GQ Tobaccos Askwith Kake

Askwith Kake is a Virginia-Perique blend that the small English producer GQ Tobaccos prepared for Askwith Pipes. The blend's starting idea was to build a Perique-dominant smoke by raising the Perique ratio from the roughly five percent typical in this style to twenty percent. The product is pressed into a crumble cake; the needed amount is broken off and rubbed out by hand before use. The base is built from two separate Virginias: hot-air-cured leaf gives a herbal but not flat base with a measured citrus-and-honey sweetness, while steamed Virginia leaves a lightly fruity, occasionally vegetal edge. Perique layers plum, raisin, and a measured spiciness on top of these. Nicotine runs above average. Despite the high Perique ratio, the blend stays coherent rather than falling apart. The producer no longer makes this blend, so it is only found in old stock.