Tobaccos Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. - Bob's Chocolate Flake

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3048)	2013-01-23		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The smoky, woody, earthy sweet Cyprian Latakia, and lightly nutty, earthy, woody, toasty burley come into play in small doses, as does a discreet hint of vanilla. The grassy, earthy, tart and tangy citrusy, lightly woody and tangy dark fruit sweet, floral Virginias are the most obvious tobacco components. The whisky is hardly obvious, but occasionally, you'll sense its presence. The chocolate flavor has a deep richness, but is mild enough that it won't steamroll over you. The Lakeland scent is lightly present, and not nearly as overpowering as it is in other G&H products, but it's just enough to help form a well rounded smoke. Overall, the toppings moderately sublimate the tobaccos. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is a couple of steps behind that mark. Won't bite or get harsh, but it has a few small rough edges. The flakes easily break apart. Burns a little slow depending on how you prepare the flake: cool, clean, and smooth with a very consistent, mildly sweet and savory, floral flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. The lightly lingering after taste and room note are very pleasant. Not quite an all day smoke, but it is repeatable.

-JimInks

57 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sylvian (28)	2008-05-07		Mild	Extra Strong	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

My first acquaintance with Bob's Shock-olate Flake was a horror. It was the first time I tried a Lakeland tobacco, and I was not used to this characteristic scent G&H add to most if not all of their blends. I admit I also didn't bother to dry the tobac very well which it definitely required. The result was a disgusting, over-perfumed, nauseating smoke that made me think I had loaded deadman's deodorated armpit hair in my pipe. Think of lighting up grandma's favorite bra if you find the former association too offensive. A horrid experience it was indeed. Long before the glow had reached the middle of the bowl, Bob's Chocolate Ache was out of my pipe, forever I thought.

No wonder I kept away from this product since then. But after gradually getting used to the G&H Kendal soap, I found I could try once more to make sure I did not have a faulty sample. I was told that the bulk version which I tried sometimes can contain a trace of lavsan which can ruin the smoking experience. So be it, one year passed and I have obtained another sample to commemorate the anniversary of Smoking the Famous Bob's Formaldehyde Fake.

The result this time was different. Dried out, the weed lost at least some of its tonquin aroma, and was smokable. I was also more careful with packing, and lightly packed BCF can even be nice. But I really can understand the one-star reviews. I'd have given minus four after our first encounter.

So here are some suggestions for the ones in doubt:

1. Make sure you're really ready to accept tonquin in your pipe. It's definitely not for everyone. If you have not tried Kendal weed before and want to experiment, start with Samuel Gawith production. Most of it has only got notes of the Lakeland scent (be sure not to choose Grousemoor as the first one though as its loaded with the perfume, although more of a grassy than soapy kind, and forget about 1792 for the time), as opposed to Gawith & Hoggarth's blends that I find are bathed in tonquin.

2. If you find that you don't object to Kendal perfume try Bob's Chocolate Flake, also known as the Beelze Bub's Chalklit Make among some of us. Practice shows it can even become your morning smoke.

3. Check the tobac carefully so that your beloved pipe doesn't get traces of whatever G&H use in production, be it lavsan, church candles, panties... I'm sorry

4. Dry it out.

5. Dry it out again.

6. Rub out some.

7. Pack very lightly.

8. Light up and see if the above steps were actually making any sense.

Two gravestones for this zombie as I can only recommend it to adventurers like myself.

46 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Laserboy (16)	2014-04-16		Medium	Strong	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I think that people are often caught off-guard by this tasty flake: It is unequivocally an aromatic in that it includes numerous non-tobacco flavorings and scents. But the term "aromatic," as used in the last few decades, come to imply "sweet and candy-like." Since this flake is predominantly flavored with chocolate, which is primarily used in candy, it is only natural that people should expect a candy experience from it. Then it hits them. This is _not_ candy. The chocolate is savory, as in a Mexican mole dish. The significant dash of latakia adds a smokey, earthiness to the experience. Background flavors of vanilla and something florid (lilac?) add complexity. The smoke is certainly sweet, but not candy sweet. This is an English tobacco, both in origin and in style. It is full, solid, and rich. Smoking this is not a delicate or subtle experience--pack it loosely in a large bowl and enjoy it with a strongly-flavored beverage. I have smoked it while drinking several stouts (really, what could be a better combination than Bob's Chocolate Flake and Young's Double Chocolate stout? the flavor profiles of the two are spot-on) and also with strong English tea. Be sure to give it a solid time to dry as it arrives quite moist. Since it's a dense flake, don't be surprised at a significant number of relights. Also, as others have reported, this stuff _will_ ghost your pipe, so don't smoke it out of a pipe for which the residual taste will be a problem since it will stick around for the next dozen or so smokes.

32 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Uncle Al (17)	2014-01-20		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

Bob's Chocolate Flake by Gawith Hoggarth is superior tobacco, but it needs to be dried. I cut mine into pieces from small upto three millimetres, rub it out and then let it dry, perhaps leaving a little moisture. Sipped slowly this really is first class, deeply satisfying tobacco upfront with a subtle chocolate/cocoa taste in the background. Doesn't ghost. I always buy in bulk. Highly recommended, just remember to rub it out and let it dry.

Pipe Used: Lorenzo Oom Paul & others

Age When Smoked: From packet

Purchased From: 4 Noggins

Similar Blends: Gawith Hoggarth Louisiana Flake.

21 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	zulujerk (146)	2008-08-28		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Ahh, the soapy chocolate goodness of Bob's Chocolate Flake. The name sounds delicious, and one is left to wonder whether the actual product can deliver as promised.

Not a chance.

Ok, I don't mean that as an insult. The tobacco is indeed quite good, but I can't imagine for a second how the casings can translate into a discernible chocolate flavor. I can detect something approaching chocolate in the tin aroma--it's sweet and gives off hints of cocoa. But when lit, I get that familiar Lakeland signature cleansing variety. It wears off a bit, after the initial char, and doesn't take away from the essential goodness of Bob's Chocolate Flake. Just don't expect a choco-blast of the candy bar type.

The tobacco is rather stout for an aromatic, and Gawith puts the blend together in a superb fashion. The American ideal of an aromatic...cheap Burley soaking in sticky goop...is absolutely foreign to the design. I often wonder why we can't embrace the British formula to produce anything better than a cheap imitation, like No. 79.

The list of tobaccos that goes into Bob's Chocolate Flake has me scratching my head a little. There's a small portion of Latakia, which I completely miss, and a healthy supply of Virginias. But this tastes nothing like the Virginias I'm familiar with. As the bowl winds down, I'm left with an amalgamation more unique than I can imagine. I only know that I must seek out more Lakeland examples in search of another fine smoke.

20 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tommyboy1749 (27)	2015-04-21		Medium	Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.'s Bob's Chocolate Flake is a Virginia flake with a difference. The aromatics from Gawith & Hoggarth are applied with an old-school hand and are all-natural. No artificial additives, chemical compounds, or propylene glycol here.

Bob's Chocolate Flake is predominantly made up of Virginia leaf, so it's sweet--but not a grassy, hay-like, citrusy sweetness. In combination with the cocoa and chocolate flavorings, it has a deep, rich sweetness with a bittersweet edge. Some on the forum have likened it to dark chocolate, while others have noted affinities with espresso. I agree with both observations. For me it evokes a cappuccino with cocoa powder generously sprinkled on top. Nevertheless, the flavor is subtle and is predominantly detected in the side-stream aroma. While it is present on the initial light, and it persists throughout the smoke, it never detracts from, but rather enhances, the native virtues of the constituent tobaccos.

The other defining characteristics results from the addition of Latakia and Burley. While 8% Latakia might seem insignificant, it contributes an important component to the flake's flavor. The smokiness of the Latakia is present throughout the smoke, only deepening as the bowl progresses and adding complexity and body. The Burley grounds the blend, adding body and a nutty undertone.

Much has been made about the supposed "soapiness" of Lakeland tobaccos, and it is present here, but only faintly and ephemerally at the very beginning. Nor do I find what "soapiness" there is to be unpleasant (even in its more extreme incarnations, such as Ennerdale Flake), but rather see it as part of the blender's profile.

Nothing lasts for 150+ years without reason, and when I smoke Gawith & Hoggarth's offerings, I often think about how many others have had basically the same experience for literally centuries. It's really a kind of time-machine.

18 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2001-03-28		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

What a wonderful blend. Bob's Chocolate Flake comes in a beautiful brown flake form with bits of yellow and black (the latakia no doubt) and it has a truly wonderful tin, err, bag aroma (it is available only in bulk, as far as I know). I prefer to smoke this without rubbing it out, just roll the flakes, stick em in the pipe, and lighit up. It lights relatively easily and burns very well. The mild chocolate flavoring overwhelms the tobacco at first, but quickly fades from the dominant taste upon the initial lighting to a complimentary flavor which works well with the naturally sweet virginias and the latakia. I am told there is about 10% latakia in it, which I wouldn't have guessed in million years but can definitely see it now that I know it. There is a very subtle smokiness to this blend which works very well with the the Virgninia base and the added chocolate flavor. Eventually the chocolate dissipates almost completely leaving just the tobacco to enjoy, the strength also seems to kick in a bit at this time. Bob's Chocolate Flake leaves a beautiful ash and I highly recommend this to any VA lovers or even to aromatic smokers who are contemplating discovering the world of virginia tobaccos. But enoguh of that petty stuff- what I really want to know is.... Who the hell is this Bob guy??????

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ethan (34)	2014-01-07		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I waited a while to review this one because every time i tried it in a different pipe is seemed to change a little. Overall the chocolate flavor peeked through 4-5 times throughout the bowl but never stayed constant. The floral presence did stay through out the duration. I assume this is the "Lakeland" flavor everyone describes. The latakia is there but faintly, it mostly shows up at first light. This blend has a good slightly complex flavor. It is very different from anything else i have ever tried. It burns all the way to the bottom without getting nasty or over powering. Not goopy or sticky at any time. I will definitely keep some of this on hand to put into rotation from time to time.

1-15-14 *UPDATE: I am still experimenting with this blend and the more i mess with it the more i like it. Recently i have discovered if you really rub a flake out to the point it is light and fluffy by rolling it between yours hands and pack it evenly but not too tight you end up getting a VERY solid toasted marshmallow note for the first half of the bowl. I assume this is from the little bit of latakia and possibly some sweet virginias getting some room to breathe. Reguardless this is some good stuff, upgrading to 4 stars!

Pipe Used: Many different pipes

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: www.pipesandcigars.com

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2011-05-10		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Bob's IMHO goes beyond the usual "scent" of GH and into more of an aromatic category. Bob's has a wonderful chocolate smell and unlike many aromatics, the tobacco taste is still forward over the flavoring. Bob's sweet chocolate tin smell carries over to the taste with a medium/mild chocolate taste. I don't detect much of the soap smell that GH is known for in their blends. GH claims that there is Latikia in the blend, but I couldn't find any Latikia flavor. I find Bob's to be a far better chocolate flake than Samual Gawith's. The flake is a bit moist and needs some dry time, but if rubbed out, it will dry quickly. I think this flake with age very well. Highly recommended.

UPDATE: I was able to get my hands on some Bob's from 2008, 2004 and the late 90's and this flake becomes deep, dark and rich with age. Outstanding!

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2004-05-26		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I am updating and upgrading my opinion of Bob's Chocolate Flake after having consumed a bowlfull at a recent meeting of my local pipe club. My first dance with this flake was from a sample in a baggie. This time, I tried it from a tin that had aged for about five months and the results were much better. The tobacco was a little too moist, and that made the rubbing out process a bit difficult. Normally I would let a blend this moist dry for about 12 hours, but, I was eager to dig in. The blend stayed lit well and rewarded me with a semi-sweet smoke that tingled somewhat like Perique when I blew the smoke through my nose. (There is no Perique in BCF. I'm only offering a comparison.) I never tasted the Latakia even though the description says it contains 8 percent of that particular leaf. I did get a wafting from time to time of chocolate and vanilla - but, way in the background and it was expertly balanced in order to provide the smoker with a true tobacco taste.

BCF did have a nice nicotine kick, and that was a plus in my book. I will purchase a few tins and cellar them for several years. I think this mostly Virginia blend will (like Raquel Welch,) age quite nicely.

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	the_IRF (3)	2014-05-23		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

My review of this is: It feels like you are eating this when smoked.

{Note: i got a sample of long flake. It was not moist, but was sort of "oily". It didn't have any sense of aromatic smell, just interesting.}

I loved it. What a surprise. I do Virginia flakes (with whatever works to taste like tobacco), the more rugged and full of nicotine the better, but this has stuff on it.

It feels on the mouth like you can eat it. There is a sweet syrupy almost oiliness to the mouth feel. Nice taste. Soft smell in the bag that isn't aromatic, yet isn't other than inviting, too.

For me it is a Five Star Flake.

Pipe Used: Corn Cob (best), Breir

Age When Smoked: Fresh 1 oz/$4.75 sample from the dealer

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars http://www.pipesandcigars.com/pipe-tobacco/72834/gawith-hoggarth-co-bobs-chocolate-

Similar Blends: I have never tried something like this before, so i have no comparisons to offer..

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DeathMetal.org (231)	2018-06-22		Mild	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant

Summary: a mild version of the classic Lakeland flake with dark chocolate flavoring that creates a unique and enjoyable smoke.

Like most classic Lakeland flakes, "Bob's Chocolate Flake" starts out with a burst of rough flavor and then melts down into itself, producing a molasses flavor from the Virginias that melds with the warm Burley backdrop, the smoky leathery Latakia, and finally, a chocolate topping slightly offset by the old-lady-bathroom-mat geranium oil "Lakeland essence" madness. The key is in knowing how to smoke it: these flakes are designed for working men in motion in a cold, wet climate. Loosely fill the pipe three quarters of the way to the sides with the flake, then crumble the last ten percent on top as shake. Whip out your wood matches or trusty lighter and really go to town on it; give it the coal, repeatedly, while drawing in fairly strongly, in order to get the tobacco going like a campfire on a rainy day in winter. Now, sit back and make a seal with your mouth around the pipe, then breathe slowly as if you were fixing a teapot or repelling a Norman invasion. It helps to mutter along the lyrics to "Rule Britannia" or "God Save The Queen." What was at first a ragged stream of smoke becomes a soft, silky, and sweet flow of flavor across the tongue with occasional flashes of nicotine. This may not be a go-to for me, since flavored tobacco is difficult, but it is the closest that the UK has to "Prince Albert" and is quite tasty for what it is, plus rather creative in the use of the Latakia to bring out a dark chocolate instead of overly sweet flavor. This is more like a Tootsie Roll than a Hershey's Bar, and a large bowl will last you for two hours of pleasantly distracted smoking.

Similar Blends: John Middleton, Inc - Prince Albert.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cajomu (80)	2017-10-20		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I'm not sure why I haven't reviewed Gawith, Hoggarth's Bob's Chocolate Flake before, given that it is one of my favorite pipe tobaccos. I bought a pound of it a year ago to put up but I couldn't help digging into my stash, and now half is gone. Oh well, time to order some more.

What I find so enjoyable about BCF is it's depth of flavor and dark notes. From chocolate to coffee to burnt sugar and molasses, it's one of the richest tasting tobaccos I know of. While it doesn't have any cigar taste, the closest experience I can compare it to is smoking a really good Nicaraguan cigar, like a Padrón Maduro.

This is definitely a burley blend, and I mean that in the best sense. Like any good burley, the taste is nutty, earthy, rich and creamy. The relatively small amount of Latakia is definitely in the background, but adds to the depth of flavor without hijacking it. The virginias are not very noticeable, other than to provide some sweetness (along with the casing, no doubt). There is also just the barest hint of Lakeland essence, which adds to the experience but is so subtle that even those who don't like Lakeland won't be offended.

BCF arrives a little on the moist side and therefore benefits from some airing out. It will take you a couple of lights to get it started and may require a relight or two, but it will burn completely to a dark gray ash and taste good to the bottom of the bowl. Given the quality of the tobacco, at a little more than $50 a pound it is a real bargain.

If you like rich tasting tobacco, you owe it to yourself to try BCF.

Pipe Used: Various briars

Age When Smoked: From fresh to 1 year old

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Samuel Gawith Chocolate Flake (although GH BCF is richer and more chocolatey)..

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stefanos (222)	2018-11-10		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin note is very nice, it smells of yeasty tobacco with an added whiff of cocoa, whisky, almonds and a touch of vanilla or tonquin. Comes in broken flakes which can either be folded or rubbed out. They need some drying, but moisture is surely not excessive.

The tobacco lights easily and from the start there is a light floral Lakeland touch which intermingles very nicely with the, also light, cocoa flavoring. Latakia might very well contribute some smokiness to the taste but it is virtually undetectable per se. The Virginias are what I get most from this blend. Dark and yeasty but with grassy tones as well. Strength is just about right for an all-day smoke. What is more the smoke is smooth and cool. This tobacco for me has it all, it has flavor, it has complexity, it has excellent tobacco taste and the flavoring is only mild and very congruent with the tobacco flavors and delicious. It also leaves quite an agreeable room note and smokes to a very fine ash to the last shred of tobacco.

For me Bob’s Chocolate Flake is a fantastic medium strength tobacco that is so full of flavor that you cannot miss! A high quality and very well-crafted product with potential to mass appeal. Highly recommended to Viginia smokers. Could serve well as an introduction to the Lakeland style.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2009-11-23		Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I, too, struggled with this blend. Trying to do too much is often not a good thing, and I can only categorize this tobacco as an attempt to bridge smokers of widely varying tobacco styles. The latakia was unnecessary but what I found the most offputting was the Lakeland florals. Sorry to be so trite but it tasted like soap to me for the first third of the bowl - like I had sucked on a dryer sheet.

I got the strong impression that without the florals and the latakia, this would be a very strong offering from G&H. But then it wouldn't be Bob's Chocolate Flake, would it?

All in all, I found this to be a blend of high quality tobaccos blended to a somewhat tragic end. It's something I think most people should try, however, as there seems to be differing opinions - and strong ones on both sides.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2020-01-24		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

I just finished my first tin of this flake that I have been wanting to try for so long. Overall, I liked it as I do most GH offerings. There is a common thread with all GH tobaccos. They don't bite, no matter how hard you push them; they use top shelf ingredients and they all have a tinge of lakeland aroma that distorts the tobacco and/or topping tastes.

With the other things being plusses across the board, it is only that last thing that can really cause me to dislike these products. If you abhor that lakeland aroma/taste, you would be wise to avoid any GH blends; however, if you are like me and enjoy a light lakeland essence, say somewhere south of Ennerdale or Grasmere, you should enjoy this one.

BCF is no Ennerdale, nor is it some chocolate brownie type American aromatic. Truth be told, if it wasn't written on the tin, I would have never figured it as a chocolate topping at all. I do taste the Vanilla and the latakia though and would say their presence, albeit also very light, is more easily perceived than any chocolate taste to me. As an added bonus, I noticed no ghosting in any pipe this was smoked in, so most bowls were smoked in briar pipes.

Overall, it is nice and the taste that stands out the most to me, is the Virginia leaf, which I believe to be mostly bright leaf. It has a very nice citrus sweetness to it. The other favors play well with this. I could easily smoke this one all day and have a few times. I usually smoke two to three bowls a day, so it is not that big a feat. This is also nothing like the GH aromatic twists in that you can smoke a whole bowl without shaking and getting the cold sweats. It certainly isn't weak on nicotine, but it is not heavy by any means.

I recommend it but will keep it to three stars as it does not rise to the next level for me.

Pipe Used: Jerry Zenn Bent Squat tomato

Age When Smoked: just under 5 yrs.

Similar Blends: SG Mayor's chocolate flake.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PKT (30)	2019-07-14		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Although the world does not need another review of this outstanding tobacco, I feel constrained to record just how good this tobacco is. Cool and slow burning with all the expected tobacco, Lakeland and chocolate flavors that are blended together so that the whole experience exceeds the sum of the parts.

Pipe Used: Cor Meer, Wilke pot, Burak churchwarden

Age When Smoked: Bulk

Purchased From: Liberty Tobacco

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	marosi (70)	2016-11-15		Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It is a little disconcerting that the review that was found useful by the most people is so misleading. I wonder how many people may have never tried this blend based on an incorrect description or the repeating thereof.

This is not a tonquin flavored mixture.

Ill say it again, as this faulty review seems to equate the lakeland aromatic effect with tonquin - this is not a tonquin flavored mixture. Everyone is free to love or hate BCF on its own merits, but don't warn people off due to tonquin, when there is no tonquin.

It is impossible to say with certainty that this has 0% tonquin, because they apply an aromatic casing in addition to the chocolate and vanilla, which might, but probably doesn't, contain a tiny bit of tonquin. What can be said with certainty is that the result does not taste like tonquin, tonquin is not to any appreciable degree present in this flake, and the lakeland scent and flavor are not synonymous with tonquin. Warning someone to avoid this flake if they do not like tonquin or are not ready to try tonquin is misleading because this in no way shape or form tastes like tonquin or, per the mixture description, has any. Gawith 1792 flake tastes like tonquin, because it has tonquin. Tonquin to my palate tastes like a pungent cross between earthy liqourice and vanilla. Smoke 1792 and then see if BCF tastes anything like that - you will see that it does not.

The description also alleged that it had whiskey as a casing, which it does not contain either.

As for the lakeland essence, yes it is present to a light degree in the background. Again, not a tonquin predominant flavor or smell, "lakeland" is something different. It is floral and mildly soapy (but not in a bad way, if such a thing is possible). Some people hate it, others love it. Here it is very mild and very much rounding out the flavor, not forward in the mix like a true lakeland flake.

To my taste this smokes like a nice VA flake. I really do not get latakia at all, but I take them at their word that it is in there. The chocolate is present in the tin, but I really do not get the flavor when smoking. The vanilla is not very forward either. This smokes like a sweet, cool pressed VA flake with a little lakeland action happening in the background.

Gawith's chocolate flake is the 4 star iteration of this style flake. IT has far more complexity and flavor, and more chocolate flavor to boot. BCF is a fine, affordable flake that can be enjoyed in its own right, and deserves a full three to three and a half stars.

Pipe Used: Ashton Old Church bent bulldog

Age When Smoked: fresh

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2081)	2016-03-03		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Gawith Hoggarth - Bobs Chocolate Flake.

