Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Clan Aromatic (Original)

(2.04)
A blend of 14 different tobaccos. Mild, cool and slow burning with unique aromatic qualities.
Notes: Recipe was changed substantially after 1998, probably at the same time that manufacture was turned over to STG (Orlik). Due to EU regulations, this is renamed and sold in those countries as "Original".

Details

Brand Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG)
Blended By Scandinavian Tobacco Group
Manufactured By Scandinavian Tobacco Group
Blend Type Aromatic
Contents Black Cavendish, Burley, Cavendish, Kentucky, Maryland, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring Alcohol / Liquor, Other / Misc
Cut Shag
Packaging 50 grams pouch
Country Denmark
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.04 / 4
14

46

52

66

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 178 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 19, 2009 Mild Medium to Strong Mild to Medium Strong
Clan was a kind of gimmick tobacco back in the 1960s, mainly because of its odd and distinctive room note. In those days, no one had ever come across anything like it, and (along with Holland House) it enjoyed considerable popularity for a while, if only as an oddity. My then girlfriend loved it, and virtually insisted that I smoke it. In a certain sense it was (I think, looking back) a young man's tobacco: you smoked it if you wanted to smoke a pipe but wanted also to distance yourself from the St Bruno-smoking old codgers.

Clan still has its devotees, even in a world so full of exotic tastes and smells. It's cheap and cheerful, at any rate (once upon a time it was relatively pricey). It certainly isn't 'cool and slow burning', though. Even smoked slowly it's very hot and quickly gone, and it will certainly barbecue the beginner's tongue. You either like the room note or you don't (it isn't as pronounced these days as it used to be). I don't, and I find Clan far too hot to be enjoyable. It would be interesting to know what the '14 different tobaccos' are. The name and packet design seem intended to suggest that Clan has a Scottish character of some kind. I wonder why?

Worth a try, I guess, like everything else; but not recommended: too dry, too hot, too odd and bland in flavour. It's a tobacco that, to my mind, is all negatives and no positives, and I can't imagine why anybody likes it; I'd rather bite off one of my own fingers than smoke it again. To my taste, at least, Clan is horrible stuff.

Why, I wonder, do supermarket brands like this, mediocre or worse, become and stay popular enough to BE supermarket brands, available everywhere, whereas first-rate tobaccos are so hard to come by outside specialist tobacconists, and so often cease production? A deep question of economics, this.
PurchasedFrom: Available more or less anywhere
27 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 14, 2013 Very Mild Very Mild Mild Tolerable
The horrors of Clan are well-documented on this site. To repeat what is often said: it has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. It is a tobacco dreamed up by a cigarette smoker who is making a bad guess at the pipe-smoking experience. If you're reading, it's not even close, my friend.

It is often said that over-the-counter brands rely heavily on casings for effect and flavour. In Clan the casing is napalm, and the flavour is fire. It will burn your pipe, your fingers, your tongue; and it will probably toast the roof of your mouth if you're foolish enough to persist in smoking it.

Smoked in a pipe it is not really possible to differentiate between the different types of tobacco blended to make Clan; mainly because the pipe quickly becomes a fire tunnel. By rolling Clan in a cigarette it becomes possible to taste a variety of flavours. However, they do not mix well together - there's no subtlety or art in the blending; and the tobacco does not have a defining moment. Another major problem is that Clan appears to have no discernible nicotine hit, so as both pipe and cigarette tobacco it fails... it fails in every way.

It is mild enough because it tastes of nothing; its room note appears non-existent. I smoked it in three pipes - a 1980s Dunhill Bruyere, a 19th century Mahogany Meerschaum, and a no-name pipe. The Meerschaum gave me the best experience because I was able to sip. It didn't improve much, but at least I was aware I was smoking something other than the napalm casing.

