Upcoming VaPer Showdown

[Slow Triathlete]

[SIZE=3]Up next is Gawith and Hoggarth’s Louisiana Flake. Now whereas Samuel Gawith’s St. James Flake was small and demure, G & H’s version of this genre is a goliath!! I’m not sure if this is sold in a tin and is smaller but the sample I got was from their bulk selection and good Lord those flakes are huge!! I would say they are about 1.25 inches wide by 6 inches long!![/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]The aroma of this blend is a bit odd as there is more than a hint of chocolate in there. There is also the Lakeland floral that I enjoy so much as well. As far as I can find, this is the only VaPer offering from the venerable Gawith and Hoggarth company. Could it be that we have a mix of something similar to Gawith’s St. James Flake mixed with G & H’s Bob’s Chocolate Flake? This possible combination has piqued my interest and so on to the review.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]As I stated above, these flakes are large and take a bit to rub out. I got a pair of scissors and cut them down a bit before I started rubbing them. The moisture level seemed perfect when it was in flake form but once I cut it down it seemed a bit damp to me. So I set it out on a paper towel for about 30 minutes and it seemed ready to go.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]After being cut down the flakes become a lot more pliable and this blend is fairly easy to stuff down in the bowl. The pipe I used had a medium-large size bowl. It might not be as easy trying to stuff these strands into a small bowl like on a churchwarden. It took to the lighter really fast and after one false light it was off and racing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]The initial flavors were easy to discern. Virginia, yep it’s in there. Perique, yet it’s in there too. Lakeland taste, yep it’s in there. But there is something on the outlying edges that was just whispering in there. After a few puffs I was able to identify it. Chocolate. Now because I had never run into this flavor combination I was excited and worried all at the same time. I was excited because the tastes coming together at this point were delicious but I was worried that if one started to dominate then the great taste would diminish. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]After the halfway mark my worry began to slip away. They had nailed this blend. It was great all the way through. I highly recommend this blend. While it may not be your favorite, the addition of the chocolate to a VaPer blend is something interesting to behold. It also makes this blend hard to rank. I think that this blend will take over the 8th spot. I could rank it higher but because the chocolate taste is added it’s not a true VaPer taste and it would be unfair to the genuine VaPers above it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]1) McConnell Scottish Cake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]2) Samuel Gawith’s St. James Flake
3) Escudo
4) GL Pease Filmore
5) H & H AJ’s VaPer
6) Peretti’s Park Square[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]7) H & H Anniversary Kake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] G & H Louisiana Flake
9) Reiner’s Long Golden Flake
10) Treasures of Ireland - Limerick[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]11) [/SIZE][SIZE=3]Dorchester[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]12) Luxury Bullseye Flake
13) McClelland Bulk 2015
14) GL Pease Telegraph Hill
15) Kajun Kake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]16) Luxury Navy Flake[/SIZE]

Originally Posted by Slow Triathlete

[SIZE=3]Up next is Gawith and Hoggarth’s Louisiana Flake. Now whereas Samuel Gawith’s St. James Flake was small and demure, G & H’s version of this genre is a goliath!! I’m not sure if this is sold in a tin and is smaller but the sample I got was from their bulk selection and good Lord those flakes are huge!! I would say they are about 1.25 inches wide by 6 inches long!![/SIZE]

Samual Gawiths flakes in bulk are that size too, they use the same box size for their 1 pound of flake as G&H does.

[Slow Triathlete]

I have a pound box of Samuel Gawith's St James Flakes and they are long and skinny. I must have got a weird batch of the Louisiana Flakes because these things were a lot bigger. I did however only buy 4 oz. of Louisiana Flake. Do they have a different size for their loose bulk?

Originally Posted by Slow Triathlete

I have a pound box of Samuel Gawith's St James Flakes and they are long and skinny. I must have got a weird batch of the Louisiana Flakes because these things were a lot bigger. I did however only buy 4 oz. of Louisiana Flake. Do they have a different size for their loose bulk?

I can't really say for sure about Samuel Gawith's St James Flake its not one i've gotten by the pound but i've found the other Sam G flake to be wide and long. But who i'm i say, our understanding of size Vs size may be off. And loose bulk is taken from the 1 pound packages and more often then not is broken to a degree because its abit dryer which makes it weak.

[frankluke]

how many more blends are you gonna try?

i wonder where beacon would fit in, do you have that/want to add it to the showdown?

[Slow Triathlete]

[SIZE=3]Root, [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]I just figured out what I was doing wrong in the flake size comparison. I went back to my notes and I believe that I was comparing the bulk G & H Louisiana Flake to the smaller tinned version of the St. James Flake. I didn’t have the bulk St. James Flake in my cellar yet. That is a newer addition (as in last weekend newer).[/SIZE]


[SIZE=3]Frankluke,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Funny you should mention Beacon. I just got home a short while ago and there was a box waiting for me on my front porch. It was from Bruce (hunter1127). He traded me a tin of 2006 Christmas Cheer for a tin of Scottish Cake. Inside the box were a couple of stowaways!! There was a small sample of P & W High Hat and Rattray’s 3 Noggins (K & K Blend) and there was also half full tin of Beacon sitting in there. So thanks to Bruce I can now say hell yeah Beacon is in the showdown!!! Thanks again Bruce.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Here are the blends that I have left so far:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]PCCA Beacon[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]H & H Louisiana Red[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]C & D Night Train[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]C & D Bayou Morning Flake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Dunbar[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Solani 633[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]McC St. James Woods[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Former’s Birdseye Flake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Paul Olsen Blend #111[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]There may be more that I have stashed away but that is all that I can think of off of the top of my head.[/SIZE]

[BigFrankMD]

There is a bulk form of St. James Flake?