Note: I reviewed this a few years back but upon reading it recently I vehemently disagreed with my past opinion. As it's recently become one of my favourite blends I decided to delete and re-write my review.

The pouch has a brilliant chocolate smell to it. This is the story the whole way through: chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!

I like to rub my flakes and as these arrive loosely pouched they're nicely hydrated making rubbing a doddle. This also makes ignition easy too, it only takes a short touch of the flame. And then, as I implied, it's a chocolate lovers dream. The smoke is prominently chocolate and any whiskey goes completely unnoticed. I struggle to detect much of the Latakia's smokiness or the Burley's nuttiness; what I do get is a superbly sweet and chocolaty smoke, making it a PERFECT dessert smoke! The moisture quantity made the igniting easy and it also makes the burn impeccable; it goes steady, consistent, and the smoke's cool. I'd say the nicotine's about mild to medium but for it to become medium it requires a hearty puff! Finally, the room note also carries a hefty waft of chocolate!

Due to the loose packaging Bob's Chocolate will become as brittle as a twig and un-smokeable in no time at all so it has to be put into a mason jar.

This is a fantastic tobacco and I regret my previous negative review.

Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Chieftain's Quaich

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: GQ Tobaccos

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dubinthedam (133)	2012-06-18		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

It's all been said. Good stuff. The Latakia and lakeland touch is very soft, which works superbly well. Really its a VA blend, burley blend, lakelands blend and an English blend all mixed together and it still pleases. Nice.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gr8tefuldawg (87)	2020-06-08		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

GH- Bob’s chocolate flake

I have to admit that at first I was not a fan of this blend, I got nothing from it except hot air and wondered where the chocolate was.

This has been sitting in a jar for a year, bought in bulk.

I loaded this today and thoroughly enjoyed the nutty chocolate and Lakeland mix. It never overwhelmed, stayed cool and smoked well for me.

When I have a yearning for a well flavored aromatic Lakeland, I’ll be sure to grab this one. Not a favorite but good none the less.

Pipe Used: Rossi 320

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Liberty tobacco

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PuffPuffLive (32)	2018-12-14		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Lakeland aromatics fill a niche in my rotation. This is my favorite of the bunch. The tin note is unique, and immediately something you will always be able to identify. Flowers, almonds, and a dark cocoa note. The smoke is fairly strong, in both nicotine and flavor. I taste Virginia and a small amount of Latakia. I also taste cocoa and baking spices. I really like this as a change of pace tobacco during the cold season.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Hoipolloi (12)	2018-04-05		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

The flake is dense and rubs out well, into chunks. Light early and requires some relights throughout the bowl. A flavorful rich smoke, not overly sweet. The topping is mild and to my palate rich like cocoa powder or dark chocolate. It smokes fairly slowly, dry and won't get harsh or bite you. The flavor is consistent throughout the bowl. This is on a short list of aromatics that I enjoy.

Pipe Used: MM Ozark

Age When Smoked: 3 months

Purchased From: Pipes and cigars

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Luckyluke (11)	2017-09-12		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

At first i did not enjoy this blend to much, it was my first try into the lakeland territory and i was not used to that specific taste, but the second bowl started to sway me to start loving it and now that same lakeland essence that puzzled me was making me really like it. It actually really goes well with that deep cocoa topping and the rich tobaccos. The latakia for me was present in the tin when smelled but doesnt really translate to the smoke that much, after all it is only 8% but it is there. I really love this blend but it surely isint for everyone (judging from some of the reviews here) it gets better and better with age though.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Leaflet (2)	2016-03-06		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The first time I tried this I wasn't quite sure. Left the few flakes I had at the back of my tobacco cupboard, and forgot about it. Move forwards 6 months and I had a sudden urge to have an aromatic lakeland (I'd been smoking a Lakeland Virginia for the last 2 weeks) . Second round this stuff was Amazing. For me the cocoa comes through mostly on the retrohale. I smoked most of the bowl through the nose. It's as smooth as anything.

The alcohol is a nice background compliment, I almost missed it but it comes and goes mostly in the first half of the bowl. Along with the subtle lakeland essence. That also is more pronounced in the first half of the bowl. An all together nice tobacco. I found it to be more of a morning blend. Good with a cup of coffee. It's not a sweet blend. And in comparison to "normal aromatics" has no sweetness. The chocolate comes across as unsweetened cocoa power.

On a side note I ordered the plug because I heard that it is was an altogether MORE variety than the flake. My G*d, I opened the pouch and I actually had to stop myself from biting into the plug. No word of a lie. The salivation was out of this world. Can't wait to smoke it.

Pipe Used: Parker

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: GQ

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jorge Soler (203)	2015-12-03		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

You won't find any of the Lakeland casing here. Rather, the tin note, and this shows in your smoke too, has this touch of chocolatey aroma that gives its name to this blend created by Gawith & Hoggarth's master blender Bob. This tends to wane as you progress with your smoke, but I am finding both the Virginias and Burleys quite satisfying in their own right. Not a complex tobacco by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact it is easy smoke and that I cannot detect any tongue bite means this might as well be something to cut your teeth with if you are thinking venturing into the world of aromatics for the first time. As I light up my pipe, I did not detect any Latakia in it, and in true honesty I am still puzzled over it, but it was quite apparent to me it was showing in the room-note. Every now and then I'd get this hint of spiciness so characteristic in most Latakia based tobaccos. I found this to be a very interesting feature. Highly recommended.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pacman357 (15)	2014-08-18		Mild	Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Unnoticeable

I got this in bulk, so maybe it tastes differently coming from a tin. A friend who lives nearby is on the local search & rescue team. Some day I've got to find a way to get him to get the team out to see if they can find where the chocolate that is supposed to be in this tobacco ran off to.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BigNick (59)	2014-03-29		Mild	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Dry out! Dry out! Dry out! It takes a forest fire to light if it is not dried out. It's not a strong as I hoped it would be. The Latakia ads to the bitter sweet taste of the chocolate flavoring. It's a clever blend, I would have to say that it's an acquired tobacco. It takes time to acquaint ones' self with the unique and subtle qualities if this tobacco.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Fiesta, Peterson system

Age When Smoked: 1 month

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	doc'spipe (242)	2009-07-29		Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I have wanted to try GHs Bob's Chocolate Flake and SGs Chocolate Flake for a good while now. Well, for starters I went with Bob's Chocolate Flake. The tin aroma was definitely perfumy - which was tolerable before I lit it up. The initial light was all soap; as if I put a bar of Ivory into my mouth! Not pleasant whatsoever. I persevered and found the "Lakeland essence" never diminished. Occasionally, I got hints of chocolate - very minimal, however. The overall tobacco flavor was too hidden by the lakeland florals for me to taste and enjoy. The blend seemed to be overpowered by this Lakeland presence, and I didn't enjoy it at all. 1 star.

UPDATE 4-20-10: How time and aging change things! I let this one sit in its tin since my original review and 1 star rating, and decided to re-try it. Well, there was still the presence of soap in the tin, but much less than previous. Lighting produced a much fainter soap presence than previous which stayed very much in the background and fading nearly to nil by bowl's end. I was actually able to taste and enjoy the tobacco flavor - a mix of good tobacco and chocolate. I couldn't, however, taste the Latakia which was not off-putting in the least. I knew it was there by the way Latakia always nips at my tongue in a very unique way for me. A very nice background sweetness and flavor was the final reward (like chocolate milk). I now can appreciate all of the 3-4 star reviews of this blend. I will re-visit from time to time, but if I ever get through my tin and order more, I'll need to open it and let some of that Lakeland presence dissipate off long before smoking.

UPDATE 3-16-13: After smoking a good amount of GH Rum Flake, Brown Flake Scented and Unscented, I truly have come to love the Lakeland flavor. A recent revisit to Bob's Chocolate Flake was very pleasurable, but since I am not a big fan of Latakia, this will hold to 3 stars for me.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Karam (59)	2020-05-20		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I've yet to taste a bona fide chocolate blend, this one's not it, and my tastebuds are not as refined as others' here. The appearance is thick broken flake of dark brown tobacco.

Smell from the pouch is primarily almond, vanilla, perhaps some milk chocolate in the distance, and occasionally a small whiff of Latakia.

Taste starts with a Lakeland blast as other blends of this style, which very quickly subsides to the background, bringing the strong tobacco on top, and stays consistent to the end. Overall the flavouring is not very strong at all here, but it's always there for 3/4 of the bowl. Chocolate does not come out for me, neither does the 8% Latakia, but it doesn't matter because whatever is in this blend works very well. It's sweet in the Lakeland style, more sweet smelling than actually tasting.

This is a great introduction to Lakeland blends, the Lakeland essence is there, but it is very subdued allowing the quality tobacco to come forward. I'd strongly recommend someone wanting to try Lakelands to start here, as it will give a good idea about what they're like without being overpowering, made me a Lakeland lover for sure as once I understood what they're about I wanted more!

Purchased From: www.thebackyshop.co.uk

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SmokingHawk (54)	2018-06-03		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Flake presentation is one put in a haste... Packs easily either rubbed out leaving big chunks. Burns evenly cocoa taste is through out the bowl with some occasional lake land aroma which plays role. Nic kick is as with all the G&H blends medium and in empty stomach it kicks high. Over all its a enjoyable smoke and if I wouldn't have smoked SG CF I would have Given three n half starts but it's not in option so I it's three. But well done G&H!

Pipe Used: Boswell's Rusticated pipe

Age When Smoked: One year old

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Bobs Square cut.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HeavyMetalPiper (64)	2018-05-31		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

The taste is dusty in that it is reminiscent of cocoa powder. This burns long, and has a strong nic hit, but the Lakeland flavor keeps this from being a 3 for me. (Later edited as this blend grew on me quite a bit.)

You can view my video review of this blend here:

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Bent Country Gentleman

Age When Smoked: 1 Month

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

Similar Blends: Sutliff Tobacco Company - Match Edgeworth Ready Rubbed.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	airparkpiper (7)	2018-01-27		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

The note in the tin is cocoa, which is very inviting. I rubbed the flake out and packed it loose, leaving room for expansion. Lit off rather well for a moist flake with no drying and once we're lit, it only required 2-3 relights all the way to the heel. I notice the smooth, velvety chocolate flavor, very mild and very cool. Seems I have to puff a bit more steady on this one but it never bites. Did not bubble, leaves little moisture. Smells great as well! I could get used to smoking this one more!

Pipe Used: Nate King

Age When Smoked: Fresh bulk

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	p4p4 (59)	2017-11-04		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

It's a great tobacco! Very good,solid, firm and serious tobacco taste complimented by slight lakeland flovours, and slight chocolate. Latakia presence is clear, but just as a little condiment:noticeable, but not too much. I like it! Even if i prefer much flavoured lakelands, exemple Ennerdale, i can smoke Bobs Chocolate with great satisfaction. Very good burning qualities, no bite, solid tobacco taste, slightly lakeland flavoured, medium to full body and strenght, sometimes and if properly smoked.....with cigars characteristic. It can be a great all-day. It has a sweet taste, but in the dry side, never goopy, never syroupy or cloying like modern industrial aromatics. I think this is not an aromatic tobacco: this is a damned good tobacco , slightly flavoured in the british old style. A country, old fashioned style, that you can appreciate or not. If you do, you will love this Bob. If you are not a fan of lakeland flavour (i adore it) you can experiment some kind of pipe-ghosting, even if much much much little compared with full flavoured lakelands.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BruineBear (7)	2017-10-29		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

First time I tried it , my first thought was " strange"... Second time it was " interesting" .... Once I finished my first tin was " already finished?". Yes , this is a peculiar tobacco. I could not really catch it, but I could not either stop smoking it. And I bought it again and again. It's not an aromatic smoke of a common standard. It has Latakia, but more as a smoother than a predominant character. Chocolate or Whisky not not a real taste, but more like a reminiscence . A rather seductive blend, but as some mysterious beauty it's reluctant to be analyzed or classified. A non rational pleasure.

Pipe Used: Savinelli 122, Poul Stanwell 402

Purchased From: Dubini Chiasso

Similar Blends: None.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TW (38)	2017-08-30		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Some of the reviews this, and other G&H blends, gets are rather.... let's say "strange".

1. Despite what a very popular review says there is no tonquin in this blend. None whatsoever. Tonquin has flavour similar to a "deeper and richer" vanilla and is not in the least little bit "floral" or "soapy". Blends that contain noticable tonquin, or nowadays the "tonquin alternative" coumarin, are 1792, St Bruno and Condor, though the last two also contain plant-derived flavours (though not the infamous "Lakeland florals") so for purest tonquin-style taste try 1792.

2. The "chocolate" is more like cocoa powder than a bar of Cadbury's or the sad ersatz excuse for chocolate called "chocolate candy" in the US.

3. Despite some claims there are no artificial flavours in this or any G&H blend. They blend using the limited range of natural flavourings allowed under the old English tobacco purity laws that prevented adulteration with chemicals. Those laws were repealed in 1988 to enable big cigarette manufacturers to use "re-natured tobacco". As a side-effect they also allowed the use of glycol as a humidity maintainer in pipe tobacco. None of that nonsense for either Gawith company.

So. The flavourings here are a small amount of florals, probably including rose geranium (which is one plant not two) and others that were particularly popular from the 1700s to around the 1920s. And vanilla. And cocoa powder.

On smoking the latakia adds just a hint of smokiness and the flavourings blend well with the smoke. The Va and Burley is almost certainly from Commonwealth sources used by British blenders since at least the 1850s, probably from Malawi and Zimbabwe. The leaf is very good quality, but does not taste like US grown tobacco.

I'll readily admit to not liking this blend, mostly because I don't get on with geranium scent very well. It is however a classic of its kind and well worth trying if you are looking for a tobacco that has an aromatic quality to it but one that doesn't make you think you are smoking cherryade or slightly aromatic fog. The presentation is good and like most traditional British/Irish blends loses out if dried too much - it's meant to be smoked a little damp and oily.

Overall I'll give it three stars because while I don't care for it myself it's a popular blend made from high quality ingredients. Many people like it, so might you.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blueplume (7)	2017-04-13		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

While I don't have the discerning palate of some reviewers on here, I would say that this has the perfect percentage of latakia for my taste. I don't really get the chocolate or whisky but I do think it is a beautiful smoke and is so well behaved however you pack it. I folded and stuffed half the bowl and rubbed out the top half in the Oldenkott. The first half had a more pronounced latakia taste so maybe that's the way for me to go with that pipe. In the Bewlay which is smaller I had folded and stuffed the whole bowl and the smokiness was there throughout. I appreciate aromatics,vapers and english blends and this seems to have an element of all of these,it's a very good quality blend indeed. Hats off to Bob!

Pipe Used: oldenkott, Bewlay rhodesian

Purchased From: smoke king

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pipesmoker33 (18)	2016-12-21		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Not sure where to start with this one. Tin description sounded good. The 8% latakia sounded interesting. Ive been wanting to try a chocolate tobacco. Tin note wasn't bad. Comes in long thin flakes. Grabbed a few and rubbed them out. I did let it dry for a half hour or so then loaded up my savinelli 673. I have never had a Lakeland tobacco. I have heard of them, but never payed no mind to them. And had no idea this was one until I put my zippo to it. I got about three or four fuffs and dumped my pipe out. I couldn't get past the soap flavor. After reading reviews of lakelands, and watching some youtube videos I decided to give it another shot. This time I loaded up a cob. I pushed through the initial soap flavor, and gave it a chance. WOW. This stuff turned out to be amazing. Now I cant seem to get enough of it. I don't detect much chocolate, but a very satisfying smoke. Now I'm curious about other lakelands.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Roma 673, MM Diplomat

Age When Smoked: fresh to 3 months

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tmoney (25)	2013-03-21		Medium	Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant

Sitting across from me, Slugworth slid a plain brown briefcase across the table, wearing a sly grin on his face. I hesitated; I didn't trust his face, but I opened the briefcase anyways. It was full of money. I quickly closed it, glancing around to make sure nobody saw what I had just seen.

“What is this?” I asked

“Its simple really” He said from behind his thick glasses. “You have access to a place that I cannot go.”

“The chocolate factory…” I muttered.

“Right. Your golden ticket ensures your entry, giving you access to what I've been seeking for so long.”

I looked back at him, “You want me to get the Everlasting Gobstopper for you, you crook.”

“No! Forget the damned Gobstopper! I want you to bring me Bob's Chocolate flake and kill Willy Wonka!” He said, face red with frustration. "Forgive me," he said, "I want this flake. This is half of the money now", pointing at the briefcase. "The rest you will get if you complete the job."

I looked at Slugworth, then back at the money. Pondering my own ethics and whether I could pull it off. “Deal.” I said. It would change my life forever.

===== There I found myself, standing over Mr. Wonka, gun at his head. He stared up at me, face half fear, half disgust. Blood was streaming down his face from a where I had sucker pistol whipped him at his stupid half desk.

“You'll never get it from me! EVER!” He spat.

“We'll see about that” I said. Wonka had no idea what I had in store for him. “I'll do whatever I need to do to get the Flake, Wonka. You think I got this far without getting my hands dirty?”

With frightened eyes, he tried to force a response, lips trembling. “Whaa…”

“Fool Wonka. You think I'm here by accident? You think what happened to all those kids was by chance? Wrong! Augustus Gloop, Mike Teevee, Beruka, Voilet… I killed all of them, ensuring I could get this close to you.”

His eyes shook as a solemn tear ran down his cheek, “You murderer…” he whispered.

“Bingo, you Fuq. And you'll be numbered among the candy saints too, if you don't give me what I came here for.”

Just then, Wonka's eyes shifted to something behind me. He telegraphed what shouldn't have. We weren't alone anymore. Turning, I saw 3 Oompa-Loompas in full body armor, standing inside of the doorway. The two on either side wielded sharp Samurai swords, and the one in the middle, an MP-5 sub-machine gun. In mid turn, I quickly lifted my pistol and blasted the Oompa on the far right, hitting him between helmet and Kevlar vest, blowing his neck out. The MP-5'er responded by spraying a line of bullets in my direction, which I avoided by jumping to the side, dropping my gun in the process. At this point, Wonka had moved from where he was, to the far corner, rummaging through his desk. I knew what he was trying to do. But my priority lay with dealing with the midgets in my midst. The Oompa with the MP-5 had stopped firing, reloading his gun, struggling with the clip. That was my moment. Just then the remaining swordsman came at me, sword raised, his little legs carrying him quicker than I had expected. His height gave him the advantage to out maneuver me. Once he came in range, I dropped to my knees, and as he thrust his sword at me I let it slide by, avoiding the sword, grabbing his hands and pulling him forward to me. The sword wiggled wildly behind me shoulder, striking my side multiple times with small cuts. I quickly torqued down hard his arms down and he dropped the sword once I had broken BOTH of his arms. Arms broken, and helpless, I lifted him into the air by his throat and launched him at the remaining Oompa, who was just pulling back the action on his gun to start firing again. This stalled him long enough for me to pick up the sword that lay at my side. As the Oompa regained his composure, I hurled the sword at him. The initial shock showed on his face, as the sword went through him and drove him against the wall, pinning him there as if he was a fixture of the room. I watched the light go out of his eyes as he tasted failure and defeat. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my back. Turning, I saw Wonka leaping back from me, with the look of a frightened coward who had just stabbed a man in the back. I took the object out of my back and examined it. It was a candy cane dagger complete with a handle, hilt and blade; deep red blood was dripping off of the sinister sweet treat as I threw it aside.

“Time to finish this, Wonka.” I said, as I started over to him. When I reached him, I saw in his shaky hand a small, golden tin, with a brown and red label that read “Bob's Chocolate Flake.” I reached down for it, as he cowered against the wall by his desk.

“I'll take that.” I said as he reluctantly loosened his grip on the tin.

“Please… don't…” he stammered.

“It's over, Wonka.” I said as I placed the tin into my pocket. “There's nothing to be said.”

“No… you don't understand!” he pleaded “The world is not ready for this tobacco. Not yet!”

“You can tell that to Slugworth, Wonka.” I said, lifting the barrel of my gun to his head. “In Hell.”

And I pulled the trigger... with that, I opened the tin and took in the aroma. It was fabulous. I stashed one flake away for safe keeping, and if Slugworth had something to say about it, then he could suck my dick. I earned it.

I write this from the Island of the Dominican Republic, where I have chosen to live my life out as a wealthy man in exile for my crimes in the United States. In the end, it was worth it for the money, the fame and the smoke. Good stuff.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrDyson (148)	2012-11-10		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Egged on by Jim and Michael the cunning tobacconists of Durham City, England (may they live for ever), I tried this for the thoroughly childish reason that Bob is my forename.

You'd think that a chocolate flavoured tobacco would be pretty dire, wouldn't you? It isn't, though. I like BCF when I'm in a Latakia mood. It's a good quality flake with a pronounced but not overpowering Latakia presence. It's cool and slow-burning and consistent all the way down the bowl: those are the three main things I look for in a tobacco. Fold and stuff or rub it out: it doesn't make much difference, though it is improved by a little drying time. Its sweetness can cloy if you smoke too much of it, but it's all right as a change from the usual run of things. The chocolate flavouring is not all that pronounced, but I suspect this tobacco would be better if the flavouring were left out and a little more Latakia added. Very recommendable, but not, to me, an all day, every day smoke.

Purchased From: Durham Pipe and Tobacco Shop

Similar Blends: Samuel Gawith's Chocolate Flake.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	J-P (11)	2012-10-12		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant

My first review here, and it's certainly all been said already, but here goes nothing eh? It's my favourite 'aromatic' (and I hate most aromatics).

This blend remains constantly in my rotation. But I find it suits autumn and winter best. I also find it needs to be dried.

First, a warning - This comes pretty 'sticky' and with all that stoved Malawian Virginia and Burley, it has a sweetness. If not dried out it can smoke quite hot and there's a risk of tonguebite. I've read in previous reviews that this diminishes with age.

From experience, the flavour profile of this blend can change quite a bit if you rub out as opposed to fold and stuff. I definitely prefer it folded and stuffed.

EDIT: I'd cellared that original pound since 2008, and I finally got to those cans in 2019 (after much more experience). It's aged to a crystal-coated black crumbling flake with a texture similar to sliced dark chocolate brownie. I'd say it's improved with some age. Definitely less cocoa, and more forward with the floral Lakeland essence and rich nutty burley. But still a creamy smooth smoke.