Clan is still sold in supermarkets in the UK - it is almost always dried out because it has been sitting on the shelf for so long. I felt I wasn't giving the tobacco a fair chance without attempting to re-hydrate it; unfortunately any attempt to re-hydrate it results in it tasting even worse. I'm sure there is a way of reviving this tobacco by adding something innocuous - a slice of orange peel, or a potato peeling. Unfortunately I don't have the money to throw away on experimenting.

I've seen this tobacco referred to as cheap. In the UK, because of taxes, there is no such thing as a cheap tobacco - a bad pouch of Clan will cost you as much as a beautiful pouch of St Bruno. In such a situation you would think Clan would have been withdrawn a long time ago; yet it persists; staring sullenly at me across the tobacco counter, and every so often I answer its gaze by buying it, thinking I might be rewarded for my audacity. But every time it disappoints.

Not at all recommended. Not at all. Still, I feel reluctant to be so honest - if only because I fear Clan will be withdrawn from supermarkets and we'll find out afterwards, too late, that if only we'd crumbled some essence of cobweb into the pouch it would have become a world-class smoke. But I doubt it.

I doubt Clan very much.
19 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 04, 2013 Medium Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
Hello All, I am new to pipe smoking - 28 years old. Being smoking lightly for 6 months now. First of all I love the smell of CLAN due to my father smoking it for over 40 years. That's all he ever smokes. From the moment you open the well dressed packing, you are to enjoy a lovely aromatic mild smell. The very fact it has 14 different tobaccos I find rather exciting. Im no experienced pipe smoker but I find clan easy to pack my pipe. Just 3 pinches , gently pressed and im ready to light. The tobacco seems light and comes apart easily. The smell in the packet is lovely but the real joy comes when you smoke it. I find clan lights easily (only requiring one light after the first "false light"). I can often smoke a whole bowl without relighting - about 15-20 minutes. Clan is also good for relighting a bowl over a period of 2-3 times in a day for example. The biggest issue I find is clan burns very quickly and hot compared to other tobaccos I have tried (only 2-3 others ). My advise is to enjoy slowly otherwise you will get a sharp tongue bite. When I smoke clan I get lovely childhood memories of summers days, cold winters, all with the smell of clan reminding me of those occasions. All in all, I think CLAN is a lovely , mild aromatic smoke, to be enjoyed by both new and old pipe smokers. I hope this review was helpful! One trick my dad taught me the other week (first time we smoked together!) was when your pipe is getting dim, put two fingers over the bowl briefly and puff a few times. This act like when you put a fold of paper over a fire place - the air is dragged through and ignites the tobacco - a perfectly lit pipe again!
18 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 03, 2007 Medium to Strong Medium to Strong Very Full Pleasant
Okay folks, here I am again updating my opinion of Clan and not only giving it 4 stars but also letting you all know why this underrated beauty is now my holy grain of all smokes.

Reason 1: Clans flavor is unlike any other pipe tobacco out there, it is utterly unique. Unlike Condor / St Bruno and most other English blends it misses out on the soapy overtones and instead tastes a lot like burnt toast with a herbal undertone...

Reason 2: However it is what Clan does to the pipe that overshadows the taste. Smoke Clan in any pipe and it immediately becomes a CLAN pipe. This stuff literally clings to the pipe and flavors it. Here is a true story. My grandfather (g.r.h.s) passed away over 10 years ago and I inherited his old pipe. Nothing grand, just an old Alco system pipe. I had not seen him smoke that pipe for at least 10 years prior to his death and yes, even after 20 years the pipe smelt of Clan. Not many tobaccos are that individual. Clan however is one of them. If you become a Clan smoker so do your pipes and after many bowls the taste just gets stronger and stronger. But how about the burn...

Reason 3: Some time ago now I gave up pipe smoking, yes prior to finding Clan I became utterly fed up with badly burning tobaccos, tobaccos that were wet and nasty, tobaccos that were expensive and useless. Clan however saved the day because imo it burns with the greatest ease of any tobacco in the world. It is never to wet when purchased and if you have any trouble at all just let it stand in the air for a few hours. It nearly always smokes away to a fine dust and is neither hot or fast burning. With Clan in the pipe you can smoke those pipes that you though were poor smokers, the stuff is made for the pipe.But again...