[Slow Triathlete]

There sure is. Check out:

http://www.smokingpipes.com/tobacco/...oduct_id=25469

They sell out of it frequently so you have to jump on it when it is available. I bought a 1 lb box when I was down there last weekend (or two weekends ago. I forget).

[BigFrankMD]

cool, I didnt know it was sold in bulk. I dont like it as much as the 2015 bulk va/per but I feel its worth having on hand!

[squeeze left]

Originally Posted by Slow Triathlete

[SIZE=3][/SIZE][SIZE=3]Here are the blends that I have left so far:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]PCCA Beacon[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]H & H Louisiana Red[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]C & D Night Train[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]C & D Bayou Morning Flake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Dunbar[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Solani 633[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]McC St. James Woods[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Former’s Birdseye Flake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Paul Olsen Blend #111[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][/SIZE]

Great reviews! Can't wait to hear how Night Train ranks.

[IHT]

i don't think i've said this at all, but i'm really impressed with the thread and reviews. not cuz i'm a va/per 'ho, but because of the work you've done... very cool.

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Slow Triathlete again."

[Alyks]

Originally Posted by IHT

i don't think i've said this at all, but i'm really impressed with the thread and reviews. not cuz i'm a va/per 'ho, but because of the work you've done... very cool.

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Slow Triathlete again."

Agreed. RG heading your way.

[smokinmojo]

Originally Posted by IHT

i don't think i've said this at all, but i'm really impressed with the thread and reviews.

Absolutely! Everyone puts their palate/thoughts on the line for one tobacco or cigar. This is a classic thread. (I have read the thing from start to finish a couple times, and i'm sure it'll be a couple more.)

Kudos

[Slow Triathlete]

[SIZE=3]Thanks everyone for your kind remarks. This has turned from just a Showdown to me to a passion so to speak. After reviewing so many blends one would think that you would become jaded to trying anymore but I always look forward to the next blend. While I didn't know that there were so many different VaPers out there when I started I'm glad that there is a wide variety of choice in this genre. Everyone's tastes are different but I hope that my reviews give a little bit of guidance to everyone when they are delving into the wonderful world of VaPers. Okay, enough of this. Let us move on to the next review.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=3]Woooo Woooo, it’s time to hop on the train. The C & D Night Train that is.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Everyone who I talked to about this blend had the same response. “Get ready, you’re in for a ride. I hope you like nicotine!!” And then they would usually chuckle. They all told me that this was one strong smoke and not to smoke it on an empty stomach. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]I ordered a 4 oz sample of this from pipesandcigars.com and it arrived in brick form so I quickly started pulling it apart and rubbing it out a little bit. It seems to have the perfect moisture content straight away. I put this in a jar to let it rest a bit after rubbing it out and unfortunately I forgot about it. Now it’s about two months later and I think that it’s about time to break this stuff out and give it a whirl. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Right off the bat this blend gives off a sweet/sour fruity kind of taste. Delicious in my opinion. The spiciness of the Perique also kicks in very early on. Whoa, I can tell already that this one is going to pack a punch. This blend stays lit better than most that I have encountered. But watch out because if you start puffing on this too fast you will regret it. I let it get away from me one time when I was reading and not paying attention. Didn’t really notice anything except the spiciness of the Perique became almost overwhelming and the next thing I know my head starts to swirl from the nicotine. I actually had to put the pipe down and go to bed after that one.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]If you take your time with this and sip on it very slowly it is a very, very good smoke. The sweet/sour flavor remains pretty consistent throughout the smoke but the sour takes over a bit near the end but not in a bad way. The spiciness of the Perique is present the whole way through and really adds to this blend I feel. It adds a kind of dark spice that plays in contrast to the sweet/sour flavor that I mentioned.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]I assume that the room aroma is as strong as the blend because at one point my wife walked out on the porch and said, “Man, that stuff smells like it would kick your butt!” She wasn’t far off of the mark.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]While I wouldn’t recommend this to a new pipe smoker, if you have a few years under your belt I would highly recommend it. Some people enjoy the stronger stuff and some don’t. I think that I lie somewhere in between. While I will definitely keep this on hand for an occasional smoke there is no way that I could smoke this on a daily basis. For those of you who may be cigar smokers I would compare this blend to the La Flor Dominica Chisel. This is so far the strongest blend that I have smoked so far in this genre but it mixes strength with great taste and that is what sets it apart. I think that this is going to take over the 9th spot. While it could go higher based on the quality of the tobacco I feel that the overwhelming strength of this blend actually hurts it because, for me at least, I can’t smoke it everyday. Someone who likes the stronger blends more than I do would probably rate it higher. I’ll leave it up to your judgment.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Here are the current standings:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]1) McConnell Scottish Cake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]2) Samuel Gawith’s St. James Flake
3) Escudo
4) GL Pease Filmore
5) H & H AJ’s VaPer
6) Peretti’s Park Square[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]7) H & H Anniversary Kake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] G & H Louisiana Flake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]9) C & D Night Train
10) Reiner’s Long Golden Flake
11) Treasures of Ireland - Limerick[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]12) [/SIZE][SIZE=3]Dorchester[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]13) Luxury Bullseye Flake
14) McClelland Bulk 2015
15) GL Pease Telegraph Hill
16) Kajun Kake[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]17) Luxury Navy Flake[/SIZE]

[BigFrankMD]

once again thanks for the reviews. looks like its time to stock up!