This is in my opinion a stand-out, unique blend. Somewhat characteristic of other 'scented' offerings from G&H (Dark Flake Scented etc). But nothing like the sticky/gunky "American Aromatics" that they offer (Black Cherry etc.).

For my palate, this is a solid five-star smoke. It has hints of cocoa, but the main focus is the natural tobacco flavours. It's like being in close proximity to a cup of old fashioned cocoa.

The taste through the bowl starts out quite light (I'd agree to others noting slight smoky marshmallow). A little floral sweetness with hints of dark cocoa and vanilla. It builds and morphs into a full-bodied, deep and creamy smoke. At the mid-way point, I can only taste and smell hints of the cocoa and the casings have burned away,

At the end of the bowl, the taste concentrates further toward a rich, strong, nutty cigar-like flavour. Here you can most detect the Latakia, with hints of dark-roast espresso until you are left with nothing but fine white ash.

The smoke texture is of voluminous, smooth, smoky cream. The room note is pleasant and inoffensive, no hint of the floral essence remains in the smoke - mainly mild cocoa, vanilla and quality tobacco.

This blend matches well with good strong English tea (with milk and sugar) or a smooth mid-roast coffee (black or with cream or maybe a tot of baileys).

Pipe Used: L.Viprati Roccia (rusticated billiard)

Age When Smoked: 9 years

Purchased From: Black Swan Tobacconists - London

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2010-04-02		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Well then, this was a smoking life changer. I shied away for awhile because of the "chocolate" in the name.

I don't mean to get all hyperbolic on ya'll but this is simply the best damned thing I ever smoked. I have just bought several lbs to sock away.

Tin: Or in my case baggie as I bought in bulk. Mmmmmmmm. Nuff said.

Loading: Excellent A tad wet. I rub it out and dry for a few minutes, or longer if it's humid. No issues. Typical flake. Then air pocket in a avg. 3/4 X 1.5"+ bowl.

Light and Burning: Top notch. Char it. Light tamp. Fire it up and off you go. A few relights but I always have a few.

Taste: Flavor: Omagod. Wow this is some good stuff. Just a hint of Lakeland on the char. Then it's really good tobacco flavor with a nice rounding of sweetness. This ain't Hershey's folks so don't be concerned about the chocolate. In no way "aromatic". But it's not some sort of stiff lipped "English Blend" either. There's some latakia there but it only sings back up. You gotta try it to understand.

Bite: Not one bit of bite for me and I'm a little bite prone. Zero and I do mean zero.

Room Note: Must be OK the wife doesn't flee.

General Comments: If you haven't tried this invest 5 bucks and get an ounce in bulk. I think nearly any pipe smoker will find something to like here whether you're one of those cherry jubilee, whip cream mocha surprise types, a latakia reeking English Blender, a Virginia sipping "sophisticate" or even a good old codger burley drugstore cowboy.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (403)	2022-04-17		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Unnoticeable

A fellow piper and tobacco.com reviewer (PKT) enjoys this blend and let me try a sample. This is quality tobacco with a nice mild coco topping that does not detract from the burley flake. This blend also has Latakia and Virginia but as to what proportions I am cannot say. Smooth tasting. I did the twist and shove method into my corn cob. A good blend but not one I will add to my collection as I have too much at this point in time. If ever in the urge to have more I will just hit up PKT. 😊

Pipe Used: Corn Cob

Age When Smoked: 1 year

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Smokey Bear (4)	2022-02-11		Strong	Medium to Strong	Very Full	Very Pleasant

Very Nice Dark chocolate 🍫 note through out! I picture my self as a kid coming in from the snow with hot chocolate... melted down from scratch with a vanilla bean mixed in at my grandparents house with all there old cooking books 📚 this blend blew my mind with all the other tobaccos coming and going... light walnut casing from the Burley and that iconic zestiness from the Virginia! I have multiple backup tins now! I folded the flakes 2x and packed light to medium! Get them while you can!

Pipe Used: Lorenzetti Constantine

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smoking pipes

Similar Blends: Chocolate flake.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bowler Hat Piper (24)	2021-05-27		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Ambrosia, pure ambrosia. A fabulous dessert blend. My bowl lasted the best part of two hours and it was a transporting experience. Smooth, flavourful, no bite. When the bowl ended I was tempted to reload and start again. Fruity, chocolaty goodness through and through. The latakia is there, but right in the background.

Pipe Used: Meerschaum bent billiard

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: GQ Tobaccos

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Davedmn (17)	2021-02-05		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

I bought a sample of this as I was not sure if I would like it.

Pouch note was great. Mild chocolate with, I think, a very little Lakeland essence. I also thought a little alcohol(?). All this over a Virginia type aroma. So far quite good.

The flakes are dark and firm but rubbed out easily. I only rub out a little - I prefer it that way.

It took a bit of lighting. Note to self dry it a bit!

Once going the smoke was superb. Cool and flavourful. I could taste chocolate,a very little Lakeland, and good Virginia and latakia. Add the bowl progresses the Lakeland disappeared and the latakia became more noticeable.

This one caused my wife to comment on how nice it smelled! A rare event.

I'm quite a gentle puffer and finished with just fine ash. No dottle and no foul taste.

Time to buy a few tins I think.

Pipe Used: MM cob

Age When Smoked: At purchase

Purchased From: On line GQ tobacconist

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Buskovic (3)	2017-12-08		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

I purchased this Tobacco in Bulk from my local tobacco store, moisture was just right, no drying time was needed. The scent of the tobacco is a lot of dark chocolate / Cocoa, this nearly completly covers the odor of the tobaccos. Altough in the background you can smell them. I really like this smell in my nose even tough i normally prefer tobaccos that are closer to nature/unscented. Packs easily: personally i get the best results in just rolling/rubbing some bigger chunks to a ball-like thing and stuff it into my bowl with some extra of finer rubbed out tobacco on top. Lightning is easy, one or two false lights and it burns easily.

Let´s get to the taste: I get this beautiful smell of cocoa/chocolate transferred to the smoke - which melts with the Latakia to a sensational bittersweet chocolate aroma. There is a bit sweetness in this but it´s never cloying. I notice at any time that i´m smoking tobacco and not a piece of burning chocolate - so i wouldnt call this a real-full-on-aromatic. The Virginia is a nice base, i just don´t get much of the 10 % burley inside. Maybe my "pipe senses" aren´t that refined yet. Around the half way point of a small to medium pipe the bittersweet chocolate aroma diminishes more and more and the Latakia kicks up and adds more of the typical smokiness. After, or let´s say between 2/3 and 3/4 of the bowl the chocolate flavours nearly vanishes and it tastes more like a not too strong VA/LA blend to me - still can´t taste much of the burleys inside. When i smoke this tasty flake, i´m lusting for this well balanced, semisweet chocolate aroma, so i enjoy it more out of smaller pipes because the "mid way point" where the cocoa flavours diminishes appears "later" on the scale of things - if that make´s sense!? Or let`s say the second half in smaller pipes, with less or none cocoa taste, is shorter. For me it would be even better if the cocoa flavours would last longer, maybe i should try smoking two half bowls instead of one ;-)

Summarized this is definitely in my top 5 blends when i want to smoke a well balanced and tastefull semi-aromatic. It´s the first (semi) aromatic-blend which i like. All other noticeable scented/cased Tobaccos wasn´t for me yet. Worth a try for sure! NOTE: I can´t rate the room note because i just smoke outdoors.

Pipe Used: Various Briars

Purchased From: Buyed in Bulk, Local Tobacco Dealer

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HobgoblinTA96 (60)	2017-08-30		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

A lovely Lakeland English Aromatic. This is not a sickly sweet American Parlor Tobacco. Opening the tin reveals a pleasantly mild and fragrant rough flake with overtones of whiskey. These flakes rub-out easily and smoke brilliantly when properly aged and dried. This blend delivers a nicely fragrant and smokey taste from the Latakia that plays superbly well with the various flavoring used, which includes light notes of chocolate, vanilla, and whiskey. The floral notes are very, very mild and most noticable at the start; however, they quickly blend into the whole and enhance the blend brilliantly. A truly excellent English Aromatic that I would highly recommend for the apprentice and master smoker alike. Cheers...

Pipe Used: Various Billiards in different sizes

Age When Smoked: One Year

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

Similar Blends: English Aromatic with light Lakeland essence.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Davetopay2 (16)	2017-08-26		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

This is a revisit from many years ago. I'll start by saying the tinned version I have had in the past and the bulk version I bought locally seem very different from each other. The bulk version is much more of a soapy Lakeland experience compared to what I have had in tins.

Not too moist, but will benefit from a good rubbing and allowing to sit on a plate for a little while.

The smoke is cool, gentle, and flavorful. The tiny bit of Latakia claimed to be in the flake is not intrusive, but complimentary.....and I am not a Latakia guy. I normally avoid the stuff and am drawn to clean Va leaf spiced with burly, perique or mild oriental additions.

No bite, no burn, not sure if it will ghost the hell out of my briars, but I have salt and alky at the ready.

After I work my way through this ounce, I MIGHT be moved to jar up another few ounces.

I have avoided most big soapy blends as being overly floral and off putting, but this may be a good starting point for someone looking to explore the Lakeland essence.

Funny thing is, the chocolate wasn't apparent for me until well after I was done smoking. Go figure....

Pipe Used: Billiard

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: John B Hayes Winchester Va

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	natibo (169)	2017-07-26		Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Strong

I don't know that I would call this a very aromatic blend. However, the topping it does have mellows th lakeland scent making it a really nice smoke. The nicotine level is high, just like I like it.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ynrozturk (62)	2017-02-28		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Another blend I was dying to try, but could never get a hold of. Went to be tobacconist the other day and he gave me a few bowls worth of his own personal stash. He said he had aged it for a good three years prior to opening the tin. I thanked him very much, and came back home eager to dive in.

Because I didn't have a lot of this weed to play with, I picked my favorite meerschaum pipe to get the cleanest flavors I could out of it.

Man, what a delightful smoke. The chocolate is there but very much at the back, and you get the sweet smokiness of the Latakia. An extremely well balanced blend that smokes smooth and cool, and covers your palate nicely with thick, luscious smoke.

I will make it a mission to find more of this, I enjoyed it very, very much. If this is an aromatic, then I'm a fan. This is how all aromatics should be.

Top notch.

Pipe Used: Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: Local tobacconist

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CarlosGardel (15)	2017-01-02		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Every time I smoke this tobacco I appreciate its elegance and its balance. I mostly smoke EM's, along with few ARO's, and this one ticks most of my boxes at once. I would hardly ever consider a chocolate-flavoured tobacco, if not made by GH. The flavouring is there only to make the tobacco even fuller, even rounder. It tastes like chocolate in the same way the best Assam teas do. I always use my tobacco grinder on the flake. The result is easy to smoke even when fresh from the newly opened tin. It burns without problems and never bites. I think it's perfect in late afternoons or after dinner.

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Dubini, Chiasso

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	The Sunday Evening Pipe Smoker (54)	2016-11-26		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A very nice tobacco. Mild to medium in its flavour and with no tongue bite of any sort whatever. Bowl lasted an hour.

I gave it 20 minutes of drying time and it worked reasonably well. An extra 10 minutes might have served well as well, but minimal re-lights all said.

There is a clear chocolate flavour to the blend, but it is neither understated, nor overpowering. It also has something of a nuttiness in the background. Perhaps something akin to walnuts or beech nuts?

In terms of the form of the tobacco, it wasn't what I am used to when I think of a flake. Namely it was rather loose and not in the usual form. Still, it is a minor point as what matters is how it smokes.

All said, I'd class this one as a success. A nice blend for when you want a bit of flavour, a slightly milder smoke and without the worry of tongue bite.

I would definitely buy it again though it would'nt be a regular go-to. There are better chocolate blends out there, like Lane 1 Q.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bud_Harold (24)	2016-08-15		Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant

Easily loaded, burns great. Found it to be wayyy too mild for my tastes. The Latakia is minimal and so is the chocolate. What I got was mostly straight tobacco. Although high quality, it jist didn't suit me.

Pipe Used: Yello bole Nova

Age When Smoked: 2 yrs.

Purchased From: In a trade

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	steppx (186)	2016-07-12		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is one of those tobaccos I suspect you either love or hate. I love it and like all G&H blends the quality is excellent. The name is perhaps misleading...and someone in one of these reviews made mention of Mexican mole sauce. And its an apt description. This isnt sweet chocolate...and its also hardly an overpowering note anyway....but a savory taste. Almost like Chipotle. And the latakia, also a minor note, adds even more to the smokey quality of the taste. Its moist, yes, but not unsmokable even right out of the tin. There are hints of vanilla and something that might be whisky. But its a high quality tobacco and one I crave pretty regularly. Not an all day smoke, but one you might reach for more than once a day.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mesh (51)	2016-01-30		Medium	Strong	Full	Tolerable

I love Lakelands and this one is an old favourite. The pouch note is chocolate cake doused with grandmother's perfume, and the same notes are present in the smoke, along with some smoky Latakia and sweet yet stout Virginias. I admit that this all sounds quite disgusting on paper, but it works, eventually, and assuming that you approach it with an open mind.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2015-03-06		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is one tobacco that is hard to define. On opening the tin I was hit with a scent that appears to be common with Lakeland blends, it has been described by some as floral and others as soapy, maybe with the addition of Toquin. it is very noticeable and a turn off for some, but not me..it's just unusual and intriguing. After going back some years for reviewers comments I came across a description that I think describes it perfectly..Earl Grey tea. And, I like Earl Grey tea. I cannot find the 8% Latakia taste that some notice, and the complexity of the tobacco choices also leaves me perplexed..what the heck am I tasting? I believe the Virginia component comes to the front along with a very mild sweet taste of maybe vanilla, and that Lakeland essence that others find annoying. I do not get the chocolate note that a majority of reviewers find. In any case this has to be sampled and half the people with hate it and the other half will love it. I find this a very agreeable distraction from the strong English/Balkin blends I favor. Rubbed out an dried for a short time gives a good burn with little bite.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Appalachian Scholar (34)	2014-08-30		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

In the tin, it smelled like an English/VA with a faint chocolate aroma. The taste was like a cross between an English and a Virginia. I could barely taste any chocolate at all. However, the room aroma is undeniably chocolate. If you like a real strong tobacco flavor but are forced to smoke aromatics around other this is the perfect compromise. Smokes especially well in a meerschaum.

Pipe Used: Paykoc Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: New

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mortonbriar (2)	2014-04-18		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

i will not do a standard review because i think there are enough already, just a few extra notes. I enjoyed the soapy flavour because thanks to these reviews, and the previous bowl or two i have smoked of this flake, i was expecting it. I still call it soapy but mean that in a way that distinguishes it from other blends/brands, rather than a bad thing. I doubt everyone is going to enjoy this blend however, it is fairly mild all round, and if that soap smell puts you off i cant see you getting into it. Packing it light as suggested was a good idea, i also rubbed it out fairly militantly and left it strewn out on a paper towel for an hour or so before i packed it.

the middle of the bowl hinted at a presence of latakia, but if i was not aware it was in the mix i may not have even noticed.

I also cut off one slice of a petersons 3p's cube and rubbed that into the mix, i think this probably provided the nic hit i noticed when i finally left the beanbag an hour and a half later. Accompanied successfully by a few cups of lapsong souchong tea.

Pipe Used: churchwarden briar

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe hound in PalmSprings (9)	2014-02-02		Mild	Strong	Medium to Full	Extra Strong

Good God was this awful.....I am still looking for an incredible chocolate blend. Back in the late 60's, I would visit Churchill's of Birmingham and get their chocolate. So far nothing comes close and this stuff was the worst. Upon opening, there was an overwhelming scent of latakia and no chocolate to be found. I hesitantly smoked one bowl and it smoked worse than it smelled. If you are looking for a chocolate...this is not it......

Pipe Used: Peterson

Age When Smoked: Unknown

Purchased From: Mail order

Similar Blends: This can't be compared to anything I have smoked..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	manno (50)	2013-12-10		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Three stars even if you're not a Lakelands/lavender fan. (If it's an off-putting style, don't bother, but reviews are for the tobacco, not your own preferences IMHO.) While this will sound like a Dos Equis commercial (and I am light years from The Most Interesting Man in the World), I don't often smoke Lakelands fragranced tobaccos, but when I do I smoke this very pleasant chocolate flake. Good underlying mix of base tobacco, more than a hint of latakia that comes through mostly after the first third of a bowl, no aftertaste as from a bad aromatic, and a shockingly pleasant degree of "masculine" smoking satisfaction. Chocolate is unobtrusively present but easy to forget it's around. Great lighting and burn characteristics. Had it in tin and bulk. Equally good. Like it very much in my smaller flake pipes.

Pipe Used: stanwell featherweight bent pot; peterson poker

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: smokingpipes;pipesandcigars

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrumsAndBeer (217)	2013-10-08		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A unique, cool smoking Lakeland flake. I purchased several ounces of this tobacco and put it away for a year or so. When I came back to it each flake was full of plume. The tin note is sweet with a whisper of G&H's pervasive floral aroma.

The components work quite well together. The Virginia and burley are nicely balanced and the flavor is primarily driven by the Virginias. A floral flavor hits the top note & the latakia is transparent enough to provide just a hair of a smokiness, but it's barely present to me, both in flavor and in sidestream.

What I enjoy most about Bob's Chocolate is the bitter-sweet flavor that comes forth about a quarter of the way down the bowl. The smoke is soft, pillowy and fragrant and the tone is on the warmer, sweeter side of the spectrum. It performs well & you'd have to try really hard to get this to bite. As far as the name is concerned, I have never gotten even a hint of cocoa with this mixture, although the touch of Latakia does create a somewhat similar flavor.

Somehow this blend works for me and I do enjoy smoking it from time to time.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	irishjedi (3)	2013-05-24		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Great smell coming out of the tin, a long burning smoke. The hints of chocolate are a nice touch, very tasty.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SmokingMySav (9)	2012-06-10		Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Take some Dunhill Night Cap, add some burley for lightness, sprinkle a bit of cacao on it and you have Bob's Chocolate Flake.

This blend could've easily been named "Bob's Flake" and left at that. Once properly dried it smokes like a very light English blend with just a distant undertones of cacao (not chocolate). The latakia is definitely noticeable.

You have to dry this one pretty good. If you don't - you will be welcomed by a bunch of goo (in taste and appearance)in your pipe. It takes a few tries to get the right drying time, but once you do - it's worth it.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darth Vader (110)	2012-03-29		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

The flavouring is a little strong initially but the base tobaccos are excellant. I'm not a big aro fan, but this is pretty good and not chemically.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	musicman (131)	2012-01-27		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a nice tobacco. It is a very subdued tobacco, although the name suggests flavorful aromatic, it really is quite subtle and deft in the the flavoring department.

As with most G & H blends this comes a little wet and benefits from some drying time. The cut of the tobacco once fully rubbed out is very fine which makes for a nice easy packing experience. The flavors are very nice but must be coaxed out of hiding. Smoke this too fast and you will get nothing out of it. If you can manage to play peekaboo with that last ember and smoke it slow there is a myriad of flavors and tastes going on. The chocolate thing I am not too sure about. Maybe, but certainly not enough to be titled a chocolate flake. There is definitely some Lakeland goodness here, which I love, but it is not overpowering, in fact, for much of this smoke it goes away all together. Every once in a while you get a subtle hint of the floral. Like getting a whiff off a slight breeze of an Englishman's pipe. Very enjoyable.

The really nice aspect of this blend is its use of latakia. We as pipe smokers are so used to latakia coming straight out of the pipe and announce its presence while thumping its chest. That is not the case here at all. It is in there, but the subtle use and blending technique really makes the flavor profile of the leaf change. It is nice, it gives the tobacco a sort of homey taste. It is very good.

This tobacco is very good, and I recommend everybody try it. You need to smoke this right or it will not deliver. Too fast or hot and your hope of enjoying this blend is lost. I find it smokes best in Meerschaum. Recommended.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-03-16		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I love BCF! I want to be up front about that. I've smoked it for many years and will continue to do do for as long as it's made. I've gone through many tobaccos in the past thirty five years. I smoked several for years and one day find that my taste has changed or the tobacco has. Either way that blend goes by the wayside. BCF has remained a constant with me. I love that slight floral taste or possibly smell combined with the light cocoa taste in the background. I cannot detect the Latakia but all the tobaccos used blend to make one very smooth smoke. Ladies and gentlemen this is what pipe tobacco is supposed to tast like! At least in my opinion. It's good anytime of day in anysize pipe but i really love it with that first cup of morning coffee. Excellent!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Xeneize (275)	2010-02-19		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I've read many comparisons between this blen and Samuel Gawith Chocolate Flake, but the only similarity I've found is the subtle taste of Latakia in the background and the very mild chocolate flavoring. Other than that, Bob's Chocolate Flake share the soapy taste with most Lakelands tobaccos, while there's none of that in SG's product, where the Virginias are less "processed".

Which one I prefer? Depends on the moment. Bob's when I'm in the mood for Lakelands, SG's when I'd rather have an "American English". They're both great tobaccos.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JLong (36)	2009-12-20		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

I like this tobacco. It is spicy with a chocolatey tang and some floral sweetness to it. I let it dry out over night and plug a medium size billard after some rubbing out and folding of the flakes. I think I like SG Chocolate flake a tad better but it really depends on what my palette is in the mood for.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	kg0mz (54)	2009-02-18		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

This bulk flake, you can fold it or just wad it up. A little loose kindling on top and it lights very easily and burns like a charm. I think I prefer it like that rather than rubbing it out. It burns cool as bare feet on a concrete floor. A chocolate note is unmistakable at first then takes a back seat. From that point on it gets very interesting. Baby powder, incense, all those things that others loathe about this flake are present, but to me not overpowering or dominating. I don't think powder or incense describe what I taste, but other words don't come to mind right now. The tobaccos are all there, the VA, the Burley, and the Latakia. There are aromas, but I don't think this smokes like an aromatic. I say brilliant!

