As far as I can gather, all Lakelands are aromatic but not all Aromatics are Lakelands. If this is crrect, what makes a Lakeland a Lakeland? Is it extracts from flowers?
Lakeland vs Aromatic
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All Lakeland blends are not aromatic, though Lakeland aromatics are famous (notorious) for ghosting pipes. But many GH&Co. and SH blends are not aromatic and do not ghost pipes in any serious way. I can attest because I have on hand Irish X black, a pure Virginia with no aromatic flavoring, and Scotch Mixture. also unflavored. Their aromatics are noted for a rose geranium flavor and scent that absolutely requires a designated pipe. I think Missouri Meerschaum has a definite market share in selling pipes for the Lakeland aromatics.
As many know, Lakeland refers to the part of the UK where the blends are made, otherwise known as the Lake District in northern England. It is beautiful country, named for its many lakes, endless hiking trails, fields of daffodils, and its populations of roaming sheep that baa at your from rocky outcroppings. During the summer, sunset comes around ten o'clock, when the fog settles in, and you are apt to encounter old gents ambling down the lanes like ghosts in the mist, smoking their pipes.
As many know, Lakeland refers to the part of the UK where the blends are made, otherwise known as the Lake District in northern England. It is beautiful country, named for its many lakes, endless hiking trails, fields of daffodils, and its populations of roaming sheep that baa at your from rocky outcroppings. During the summer, sunset comes around ten o'clock, when the fog settles in, and you are apt to encounter old gents ambling down the lanes like ghosts in the mist, smoking their pipes.
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What a wonderful mental picture you have painted.
Irish X black is a Lakeland. Never would have known. Whenever people mention a Lakeland its commonly about sauce and frequently ghosting. Live and learn. I have black Irish X. I'll have to fire up a bowl. Thanks .
Heck, I learn something every time I visit Forums. Much is news to me.
Ok, this is a thread for me!
I'll happily try to disentangle the following for you: Lakeland tobaccos are by default tobaccos made by the Gawith & Hoggarth company (which includes Samuel Gawith, a sub-brand within it) because this company is sitting on the edge of the UK's Lake District as mso said.
Some of the tobaccos they make are wonderfully flavoured (think aromatic, but I disagree with the use of this term despite its widespread use, I prefer saying they are artificially flavoured, ie with ADDED ingredients) with unique combinations of plant and other extracts.
Some of these flavourings are indeed floral, and an acquired taste. A lot of smokers dislike them because they can be intense and unusual, those of us who like them don't just like them, we LOVE them and nothing hits the spot quite like they do. They are distinctly old-timey, that's why you will read bullshit like "they smell like grandma's soap/bath mat/underwear". They are very different from other flavoured tobaccos (think, aromatics) because a) the sauce is (or was...) very strong, and b) because they are backed by top quality tobacco beneath, which you can taste. Comparatively a lot of more run of the mill flavoured offerings are basically tasteless, cheap cavendish. Not so the Gawith stuff.
Smokers who don't like Gawith flavoured tobaccos lump them all under "Lakelands" and disparage/avoid them. More for us who like them!
I'll happily try to disentangle the following for you: Lakeland tobaccos are by default tobaccos made by the Gawith & Hoggarth company (which includes Samuel Gawith, a sub-brand within it) because this company is sitting on the edge of the UK's Lake District as mso said.
Some of the tobaccos they make are wonderfully flavoured (think aromatic, but I disagree with the use of this term despite its widespread use, I prefer saying they are artificially flavoured, ie with ADDED ingredients) with unique combinations of plant and other extracts.
Some of these flavourings are indeed floral, and an acquired taste. A lot of smokers dislike them because they can be intense and unusual, those of us who like them don't just like them, we LOVE them and nothing hits the spot quite like they do. They are distinctly old-timey, that's why you will read bullshit like "they smell like grandma's soap/bath mat/underwear". They are very different from other flavoured tobaccos (think, aromatics) because a) the sauce is (or was...) very strong, and b) because they are backed by top quality tobacco beneath, which you can taste. Comparatively a lot of more run of the mill flavoured offerings are basically tasteless, cheap cavendish. Not so the Gawith stuff.
Smokers who don't like Gawith flavoured tobaccos lump them all under "Lakelands" and disparage/avoid them. More for us who like them!
Well we 'Gawith's' have no clue what Lakeland tobacco's mean in terms of flavouring. Presumably it is tobaccos made on the edge of the Lake District but then seems to have evolved into the 'Granny pants flavour'. The term Lakeland does not really refer to the region except in cases like Lakeland Villages, Lakeland landscape etc. There is Lakeland 'Plastics', now known just as Lakeland, a massive local company that produce all sorts of tuba-ware and kitchen stuff you just do not need, there is Lakeland ice cream etc....
Much as the picture painted above is very poetic. as I sit here in the rain and cold at the end of July, I am beginning to wonder what the sun looks like.......but certainly wandering sheep are part of the landscape, two escapees having been detained in my drive this afternoon until the local farmer came to collect them, although I am pretty sure they are back out wandering the road again this evening!
Much as the picture painted above is very poetic. as I sit here in the rain and cold at the end of July, I am beginning to wonder what the sun looks like.......but certainly wandering sheep are part of the landscape, two escapees having been detained in my drive this afternoon until the local farmer came to collect them, although I am pretty sure they are back out wandering the road again this evening!
Rain is predominantly my experience of the Lake District (although none the worse for that - verdant!). Four seasons in a day. For anyone who hasn't heard of him, Alfred Wainwright made some wonderful handdrawn walking guides to the Lake District (Lakeland) and is a very interesting figure. It's a landscape very close to my heart and I have family living near by in the Yorkshire dales.
All I'd add to the above regarding the tobaccos is that many claim that the 'unscented' G&H Lakeland tobaccos have some of the Lakeland flavouring essence from being run through the same machines (i.e. Brown Flake unscented). I do notice this, but it could be merely the power of suggestion! I'm a huge fan of Lakeland tobaccos, and smoke a lot of Ennerdale, unscented Brown Flake and unscented Dark Flake, though my all-time favourite G&H blend is Grasmere, which has a rose geranium flavouring and delicious rich tobaccos.
I have to admit, to the tourist, which I was, on a not-too-rainy day, the Lake District looks like paradise. One evening we took in an English music hall performance, a lot of Nineteenth Century nostalgia, with many tourists in the audience, but true to the region I think.
Having read some Wordsworth, my late wife and I visited his church and his headstone, and Dove Cottage where he and other poets stayed. If you are attuned to these things, it is quite a pilgrimage.
In his day, Wordsworth was a major poet and literary celebrity who also had a long prosperous career as a Civil Servant. Try to find an example of that today in the U.S. You can't.
Having read some Wordsworth, my late wife and I visited his church and his headstone, and Dove Cottage where he and other poets stayed. If you are attuned to these things, it is quite a pilgrimage.
In his day, Wordsworth was a major poet and literary celebrity who also had a long prosperous career as a Civil Servant. Try to find an example of that today in the U.S. You can't.