Peter Stokkebye Turkish Export (No.84)

Among the most versatile blends available, and the best of the PS dual-purpose tobaccos, Turkish is smooth and sweet with a natural backdrop of salted nuts. This blend is full of natural sugars yet carries just enough oriental salt/pepper to keep it interesting.

Performs excellently in the pipe or as RYO, burning just fast enough for a RYO but just slow enough for a pipe. Turkish also serves as a good mixer for home blenders. Smokes cool for its burn rate, with no bite.

This is a delicious, unadulterated tobacco for all-day smokers and one of my go- to cob tobaccos for occasions that don't call for a more complex, sitting-in-an- armchair blend: mid-day smoking,working outside, driving,etc

I am very impressed with this tobacco.

A few notes of disagreement with the blender's description above: this is different than the PS RYO pouches of 'Turkish'. Cut is similar, but the tobacco comes more moist in bulk. Also, the cut is better described as ribbon than shag, especially compared to an RYO smokers definition of "shag". To say that this "is tobacco for regular cigarettes" is, in my opinion, a disservice. While this tobacco will roll excellent cigarettes, it really comes alive in a pipe, and particulary in a cob. Smokes very dry, burning down to ash and leaving absolutely no residue. Strong in the vitamin, lightweights beware.

Highly recommended for: - cigarette smokers looking to transition to the pipe - pipe smokers who enjoy straightforward orientals - anyone looking for a natural, unadulterated pipe tobacco

I will be buying significant quantities of this tobacco before it's taxed out of existence.

Edit: update Sept '12. This has rapidly become my all day tobacco. I reserve evenings for blends of complexity. But for smoking throughout the day, this blend delivers wonderful, sweet, natural tobacco flavor at a price that can't be beat. Burn rate is perfect for smoking on the fly. Enjoying this mostly in cobs, which seem a great match.

Edit: April '16: still a great blend by my taste. Nutty, mildly spicy, a great all-day smoke. Pull the trigger on this one.

Orange-ish yellow ribbon that is almost a shag. Bag aroma is very light, almost no aroma at all. Purchased as a blender but I also smoked 5 bowls straight. It performed admirably both ways. As a blender, it lent some body and a kind of floral note, although not like a Lakeland does. There was some spiciness underneath as well. It took me awhile to figure out how best to use it and I tended to use quite a lot, as condiments like latakia and perique tended to mask it if I used much of them. But once I got a better handle on it, it worked very nicely.

However, I preferred this as a straight smoke, surprisingly. By itself, it showed exactly what it brought to the table... an incense-y, rich and mellow sharpness with a hint of cigar notes and the barest amount of sweetness. Although it is claimed that there is Virginia in here, it wasn't really noticeable in the taste. However, a small amount could have been used to make it burn better. This did tend to burn rather fast but held the match nicely, something not all straight Turkish tobaccos do. If you really want to find out what the Samsun varietals taste like, skip the McClellands blend (which has more Virginia in the mix) and try this one. If you want to know what it smells like, this won't bring any epiphanies, as I could barely tell I'd smoked anything when I left the room and returned. This isn't an all-day type smoke for me but it's good any time of the day. More headed to my cellar!

I have a few ounces of this I am working through. This is an interesting smoke. I was smoking the pipe thin ribbon version, and it stayed lit well and burned cool. I found a few interesting qualities in this blend. It tickles the nose early in the bowl and gives an occasional tingle to the tongue late in the bowl. It leaves a very pleasant sweetish aftertaste in the mouth when you put the pipe down.

In terms of flavor, it is thin but a pleasant mix of sweet and spicy. There is no topping that I can detect. This is a mild smoke and has a decent tobacco flavor with a little something extra to provide interest.

Edit 8/17/14: I bought a pound of this when the sample was nearing the end. I find this a remarkably good "all-day" smoke. I have not tried blending it with anything. Hydrating it a little in the pouch intensifies the flavors.

I have been purchasing this blend (first in shag, now in ribbon) in bulk since '96. It was touted by a local tobacconist as a perfect newcomer blend; and it was. So perfect in fact, that I've not been without it since.

So, I am a hybrid smoker. My bad, I know. If you're a pipe purist, you'll likely want me shot by the end of this read... Cigarettes from 7am to 5pm while at work, and then a pipe stuck in my maw from 6pm till midnight and all weekend long.

So here we go--

This is my favorite tobacco period. I'll tell you why!