07/27/09 UPDATE: I am revising some of my reviews. I have given out more 4 star ratings than anything else. That practice is probably not helping. So, I am reducing BCF to 3 stars, not because I like it less than I did before, but because I am limiting 4 stars to fewer than 25% of all my reviews. One day I may use the 4 star rating to designate my top five.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beaupipe (102)	2008-12-12		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I've been struggling with this blend for a few weeks now, trying to like it as much as some others seem to be able to do. The tin looks great and the little flake-filled baggie inside has a sublime, gentle, almost otherworldly cocoa aroma. There's something else there, too--a subtle kirsch-like quality hovering in the background. It reminds me of the smell of one of those oddly-shaped Lowney's Cherry Blossoms fresh out of the little box before you bite into it and release the sloppy red-dye-number-4-infused maraschino in the middle. All of that had my nostalgic heart pitter-pattering like a kid's on Christmas morning.

In the pipe, however, that signature Lakeland soap comes out way too aggressively for my tastes. And instead of a happy kid with Cherry Blossom on his face, I'm a broken kid with a bar of soap in his mouth who just got caught saying f@#k. And worse, the kid realizes that his mother can still kick his ass.

None of this is designed to impugn the tobacco, which I think is first rate. Increasingly I think that the Lakeland scent is one of those geographical signatures like Islay peat or Burgundian rabbit poop that some love and some shy away from. Frankly, I admire the Lakeland products for their consistency and uniqueness.

I find, however, that a little of Bob's Chocolate Flake goes a long way. It is a superb blender (thus spake the heretic) with Virginia and Perique and I've found that I'm slowly whittling away at those pretty brown flakes by blending them with equal parts Hal O' the Wynd and McLelland Perique. It's like chocolate covered figs dipped in honey.

I call it "Bob and Henry's Chocklique Flake."

Then again, I am a bit of a goof.

Setting personal taste aside, I think it's a solid tobacco.

Update:

I'm not normally inclined to update reviews (or to change my old fuddy-duddy mind for that matter) but I have to confess that BCF has managed to grow on me to the point that I reach for it almost daily. Maybe I've just gotten used to the Lakeland scent, or maybe the scent has dissipated some from the open tin. Doesn't matter. I'm not changing the number of stars, but I did want to tell the moral of this story: give BCF a chance. You might not like it at first, but if you step back and give it some time, you might find that you find something worthwhile in it after all. Some tobaccos are like workplace romances.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fife&Drum (34)	2008-12-06		Medium	Mild	Full	Pleasant

I love this 'baccy!

It is what it says it is.

I find the bulk version of this to be a little less flavorful than the tinned version. A little flatter.

Comes in flake form with brown strands mixed with a few blonder strands with a sort of birds eye look. I find this to be an excellent Virginia based blend with a good portion of Burley to add body, with a tad of Latakia as the reenforcing element to the plain unsweetened Coco flavouring. There is a tad of Vanilla in here as well that I find unobtrusive yet adds a satisfying perfume to the flavor as well as the room note. Very pleasant indeed yet not aromatic. Yes this blend had a bit of the Gawith baby powder-like flavor and scent but I'd say the lowest amount than any of their other blends. To me it is only apparent when first lit, and fades into the backround during the smoke to where I don't detect it. The Virginias have a nice zing to them and at mid bowl the flavors get more concentrated as the strength increases a little. Sometimes this can smoke a little hot if pushed. Back off and go slow and all will be well. At first I smoked this strictly in pipes reserved for Virginia blends, but now I smoke it in my English blend pipes with no real flavor changes to worry about.

This is a zesty blend and great with a cup of joe. High quality Virginias. Great anytime but I like it best as a morning smoke or late at night reading. Excellent!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2008-03-10		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

My pipe now tastes "Zestfully Clean", thanks to this disgusting, revolting blend. Good for childhood flashbooks to getting your mouth washed out with soap.

Yuck.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Davetopay (43)	2007-12-08		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is one of those tins I picked up on a whim at Leesburg Pipe & Cigar a few weeks back. At first, I wasn't impressed. After giving the blend a little time to breathe at room humidity the overall profile of the flake was much more balanced and gentle. The tin aroma is simply delightful as it doen't smell like candy, but rather rich tobacco. It reminds me of when the farmers in my home town would still grow tobacco as their main crop and in the fall would hang stakes in the barns with the slats pulled open. The air would be filled with the sweet smell of whole leaf Virginia....but I digress.

I prefer to smoke this in a half bent cheapie meer I picked up on ebay for next to nothing. My wife actually likes to rub it out and have it rolled in a cigarette from time to time. I will buy this again and make sure to have it on hand. Its mild nature lends it to having its own pipe as residual flavors from other tabacs will hide the glory that is Bob's.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RonR (85)	2021-07-26		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

3rdguy

I went through my 1st tin of this in quick fashion. Out of the Gawith's I have tried this is one of my favorites. You do need to dry the heck out of it. I found filling the pipe with larger flakes then topping it off with a fully rubbed out amount allows the easiest smoke. You will need quite a few lights to get it going but once accomplished you can put the flame away.

This is a long smoke so I tend to make time for it. Smooth, rich retrohale of sliught cocoa and dark goodness. Zero bite. Burns clean to a white ash. No relights once you get it going good. Latakia is so tamed in this blend I would recommend it to latakia haters.

I really have to track down some plug of this!

Pipe Used: Cobs

Age When Smoked: 18 months per factory code

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mids_pipeandcigaruk (4)	2021-07-11		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

In my nearly a year of pipe smoking I have not come across anything so bad. If I’d of smoked this as a first blend I think I’d of knocked pipe smoking on the head. The only up side is the tin note of powdered chocolate So thought I was in for a treat. Was I wrong what you get is a soapy Lakeland which is overpowering and had to give up after half a bowl. There have been other blends I’ve given a second chance but this never. Glad it was a small sample

Age When Smoked: New

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BingCrosby (162)	2020-02-21		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

This one, while a decent smoke out of the gate, benefits from substantial jar time.. and perhaps a bit of dry time as well.. like many g &h blends it seems matured on arrival.. their blends often arrive already with a sheen of sugar crystals.. I find they still need a little time to open up.. Bob's chocolate flake initially, for me anyways, had a very distinct and strong tin note of chocolate.. just a little bit of smoky latakia in the distant background.. and to some extent that is what you get in the smoke.. I found the Virginia to be quite good.. but the highlight is never on one leaf.. for me it is the overall effect.. the burley and latakia hang right there throughout the bowl.. and the Virginia while being prominent never showboats to the full extent.. it is a finely crafted overall flavor with an ever so discreet yet always present lakeland essence.. it feels dry in the mouth at times.. but the flavors without fully bursting gently suggest something.. the latakia is discreetly a part of the chocolate experience.. very interesting and different.. one could almost be fooled into thinking there is more burley in this then there is.. maybe because of the smoothness.. overall it really succeeds.. and It is a very nice 'aromatic '.. although one could call it a natural tobacco blend with a light flavor added.. I'm sure for many this would be a top blend.. i personally place it slightly below rum flake.. not because it is any less good.. rum flake for me has a little more strength and a little more flavor.. but probably just a slight personal preference.. this one is, for me, a little more of a 'mood smoke'.. but when I am in the mood there aren't a lot of other blends that could deliver this wonderful chocolate/Lakeland /smoke thing.. actually this is the only one.. samuel gawith chocolate flake is close.. but this one really succeeds..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greekpipesmoker (201)	2017-02-14		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

A good friend of mine Petros offered me a bowl of this blend.when you open the tin you get a descret chocolate cocoa smell combined with dark fruits.rubs easy and some drying out time is needed for sure.packs ok lights ok and some re lights are needed.when smoking the flavours are natural but a little confusing to me.the chocolate cocoa taste is the main player with dark fruits and nuts.you get some vanilla notes and latakia are really in the backround.i didn't get any alcohol flavours sorry.burns cool, natural and slow to total ash and very little moisture at the end of the bowl.the nicotine level is medium.the only negative that i found is that it has lots of flavours combined and this is not always good.not an all day blend to me.

Age When Smoked: Rubed and leave it to dry out a couple hours

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MarkTheLad (46)	2016-07-26		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This tobacco was a pleasant surprise. It was an addition to some other tobacco's that I had bulk ordered and I only bought 1 oz. to sample. I tried it based purely on the name, because it sounded tasty and I knew that being a G&H product, it would be made of good quality, premium tobacco. The moisture content of the flake was good for me right out of the bag, I usually like them to be slightly moist to give off a little more flavor. I cut the flakes into 1/2 inch pieces and rubbed them out fully. I then loaded it all into my Peterson Dalkey Billiard, using the three step method. Upon first light, I got a soft, smooth, creamy feeling smoke with a light Lakeland essence (not unpleasant) and the slightly more dominant chocolate, with a hint of vanilla in the background. Throughout the rest of the smoke the Latakia just kind of faded in and out, sometimes not even noticeable. The chocolatey goodness remained along with the creaminess. I found the nic hit to be a step below medium and I usually like them a little stronger. This one is a new favorite for me, I will definitely be smoking the rest of this and ordering some more. I have found that I enjoy the G&H tobacco's and that the light Lakeland essence is refreshing. This tobacco is more of a crossover English to me, having the components of both an Aro and an English. If you are sensitive to the Lakeland essences, then you may not care for this flake, however if you are curious about them and enjoy a little Latakia with some nice flavoring, then give this a go. I think you will find it to be a pleasant smoke. I'm giving this 4 stars for the premium tobacco content, well structured flakes, expertly applied flavorings and condimental Latakia.

Pipe Used: Peterson Dalkey Billiard

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr. Scott (82)	2011-11-23		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I don't regret my purchase. But it is strictly an experiment, a bit of fun not to be confused with the serious smokes with which G, H & Co. are usually associated. I am not a fan of flavoured tobacco, or flakes. But variety is the spice of life...

It comes in a plastic bag inside the tin, no doubt to preserve the aromas. The moisture level is perfect. The flakes rub out easily with one hand. The tin aroma is a little chocolate, a little vanilla, a lot of something else. The Latakia is nonexistent. It is a flavoured Burley flake.

It smokes easily, no bite, does not require more than the initial light. The taste is not chocolate, but an artificial floral scent without even a hint of sweetness. I will not finish the tin. A couple of bowls is plenty.

This one is for the lovers of aromatic smokes, but it is a notch above the usual stuff.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrT999 (318)	2011-07-26		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

While there was some chocolate in the room notes, what I tasted was a mild version of Lakeland (I expected the mild version of Lakeland florals, I just thought I would taste it mixed with chocolate and vanilla). So, if you like mild florals, you should like this -- the tobacco burnt nicely and cool, quality all around. If you want to experiment with this type of tobacco, this would be a good intro.

Edit: in a cob, the lakeland essence was reduced and some chocolate showed up in the pipe as well as the room note, esp as it burned down past half -- v nice. For me, then, a two and a half star in the briars, a three plus in a cob.

Since I know there are many tobaccos out there I would rate a 4, the question arises would I rebuy this particular tobacco, assuming my tastes don't change much more. In this case, the answer is yes, and I have.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2009-07-13		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Esta mezcla fue una de las 2 primeras con las que me inicié en el mundo del tabaco de pipa de calidad, junto con Frog Morton de McClelland, adquiridas por internet a un muy buen precio comparado a lo que suelen cobrar en mi pais por este tipo de tabaco...si es que lo encuentras...Antes de ellas solo habia probado Amphora Full Aroma y una bolsa de un aromatizado de Mc Baren, pesimamente conservado de una pseudotabaqueria de Viña del Mar. Por lo que pasar a degustar un tabaco en lata sellado al vacio y de magnifica conservacion y humedad, fue estar en otro mundo. De modo que mi buena impresion de esta labor, bien puede estar sesgada por estos factores. Ahora,3 años mas tarde y habiendo probado diversas otras mezclas de variadas marcas de renombre, la retrospectiva de Bob's Chocolate Flake sigue siendo mas que favorable. La fuerza nicotinica me pareció suave pues como muchos compañeros pipafumadores vengo del mundo de los cigarros puros,algunos verdaderamente fuertes.El aroma a vainilla y chocolate en su medida justa.Pica poco y enciende bien dependiendo como cargues la pipa(a mi me gusta desmenuzado). Wife rating? luego de oler el aroma mi esposa se interesó en fumar pipa!! Buen tabaco, buen sabor, buen aroma, sobre todo para empezar este bello hobbie (no vicio) Altamente recomendado. Saludos, Rodrigo

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2009-05-15		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Bob's Chocolate Flake is a phenomenal tobacco. To my taste, the constituent tobaccos are as present in the overall flavor as are the chocolate, vanilla and floral natural casings. However, the floral component (what some refer to as soapy) is more pronounced for the first few puffs. The natural sweetness of the Virginia comes through as well, especially with aging. The more you let BCF age, it takes on a very nice leathery taste. I can also detect the smokiness of the 8% Latakia, but it is as subtle as the other flavors in the blend. These components all combine to form a rich, spicy, semi-sweet smoke with a room note that those around me like.

I've been smoking Bob's Chocolate Flake for about 12 years. In the past I mostly smoked heavy Latakia English blends. However, I tried BCF because I wanted a blend that smelled pleasing to the non-smokers around me and still had a substantial tobacco flavor. For the last 4 years BCF has been my mainstay blend and I smoke it almost exclusively. However, my initial experience was with BCF was pretty inconsistent. Sometimes it seemed to be a terrific smoke and at other times it was just harsh and horrible. I think that I've experienced just about every positive and negative characteristic mentioned in previous reviews. However, over the years I learned how to prepare and smoke BCF in a way that works for me. I think there are 3 critical factors that bring the most out of BCF: Packing, Puffing, and Patience.

I've experimented with lots of methods for packing BCF. These include rubbing out the flake to varying degrees, chopping the flake into small squares, as well as folding and stuffing the whole flake into the bowl. However, there is yet another quick and easy method that really makes BCF sing. I take a whole flake and fold it long-ways 3 or 4 times on itself so that the flake is folded into a skinner and thicker strip that is the same length that you started with. Then I put one end of the folded strip into my pipe bowl and use my thumb and forefinger to measure the length slightly shorter than the depth of the bowl. I tear off the end of the strip at this measurement and lay that piece onto the remaining strip and tear off another section to the same length and repeat until I get to the end of the strip. I usually get about 3 of these smaller lengths out of a single 6-inch flake. Then I place the smaller strips together as a bundle into the bowl so that the smaller lengths are standing straight up next to each other in the bowl. You want a loose fit, so just remove 1 or 2 of the strips of flake if the bundle is too tight in the bowl. This allows you to experience the benefits of the flake (dense, full flavor) while allowing sufficient air flow in the bowl. It takes a lot of words to explain this method, but once you try it I think you will find it straightforward, quick and easy.

As far as puffing goes, you just want to avoid smoking too fast and getting the bowl too hot. Some blends are pretty forgiving when smoked hot, but not BCF. When BFC gets too hot it can change from a wonderful smoke to nasty and bitter tasting.

I mention patience for a couple of reasons. First, I have found that BCF mellows and changes remarkably with at least 6-months of aging. Frankly, fresh BCF right out of the box can be quite harsh. Since BCF is comprised mostly of Virginia tobacco, it ages wonderfully. I usually try to smoke BCF that has aged for at least a year. I have smoked 4-year aged BCF that was just fantastic. I buy BCF in the 500 gm bulk packages (about half the price of the tinned packaging) and simply place it in a glass, clamp-top jar with a rubber seal. I like the tall 2-liter size jars since the long 6-inch flakes can simply be stood on end, intact, in the jar. You can also use tall ring-top Ball jars. This preserves the integrity of the flakes so that you can use the packing method described above.

A final note regarding patience is that you will find that there will be a slight variance from batch to batch in the flavor, thickness of the flakes, strength, etc. However, the differences are small and, for me at least, serve to keep BCF an interesting blend to smoke.

Bob's Chocolate Flake is a blend that you should try at least once. If you've tried it in the past and found it disappointing, then I would encourage you let some age for a few months and give it another go using the packing technique described above - you might be pleasantly surprised.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2009-03-26		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

OK, for the first time in 30+ years I've crossed the line. I admit it. This is an aromatic - and I LIKE IT! That's a big admission for me. Now, I've enjoyed a few topped tobaccos such as C&D's Epiphany, but this one to me is a real aromatic. It is just so well done you hardly notice.

I've been wanting to try some Lakeland flakes for some time, but knew from past experience that the straight VA's leave me wanting more. And I rarely have liked anything without at least some latakia, but still with summer coming on I didn't want a full tilt English. I love chocolate, so--

Beautiful flake presentation, a little moist. I let the tin sit, loosely covered, overnight, and was ready to go. Loosely packed a GBD Prehistoric XL bent with the fold and stuff method. A charring light, then away we went. Was immediately impressed with the amount of smoke, and the velvety mouthfeel - an important feature to me. Taste was only a little sweet, and very rich.

If it was only the chocolate I wanted I'd be disappointed. There's very little in the smoke, maybe a little more vanilla evident. But underneath that and the distinctive (and entirely pleasant, in this blend) Lakeland note there is a wonderful, rich, dark, and cool smoke. I can pick out the burley if I try, and the latakia, but that would be like isolating the trumpets playing in a full orchestra - the whole is so much better. This is definitely a keeper, and I can't wait to see what it'll be like after aging. Four out of four stars, and worth every penny.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Latakia (70)	2009-01-23		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Very nicely packed flake. Could barely make out the latakia and the chocolate. Very different. Had an almost perfumy type of taste. Only one bowl done so will wait until I will be able to evauate objectivly in different pipes. For now, so different that I can't really say if I like it or not. Would recommend with reservations if someone likes an aromatic. If someone wants something totally different than what one has been smoking...this is it and I recommend you try it.

After a few more bowls, I am not recommending it unless someone wants to try something totally different. Also felt that the blend leaves a strong reminder in my pipes that I am masking with heavy latakia smokes. Not for me. Too much like smoking incense.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Big Nick (74)	2008-11-29		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Bob's Chocolate flake IMO is much like SG chocolate flake in that there does not seem to be much chocolate aroma and/or topping. They both seem to arive at their chocolate flavor in a subtle manor through the blend of tobacco's and they both seem to have a mild Latakia tin aroma. Bob's is a little sweeter and has a little more chocolate flavor, but once again, very subtle. Bob's does come a little wet and should be dried out a little. All in all it is a smooth and tasty smoke. 3.5 stars.

If its a big hit of chocolate you want, you will have to go to MacBaren and try their "Honey & Chocolate". Hello Hershey's !

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	jankoez (69)	2008-09-01		Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Sometimes I buy new blend guided by recommendation of other pipe smokers, sometimes by others' reviews and sometimes by sellers' description. I bought this blend attracted by seller's description.

The combination of Latakia and chocolate flavouring I found very odd so I was thrilled to try it. On my surprise, BCF showed itself as very well balanced blend enough strong in smoking characteristics and without prevailing aroma which could cause headache.

Definitely this tobacco is worth to try and to be included in regular rotation of pipe smoking.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2008-08-31		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

First, let me preface this review by noting that I have been smoking the bulk version. I cannot say if the tinned variety would live up to my glowing review.

This stuff is TASTY - that is the best way to describe how I feel about it! It changes its flavor nicely down the bowl: starts off with a distinct chocolate flavor and gradually gives way to a spicy, rich tobacco taste.

If you are reading these entries and trying to decide whether to purchase some of this blend, let me offer this questionnaire:

1. Do you like dark chocolate? 2. Do you appreciate latakia in small, subtle doses? 3. Do you like tobaccos that burn cool? 4. Do you like to pair your pipe smoking with one of the following beverages: coffee; espresso drinks; hot chocolate; porter-style beers?

If you answered yes to the questions above give this a try!

Lastly, IMHO this is not really an "aromatic" in the typical sense. It is a subtly-scented English blend. Fantastic stuff!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2008-02-01		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

I can not give this tobacco a very good review but before I explain why perhaps it would be a good idea to give you some info on my tastes. I am somewhat new to pipe tobacco and was not a tobacco user before pipe smoking. I am as most beginners still intrigued with aromatics. I especially like the McClelland brand of aromatics but have been looking for new varieties with a little more tobacco flavor and taste.

After reading the reviews of BCF I though that it would be a good tobacco to try. I eagerly looked forward to my order arriving. Unfortunately my supplier was out of the BCF in a tin so I opted for a few ounces of bulk.

Quite honestly the aroma when the bag was opened was very disappointing. It has a rather strong soapy, perfumy, artificial smell and much to my disappointment I smelled not a hint of chocolate. And even more to my disappointment the flavoring when smoked is just as artificial and soapy as the bag aroma.

Furthermore it burns too hot for my liking. Maybe I just don't get it but I would not recommend this to a beginner it really doesn't have much of a good tobacco experience for my liking. IMO it is an acquired taste and one I am not likely to try again.

In the end though I found an acceptable solution. I bought some McClelland Vanilla Black Cavendish and blended two parts VBC with one part BCF and the result was a pretty good smoke for me. The mildness of the strength and flavor of the VBC toned down the strength of the BCF making for a decent smoke.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Redd (117)	2007-12-05		Overwhelming	None Detected	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

We come a long way baby since the colonial blends. All that I can say about this blend is that Not only have I stepped in it. But I have now smoked it too. PPPPPPPPPPUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you can taste the chocolate through the overwhelming flake. then your a better man then me. I know why there is all those unknowns in this description. You cannot list that flavor of a burnt cup of coffee and dirt. As for the aroma it is better to light this while marooned on a desert island as not to offend or damage anyone's old factory senses.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	A. Morley (97)	2007-08-18		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

This is a funny little tobacco from a blending house that seems to pride itself on funny little tobaccos. I love blends of the English Lakeland tradition, but I think that they are best left to Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.'s big brother Sam.

This is a thin flake of light and dark browns that rubs out into long, thickish, hard to manage pieces. The chocolate aroma is, appropriately, I suppose, quite noticeable from the very beginning.

Even for a flake, this is hard to light and keep lit. I found myself cursing it once or twice for this very reason.

Bob's Chocolate Flake boasts a whole host of different tobaccos that went into its blending, but they really don't make much of a difference. At no time could I taste the much touted Latakia and though there is a host of other African grown leaf, I really don't much care. The main flavor comes from a rather half-hearted attempt at the classic Lakeland floral topping, containing some hint of chocolate, yes, but I have never thought that tobacco and chocolate went together all that well to begin with. On the whole, the stuff tastes like baby powder or, at least how I imagine baby powder would taste. That chunky quality made it very hard to smoke the pipe all the way down, also and I know that I emptied a few bowls with quite a bit of waste at the bottom.

