Kendal – No7 Broken Flake

October 2010 Nottingham Pipe Club Meeting. (2nd Tobacco)

Blended in : England
Contains : Fire/Air Cured Virginia & Burley
Cased/Top : Lakeland (Sweet) Style
Cut : Broken Flake

Our good friends up in Kendal provide us with a tobacco for each pipe club, Octobers meeting saw No7 Broken flake. This tobacco is comprised of 76% Flue Cured, 16% Fire Cured & 8% Burley. All finished off with the sweet soapy Lakeland flavours. The tobacco is a milder blend of Conniston, which has 76% of Fire cured with only 16% of the Flue cured.

I will have to admit im not the biggest fan of the straight Lakeland blends. The soapy flavours have there place in the world, I just don’t really go for them. Ennerdale Flake gets away with it, mainly thanks to pungent flavourings.

Out of the pack this tobacco smells divine. A sweet but nutty, almost vanilla aroma. The flake is already broken up enough to fill, I did rub the top layer a little finer. The tobacco lit fairly easily, and I was instantly greeted with the soap. A Very smooth start this tobacco. The flavours started coming through after a few draws, some sweet fruit and Vanilla. After a good 1/3 of the bowl, it’s started getting a bit warm on the tongue. I packed it a little tighter and carried on.

By the time I hit the middle run, the tobacco had become a very rich and warm smoke. The smoothness had subdued along with the tobacco flavours, leaving what tasted like just the casings and a remnant of the Lakeland flavour. Towards the end it became very hot and bitter. It took a while to get here, in this last half the tobacco tended to go out a little too easily.

I enjoyed the No7 a lot more than I thought I would. The flavours why not being a big and bold aromatic, blended well with the tobaccos in the first half. But lost there synergy by the second. While getting a little hot towards the end, the smoke was smooth and supped very easily. I have since had a few more bowls of the No7 and found it burnt a little better the second time round, but still got hot in the final half.