The "Bulk Pipe Tobacco" version is cheap for such quality leaf. About $25 U.S. per pound.

It makes an amazingly mellow cigarette. More on that later.

By itself in a pipe it's not bad at all. Yes, it's a bit mono, but with some fruity and floral notes peeking out of fairly rich smoke and that mild, pleasant turkishVA flavor. The room note is a bit cigarettish, but dissipates quickly.

It likes to pop up and pepper the nose early on, I love that sting. Over the course of the bowl, that pepper seems to travel from your nose to your palate. Burns on the fast side, but cool, barely even heats up my thin walled Stanwell Featherweight. It does like to go out now and then. A moderate pack at the bottom and tight at the top will alleviate this somewhat.

It wont bite you unless you're trying to suck a golf ball through a garden hose.

Tudval said you can inhale this. In a cig, sure. But I can't do it in a briar without choking.

Blending. This is a great blender and even better salvager.

If you have any tins of tobacco you bought, but just can't quite handle their strength or bite, toss a bit of this ribbon in. It will dull out the sharpest edge or lighten the heaviest hammer without drastically altering the original flavor profile.

Have an aromatic that's cased to death or overly sweet and gooey? Dry some of this to near brittle, add some to the jar or tin and re-seal. Gently roll blend the two together then wait a few days. Waste not want not!

My home blend consists of 3 different VAs, Turkish Export, a bit of fire cured Kentucky or Latakia (I tried both once, it tasted weird) and a touch of C&D Perique. I moisten it all with partially de-alcoholed Bushmills Irish whiskey, a few drops of vinegar and a bit of lemon blossom honey. Then clamp press the heck out of it for a month.

I have no idea what to call it, maybe "Erik's Ugly Mild English Cake".

But wait. There's more!

Blended Cigarette's.

I often crave the taste of pipe during the day. But a good pipe cannot be had on a 10min smoke break now can it? What to do, what to do...

I've found that mixing 25-50% of any number of my favorite pipe ribbons makes a fantastic pipe flavored cig with a manageable Vitamin N content.

Thank's for your time!

an outstanding natural turkish tobacco, sweet, spicy and naturally aromatic, mild with full flavor and with no bite, graet pipe tobacco, VERY cost effective, a must try any kind of pipe smoker.

This is one of Peter Stokkebye’s dual-role offerings - the same tobacco, cut & packaged separately for pipes and RYO. According to what I’ve read, the separate formats are as follows - a finer shag in pouches (for RYO), and a slightly wider and longer ribbon/shag (available in bulk) that’s intended for pipes, but with a little finesse can be repurposed for off-label RYO as well. The sample I obtained is of the bulk ribbon/shag variety, which I’m reviewing here for RYO use.

My 1 ounce sample arrived a tad dryish, so I popped it into a small clean glass jar, along with a humidor disk, and let it refresh itself overnight, by which time it was back in slightly springy prime condition. As mentioned, the bulk ribbon/shag hybrid cut is a tad longish for RYO. Used as is, the long ribbons can be a bit awkward to load, and cause an overly tight draw when compressed into a standard tube. However, I’ve found this is easily corrected with a few swipes of a sharp chef knife, to shorten the longer ribbons into the ¼ - ½ ” range, after which it becomes MUCH more tube friendly.

I haven't really focused on this in pipe form yet (where it will doubtless smoke very differently), but enjoyed in cigarette form, this tobacco is simple, clean, mild and unobtrusive, has ample Vitamin-N (for those that want it), and a faintly sweet/citrusy finish, rounded out with a vague but pleasing spicy/nutty note. From what little I’ve seen to date, as far as uncased RYO-friendly pipe tobaccos go, this is a high quality and very economical non-aromatic option. Figure that one ounce is enough for roughly 25 filtered king cigarettes.

As an off-label RYO option, the PS T84 gets a solid 3 stars for flavor, plus an extra full star for value (4 stars total).

---------- **STRENGTH: Pipe = Mild, Cigarette (nic) = Med to strong.

As a cigarette smoker, I have been looking for a good "natural" pipe tobacco that will finally let me put those packs away... THIS would be the blend. A wonderful natural pouch note which is obviously turkish in nature but smooth and not harsh at the same time. I would call this cut a shribbon... between a shag and ribbon which makes loading your pipe very easy. The initial char light turned into the only light needed again due to the shribbon cut. Good volume of natural well flavored satisfying smoke that again gives a bit of a creamy feel to the mouth. As I smoke outside I could not really rate this as other than a natural but non offensive room note. This is an all day blend.. from first light with a cup of joe in the morning, to settling down with a single malt over one icecube as the sun goes down. I personally give this two thumbs up and would recommend this to anyone looking for a GOOD natural blend that does not bite and burns down to a nice clean ash.