Kendall, Cumbria is, far and away my favorite town in England and I find it hard to besmirch any institution associated with it. That is the only thing that earned Bob's Chocolate Flake another star.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lancelot Gobbo (25)	2007-06-22		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Whoever says British blenders can't do an aromatic like the Dutch and the Danes should try this. It's a shame almost to call it an aromatic, as it will put some smokers off, and this deserves a wide audience. The tin aroma is mouth-watering - it smells of real chocolate, not chocolate flavouring (although patently that is what it is!) The long flakes break up easily - don't rub them right out as they light just fine and will provide a longer smoke when left in large chunks. As is my usual disorganised habit with flakes, I just cram them in and get on with it. It works. Better still, if the flakes are not broken up, the chocolate taste lasts all through the bowl, and there is little bite from the latakia. On lighting the first flavour is indeed chocolate, but the earthy taste of cocoa powder rather than a sweet confection's taste. This combines intriguingly with the smoky flavour of the tobacco, especially on exhaling through the nose. There is a detectable vanilla or tonka element which adds to the pleasure, but is far from intrusive. The chocolate can be detected right to the end, rather than disappearing, but this is fine with me, and I'm not an aromatic-type these days. Very mild on the tongue, but a distinct nicotine kick is present. Delicious!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-04-19		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

TIhis is a strange tobacco. It seems to be different everytime I buy it. I can appreciate way some people don't like it. It does have a slightly scented taste and there is a hint of vanilla in it. The chocolate comes and goes as one progresses through the bowl. Think of a good quality coco powder and that roughly is the taste you get. I like this tobacco a lot. There are days when I find it a bit bland and other days when I find it very very tasty indeed. It burns cool and slow and tastes very smooth. No bite at all. I am not a fan of aromatics in general and don't really consider this an aromatic. I don't tend to rub it out -just fold the flake and put in in the bowl. It may need a few goes to get it lit but doesn't require relights very often if at all. I buy it loose and find it to be the perfect moisture. The tobacco is very good quality and not particularly strong. Highly recommended with a good coffee.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Captain Pete (83)	2007-03-17		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Though I would highly recommend this flake, I cannot honestly say that it is one that I would go out of my way to find. It packs nicely, lights with only a little effort, and burns cool and slow.

The description says it is only 8% latakia, but that little bit does come through. I was a little surprised that the latakia stayed stronger than the chocolate taste (taste-not 'flavor'). The flake really isn't too sweet, just mild stoved va. sweetness comes through. The chocolate is more present in the tin aroma than it is in the flavor, but it is ever present in the background, lurking around at the back of the tongue.

I can't say that I was disappointed, but then I wasn't really surprised either. As I said, it is very good tobacco; a mild English aromatic that should absolutely please aromaphiles in search of a more natural tasting tobacco.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Capt (339)	2006-11-20		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

My initial bowl of this was dumped out after the first light. There was no way I could tolerate the soapy Lakeland taste. But just as any tobacco, I wanted to give it a fair chance. Over the course of the next three bowls, the soapiness all but disappeared. It gave way to the cocoa-Latakia flavoring I was hoping for. Lights like a dream, with minimal tamping (if rubbed out all the way). Smokes cool and dry all the way down, without ever hinting at biting. Recently purchased 5 more tins, this is my current favorite!

Update: Just ordered 2 lbs, bumped my review up to a solid 4 stars!

Will pair well with a Tanzanian coffee and cream.

EDIT 9-9-19

Please, Please! Do not attempt to age this. After this initial review I purchased several tins and a pound or 2 in bulk. Everything was jarred up tight and sealed. The chocolate and vanilla notes have all but disappeared from this blend Now all I have is pretty much Stonehenge flake

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MozzMann (33)	2006-08-29		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

(Review) 1-27-05 This tobacco was tasteless, had tongue bite and was down right flat, maybe for a little change of pace, I may hit it again....3 out of 10 stars...MZMN.. Update 8-29-06 VILE WEED! This tobacco is down right NASTY, and you may as well throw your pipe in the fire pit when your done smokin this garbage. I repeat, you will NEVER get the smell or taste out of your pipe! M.Z.M.N

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-10-31		Strong	Medium	Very Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is different than the Gawith Chocolate Flake because it has more strength & less burley. But I warn you: it is hot, hot, hot & strong as the kick of an ox! Sit down when you smoke this or it will knock you over. To be sure, the ingredients indicated above are exotic & lend to the drama of smoking a deep English flake. Though, again, it's Gawith, and leaves me yearning for greater subtlety. Gawith must be one of those blenders that has either a loyal following or harsh critics; there's no middle ground here. This is strong stuff & it's smokey, but other than that, what's the point? It's too moist to rub out well, but if you fold it directly into the bowl you'll be overwhelmed by heat radiating to the palate and throat. Try a slice if there's an open tin. Otherwise, move on to something else!

Two of five stars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	UncleGar (110)	2004-11-03		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I should have more closely read the reviews of this, particularly CaptnDan's. Maybe it was the five puffs of Mixture-you-know-what over 30 years ago that permanently traumatized me, but I have no tolerance for soap in my tobacco, no matter how well disguised, crafted or dilute. Gak!

Update 11/04: I have begun to heal old traumas with soapys. Being a cheaparse, I tried this a couple times more and concentrated on other qualities, using an old broken pipe so as not to foul a good one. Actually, I tolerate it now as a change of pace. The soap is truly minor and the flavor is complex and interesting. I just won't buy any more of it.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-09-26		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

September 2004

An obviously high quality tobacco in terms of manufacture, but too aromatic, too soapy and too flavored for me. Plus, I couldn't detect the Latakia.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	highwindows (8)	2022-12-26		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Strong

There's a scene in the original novel of American Psycho where Patrick Bateman, having grown increasingly frustrated with his fiancée Evelyn, prepares a meal for the two of them, finished off with a special dessert just for her. Earlier in the day Bateman has sourced a urinal cake from a public bathroom, which he then coats in chocolate and puts into the freezer to harden. He ultimately serves Evelyn the chocolate-coated urinal cake under the guise of it being a fancy French pudding or something like that, and watches her intently as she bites into his culinary abomination and struggles to feign enjoyment in order to please her husband-to-be.

Anyway Bob's Chocolate Flake kinda tastes like what I imagine Bateman's dessert tasted like, except it's also pretty good. Not an all day smoke, but repeatable if you're into that sort of thing

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	awt (20)	2022-06-04		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is definitely a superior tobacco. As always excellent VA little Burley and a noticeable dose of Latakia. Burns cool and very very well even if humid (almost wet). Should appeal to Mixture smokers as well as VA flake smokers. And that's possibly it's problem, Jack of all trades. Anyway very pleasant chocolate aroma and clean tobaccos. A good full-medium flake for now and then. Clean white ash plus a little ghosting. More for experienced smokers. I love to have a jar available.

Pipe Used: Small pipes group 1&2

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: switzerland

Similar Blends: Quite unique.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pikey Mick (49)	2022-02-24		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This one is a masterpiece. Goldilocks from the tin, rubbed out and placed in a meerschaum that I use for all things Latakia. Took the flame easily and put an instant smile on my face. The Virginias are very well behaved and perfectly balanced by the Burleys with the Latakia enhancing the dry cocoa powder that gives the flake its name. Every now and then the Virginias pop with a hint of sharpness like the top notes in a piano concerto but they are not the acid onslaught that is Bright CR Flake. The Burleys provide an earthy nuttiness and the Latakia and chocolate provide the bass notes. This tobacco is so well done that I'm not surprised it has such a huge following. A great breakfast blend with a strong black coffee. Latakia blends tend to shine more in the winter months but this is easily one that you will enjoy all year through. Room note is pleasant and fleeting.

Pipe Used: Various meerschaum

Purchased From: GQ

Similar Blends: G&H Rum flake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	nach0 (35)	2021-10-06		Medium	Strong	Full	Very Pleasant

This was my first contact with lakeland and i have to say, it was so pleasant, unique, everything in the right dose and on its correct place. It has definitely chocolate aroma, the latakia dance among the finnest mix of tobaccos and lakeland plus chocolate flavor. None of them taking the spotlight, the balance IMO is the magic here. After ordered my first bulk i spent no more than a week to give a try, then after the first bowl i automaticaly thought: i have to order another bulk. It already started as my favourite aromatic. Not easy to keep it lit, the flake is wet and dry it out is not only recomended but also necessary.

Pipe Used: mm cob

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WorkingClassChap (197)	2021-09-30		Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Smoking now:

I’m a few bowls into this as it took me a while to gauge it. What this is not is a chocolate flavored aromatic. It’s more of a Virginia Latakia Lakeland blend with slight unsweetened coco notes.

The bag note is fermented hay. Some barley, yes barley, smell too. Very barn like aroma. Maybe a slight coco note too. Broken loose flakes that I let dry for a considerable amount of time.

The taste is predominantly Virginia. A dark fermented hay like Virginia. The Latakia is hardly noticeable but I can tell this isn’t a straight Virginia for sure. I pick up the musty herbal smoky Latakia on the retrohale. The Lakeland essence is there however mild but when combined with the Latakia I actually don’t mind it. There is a cereal or toasted grain quality to this smoke as well. Pairs well with coffee. This I did like. If I didn’t know it had chocolate in the name I would not call this a chocolate blend. Maybe the room note is chocolate but I can’t attest to that. The second half of the bowl the Lakeland flavor makes its presence known. Floral, grassy, perfume, and not my cup of tea but tolerable compared to something like Ennerdale Flake. Burns cooler and smoother than a Virginia normally does, down to ash with little moisture. No bite, slight mouth tingle. An exotic departure from my normal Virginia or Latakia blends. It’s a three star blend even if it’s not in my wheel house. I would “somewhat recommend” it to someone who wanted to try a Lakeland blend.

Pipe Used: Cob

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sir John Moore (29)	2021-09-25		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

I bought Bob's Chocolate Flake on the recommendation of the podcast "Pipecast". I am open to aromatics and having read some of the reviews of Bob's Chocolate Flake it seems this is the Rolls Royce to some.

The pouch note is a complicated mix of dark chocolate, vanilla and another underlying note that though identifiable individually they mix into an overall hazelnut scent. This is not at all unpleasant but highlights the complexity of this particular aromatic.

The mechanics of this tobacco do need some mention. This is an easy tobacco to over pack due to the moisture. I am tempted to take some out of its jar and place it out to dry just to see how long it takes to get crispy. If it does at all. I've found that its best to rub it out completely and let it dry for several hours then pack it lightly into a small bowl with plenty of air to let it breath.

The flavour is consistent throughout and fluctuates between cocoa, vanilla and hazelnut praline. Unlike other aromatics this doesn't have a single note that burns out half way through the bowl coating the inside of your mouth and giving your tongue third degree burns. This is a complex blend, well adjusted and satisfying. The tobacco is well selected to carry the flavour of the casings and topping and I suspect the latakia though minimal does a lot to keep the smoke cool and adds depth.

Like many my experience with aromatics is not a good one but Bob's Chocolate Flake has done alot to broaden my horizons. More of a "dessert" blend I have a jar that will last me years and I highly recommend this blend as such.

Pipe Used: MM Cob

Age When Smoked: Fresh from tin when new and Six Months jarred.

Purchased From: The Black Swan Shoppe

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Chojin (17)	2021-09-20		Very Mild	Very Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

These reviews are more so for my reference in my venture into pipe smoking. I bought this with the intention of adding it to a couple of blends. On it's own it was nothing special. I couldn't taste the earthy chocolate that i expected. Added to anything else it just disappeared. Not for me.

Pipe Used: Briar

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: TobaccoBlends

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (226)	2021-08-28		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Unnoticeable

Gawith Hoggarth Bob’s Chocolate Flake- This blending house is slowly becoming maybe my favorite overall. The English really know how to process tobaccos . BCF is a little different than the usual lakeland blends . It is mostly a Virginia flake but the addition of 8% Latakia that really cools the smoke down and adds a little bit of woodsy flavor . It has a rich barely sweet cocoa flavor in the background. I don’t taste Vanilla bit suspect maybe a little tonquin ? The Lakeland Essence is extremely mild but adds a nice floral scent . This would make a great intro to lakelands for the beginner i think . This is worthy of a lb in the cellar for me . Can be smoked outdoors in the summer . . Top notch blend . 4

Pipe Used: Cobs of course

Age When Smoked: Fresh

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Duffey (1)	2021-05-01		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I think it a lovely tobacco. Smelled good in the house. Left my beard good smelling the next day. What else do want. Rub it let it dry a bit. Burns to the ash with only three to four lights.

Pipe Used: Sumerler

Age When Smoked: Out of tin

Purchased From: Smoking pipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fusty the pipe (33)	2020-10-29		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Don’t be deceived - this is nothing like I was expecting.

I thought I would be receiving something straight from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, all rich and gloopy. I thought it would bubble in the briar like a hookah, rather than burn to ash.

I’ve read the above description of Bob’s Chocolate flake - this much Latakia, vanilla, chocolate casing etc and I wonder if I am smoking the same stuff? Has my parcel been swapped in the mail room and I have actually been sent Gordon from Dalkeith’s package in error? Check and double check - it’s Bob’s Flake alright.

The flake comes, as most G&H loose flakes come, as long flakes; twice the length of any in a tin. It is a light, chocolate brown that smells like chocolate after it has been melted but not so aromatic for me to think that it has a chocolate topping, rather than a casing. The chocolate would appear to come more from the quantity and types of tobaccos that are pressed together with a little something added at the start of the blending process.

The pouch note doesn’t give any clue that there is Latakia present - there isn’t that bonfire scent - which is good for me, Latakia not being my favourite. If it is in attendance then it is in the cheap seats up in the rafters where it can’t bother anyone but can politely add to the overall chatter of the piece.

Unusually perhaps, the room note mimics the pouch not quite nicely but the taste is neither chocolatey nor vanilla. Although this definitely is an aromatic it doesn’t taste like one.

The flavour is even down the bowl, becoming slightly acerbic towards the end, which made me want to stop.

There are clouds of rich smoke and no tongue bite, until the bitter end.

All in all, a very pleasant chuff to be fair; not quite an all dayer - I had three bowls yesterday and by the third my mouth was ready for something different so I swapped onto 1792 instead.

This was perfectly smokeable from the pouch, it took 3 Vesta’s to get going, which I think is pretty standard, it needed only one more match, about halfway down and the usual amount of tamping.

An aromatic for those who don’t like aromatics perhaps?

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrNapoleon (10)	2020-09-14		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Definitely different from the ones I had the opportunity to try so far. But I don't quite know if it's good. First of all, Virginia seems to be the most palpable one, and through such additives as Latakia the taste seems a bit more dry and refined. A chocolate note is perceptible, but I don't know if it's completely "chocolate". There is certainly no sweet dessert taste, but a more bitter and deep one, such as can be seen in products with 80% and more cocoa content.

The room note is possible to be tolerated by non-smokers, although I as a smoker do not like it. The tobacco came to me very moist and was difficult to lit it straight from the tin. Even after drying, its combustibility leaves much to be desired. In addition, it leaves very large amounts of condensate...

To sum up:

- It is definitely not everyday smoke.

- It seems to be suitable for fans of dry tobacco, who want to smoke the aroma from time to time.

- It requires skill and ability to smoke calmly otherwise it may not convey the full taste.

- Does not bite the tongue

- Room note rather not too "aromatic"

I find it interesting and non-standard tobacco, but it does not suit me at all.

Pipe Used: BPK Pipe

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Home town tobacco store

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Scottaylor (13)	2020-07-18		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I bought this tobacco to taste test against SG's CH flake and although it is a very pleasant and smokable offering in MHO it cannot compete with CH flake. I feel it important to state that the tobacco I tried was purchased loose and not in tin format. Up on opening my pouch I found quite sizable flakes with a perfect moisture content for smoking straight away. On the nose I found coca as opposed chocolate as there is no real sweetness there that marries very well with a background scent that will be familiar to any Lakeland smoker. I tend to smoke my flakes rubbed out so treated this one no different. Lighting was straight forward and uneventful and I had no problems keeping my pipe lit. The first half of the bowl delivered exactly what the pouch nose promised and as I moved into the second half of the bowl I found the coca and mild Lakeland gave away slightly to allow the tobacco flavour to come through more. All in all a very pleasant experience but not earth shattering and not quite up to competing with SG's chocolate offering.

Pipe Used: chacom calabash

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: My smoking shop

Similar Blends: SG's CH flake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nickpimpslap (6)	2020-07-07		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant

Smoked this as a youngster and remember it fondly. This review is mostly for me to refer back to when looking for things to try again.

Pipe Used: Savinelli system

Age When Smoked: Fresh

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	thesmoggypipester (77)	2020-01-23		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A blend that I have been well aware of for many years but have avoided. This is mainly due to the latakia content, but I have been wanting to try latakia blends again so I thought I would try this.

Opening my bulk ounce pounce the aroma was distinctly weird and almost off putting, yes the chocolate is there but so is the latakia, mixed together it reminded me slightly of 1792 flake. Not a good start.

However, I like to give everything a fair crack of the whip.

The flakes themselves offer up a very good level of hydration, immediate smoking is possible with this one, breaking them apart is extremely easy, whether you like it very chunky or finely rubbed out, you own preferred method of preparation is easily achievable.

Filling the pipe presents no issues,so onto the lighting, again, no issues encountered, for a flake you may, like myself, think at the minute it all seems to good to be true. A quick tramp and another light then it's down to business, for the next hour i was transported almost too another world,good god this stuff is phenomenal!

The chocolate and latakia work harmoniously together, you wouldn't think it but they do. The chocolate and cocoa topping aren't overdone at all, yes both are there and are noticeable but never overwhelmingly so, the tobacco taste itself still manages to make appearances and it all just goes together so well .

Smoking Down the bowl, the cocoa subsides just past the mid point too let the latakia through a touch more, although it never totally disapears completely,I get a slight peated whisky note, fantastic stuff.

Gawith and hoggarth where really thinking out the box when they devised this one, and it could of very easily went so so wrong, they really where walking a tight rope, because latakia is such a potent force, used which a heavy hand in anything more than a condimental role, I find it becomes far too acrid, course and generally horrific. Reading the contents of this blend on paper you would be easily forgiven for thinking it would be far from harmonious but it works beautifully. Definitely a blend for the tobacco bucket list, don't pass by this blend of you are not a fan of latakia or aromatics, it flirts beautifully between the two.

Room note is generally pleasant given this is a latakia smoke, you could do far worse for indoor smoking but it will raise eyebrows if you are in none smoking company.

Strength is bang in the middle of medium, makes for a great smoke any time of the day, I would recommend this to most due to ease of preparation and lighting, also recommended to those who want a nice go between of an aromatic and natural tobacco.

Highly recommended and will be definitely staying in the rotation.

Pipe Used: Falcon

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Mysmokingshop.co.uk

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BigGoy (9)	2020-01-07		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

One of my favorite tobaccos. Delicious aroma and even better taste -- chocolate, light floral notes (a very mild Lakeland essence) and a nice, deep, sweet earthiness. Rub it out fully and it will burn will. It exudes quality.

Pipe Used: Bent Dublin; Cob

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Various

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Peterson314 (43)	2019-11-26		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I really enjoyed this blend. It was my first Gawith Hoggarth blend and I was impressed with the quality of this tobacco. I didn't find a lot of chocolate when I was smoking it, but the aftertaste leaves me with some unsweetened dark chocolate. Unfortunately, my first bowl of this got cut short, but I can't wait to get back to it.

Update: 2022-07-29. I pulled this 30-month-old jar out of the cellar and crumbled it into my Peterson Sherlock. I don't think that I have packing flake quite down yet, as I had to relight this a lot of times. But I really enjoyed this smoke. My impression was that Bob's likes to burn very slowly. If I get it hot, the nuances go away. But If I keep this slow and low, there is a lot of flavor in this blend.

I feel like this blend would go perfectly with crisp, cool mountain air and some rich and creamy hot chocolate. The aftertaste of this blend reminded me of rich dark bittersweet chocolate. This is a very interesting and rewarding blend.

Pipe Used: Peterson Sherlock Original

Age When Smoked: 1 month

Purchased From: Puff n' Stuff - Atlanta

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	doc pipes (110)	2017-11-04		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

This tobacco came packed in A plastic bag packed inside of the tin. The flakes are somewhat shaggily cut. I enjoyed the fact that the latakia comes across lightly and actually complements some of the sweeter top notes nicely. This is one of those rare instances in my experience where the condimental and judicious use of this aromatic herb enriches the blend magnificently. The topping is more notable in the room and note then in the taste. The room note is more pleasant than a Balkan, but significantly less pleasant than your run of the mill aro. I do not appreciate any soapiness in the taste of this blend.

Pipe Used: Random Italian bulldog

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Iwan ries

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Knightsmoker (218)	2017-04-07		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

I like most G&H blends but a few miss for me. This one missed but not by much. I get the chocolate and vanilla on the first puff. The whisky was very mild and way in the background. I also got some Lakeland floral essence too. The tobacco does come through but is mild. The Lat. is just noticeable and comes in and out. When it is present the chocolate is very present but the vanilla fades. When it is less detectable the vanilla is more prominent. The VA's add sweetness and depth and the burley's add some earth as well. Overall a good aromatic but it will burn hot if you don't keep a slow pace and a little wet toward the bottom of the bowl. What causes this one to be just an average rating is the lingering after taste which stays with you for hours. It affected my taste and as such affected other subsequent bowls of other bends. I like it as a late night smoke and anyone looking for a solid scented flake should give this one a try. The nic. hit is very mild. Let it dry for a while as it comes very moist.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	roadkill0000 (23)	2017-04-05		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

this review is just to keep track for myself mainly, less intended as a serious in depth review.

