a little samey, but good for an uncomplicated, easily maintained pipefull at any time of day.

Pipe Used: Everyman, Old England Zulu, Aerosphere billiard

Age When Smoked: 1.5 years

Purchased From: mysmokingshop.com

Similar Blends: Player's - Navy Cut Flake, Peter Stokkebye - Irish Slices.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-09-21		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A very nice, simple flake. Smokes well, burns cool, sweetens as you get down the bowl and a good choice for a chilled, mid-afternoon smoke.

I have not managed to detect the floral bouquet that people keep eluding to in their reviews. After reading similar comments for other tobaccos and finding no floral/soapy aromas there either I have a sneaking suspicion that there are some among us who either don't store their tobaccos correctly, or buy from a tobacconist who doesn't store their tobaccos properly.

A very pleasant tobacco I'd recommend to anyone who is looking to start up smoking virginia tobaccos. Personally I enjoy it when I'm after a relaxing smoke without beating my tongue up with heavier flavours.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tomobedlam (16)	2002-03-12		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

These 6" flakes are dark brown in color, mottled with a lighter creamy flecks. The tobacco rubs out nicely into long strands that pack well and burn cool and even. The immediate flavor is the oft-mentioned floral/ 'soapy' taste which I find pleasant. This dissipates into a pure sweet taste that deepens the hotter you smoke it. At times it has a somewhat sour note that is nevertheless enjoyable. I find this to be an even, enjoyable smoke from beginning to end.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (566)	2023-01-07		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Package note of chocolate, flowers and mild hay. Tobacco Flakes are a marbled brown, dark brown and black. Moisture content is Good to Go (a bit dry for GH&C), rubs out with a little effort. Burns slow with few relights once lit. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is mild, with notes of very mild chocolate and Lakeland. The chocolate comes in and out sporadically. Taste is medium and somewhat consistent, a little strong in the first half, but mellows in the second half. Tasting notes of wood, spice, bread, earth, floral, hay, mildly spicy, mild tangy citrus, lemon zest, ripe fruit, a sweet grassy background note, and a peppery retro. Virginias are leading with 1/2 the flavoring supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Pipe Used: Wally Frank Limited White Bar Sandblast 128

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: TobaccoPipes.com

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	awt (20)	2022-02-17		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Very very pleasant sweet Virginia flake. Light aroma almost not worth mentioning it. A great uncomplicated and quite satisfactory smoke. I have my personal ranking with 1. brown unscented 2 . Glengarry flake 3. CR and from 4 to endless all other tobaccos. Where shall I put this? Very much tempted to put it to 3. As perhaps more interesting then the good plain CR. In any case this is another top quality Virginia from the masters.

Pipe Used: Short stout billiards

Age When Smoked: 1yr

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WorkingClassChap (197)	2021-11-12		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant

Smoking now:

From a sample bag. Bag smelled sweet, some dark hay aroma but lots of sugar. Smelled nice. Dry broken flakes that were right for smoking.

Sweet, a little hay, not very tart or citrus, some earthy bread, and dry fruits. The sweetness of the topping really mellows out the Virginias. Even the retrohale is easy going. Lots of sweetness without being overbearing or saccharine like a goopy aromatic. Has notes of sugar, honey, maybe rum. It’s light and compliments the tobacco. Virginias can be harsh however this one is really toned down. Some spice, some mouth tingle, but it behaved well. Mellow mouth feel and almost no aftertaste. If you liked Virginias this is very repeatable in a day. An “aromatic” or sweet tobacco for those who don’t like aromatics. Well done .

As far as a Lakeland goes, if I smoked this blind I wouldn’t even know. I hardly detected any floral or perfume flavors. I’m sure it’s in there and contributes to mellowing out the tobacco but if you don’t like Lakeland blends I wouldn’t let that scare you off.

Pipe Used: Briar

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TotoPipeDreams (44)	2021-05-25		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I really like the presentation of this broken Flake. It’s still possible to fold and stuff for a slow rolling smoke or just as easy to rub out fully with minimal effort.

The taste is wonderful full VA but with that added cocoa note, this tobacco really stands out to me as a fantastic aromatic. I’m not a huge Virginia fan to be quite honest. I don’t always like that hay and grass note of bright VAs as it feels aggressive and not as full and deep flavored as I’d like, but this tobacco blend has hit a perfect marriage between the bready VAs and nutty flavoring. It’s one of the few instances where an added flavoring seems to give a greater depth to the blend. University Flake is similar in this way where the added flavoring truly shines through the natural tobacco.

Try Scotch Flake if you haven’t found a full Virginia flake that satisfies and try if you like typical “American Blends” a la Carter Hall, classic burley Kake. This is the British cousin of those nutty, no nonsense, lightly chocolate blends. Although this is more suited for a dessert smoke for me, as opposed to its “all day smoke” American counterparts, it’s a fun blend that’s worth picking up if you get the chance.

Pipe Used: Meerschaum, Corn Cob and Briar

Similar Blends: Classic Burley Kake, Carter Hall.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MangoLegs (72)	2021-05-06		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Preparation & Burn: 9/10 Good cut. No drying required. Burns cool and at a nice pace.

Taste: 16/20 Nice Lakeland essence here. Mild chocolate in the background.

Mildness: 7/10 My idea of a good smoke is a relaxing, low nicotine session. Therefore, the milder the better. Not much here.

Total: 32/40

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-11-19		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

By golly, by gum, I just do not taste any floral notes here in Scotch Flake as noted by other reviewers. Seems like a straight up steamed/pressed Va to me.

All things considered, I prefer the G&H scented flakes and also the black McClelland and Rattray flakes to SF and its close brethren Bright CR Flake. However the last two(G&H flakes) burn cooler and have a different, more carmelish sweetness. It is still possible to get bitten by over-puffing, mind you, but you have to try pretty hard.

SF seems to me a little dryer than other G&H flakes (though those are smokable as is). It crumbles, rather than shreds, and it is easy to get too fine a consistency, as I have just done now. Usually I just "stuff 'n puff, but I thought I might try a finer texture for a change. With this thin a flake, you end up with a fine shag consistency which can be overtamped.

My current sample has only about 5 mo. of aging and I am sure it will just improve with age. I already notice a sronger, sweeter low end.

Given its lack of complexity, I just smoke this on occasion, but always enjoy it when I do.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-05-13		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I agree with tomobedlam that this is fine smoke. I didn't find the bitterness he did, but I did find the wonderful sweetness that very much intensifies as you go, as well as a very mild hit of the G&H bouquet only upon lighting--it does seem to be lightly scented, but not nearly as much as Kendal or Ennerdale. The tobacco behaved well in all technical respects. My only beef with this particular blend is that it is pretty doggone sweet! Virginias are sweet already, and this is at the high end of the spectrum as far as that goes. Makes for a nice treat, but not an all-day smoke for me.

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