This is made for both cigarretes and pipes. I dint detect any Virginia in it, seems to me a mixture os Samsum and Smirna tobacco, pure Turkish. It have the Richness of pure Orientals. A Good choice for the Begginers in pipe smoking and for People that Likes Turkish Tobacco. Is also a good Tobacco for use as a component of personal and special mixtures, since practically it is "neutral". Their Cut, Shag, turns ii easy to pack and light.Despite, it is not slow burning, burns hot.

Since I'm a lover for both Turkish and Virginia's, I'll be a little biased!

PS turkish is a no BS, no nonsense tobacco. It's one of the closest things you can get as possible to natural tobacco taste. There is no 'complexity' or infinite nuances, it's just simple a straight and utterly delicious tobacco taste.

The blend consists of mainly Turkish Oriental (sun cured samsun leaf), with a good supporting role of delicious Virginias.

If you enjoy the oriental tobaccos and want to smoke a blend that's as close as you can get to a straight turkish tobacco taste, this is PERFECT for you.

Now, the actual impressions, the tobacco comes in a very fine brightly colored shag, and at perfect moisture, there's also another more finer cut for RYO cigarette smokers. It fills the pipe easily with little effort.

Upon the first charring light, I was welcomed by a delicious oriental/aromatic type of sweetness while the bready Virginias also made themselves present.

The tobacco lights up so easily, and stays lit very well. As you smoke this blend, and as I mentioned above, you will only get a totally straight simple tobacco taste. A delicious fragrant/woody and slightly spicy tobacco taste, the turkish tobacco is well known for its pleasant fragrance and room note. This blend smells like a fine woody incense. Other from the main player, the slightly spicy, incense like samsun leaf, I get a good dose of the sweet and bready profile of the Virginia.

All in all, this is again a splendid offering from one of my favorite blenders, Peter stockbye. If you're looking for complexity, this isn't for you. But if you are a fan of orientals and straight Virginia and want a no nonsense tobacco that captures the best of the two types and packages them together into a delicious, slightly sweet, and pleasant smoke, and one that you can smoke and enjoy without thinking about it too much, go for it!

In my opinion, this relatively unknown blend brings out the best of both worlds (orientals and virginia) and it is really the best example of the delicious natural and pure tobacco taste.

It burns at a reasonable pace but you should also try to puff slow, since Virginias tend to get hot quickly.

On a side note, and inspite of me TOTALLY advising against that, I attempted to inhale at least a couple of drags from the pipe, and it felt very smooth (I suspect because of the fact that this is a dual use blend)

I just had to post a review for this tobacco. I used it for ryo first of all. I was a bit hesitant about trying this because I had tried the Norwegian shag before this. Norwegian shag wasn't bad but it was far too light in my opinion. So I was afraid this would be the same. I was wrong. First off this blend isn't shag at all. It's not as finely cut as the other. It's more like the consistency of the tobacco they use in prepackaged smokes. The nicotine content is just perfect. Not too over the top and not too light that you'd have to smoked a bunch of them to get your fix. The taste is somewhat nutty and salty. Very delicious. Would probably go good with some chocolate or as an after dessert smoke. I found the moisture content to be great as well. It seemed a tad dry when I first checked it but really wasn't at all. It's not as moist as other kinds like the shags. Just dry enough to burn perfectly. If you were a camel smoker and switched to Ryo then this is for you. It reminds me of the tobacco they used in the old camel blend before they went and ruined it. Or somewhat like what they use in camel unfiltered. Don't get me wrong it's not as flavorful in the way that a camel is most likely because they add flavor to packaged smokes. This is just good old, pure unadulterated tobacco. I don't use filters or tubes so if you do then you may not be able to taste this tobacco as much. I could be wrong. Can't beat the price either. Only about eight bucks for fifty smokes. Yes there are cheaper out there but those don't compare to this. If it wasn't for that damn tax they put on ryo to close the loophole then this stuff would only be about four bucks but oh well. Also the price may depend on your area or the shop so do some looking around first. Some shops like to over price rolling tobacco especially if they don't sell much of it or don't really have much of a selection. That's what I've found in my experience. For an import tobacco the taste and price in my opinion is phenomenal.