For an aromatic, which are not typically my favorite, this was one of my favorite. reminded me of opening a box of home made cookies. this one had more chocolate to me then boswells chocolate cream, and more complexity as well with other flavors in it. The creaminess is great, and it had enough flavor for me as compared to chocolate cream. Came pretty wet i think i remember, and in a heavy cake like presentation. Would definitely get again, but I should keep my eyes open for other better chocolates.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stinkypipe (155)	2017-01-23		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

What a super interesting blend. I find G&H do not produce namby pamby blends. Their blends are always in your face. I expect that is the reason some of these reviews are less than spectacular. This aromatic delivers in many different ways. The tin note is chocolate but also a wonderful aroma of a great tobacco mixture. I think lots of folks are focusing on the chocolate flavor and miss the excellent tobacco flavors from all the different blended wonderful choices G&H have used. First light up immediately gives you a nice coco/chocolate flavor. Burns exceptionally cool. Now there is a definite nicotine hit in this blend but would you expect any less from G&H blenders. As I go through the bowl I find if I take deep draws I almost always get that chocolate taste but if you sip this blend you can enjoy a really nice blend a various tobaccos. Not a lot of bite for a G&H blend and the unique tobacco mixture is very enjoyable. I find if I want a chocolate hit I just take a deep draw. Room note is a slight hint of chocolate and a nice tobacco aroma as well. I find this not only a nice aromatic but a overall nice tobacco blend that is enjoyable in itself. Just keep in mind any blend from G&H is not going to fool around. They get down to business and offer a strong but very pleasing smoke. Perhaps not recommended for the beginning aromatic smoker but outstanding for the seasoned piper.

Pipe Used: Rossi

Age When Smoked: A few weeks old. Rubbed and left to air

Purchased From: Smoking Pipe

Similar Blends: This is a pretty unique aromatic that stands alone..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	canvas (337)	2016-09-17		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Not entirely sure who the target market audience is for this one. This is probably the least chocolate thing I've smoked. This one didn't even smell remotely of chocolate in the tin or was even sweet once lit. It did however let you know it was made by Gawith, Hoggarth & co. with its telltale soapy Lakeland flavor (something akin to eating Violets candy). So why even advertise it as chocolate?

If you are going for that unmistakable Lakeland taste, just stick with their Ennerdale flake, or try Samuel Gawith's Grousemoor which does a much better job of pairing this unusual topping with another flavor.

Don't get me wrong, it is still an interesting smoke, just mislabeled.

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Ennerdale flake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lazarus77 (91)	2016-06-30		Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I had bulk version of this tobacco. And its became my top 1 of semi aromatic tobaccos. Clean dry smoke, no tong bite at all, doesn't matter you puff slow or fast.No moisture at the end, just clean ash. Recommended.

Pipe Used: Various briars

Age When Smoked: 1month old

Purchased From: Smoke King

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mawnan Smiff (28)	2016-05-07		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I've had this blend on my shopping list for some while now after reading many favourable reviews so on my latest 'phone order from the Black Swan this was at the top of the list of new blends to try.

I have to say I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. Upon opening the bag the aroma was very interesting, plenty going on in there but not chocolate or cocoa. The flakes are longer than I expected and rather 'dirty' looking, not at all like the flakes of say Condor Long Cut. Whilst rubbing it all out I was able to get a feel of the moisture content which was rather high for my liking, also the rubbed out flake is somewhat chunky. I left it to air for a couple of hours.

Loading/packing was ok but I imagine it would be very easy to pack this too tightly if one is not careful. It took a few lights to get going then I settled down to enjoy the smoke. The first recognizable flavour was the Latakia but as soon as I noticed it it was gone! Only occasionally does it pop its head over the parapet during the smoke and then it disappears again. It states it contains a miserly 8% Latakia, if I was to be by the blender as he adds the Latakia I would nudge his elbow and force him to up it to 15%!

Throughout the entire bowl, not once did I detect chocolate or cocoa. Nor did I detect vanilla either. As for tonquin I have to confess I have no idea what it tastes like so on that count I remain ignorant.

What I did taste was a reasonably strong tobacco with just the right amount of nicotine for me, no tongue bite, a certain amount of gurgle (in a bent billiard) and very interesting flavours that I am unable to put names to but did enjoy.

Not an everyday blend for me but one which I will revisit as the fancy takes me. Also I was aware of my many relights so further airing is required methinks.

Pipe Used: Hardcastle's Jack 'O' London Dublin.

Age When Smoked: Fresh.

Purchased From: Black Swan Shoppe (mail order)

Similar Blends: Nothing yet tried..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Andersson (9)	2016-03-22		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

As other aromatics it tends to leave a bitter taste. The aroma is quite enjoyable, so for someone it could be a good choice aromatic blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ATW (110)	2015-12-09		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It's funny how for a couple of months a blend can be so good and then...... It just makes you want to throw up!

I loved this stuff at first. A slightly salty cocoa powder taste and slightly sweet. The only tobacco I could pick up was the Virginia.

One day I loaded a bowl and got about half way through and it started to die out some so I choked the pipe a little and then something happened that I wouldn't have ever expected...... I tasted strong toasted Latakia with the chocolate flavoring and it was extremely strong. I was so sickened by it that I really thought I was going to throw up. It tasted so horrible that I stopped smoking a pipe for around 9 months.

Others might enjoy it just fine but I'm done with this stuff.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ian K (30)	2015-09-11		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

First I noticed (or didn't notice) was that the aroma both pouch and room wasn't hugely chocolate (hence the flavouring marked as EM) the smoke I guess you'd call Lakeland, straight out of the packet although the flake smoked ok it did smoke quite wet...the Latakia taste was detectable but very much as a background only

There was a little tongue bite but nothing severe...I'm not saying this was a bad smoke but personally I wouldn't buy again when there's so much other stuff out there I prefer

Smoked again after cellaring for 3 months...little change, stayed lit very well but still that soapy almost Lakeland taste that I'm not a Hugh fan off. After reading the other reviews I,ll jar this for a while and may come back to it in the hope it may mature

Ps Bulk version

Pipe Used: Hardcastle poker, Brucken Dublin.

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Mysmokingshop

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Leeboy (20)	2015-09-05		Mild	Mild	Very Mild	Tolerable

This didn't do anything for me. I have been smoking ennerdale lately which could have effected the flavors I got from this. I got very little lakeland topping, mild latakia and no chocolate at all. Way to bland for my still developing taste buds. For people able to pick up on subtle nuances this could be for you. Good quality tobacco that burnt a little hot, just not for me.

Pipe Used: Mr Brog

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: smoke king

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	incognitopoet (37)	2014-09-03		Mild	Medium to Strong	Very Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

When I first tried this flake, three years ago, I liked it. It was weird, but I couldn't taste much tobacco or chocolate because the other Lakeland flavors dominated. This evening I ran across the little Mason jar in a drawer of cellared tobaccos. When I opened the jar a wonderful bouquet of dark chocolate and sweet Virginia tobacco wafted out. Then I noticed a hint of leather, maybe from the latekia. I immediately grabbed my favorite Nording pipe and headed to the porch to sample this found treasure.

After three years in the jar the flakes were still completely intact, and moisture levels were perfect for smoking. I folded two flakes and loaded the bowl. The charring light offered a very dark chocolate flavor. As I puffed through the bowl very slowly I noticed a lot of Virginia sweetness, with creamy hints of the latekia. Mid bowl a flavor that I can only describe as "chocolate milk" predominated. As with any Virginia-dominant I puffed slowly to avoid bite, and there was very little as long as I kept it slow.

This is a masterpiece. The rich flavors and complexity make this a blend that I will use as an after-dinner smoke.

If you decide to try it, plan ahead. Aging absolutely made all the difference with this blend. Also make sure it is dry. The floral Lakeland experience was almost unnoticeable after aging, and the chocolate aroma came through very clearly.

Update 11-29-2019 Two years ago I ordered a pound of this stuff to age. Tonight I pulled it out for a sample. The flake was pretty dry, and I rubbed half of it out, loading it into a big Nording freehand. It's a magical tobacco with a lot of flavors as I slowly sip through the bowl. I never have been crazy about it when fresh, but after a couple of years it's amazing.

Pipe Used: Nording

Age When Smoked: 3 years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Amsteracqua (24)	2014-08-23		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I loved this Tobacco.... seriously... I smoked three times by day... is a incredible broken flake, smells like a cocoa, smokes cool and burn from the start to the final. and my wife approved the room note...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	boc777 (39)	2013-12-27		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The jury is still out on this one for me. It is still kicking my arse on how to properly load it. I seem to either get it way too tight and it is nearly unsmokable, or it is way too loose. This is one of the few flakes in my collection and I guess I need to give it time. I agree with some of my fellow reviewers, it does seem to have a soapy taste at first, but that seems to subside for me as I work my way through the bowl. I have it aging in a jar right now, so maybe that will help as well. At its best, it is complex and satisfying. At its worst, it is frustrating and a turn off. The room note is better than I would have expected when smelling it in the jar, but there is just something a bit off kilter with this. I like it, but then I don't. I will give this some time and revisit this review with an open mind.

Age When Smoked: <1 year (bulk)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tamper Dan (9)	2013-08-07		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Every time I open this tin, I breathe it in for a few moments. The smell of cocoa is just strong enough to keep me coming back for another smell. After I rub a few flakes I let it sit for at least 20 minutes before smoking, otherwise it's too moist and gurgly. This is a smooth smoke comprised of mostly Virginias. After some trial and error I've found that it burns the best for me in a large pipe, loosely packed, loosely rubbed, and I use matches. Smoke slow.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2013-07-20		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I like the offering from SG better, taste-wise, though I couldn't get those flakes to smoke well either. This flake had more of an artificial flavoring to it and the latakia seemed to get lost. As stated this flake was hard for me to keep lit and if you can't smoke it, it aint gonna do too well. So....

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2013-05-13		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

The only chocolate blend I like. And the taste is very soft. The latakia flavor is mostly tasted in this blend, with the sweet chocolate infusion in the background. If you are looking for a crossover (english aromatic) this is one to try. Be sure to give it enough dry time.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2013-04-23		Medium to Strong	Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I just cant get over the soapy, flowery baby powder smell, its too much for me to take! i cant enjoy anything with this scent it destroys all that is obviously good about this quality tobacco, i want to like this blend too! why is this stink is so many blends, to me its just not natural.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MyPipeAndBook (9)	2013-03-22		Mild	Mild	Mild	Tolerable

Describing the taste of this blend is difficult. Even though there is just a touch of latakia in there, you do notice it right away. As for any flavor of chocolate...I can't find it at all. The smell in the pouch is one of an english blend with something "Extra" that is hard to define. It's just a hard one to put your finger on, but the flavor kinda grows on you as the bowl progresses. Not sure what the blender was shooting for here but if it's chocolate you are looking for, this isn't it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2012-10-04		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Where should I start on this?

A friend of mine recommended this tobacco. I was a little bit sceptical about it.

Its smell confirmed my scepticism I thought. Nothing out of the ordinary, very plain, slightly sweet smell. Nothing complex.

But who said good means complex?

Smoking this is a completely different experience. The smoke is cool, fresh, dry (thank goodness), not overwhelmingly sweet, and has more of a cocoa liquor taste which I find so appealing. I find the Virginia taste with the cocoa taste so nice!

I love smoking pipe! So many wonderful tobaccos to experience! I will update this if I find anything different my other briar pipes (I used my small meer for this review).

UPDATE

As expected, the taste on the briar "mellows" the taste even more. And it is excellent as well...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JustinCarcerated (99)	2012-08-25		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Bought this due primarily to my love of Louisiana Flake as well as reviews here are well as Pipesmokersforum.com. Bought 3 ounces off a freshly opened pound, peeled off in strands due to a slightly moist makeup. Two bowls smoked, minimum drying applied (20 minutes) with mainly flaked strands teased out and wadded into an Aldo Velani billiard reserved for flake Va blends. Good cool smoke with voluminous smoke-kept cool via the Burleys I suppose. Nice mild cocoa thru mid-bowl, some peppery touch, but not like that of Perique. G&H do their baccys "old-school" and it shows, in subtle dependable flakes with nice room notes and mouth feel. A definite for flake lovers, and perhaps a nice entry for aro lovers to expand into Lakeland Flakes.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2012-07-17		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I bought a tin of this fine tobacco over a year ago at the local Tinder Box. I put the tobacco in a ziplock bagy and forgot where I had put it. Just found the bag today.

The flakes were twisted a bit and quite dry. Just right to me! Rubbed a little out, leaving large pieces. Even though it was dry it took a few flames.

Mellow rich and a true chocolate flavour comes thru. Very rich with the Virginia leaves, creamy even. The smoke was sweet and spicey. This is what smoking a pipe is all about! Right down to the bottom of the bowl it was delicious.

Good ol Bob!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2012-04-15		Medium	Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

I purchase this blend in bulk. In the pouch, it has a sweet aroma and I can pick out the scent of semi-sweet chocolate and a little smokiness from the Latakia. In bulk, it is a broken flake and has a nice moisture content. I smoke my tobaccos a bit drier than normal and let it air out for about 5 minutes before packing it in a nice wide bowl. It lights easily and the first flavor to hit the front of my tongue is the sweetness of the Virginias in this blend. I stop puffing for a moment to check out the room note and find that it possesses a very sweet floral scent, not unlike many of G&H's other offerings. I find the aroma very pleasant. After only a couple of minutes the flavor becomes savory. It reminds me of a good cup of coffee. It is semi-sweet with the intermingling of the Virginias and the toppings. I seem to be tasting a bit of the floral note as well which makes it more pleasant. Supposedly, this blend possesses very little Burley, but I distinctly taste the flavor of Burley, to me it tastes of almonds and cedar. The flavor is consistent throughout the bowl and it becomes more enjoyable to me as I sip the smoke out of my pipe. My palate does not seem to pick out the small amount of Latakia in the mixture. The tobacco burns very well, although I prefer to smoke slowly and relight more often than most smokers. After a little over an hour I stir the grey ash in my pipe bowl and find that there is no tobacco left to be smoked.

I highly recommend this blend because I haven't found any blend that is like it. It has a nice, deep complexity and is more savory than sweet. I also love the fact that it has a wonderful aroma which is just as enjoyable to the smoker as it is to his company. I particularly enjoy this with a cup of good coffee. For those that do not like Latakia, I would not let the small presence of that leaf in this blend deter you.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tabaco (112)	2012-01-20		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Soapy Play-Doh and other things.

Granted British aromatics for the most part are very different than their American Cavendish based cousins.

It seems Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. use the Tonka bean or an extract in many of their offerings and this blend has a lot.

This simply does not leave me wanting for more, in poor form I might add. Drying this does help a some but not nearly enough. I cannot taste dark Chocolate nor Cocoa. Maybe a very slight too slight in fact an occasional hint of vanilla, which likely is coming from the Tonka bean.

Bland, and frankly boring. After this batch is done, I won't be trying anymore for a very long time.

It does pack and burn great, by the pleasure is sadly lacking for me.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	KahveDelisi (73)	2011-12-20		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

lakeland fakeland, whatever.. I'm in love with this flake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	krg1000 (183)	2011-11-25		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I just can't seem to taste the chocolate in this one. There is a strange taste to it that just does nothing for me. I wanted to like this but there is nothing here that gives it a chance to win me over. YMMV of course. Worth giving it a go though, it is just not for me.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-10-20		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Bob's Chocolate Flake has a wonderful smooth Dark Chocolate aroma that compliments the constituent tobaccos and carries over into a medium but rich taste. G&H claims there is Latakia in there, but I never detect any. I find Bob's Chocolate Flake to be even deeper in aroma and flavor when it is dried and rubbed out. With that prep and pack method, after a few bowl's in a dedicate pipe, the Chocolate flavor and aroma is very deep and rich. Also ages very well. One of my top 3. Highly recommended.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	meerkat (64)	2011-05-20		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Another brilliant flake from G,H&co.

Not as strong as many of their others but still very satisfying. The small amount of latakia is a perfect addition to the sweet chocolate. It's only just discernable but it really helps to give this blend body and cool the smoke which prevents it from becoming just another dull chocolate aromatic.

I didn't notice any Lakeland florals but the depth of flavour would be enough to keep me interested in this for a very long time. If you're an all day smoker I think this would be the perfect tobacco for you - it doesn't overwhelm the palette but is consistantly interesting, the nicotine is there but not in huge quantities, it's cool smoking and maintaience free.

A great english/aro crossover which is exactly what I hoped the Samuel Gawith version would be (and wasn't).

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pip (80)	2011-05-17		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I really get the Lakeland floral/soapy taste with this one. The chocolate and vanilla flavorings are very muted in both tin note and within the smoke. The flakes were nice and slightly moist. I did not get any bite at all. The Latakia was also a bit odd tasting. Over all first impression..Just OK. Not a real fan. But I'll try it again and see if I change my mind.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ADz Pipes (7)	2011-04-19		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

This is an odd one after reading many of the reviews, and there is a lot.....I bought some, from a UK supplier online that I use and after inspecting the flakes the bag odour was not what I expected, but then again the name is a bit off putting...who the heck is Bob anyway?!

But this is how it went - I have tried it in 2 pipes as I find that flakes do give a totally different result in certain pipes, I used Peterson's Arans, I rubbed it out a bit after letting it "air" for 20 mins, packed it VERY carefully - then lighted, blimey it reminded me of very bad sweat in a male changing room, initial burn up is a bit confusing, BUT but but....it CHANGES - after a few mins it was a totally different experience, a perfume was then noticeable, at times I definitely noticed the cocoa/chocolate and it was then a sweeter burn.

Hmmm odd and complex, on the 2nd pipe it was then same - first light was like a bad armpit smell in need of deodorant - then the change and halfway through the perfume and hints of choc, the reviews that hate are pretty harsh its not to everyone's taste and I am not sure if its mine yet, I am an Aro fan - but this is strange, I will continue to persevere with it.

Leaves a pleasant taste on the pallet.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Peppino (74)	2011-03-20		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is one good tobacco! I love the flavor and burn qualities. I do think it smokes better rubbed out. The ash is white and the side stream is pleasant, the Latakia is there but in the back ground. I don't get any of the actual flavorings other than Virginia's, a fullness from the Burley and a light Latakia note. It does have a pretty good N hit(at least to me)as all Lakelands that I've smoked seem to do. It could very well be my body chemistry but you might want eat something before you fire up a full bowl, I do smoke larger pipes so, a smaller pipe could make a difference. If your looking for a sweet aromatic based on the name continue your search. If your looking for a top flight tobacco, with a great burn rate and rich flavor with a good N hit, then this maybe your lucky day! Some folks may find the N a little to heavy so I would start with a smaller pipe and work your way up.I personally like the nicotine but some may not. Otherwise as a whole it work's, and very well to me. It's kind of unusual in that it burns completely to the bottom, but it seems like you have tobacco left as it ends with just under a 1/4 of the bowl left. Or so it seems, the clue is it will no longer light, but when you lift the ash out you have nothing but a gray powder. Try it and see for yourself, I think that you'll enjoy it!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2011-02-14		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I tried an ounce each of Bob's, Lousisina Perique and Ennerdale Flake to see what GH is all about. Personally, Bob's Chocolate Flake was the clear winner.

In the packet, it smelled very strongly of latakia to me, but others have said they didn't notice it. Maybe my nose is sensitive to it.

Lighting up, it tasted like strong dark chocolate. By mid-bowl I could taste the latakia, which really helped add body to the sweetness of the Virginia and the topping. A complex smoke that gives you a lot to think about.

I was hoping it would be a stronger and richer version of Mac Baren's Navy Flake, and for once I pretty much got my wish. I'll be getting a pound of this in very soon, I suspect.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	hawky454 (107)	2010-09-10		Very Mild	Medium to Strong	Overwhelming	Unnoticeable

To me, the soapy/floral note distracted from the chocolate undertones. Too much going on here, it's overdone and unbalanced. Be careful, this will leave a nasty residual flavor in your pipe that takes several smokes to get rid of.

Edit* 3-26-16. I hate writing reviews because I always seem to come around to blends I once hated. A lesson I've learned is to never swear off a blend, as you may find yourself liking it one day. This tobacco has top of the line Virginia tobaccos in it and if ya can get past some of the essence, this blend really opens up to an amazing, creamy, flavorful smoke. Also, if a blend isn't doing it for ya, try it out in a cob! A corn cob pipe has shined a whole new light on a lot of blends that just didn't seem to wanna smoke well in a briar, it's worth a shot.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2009-09-17		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

This is supposed to be an aromatic but to me, the latakia throws it off. It's like putting BBQ sauce on, well a chocalate cake. Even a touch ruins the experience, and to me the experience wasn't that pleasant at all and I gave it a couple of tries. I ended up giving the rest away. Others may like it, but I like aromatics as much as I like english/balkan/oriental blends and I feel that an aromatic should be without latakia, even if it's a pinch.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	eamonclever (48)	2009-06-26		Medium	Medium	Very Full	Pleasant

if you like cadbury hot chocolate drinks you certainly love this tobacco as well. I like this good amount of cocoa very much although I don´t eat cho olate bars at all. I bought the bulk version of this fine baccy. The smell of it forced me to load a bowl right away after opening the box. And yes, there is the good taste again, cocoa and good va wonderful. It is satisfactory and imo this is not an aromatic. BCF is naturally sweet due to the high amount of va, i don´t think there is sugar added - it is pure. Burley and a spray of latakia makes the mixture perfect for a pleasant longtime smoke in a medium or large bowl. I detect a slight lakeland flavouring, I love this fresh note in a couple of dark flake tobaccos like BBF#2 for instance. It makes the difference compared to others and that´s what counts for me to be a good smoke. BCF is perfectly composed for all va lovers who like a change of pace or enjoy a good strong espresso without sugar or milk some times a day.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2008-12-15		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A very interesting flake. I find myself very interested in flake tobacco. Not sure if its the extra effort of rubbing it out (or folding if thats your method). Brings back that primeval sensation of a time long past, or if I just need specialized help.

A very full round flavor. Hint of cocoa, with a great blend of tobacco. Fortunately I get only a faint hint of the Lakeland region in this 'baccy. Comes off with almost an incense quality. I've got nothing but compliments from passer byes. Not that I care that much.

Oh I'm such a caring individual. Just ask Cargosizedrumor, he'll vouch for me.