Reason 4: Smoking Clan is rebellious because most people try it once and give up, they never allow time to understand the tobaccos complexities. Those of us that smoke Clan are in a way the monority and thats a good poition to be in. Who wants to be just another St Bruno nut when he can be a Clan compadre!

Reason 5:The roots of Scandinavian Tobacco Group stretch to more than 200 years ago, when the three Danish tobacco dynasties, Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker, Copenhagen (founded 1750), C.W. Obel, Aalborg (1787) and R. Færchs Fabrikker, Holstebro (1869), launched their first products.

Say no more. Clan goes back donkeys years. I love it and I hope you will. If you dont then you can always send me your unwated tins and I will put them to good use 😉

Thanks for reading.
17 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 26, 2017 Mild Medium Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
According to description, there are fourteen different tobaccos present in this blend. What I notice most is the nutty, earthy, toasty, woody burley. There’s several Virginias in the mix, and I get some earth, wood, bread, vegatation, and grass along with some tart citrus and a little tangy dark fruit as strong supporting players. The Kentucky is spicy, woody, earthy, and nutty in a condimental role. I believe a few strands of spicy, woody, earthy, floral, herbal, dryly sour dark fired Kentucky are here, too, as I detect the aspects I generally associate with it. The spicy, woody, earthy, herbal, vegatative, buttery sweet and sour, floral, smoky Orientals have a noticeable presence in a secondary role. The spicy, raisiny, plumy perique underscores the experience. The unsweetened black cavendish adds a light sugariness. The Maryland is unnoticeable. I sense a touch of smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia as well. The toppings are hard to define, but I get a little caramel, some fruit, and something floral. An alcohol based topping seems to be whiskey. The strength is mild, while the taste almost reaches the center of mild to medium. The nic-hit is very mild. Fast puffing may grant you some bite, and even a sipping pace will cause some tongue tingle. A thin cut ribbon manufacture than burns a little fast with a very consistent sweet, mildly creamy, spicy, floral taste. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, lightly lingering after taste, and room note. An all day smoke. Three stars for the flavor, one for the strong bite potential, so I settled on two stars.

-JimInks
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 24, 2016 Mild to Medium Medium Mild Very Pleasant
I am neither young nor a beginner as a pipe smoker, but I have become accustomed to Clan. This is not a great classic for the connoisseur and it's not a tobacco I would want to smoke every day, but it does have a couple of big plusses for me. The first is that my missus loves the smell rather than complains about it(I'm banned from some of the stronger ones like Navy Rolls). The second is that it's gentle on the palate - you can light up at any time and enjoy a quick pipe while having a cup of tea, or while doing something else. I mostly smoke Dunhill Standard Mixture or Squadron leader, and this is a nice change - now and again.
Pipe Used: GBD - briar with Meerschaum lining
PurchasedFrom: Online
Age When Smoked: 58
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 11, 2002 Mild Mild to Medium Mild Pleasant
While the Dutch introduced tobacco cultivation to Java and Sumatra, what they grew there was essentially Virginia leaf, because only succulent, large-leafed tobacco can be grown in such a humid climate. The small-leafed tobacco from the Caucasus needs a more arid, more high-mountain kind of environment. It would rot under the Monsoon rain.

We call small-leafed tobacco "Oriental" because it comes from the Near East?not the Far East. The British call it "Turkish", because many of the lands where "Oriental/Turkish" tobaccos are grown were once part of the Turkish ["Ottoman"] Empire, even though the principal grower of these tobaccos nowadays tends to be Greece, which conquered its independence from the Ottoman sultans as long ago as the 1820s.

Clan is a typical Dutch-style Cavendish-processed blend: a wide variety of Virginia tobaccos pressed, steamed to open its pores, topped with a mild sweetening agent. It may then be blended with cased burley, to make it less biting, and because burley is much more receptive to flavouring sauces than Virginia. If any "Turkish" condimental tobacco is added, this is done with the object of avoiding a treacly feeling. A few leaves of Latakia or fire-cured Kentucky burley may be added to provide some body?not much, because mildness is the ideal in Dutch blending.

I swear I cannot tell the difference between CLAN and FLYING DUTCHMAN. There may not be any. In this category of classic aromatics, I prefer SAIL Yellow and AMPHORA Red. But there is a certain air de famille to all these Holland House Cavendish confections. They are beloved of mild-mannered patresfamilias all over Northern Europe.

(Because Americans tend to start their smoking careers with cheap, supermarket-sold, savagely-cased burley blends, they thereafter cast a prejudiced eye on all aromatic blends, once they feel they have "progressed" into "natural" blends. No such prejudice exists in Continental Europe, where quality aromatics are thought of as luxurious.)

Finally, one word of warning to believers in "aged" tobacco: beware of old aromatic tobacco. It does not age well at all. The casing agents go stale, and taste awful. Any "mediciny" taste in a Dutch blend probably means that the casing agents are beginning to go.

Like a stale lady's perfume, it is best avoided.
10 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 07, 2002 Mild to Medium Very Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
Seeing tantric's listing of this blend in the New Reviews section reminded me that I have never reviewed this blend although I smoked a pouch about a year ago. I scrambled for my diary to get out my notes (I have been keeping a personal tobacco review diary for about 25 years). Anyway, tantric's review pretty much sums up my feelings about this blend, except that I see no comparison at all between Clan and St. Bruno Flake.

Clan is indeed a finely shag cut tobacco. And boy, is it dry in the pouch -- indeed very similar to Flying Dutchman. It packs and burns well, and is a spicy son of a gun! I may be wrong, but I even detected a smidgen of latakia flavor in the smoke.

It can get steamy, so, have an ample supply of pipe cleaners. It can also be puffed up into the hot zone if not handled with care. All in all, an okay smoke, but I shall not ever smoke the stuff again.
10 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 09, 2014 Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Mild Very Pleasant
This tobacco is not as bad as people make out, though it's certainly not my fravourite blend. But it is available in most UK shops - my OTC tobacco of choice is Condor followed by St. Bruno though I will pick up clan from time to time. It is distinctive for its aroma which leaves an enjoyable room note and when smoked carefully it releaes a lot of flavour - whiskey being one of the flavours I detect. Though Clan can bite of smoked too quickly which is perhaps why it gets so many negative reviews. I couldn't smoke this full time as I tend to enjoy more earthy tobaccos like the excellent Old Dark Fired or Virginnia Flake but I'll certainly puff on Clan from time to time. As an aromatic I think it's quite good and doesn't deserve all the negative reviews. As a young inexperienced pipe smoker this was my brand of choice but these days, having explored the range of better tobaccos out there, I tend to indulge in Clan very rarely. It's still far from shit though and offers a reasonable fix of Vitamin N. Also the current version is very very nice

It's not 2018 and I don't know if the current Clan has been changed but I have to upgrade it...it is currently excellent and I'm smoking it more than any other blend. I think it may be my second favourite blend next to Condor, pushing St Bruno into third place.
Pipe Used: Falcon limited edition white tip
PurchasedFrom: Tesco
Age When Smoked: three months old
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 26, 2013 Mild to Medium Medium Medium Pleasant
Okay, I'm gonna get caned for this but I kinda like this stuff. Every now and again it's nice to smoke an aromatic. I usually don't but what the heck. I get fruity kind of soft boozy flavours from this and a kinda coconutty finish. Plenty of smoke and smokes all the way down, very little dottle. I don't get any tongue burn even if I lean on it a little, if you really puff it'll probably bite but most stuff does. All in all, something I like now and again.
8 people found this review helpful.
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