I'll buy this one again, it's one of my favorites. Though I am going to try Samuel Gawith's first.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	OSR (78)	2008-11-27		Mild	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Bob's Chocolate Flake is one of the few Lakeland flakes that I can't tolerate. Quality tobacco (G & H is always top notch) but the flavorings just don't do it. Somewhat recommended but for me, it's NO to BCF.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2008-10-29		Medium	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

Ok...this stuff was three dollars more than its cousin Chocolate Flake (Samuel Gawith) and not nearly as good. The tin aroma was pleasant, smelling of sweet vanilla and faintly of cocoa...no latakia seemed to be present. This blend tasted soapy and slightly floral, but in a bad way. The aroma was rough and assaultive...Yuck! I only got halfway down the bowl and had to dump it out...I was also worried it might taint my pipe. I was thinking of whom I might give this to, but didn't want to lose a friend...it went the way dead goldfish go.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tacoeatingzebra (37)	2007-12-04		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

if i were stuck on an island in the middle of the south pacific, far from civilization and i could only bring one blend with me, this one would be a contender. sometimes when i am smoking it, i wonder why i smoke anything else. i've tried other lakeland flakes and various other blends, but here i truly pick up what i beliee others describe as the soapy flavor. i find it incredibly pleasing, and that's not to say that tomorrow i will pick up a bar of ivory and eat it. whatever that flavoring agent is, it compliments the chcolate & vanila flavors quite well. i must admit that i can't taste the latakia in this one too much, but my latakia tastes tend to be the types of blends that wallop others over the head with a billy club. the burleys however, really shine and at times, despite the fact that i see that it is mostly VA tobaccos, i feel like i am smoking a burley dominated blend. i suppose this is due to the chocolate flavoring, as burley often tastes chocolatey to me.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-11-03		Medium to Strong	Very Strong	Very Full	Tolerable

The main characteristics of this tobacco come from Latakia and the smooth perfume of chocolate. It has tobacco from Zimbabwe and Virginia. Latakia is not strong but adds its strength and perfume. Cocoa and the flavors of chocolate are combined harmoniously with vanilla and the other flavors. It reminds you of a very good and strong coffee, to which you have added a bit of brown sugar. You should smoke it slowly (especially if you have not rub it a lot), it does not warm up the bowl. You can easily smoke it all day. It keeps the same flavor almost till the end of bowl. At last I smoked it again and it is EVEN BETTER THAN the FIRST TIME. FLAVOUR. Definitely you can smoke it easily if you rub it well, before you smoke it.

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK VERY MUCH THE REVIEWER PIPESTUD CAUSE AFTER READING HIS REVIEWS, THE LAST TWO YEARS, I LEARNED A LOT, REGARDING THE TOBACCOS TASTING

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-07-20		Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Bland and distinctly underwhelming.

When I first tried this blend I found it rather intriguing: It was slightly sweet, with cocoa trying to fight its way to the front against a swirl of earthy aromas. Sadly after about eight bowls, it becomes flat and incredibly bland. It has the chocolate cereal base that can be found in 1792 -and many- others but without anything above this foundation.

I'm a big fan of soapy florals but this tobacco is truly awful. If you want a chocolate Va, then go for Louisiana flake and give this one a miss.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-07-14		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Full	Pleasant

This was my first venture into the world of latakia! Very well done. The Virginia's hold front stage but, it does have a very nice smokyness to the package. I sure don't taste the Chocolate,but the Lakeland Florals are there but not too much. I got this as a gift. and have since smoked up the entire tin in short order. I have just ordered the bulk version. I hope it's as good as the tin! Top slelf in cellar.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-07-14		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A very delectable tobacco. Rubbed out, or left whole, it lights quite easily. The taste is full, and you'll taste each different kind of leaf used. * Update I have noticed this blend iratates my throat, causing me to cough. I'll take my rating down a notch. After a week or so I can give my full thought on this tobacco-Quite uneventful. Blah even. I think most tend to laud this tobacco because they want to provided the leaf used. Everyone will taste this a little different. I don't like it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-06-28		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Let me preface this by saying I do not like latakia. I have been smoking a pipe for 15 years and it has never grown on me. However, BCF is one of my favorite tobaccos of all time. I tried it through recommendation of a shop owner and he didn't tell me it contained any latakia. It is hardly detectable. Smokes cool and never gets rancid at the end of a bowl. It has been awhile since I was a new smoker but I would give this to a newbie in a heartbeat. Great stuff!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-04-11		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

This is definitely a quality tobacco.Bought 8oz of bulk so it came to me at the right moisture content and ready to burn.At first light the lackland floral note jumped out at my taste buds but soon disapeared unveiling a smooth yet complex taste.The choclate flavoring weaves in and out not becoming to cloying,it doesnt take over the tobacco taste.The Latakia to me only makes it presence felt at the match,other than cooling and balancing the Virginias.I have smoked in all size bowls and really cant recommend a size I enjoyed all of them.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-03-28		Very Mild	Medium	Overwhelming	Tolerable

I feel like there's should be bubbles coming out of my pipe. I bought 8 oz. of this flake on the recommendation of a new toabcconist. Thank God it's cheap! No offense to those that enjoy this, but I get a wierd soapy/floral taste and aroma from this stuff. Do you remember what Play-doh smells like. It's kind of like that for me. Nothing against play-doh but i can't stand this. I mixed it with a bunch of another amromatic I had stashed and it ruined it too. Obviously this gets a lot of good reviews, so YMMV but don't say I didn't warn you. Good luck.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RMBittner (66)	2007-02-22		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Know going into this review that I primarily favor Balkan, English, and matured Virginia blends. I only try the occasional aromatic, and I do not go in for the heavily cased varieties. Having said that, though, Bob's Chocolate Flake might find a regular place in my rotation.

This is the thinnest flake I've ever seen, which tears up quite nicely into thin strands of Virginia, burley, and -- in minute quantities -- latakia. Despite the percentages noted in the description at the top of this page, latakia is virtually impossible to distinguish in the blend, while the nuttiness of the burley frequently comes to the fore. Amazing, considering the percentages of burley and latakia are so close (10% and 8%, respectively).

As many reviewers have noted, this is a Lake District (also known as "Lakeland") blend, and as such it does have a slight perfumey/flowery topping. However, this slips away after the third or fourth puff, blending perfectly -- at least to my palate -- with the light dusting of cocoa flavoring that lasts for the entire length of the bowl. The cocoa and vanilla are modest, but always discernible. There is nothing wet or gloopy or sweet about this blend, however. It burns beautifully and is a very enjoyable smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jaybee (77)	2007-02-05		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The first time I reviewed this tobacco I gave it 2 stars which reinforces my philosophy that you should never put anything in writing...This has become one of my favorites. Yes, it has the Lakeland floral, but I now regard this as just another layer of flavor which can be very subtle if the puffing cadence is controlled. It's one of the few flakes that I actually smoke in flake form without rubbing.

I contritely upgrade this to four stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2007-01-10		Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

This is one tastey Choco-nilla Virginiakia pie! That's not to say it's sweet, cause it isn't, much. The choco-nillaness is drifty. I love these non-American virginias the Lakeland people use. Very rich. They are the main flavors in this flake, which came to me -bulk- perfectly slightly dry.

I know moisture content doesn't really count to most people in bulk, but it does to me since it means I'm getting a better deal. I can always re-hydrate. (But I've never had to with either of the Gawith companies' bulk).

There are no flowers involved in this flake, just great tobacco flavor, a slight top note (ok medium top note) and a nice visit from Saint Nic. (Funny, this one makes my nose sweat and most people say it's medium strength.) Smokin!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2006-12-14		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Napa Wine Lover's review reflects my assessment completely. I would only add that for me, Bob's Chocolate flake burns hot and bites the tongue.

If you're looking for a really fine tobacco with a chocolate flavor, take a look at Samuel Gawith's Kendal Mayor's Chocolate Flake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dualkarnain (75)	2006-09-26		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

The first taste post-light was one of Irish Spring. The soap.

It kept popping up through the bowl. It's not terribly unpleasant but it's not an ecstatic flavor I seek when smoking.

I must say - it's nice to taste some tobacco in an aromatic. Aromatics with a little latakia are rare enough.

Speaking of aromatic, my wife complained after only two puffs from another room. She seems to appreciate light Balkans over this stuff!

Images evoked: dashing a cup of heavily-creamed milk over a corroded car battery before scrubbing it down with Dove(sensitive skin sudsy bath gel edition).

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2006-09-16		Medium	Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

Very enjoyable and reliable smoke. I am going to completely agree with the 2 Aug 05 review by smoker390 including the comments on its fine aroma.

Traditionally, I have stayed away from the full range of "aromatics" after toasting my tongue as a young man on every corner store brand before discovering the world beyond. Now, while being a tobacco snob by avocation, I've probably denied myself enjoying some great blends because of suggestion that they were nice smellng and my personal enjoyment needed to be invertly proportional to their enjoyment. I have reformed slightly in my older age.

Well this is another one added to my collection of absolutely favorites. It tastes wonderful, it smokes very well and it is a regular in my rotation. I have only purchased this from bulk more aged stock. I'm eager to find if the tin variety requires a different approach, or if additional aging is an issue from the less favorable comments I have read. As far as the soapy taste described ... I'm wondering if it's what I believe is a vegetal / herbal / floral taste. It's amazing how individual tastes are and quite interesting to read contrasting opinions respectfully. Perhaps I like the taste so much since it reminds me of the penalties of my verbal indiscretions as a youth.

Orignal review 9/24/05

UPDATE: 9/16/06

Sadly I must downgrade my review of this tobacco. Since my earlier review, I've found this to be inconsistent in quality and ever so much more flavored than I had come to enjoy. I'm sorry to say that I have no plans to revisit this blend in the near future. I'm not typically an aromatic smoker - although I like to venture every now and then around the flavored tobaccos as not to be too much of a snob. This just doesn't do it any more at all. I believe it to be a combination of a reduction in quality by the maker and changes in my palate.

Cheers, VC

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Felix (7)	2006-08-17		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I tried a pipe full of this at my local tobacconist's and it was intriguing enough to buy a tin. First, the tin I purchased was exactly the correct moisture level (contrary to some reports further down) and I've found it will easily burn to the bottom of the bowl with one charring light followed by a robust light after tamping. All I needed to do was to continue tamping occasionally as it burned in the bowl...down to a nice nice fluffy-gray ash. An easy tobacco to smoke!

The 1/2" flakes are easily manageable and require very little rubbing out...in fact, it can be smoked without any rubbing at all if you desire. At first I thought I got shorted on the 50gm because the tin was far from being full but it's packed quite densely. Still, you get less pipes full than from something like, say, G&H's American Delight, which hardly rises above a beginner's blend, IMO.

Now to the flavor. The Latakia proportion of the blend is just ideal in my opinion...provides a pleasing flavor and a cool smoke with no bite but without the heavy Latakia taste that's present in tobaccos with a larger percentage of it. The aromatic cocoa and vanilla taste overtones are quite prominent during the first half dozen puffs but quickly dissipate.

I think Runestone nailed it when he said "Bob?s is likely to find much broader appeal with Virginia and Virginia/Perique flake smokers or those who simply dislike the sometimes over-powering nature of heavy blends."

I like Bob's and will buy more.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	hoo-boy (26)	2006-07-12		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

At last an aromatic that you can taste the tobacco in. It is a Pleasurable smoke I prefer loading it without rubbing it out just pack her in. The room note is just great, I know no one who disagrees with that comment. If you don't particularly care for an aromatic blend try this one I believe you will be Pleasently surprised. a 4 star in my opinion. hoo=boy

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Dottle (162)	2006-06-14		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I found this blend to be monochromatic, a taste that was not to my liking and it quickly bored me. Rather than the taste of milk or dark chocolate, I found the taste to be more reminiscent of cocoa (as noted in the description) and unsweetened baker?s chocolate. If you?ve ever taken a bite of your mother?s unsweetened baker?s chocolate bar as a kid thinking it would taste like a Hershey Bar, those memories will come back after taking a few puffs of this stuff. This is a distinctive blend that I think most folks will either love or hate. By the way, who is Bob?

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this tobacco 5.50 out of 10.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2006-05-30		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Another fine selection from G&H. An excellent blend of tobaccos that are tasty, sweet enough for me and cool burning. The added flavoring meld well with the natural tobacco taste. As an aromatic smoker this, along with Squadron Leader are the only latakia blends I smoke.

The room note is softer, and more on the side of aromatic cocoa that is pleasant. Less of the burning haystack that is a detraction to most people around you.

Flavor wise it's excellent the natural cocoa flavor of latakia blends well with the added flavoring, the virginia are good and sweet and the burley with the vanilla and chocolate keep the mixture cool to the end of the bowl.

A good choice for the aromatic smoker that wants to delve into latakia.

5/30/06 Addendum: I had bought this in bulk last year and storied in canning jars. I like this blend, and with a year's worth of aging it's really improved. The flavor is more rounded and the casing is more pronounced. It's now a very cool burning smoke that improves as it burns down the bowl.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2006-04-15		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Wow! What a great tobacco! This is the first tobacco I have tried from this brand and it is fantastic! A little moist when first taken out of the tin, but it rubbed out fairly well and needed only a few relights. Upon recommendation of a friend I chose a smaller pipe, a Group 2 Billiard, and I would have to agree that this tobacco, due to strength, is best enjoyed in a smaller bowl. Fantastic flavor, I tasted the chocolate in small doses all the way through the smoke, pleasant room note..my partner says he could barely smell the chocolate but the smoke itself was very light. Not too much of a nicotine kick,in my opinion, but in a larger bowl I have heard it is quite noticeable. I am definitely keeping this on hand for when I want something different, very tasty blend, highly recommended!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bugenhagen (9)	2006-01-14		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I smoked quite a bit of BCF back in 03 and 04. Recently I bought a fairly large bulk order to divide up for Christmas presents, making sure to save at least a half pound for myself.

This is an excellent, well balanced virginia flake with just enough condimental leaf to put it over the top. The chocolate flavoring is very subtle, and the 'lake district' soapiness is kept to a minimum. In fact, I only notice it on first lighting.

I would compare it to G&H's Louisiana flake, but deeper and fuller. And it doesn't have LF's musty sourness that is attributable to perique.

My son was recently home for the Christmas holidays from the Naval Academy where he is a midshipman. He had been smoking some nice house blends from The Smoke Shop in Annapolis. He looked in my cannister on my desk and saw the BCF flakes and said, "Ooh. Flakes." He loaded up his Peterson and didn't touch his house blends for the remainder of the holidays. I had to send him back to Annapolis with a generous helping of BCF.

Elegant, sophisticated, full, and satisfying.

Bugenhagen

January 2015 update! Smoked a lot of this in the first decade (see above). Just got a few tins. Still great. Stays lit like Rocky stays standing! If you are a regular latakia lover, this will seem disappointing, but if you don't do a lot of balkans and Englishes, it is certainly noticeable. Gives me enough latakia to tickle my underdeveloped firewood palate, without leaving me feeling like I'm chewing on charcoal.

Pipe Used: cobs

Age When Smoked: fresh from new tin

Purchased From: pipes and cigars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-11-02		Overwhelming	Mild	Extra Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I say somewhat rcommended because some people drink rot gut and eat raw meat. This is really strong stuff and I would not buy it again.At your own risk! A great alternative is Gawith's Chocolate Flake. Totally different stuff. 2 of 4 stars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-10-08		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

A 'lakeflake' that, instead of demonstrating just the standard lake district soapy, floral flavor, tastes instead like grandma made a flourless chocolate cake and accidentally spilt a little of her grandma perfume into the cake in the process.

And somehow despite this, it's really quite good.

In particular, while the floral base is clearly present, there's also a light casing that seems to bring out chocolate elements in the tobaccos rather than simply adhering to the leaf and becoming overwhelming and harsh. The taste led me to believe that there was more burley here than advertised; either way, Bob's offers subtle, toasty chocolate flavor in sturdy, well-constructed flakes. As with all GH flakes, significant drying time prior to smoking is essential here.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-10-04		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Flakes are wonderful things. My suggestion is to fill your pipe with unrubbed flake. Once lit, they'll stay lit for quite a while, and the flavor can be savored well in slow smooth puffs.

Bob's Chocolate Flake is a wonderful and surprising aromatic flake. My first opinions of this flake left me wondering how they put the dark-chocolate I ate 2 days ago in my pipe! A wonderful cocoa aroma will greet you upon opening this tobacco, and will hang in the room to tempt all who don't smoke to pick up a pipe. For the smoker of this fine flake, a sweet marry of flavors will meet your palate... woodsy and sweet with a hint of tonguin at times will help you to catch the taste of chocolate in the air. After trying a few other chocolate blends, not liking them due to their lack-luster taste, I have to admit, this flake may have to stay around in my cellar for a while. This is my new on the town smoke when I wish to pardon those around me from my latakia addiction.

A wonderful blend you should try! Don't be put off by the aromatic designation. This blend really is quite different from most aromatics and quite wonderful.

[small note about the soapy-taste. I actually didn't find it to be a soapy taste, I found it to be a soapy smell when whiffed very strongly into the nose. If you're light with your puffing and don't smoke through your nostrils, you'll most likely miss the soapiness...at least IMO.]

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-08-24		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

After my local tobacconist told me this was one of the best selling latakia blends on his shelf, I bought a tin. He had compared the cocoa flavour to "light topping, just a touch to lessen the strength of the latakia". I was a bit skeptical, having read many reviews describing the soapy taste of this blend.

Maybe it was just because I was expecting it, but I was hit with the soapy sensation (more of an aroma than flavour) as soon as I lit up. It lasted throughout the entire bowl and subsequent bowls of this blend. It's very difficult to describe, but the soapy aroma is not altogether unpleasant to the taste, and it makes for a very nice room note. There is the barest hint of cocoa and a natural, smoky sweetness to it - not at all the sort of sweetness you get from aged Virginias. I certainly do not regret buying this tin and will smoke the rest of it, but I don't believe I will purchase it again, as I prefer fuller latakia blends.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-08-18		Medium to Strong	Medium	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Despite the fact that they are my least reached for tobacco genre, I maintain some fascination with the lakeland style blends. If nothing else, for their sense of rich history and a point of tasting reference.

This particular tobacco provides a deep richness and unique taste which should be experienced if you are even a little bit curious. I agree with most of the reviewers so far - including both the positive and negative attributes ascribed to the tobacco. It is a bit floral tasting beneath the chocolate topping. A rather deep rose flavor peeks through. The latakia seems there more in texture than flavor.

The most prominent taste I believe is that of strong VA tobacco of the highest quality. It burns amazingly cool and thoroughly.

A solid tobacco which can be perfect for those with a sweet tooth. However do be warned: the signature "soapy" flavor is there and does creep in alongside the rich cake like notes. It would definitely be a winter tobacco for me, and probably one for late in the evening.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	bobspipe (14)	2005-08-05		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I wanted to like this, really. after hearing and reading about this blend for a few years I was wanting to give it a try even though I'm not a chocolate flavor lover. The chocolate and tobacco taste were certainly there and a good mix, but I just couldn't get past the soapy taste despite several tries that others apparently don't find, don't mind, or get through -- I had the same trouble with ennerdale flake. Good if you can get past it, but not if you can't.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-08-02		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

For an English smoker who dabbles in aromatics, this is one to dabble in. Even the aromatic devotee would love this fine G&H blend. Not much time needs spent on rubbing out the flake, as it rubs easily. At first light up the chocolate, cocoa, and vanilla seem to blend together reminiscent of the original Life cereal - not the cinnamon or other flavored, but the original Life. This is a far cry from any goopy aromatic, as where one can taste a complex array of natural flavors of real tobacco. This forms the base of the blend, and the added flavor is experienced as a top note - as it should be. The room aroma has been complimented on by my wife and mother-in-law; a true hall of fame induction! Bob's chocolate flake will burn down all the way to a gray-white ash, needing only one relight. I recommend smoking in a large briar bowl - a fine experience all around!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-02-16		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Bob's Chocolate Flake is a splendid tobacco that will curb any sweet tooth! With each puff, I kept hoping to see a naked woman on horseback. Alas, my equestrian Coventry fantasy never came to fruition. Still, this candy was better than any Godiva I have had (Amsterdam aside, but that has nothing to do with tobacco). Indeed, Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. really does nice work and the touch of Latakia in this blend is the perfect compliment to its heavy Virginia make up. The only issue that I have with this weed it that is acts like melted chocolate when lit and will really goo up a pipe. And that, mates, is the naked truth.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ranger (79)	2005-01-24		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

For a decidedly non-aromatic smoker, this is one tasty treat. A warming and deliciously tasty smoke from start to finish. This was one of the first tobaccos I smoked, and was my favorite at that early time in my smoking history. A dark flake that smells more potent than it tastes, but maintains just the right flavor which doesn't overwhelm the tobacco leaf. This is good after a large meal with a hot cup of dark coffee and a roaring fire on a cold winter evening.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2005-01-09		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Perhaps I was a victim of the hype and description of Bob's Chocolate Flake. The idea of very light Latakia (some said they couldn't detect it but could feel its added richness) and chocolate/vanilla flavorings applied to consistently-good GH flake tobaccos sounded like a no-lose situation. While a pretty good smoke, I was disappointed that some sacrifices were inherent in this blend.

I am a fan of GH's flake tobaccos, including Bright CR, Brown Flake, Scotch Flake and Glengarry. There is a fragrant, cake-like scent that is their signature. BCF messes with this, which I regret.

BCF is often recommended as an aromatic tobacco when people ask for tobacco suggestions. I don't understand this (of course, some people recommend Haddo's too!?). I don't taste or smell the chocolate, though there is a chocolate-type smoothness to the smoke. Vanilla? If I hadn't read the description, I never would have guessed. Then there is the Latakia. It is sparingly applied, though definitely a flavor component. It adds extra depth and a nice smokey quality. While it doesn't obscure the flavor of the other component tobaccos like so many English blends, it masks their nuances that make them so enjoyable. To my mind, it is comparable to (but different from) adding cigar leaf to a Virginia blend.

I don't dislike BCF. It was pleasant, though I became impatient for the end of the smoke. In trying to be too many things for too many people, it loses the qualities that make some other GH blends so amazing.

Anyone want to trade?

Addendum, January 2005: I traded away most of my stash after finishing the review above. I took what I had off of the shelf a year later, and really enjoyed this. It still lacks complexity, but it has a straightforward, sweet, friendly seductiveness to it. I know find myself reaching for it when I want something a little sweet and soft but with enough tobacco flavor to keep me interested. I've upgraded my recommendation by a star.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-12-29		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I smoked this blend out of a churchwarden. The flakes are a bit moist for my taste, but seems to rub out and light easily enough. It has a pleasant but unusual taste accented with an ever so slight floral note. And yes, soap. Much soap.

Overall it it a pleasant change of pace smoke, but certainly not something I would smoke often nor go out of my way to obtain.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Beer (345)	2004-10-07		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I can't get all the hype... It's a delicate, absolutely not bitey, very evenly burning flake, very lightly flavored (it's hard to guess chocolate either from the smell of the flakes, or from the taste of the smoke!)... and very boring.

It's not as rich as some other Lakeland virginias, and the flavor is quite monochromatic. Quite nice in a small bowl, but in a big one you'll grow quickly tired of it.

Absolutely tolerable and impossible to dislike... but for me, also very hard to rave upon.

PS Review based on bulk version

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Spike (296)	2004-10-02		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I have a tin of this I bought after reading quite a lot of positive reviews. So far it has not been near the top of my "greatest hits" list. Time will tell though and to be fair, I will revise or update this review at a later date. I did not find much tobacco taste in Bobs' chocolate flake. I will try some more pipes and rubbing out methods. Tasty, but just chocolate.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-09-02		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I liked this better than Rum Flake, but easily forgettable.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-07-28		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Unnoticeable

This is a very unique tobacco?a lovely flake with a unique cocoa topping. It is very different from most cased or aromatic blends, and a unique smoking experience. Much drier than most, too. More like it was treated with Hershey?s cocoa powder than with Hershey?s chocolate syrup. Underneath the casing one can also detect the floral (a.k.a. soapy) taste so common to G&H blends, which I don?t really care for.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-07-19		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I had high hopes for this one since I like Full Virginia Flake, and was hoping for a more rounded flavor with a little chocolate and more complexity. At first upon opening the tin, the combination of chocolate and Latakia smelled like chocolate covered horse manure, and the flavor of the smoke followed suit. Tried it again a couple of weeks later, and something was different. Perhaps my taste buds had changed (maybe even slightly scorched, who knows?), maybe the tin had aired out a little since being opened, and maybe my taste itself had changed since I had been smoking Squadron Leader quite a bit, but I have come to appreciate Latakia in reasonable amounts for its cool, rich, smoky quality, and though BCF is neither my favorite nor my everyday smoke, it's pleasant on oaccasion after a meal.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-06-20		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Much like RCUSElder above, I am a big fan of Latakia who is branching out into the world of Virginias. I also like the occasional aromatic as well, and when I am in the mood for an aromatic, as often as not, it?s chocolate & vanilla. Bob?s Chocolate Flake sounded like a dream come true.

Based on the reviews here and from friends, I went ahead and bought BCF in bulk, actually a bit more than I normally would with an untried tobacco. I figured this one couldn?t miss. The flakes are huge! More like slabs.

I found the bag aroma to be fairly non-distinctive, but I wasn?t worried ? I bought it to smoke after all. The moisture was a bit much, so I dried it out some. I rubbed it out most of the way and loaded up. The moment of truth ? I was about to sample the ?best of all worlds? tobacco. Flame met leaf, and the first impression I got of BCF was?. Soap. I persevered. Maybe it?ll fade, maybe it?s just the BCF combining with what I smoked in this pipe last. I held on to the hope.

As the bowl progressed, I caught subtle nuances of chocolate, and from time to time, a nice sweet Virginia flavor peeked out around the soap. I even detected Latakia now and then. The soap remained. I smoked several bowls, always in the same pipe, hoping the pipe and tobacco would finally come together and banish the soap. It never happened. I tried drying it more. I tried drying it less. I tried different pipes. Nothing worked.

I guess BCF just isn?t for me. It?s a shame too? it has depth, it has character, it has tons of potential. Unfortunately the potential isn?t realized. To my taste, the soap is just too much.

Oh, and by the way, the admonitions of other reviewers of BCF flavoring the pipe should not be taken lightly. It is tenacious, to say the least.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-06-19		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I like G & H tobaccos so when I tried this I was not surprised to enjoy this. This is a rather odd aromatic in that the chocolate overtones are detectable as well as the floral overtones that are famous in the lake district tobaccos. Like most of the other reviewers I did not detect the latakia componant although I am sure that the latakia adds to the overall effect of the flavors in this blend. As with all G & H blends the tobacco used is of the highest quality. This burns clean and cool and is quite full of flavor. If you enjoy lake district tobaccos you will probably enjoy this. I would give this the highest rating except for I like this as more of a desert type tobacco and the taste is not suitable for me on a regular basis.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tslots (8)	2004-05-15		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Another of my favorites. On first examination this blend reminds me of sliced bacon. The pre-smoke aroma is very rich ... sweet, aged Virginia with some mild smokiness. You can either rub this out or just cut some and roll it into your pipe. The cocoa flavors are evident while smoking, but very muted. This burns very well, but can get hot if you go too fast. No gurgles or bite. Highly recommended.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-05-02		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

An excellent semi-aromatic, semi-sweet dark blend;dense and sufficiently moist. It's like smoking a cup of espresso. I find it more like coffee than chocolate, though the cocoa and coffee plants are related and neither is sweet without the addition of sugar. I find this tobacco reasonably easy to light and keep lit and I think those who have difficulty in this regard may be attempting to smoke a dense, moist flake in a pipe with inadequate draw. One Mr. Rick Newcombe has published articles arguing that many, if not most, pipes have inadequate draw which contributes to tongue bite, bitterness, and overall frustration (read Mr. Newcombe's book, "In Search of Pipe Dreams"). Also, I note one of the previous reviewers indicated that he cut up "Bob's Chocolate" with scissors in order to pack it more easily. No need! Gawith & Hoggarth has already thought of that and it comes in the form of "Bob's Square Cut", reviewed elsewhere. I give "Bob's Chocolate Flake" a grade of "B+".

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-04-07		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

OK, this is some amazingly tasty stuff. No, really. It's a very pretty medium-brown flake shot through with some gold and some black that has the lovely scent of chocolate and tobacco. It rubs out easily or smokes well just rolled up whole and stuffed into a pipe, lights and burns well and tastes heavenly.

Initially, the flavors are bright and deep with the tobacco very noticeable underneath. Smooth, lightly chocolatey and smoky-woodsy at first, the flavors mostly burn off by halfway. Once that happens, the tobacco flavor left is mild and pleasant. Some find it bland, but I enjoy the easy let-down from the flavors and the mildly sweet smoke with a tinge of cigarriness underneath. It burns clean but does leave some flavor behind so it's best in a dedicated pipe.

Overall, this is a great smoke and one of my favorites from Gawith, Hoggarth & Co.

---

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2004-02-24		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

If someone who had never smoked a pipe in their life asked me for a solid reccomendation of a blend to try I would suggest this great tobacco to them wholeheartedly.It's not overpowering.Yet it's taste is rich and full.G&H makes the "Rolls Royce" of tobacco's and this one is their BEST!.. Highly Recommended! prep

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-11-12		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

I have smoked about 2oz of this in 2 weeks and find it to be a joy! I got this on recomendation from a bunch of friends, and am glad I did. The flavor is very pleasant and slightly of clove to my taster. The latakia drifts in and out and it is not a biter at all. The room note is very nice according to the wife, so if you are looking for a change I'd say this is a good one..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-11-05		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

I am really beginning to enjoy these old-fangled english flakes! Bob's is not one of my favorites but is clearly good quality tabak, and worth having in ye olde virginia line-up.

I am a latakia-lover foremost, but had a hard time finding my favorite weed in this blend. I guess that 8% is not enough to surpass my latakia-detection threshold. Near the end of the bowl, I detect a hint of the stuff, but as the blend in general builds in dark flavor near the bottom, it is hard to say just what the dominant player is. That is OK though, as this blend stand well on it's own w/o a strong latakia kick.

I first smoked this in a small-bowled meerschaum that I have dedicated to scented english flakes (vs. aromatics), and thought I detected a slight floral soapiness in BCF. In a briar dedicated to straight Vas. and Va/Ps though, I did not taste this at all.

I would have a hard time really classifying this as a "scented flake" as the chocolate aroma is so subtle. I also found this to burn a bit hot as well, especially in the middle third of the bowl. It is the last third that keeps me coming back for more.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-10-16		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Simply put, this tobacco is very tasty and very unique. An old-school offering which comes in larger flakes which are dark with specks of light tobacco. The tin arome is slightly (not overwhelmingly) sweet, with a base of pressed/steamed English VAs (not McLelland). A bit moist but will rub-out easily.

The taste is very much Gawith, with an under current similar to their Brown Flake. Rich and dark with billows of smoke. Although advertised as having Latakia, this is by no means a Latakia blend. Hints of Latakia smokiness and body, but if you are not a Latakia fan, you should still be ok here. Kind of like adding backbone, but no more. Slightly sweet, but not a modern aromatic by any means. Moderately strong with a bit of a nicotine kick.

All in all a hard tobacco to describe. Very unique. If you like the old-fashioned pressed tobaccos (Gawith, S. Gawith, Esoterica's Penzance, etc), you should try this. One of a kind. I really enjoyed this tobacco.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blackhorse (96)	2003-09-30		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Two and a half cents...OK, I love this site...all the really excellent tobaccos I treasure, I've found through the "efforts" of other puffers...such a burden, but what interesting reading. Now re: BCF. After my research here I ordered some. Some here love it, some don't find it at all compatible...but I'm not disappointed in the least. I first tried it in a Tom Spanu for which NOTHING really sang - but this is a match made in heaven!!! Not much choco-aroma to my nose (just a little) but that flavor gives it an under-strength/smoothness that is excellent. More to my amazement are the burning qualities and the astounding coolness of the smoke. Fantastic. I haven't tried an extended DGT but 10 - 15 minutes are no problem. I'll always have this around.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pounder 5000 (178)	2003-09-11		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

This is another interesting tobacco from Gawith and Co. This flake is an excellent aromatic in that the flavoring is expertly done, while still allowing for the taste of quality tobacco to come out. I especially liked the use of Latakia in this blend. So why not a higher rating? Just like Glengarry flake, I found the flavorings to just not be my bag. They simply don't do it for me on a personal level. Don't get me wrong, this is a quality tobacco and well worth the price, but if you don't really like the flavoring it just won't work. The burning qualities are excellent by the way, although it will bite if provoked. Everyone should try this at least once, just to see if the flavoring is to their taste. If it is, they just hit a home run!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-08-12		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I must say that it was with some trepidation that I approached this highly regarded blend. I'm a dedicated Virginia Va/Perique smoker, enjoying the occasional cross-over (a la Haddo's Delight), but generally avoiding heavily scented or aromatic blends. I was pleasantly surprised and, though this won't be an all the time smoke for me, I have been enjoying a bowl occasionally.

The tin nose is what almost turned me off. Many of the Gawith, Hoggarth and Co. flakes are heavily scented-- to the point of distraction in many cases. Mixing tobacco and aftershave is not usually my idea of a great smoke, but I figured one of the less noxious smelling (and most highly thought of) blends would warrant at least a bowl or two.

With components ranging from light tan to dark brown, the mottled flake is beautiful. I've thought this of many of the Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. blends-- they are pretty, no?

It burns evenly and cleanly for me, to a mostly white/light gray ash. Lighting was no problem. I am fairly diligent about breaking up flakes before I smoke them and the moisture content was about right (pretty much directly out of the original packaging). It stayed lit with few relights-- overall I'm impressed by the burning properties.

To me at least, I find the perfumy, flowery scent to recede as I smoke the bowl. Though it's strong upon first light, it seems to burn off some. The chocolate and vanilla flavors remain with it through the bowl and are (surprisingly) appealing.

I don't find that the flavorings overwhelm the blend. The underlying Virginias still make themselves known and the latakia, while not always at the forefront, seems to round out the flavor some.

All in all, I've been surprised and delighted at how much I enjoy this. It won't supplant my very favorite blends, but it will certainly serve as a very nice change of pace.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-08-05		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I am new to pipe smoking. Several years ago I smoked drug-store tobaccos with mild interest, and someone recommended this one to me. I am highly impressed with the flavor of this blend! I smoke it every evening now. I'll never use ordinary tobacco store tobacco again!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-08-03		Mild	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

There are aromatics, and there are English blends. And then there's Bob's Chocolate Flake, which is a wonderful marriage of the two. Arriving at my door in nice, long flakes usually no wider than one inch across, GH&Co claims that there are chocolate, cocoa, and vanilla flavorings, and I can certainly smell the chocolate and cocoa in the bag...still, I've never really found the vanilla.

Upon lighting, in my mind, the predominant taste is smooth English, with a delightful but nowhere near overpowering latakia. As a piper that's been at it for under three years, I still have yet to get the mechanics down pat, but this is one tobacco that rarely needs a relight, just the occasional tamp. It burns dry, leaving a fluffy ash at the end, and a pleasant room aroma. Despite the latakia, this is one that even my roommates find oddly pleasant!

This is definitely an all-day smoke. It seemingly works just as well in the humidity of summertime as it does during the crisp days of Autumn or the cold days of Winter. The only drawback I can think of is that it seems to be difficult to find in brick-and-mortar stores, so I have to plan ahead far enough to order more when I'm running out.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-06-20		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This was one of the first "quality" tobaccos I tried after converting from drug store brands, and it's still one of my favorites. I'd say Bob's Chocolate Flake made me a confirmed pipe smoker. If I don't smoke a bowl every day, I do at least several times per week.

The quality of G&H's products is evident with this tobacco. Nice long flakes. This is a mild, mellow, stoved VA, with a subtle background use of Latakia. If you're not a Latakia lover, don't fear. It's used very subtly, and the stoving process marries it well with the VA's. Personally, I bearly notice any use of chocolate flavors or aromas, although the flakes are a deep chocolate brown. Just full, delicious tobacco.

One of my favorites. Highly recommended.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BostonPipe (84)	2003-06-10		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

After hearing a few of the Sherlock Holmes Pipe Club members extoll the virtue of this blend I decided to pick up a few ounces to try. I rolled several flakes and slid them into a large full-bent. After rubbing-out half a piece of flake to place on the top, the lighting commenced. I found it easy to light, without a relight needed. It burned to a dark/light-grey ash.

Mmmm, a very tasty, smooth blend, with a deeply satisfying, slight sweet flavor. The latakia holds it's own but never in an overpowering manner. As with all their blends, the quality of the tobacco is superb. This blend is definitely not like most of the "flavored" blends out there on the market, Gawith uses the flavors to accentuate the high quality tobacco-not over power it.

The taste remained consistent throughout the run of the bowl. This blend will definitely make it to my regular rotation.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JB (44)	2003-06-08		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

Interesting reading all of the reviews on this site related to BCF. First of all, my aromatic smoking days are long behind me. However, this blend, and Rum Flake have taught me that there are a few credible aromatics out there. BCF is a wonderful pressed tobacco with just a hint of chocolate/vanilla in the bag scent. When you light it up, none of the toping comes through. What does come through is that wonderful G&H virginia blend goodness. I found this blend to be very approachable and while not an "exciting" blend, it is quite tasty when you're looking for a comfortable tobacco without a lot of zing.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RCUSElder (244)	2003-06-07		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

As one who generally smokes Latakia dominated blends and who recently has been exploring the Virginia geography, the name for this blend intrigued me enough to try it. I purchased it in bulk and the strips were long! My local tobacconist cut them with scissors! The stips rubbed out easily and packed well in my Peterson XL-90 dedicated to Virginia blends.At first light I get a floral aroma, not chocolate at all, after the re-light the same delightful floral aroma begins to awaken with the chocolate undertones. About mid-bowl, it settles into a wonderful chorus of flavor that is not overpowering and is really enjoyable! At the end of the bowl, the flavor does get a little bit stronger but not by much and also gets a little nuttier, (probably the latakia). Overall, this blend is a good, medium strength virginia with the chocolate flavor put in at at just the right amount. Definitely recommended!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-05-10		Strong	Mild to Medium	Full	Tolerable to Strong

I like Bob's but not for any of the reasons I thought I might: I didn't find it overly chocolatey, so it doesn't fulfill an aromatic urge, and the latakia is so subtle that I can hardly consider it a latakia blend either. Yes, there is sort of a chocolate note to it; there's a touch of the classic G&H floral nose to it; the latakia does provide a nice smoky background...but I suppose I like it because I think of it primarily as a Va flake, and an excellent one, with some very skillfully executed twists and turns that make the smoking of it quite interesting indeed. At the right moisture level (for me, on the dry side) Bob's will rub or stuff just fine and relights won't be an issue. Lastly, Bob's is strong. Consider yourself warned!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	NEWMAN (305)	2003-05-07		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Beautiful flakes ~1.5" x 6" are mainly brown VAs with some lighter and dark black tobaccos included. The moisture content is perfect and results in a cool smoke with an even burn and no relights. I expected the chocolate in its name to be more prevalent as with an aromatic but really didn't taste it although it was slightly evident in the room aroma and hid the Latakia from others that don't enjoy that aroma. The Latakia content was just right and not as heavy or overpowering in taste or aroma as with a Penzance or Bengal Slices. It's there thruout the smoke but just @ the right level. Comparatively expensive but a great and enjoyable smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2003-05-06		Medium	Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

Absolutely delicious! This wonderful tobacco is a remarkable blend that develops as you smoke the bowl; and each stage has its own charm. The latakia keeps the blend surprisingly cool, and adds depth. No one will complain about the room note. Stays lit and burns well, no matter if you rub it out, or fill the pipe as it is (loose flake).

I find the English 'scented' flakes and tobaccos are different than what one might normally consider an 'aromatic'; more subtle, with the flavours truly enhancing the natural tobacco taste.

In any case, I highly recommend this - it is my favourite tobacco.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rev. Smoke (24)	2002-08-13		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I am not a fan of aromatics, and so, to buy a blend with the word 'chocolate' in the name just seemed to be begging the question. Well, we all make mistakes. Mine was in not trying this earlier when I had opportunity.

I haven't smoked enough of it to know whether or not it will flavor a bowl beyond recognition, but I am guessing it will not. The flavorings are very, very, subdued. They are subtle in the pouch, a ethereal mist on the palate, and a faint fragrance in the room. Well-done!

I ordered this without realizing there was any Latakia in it. It was a pleasant surprise, as I like Latakia. It is very well done in this blend.

While I cannot afford this on a regular basis, if I could...

I smoke it on occasion, but I highly recommend it. 4 out of 5 halos.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2002-01-24		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

A good crossover tobacco for latakia smokers wanting to branch off into VA's . I like to cut this one into cubes with scissors . Tasty !

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Quiggifur (99)	2023-02-26		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Tin note: Islay Scotch, maybe a suggestion of chocolate. Smoke: No Islay, just latakia, and slightly more than a hint of chocolate. Mildly sweet. I'm especially sensitive to latakia, it seems that no matter how little is added to a blend, that's most of what I'll taste. This may be the mildest latakia presence in a latakia blend I've tried up until this point, and I can almost feel justified in calling the profile latakia + chocolate. Really getting no burley or Virginia influence at all, even chocolate is somewhat of a stretch. What else to say, except that it's very good, and it'll definitely scratch the latakia itch.

Getting very slight hints of Islay and Virginia grassy notes when retrohaling, late bowl. More various whisky at times as well.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	The Printer Piper (18)	2023-02-24		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

First, what I thought it was - It would be a typical Lakeland blend with a nice floral note and mild taste of dark chocolate, with a Latakia kicker.

What it actually was - Almost no Lakeland essence at all, almost zero Latakia found and ever so slightly - now and then - a hint of dark chocolate taste.

This was a Burley forward and Virginia blend shredded-flake. It had perfect moisture out of the tin and also had a very nice chocolate tin note - No Lakeland essence at all in my tin. It burns hot down to a white ash and had a nice room note, but it really had nothing that would bring me back for more. The Nic-hit was light/medium at the half way mark. Not bad - but also not great.

Pipe Used: Savineli 2019 Christmas 408

Age When Smoked: 2022

Purchased From: TobaccoPipes

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mijnnif (130)	2023-01-20		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Tin note is coco and slight Latakia slightly sweet. IMO this is a misunderstood blend. If you smoke it still moist its completely different than letting it dry out. I don't believe it was ever intended to be smoked moist. The tobacco is presented in very nice flakes. Fortunately my local B & M has this in bulk and most of the moisture is gone. The flakes fold nicely and can be smoked without rubbing it out at all. It burns only requiring a few relights. After some age the Lakeland taste is almost nonexistent. The coco flavor is very lite and the tobaccos flavors are prominent. The Latakia is almost undetectable in the smoke. It is noticeable in the room note and the retrohale. The flavors are Burley , lite coco and some lite citrus from the Virginias. Nic hit is right at the medium mark. I tend to smoke this in a deep large Cob it will defiantly ghost any pipe. Not sure I would smoke this all day but a few bowls are very nice. 4 stars

Pipe Used: many cobs and briars

Age When Smoked: 6 months or more

Purchased From: Chesapeake pipe and cigar

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Anthony Caridi (30)	2022-12-14		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Very subtle almost unnoticeable Lakeland taste. Creamy but light dark chocolate notes, however more in the background. The whiskey is light but noticed only in the finish. Mouth feel is smooth yet dry like. No harshness. No bite. The exceptional qualities of the tobacco are right up front. Another winner from GH.

Pipe Used: Cob

Age When Smoked: 1year

Purchased From: Allegheny Smoke Works

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (566)	2022-11-06		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Package note of chocolate liquor and campfire. Tobacco flakes are a marbled orangish browns and a little black. Tobacco is slightly damp and easily rubs out. Burns a little slow and requires few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is mild, with notes in the background of coco powder. Taste is medium and consistent, with notes of mild lemon grass, wood, earth, floral, slightly sweet, toasted nuts, and a little spicy on the retro. Virginias is leading with burley supporting. Latakia providing support with thoughts and prayers. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is good.

Pipe Used: 2013 J.M. Boswell Poker

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Benjamin Meyer (25)	2022-10-04		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

I can't detect any Latakia. The topping is kind of soapy and the chocolate is pretty mild. The overall feel is lighter and brighter than I expected, considering the components. My sample was just a few months old and pretty dry but it was mechanically very easy.

Pipe Used: A Baki meer

Age When Smoked: 6 months old

Purchased From: Sample from a friend

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