Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) John Bull Royal English

If you like lots of Latakia flavor in your blend, don't bother because this doesn't have that. This is a very mild blend with some subtleties of each aspect of the tobaccos in most every puff. I don't think I've ever seen a tobacco with several different kinds of tobacco be this mild before. The Virginia is a little grassy/hay with some citrus as the base of the blend. The lightly nutty, earthy, woody, molasses sweet burley is almost a supporting player. The Cyprian Latakia adds a smoky, woody, earthy, musty, sweet push, and is just a tad more obvious than the burley. The black cavendish provides a mild sugar note in the background. The strength, nic-hit and taste levels are very mild. It's an unobtrusive all day smoke that burns a little fast, but not hot, and won’t bite or get harsh. The flavors are mostly consistent throughout the experience. Leaves very little dampness in the bowl, and hardly needs a relight. Has a decent, short lived after taste and room note. This is for the smoker who wants a little smokey taste as he goes about his daily business, but doesn't want his senses filled up with what he's smoking. It's as well balanced, nuanced for a light smoke as any I’ve encountered.

-JimInks

This is English blends 101. Great for a beginner who wants to try an English blend for the first time. It's as mild as it gets, no bite, burns well, yet still allows one to experience what latakia is with out it blowing your head off. It's really not a bad blend all-in-all and you sure can't beat the price either. It's one of the only OTC blends i will even consider buying anymore. This is good to keep on hand to throw in your pipe from time to time when you want something light for a change. It is very mild so if you are a more experienced smoker you may want a large bowl for this one.

When I purchased 2 pouches of John Bull Royal English from PipesandCigars , it was because it sounded very interesting, and it was recommended by a staff member. I also read the reviews here and thought, what the heck. It was very inexpensive. I did not expect much latakia, and it doesn't have much. What it does have is some very good quality blond Virginia, burley, and black Cavendish. When I opened the pouch I could definitely smell latakia. It has just enough of the smoky leaf to make it's presence felt. The main flavor I tasted was a good nutty burley, and slightly sweet Cavendish tobacco. I packs and burns very well, and it doesn't seem to me to have very much topping if any. I have never smoked any tobacco in pouch, that has this standard of quality leaf. I surely recommend this to anyone who wants a good, inexpensive non biting smoke with a light English flavor.

Unlike JimInks, about all I got from this blend was mild Latakia. Nice for an OTC pouch, even straightforward. If you're looking for complexity or a Lat-bomb, don't look here. If you like a mild Latakia, it's worth checking out. Since I know there are many tobaccos out there I would rate a 4, the question arises would I rebuy this particular tobacco, assuming my tastes don't change much more. In this case, the answer is no.

...I like this in the AM...certainly not very strong but sometimes this is a good thing...A light English blend/mixture, it has the basic components that represent a English mixture. Because it is not complex, I find an "earthy" sweetness that I enjoy with coffee/tea.

Smokes well in almost any pipe and appears to be within my expectations of moistness and easy packing/lighting.

All-in-all, this tobacco meets or exceeds my wishes as a light English...

...a pipe is to be savored...

This is a nice tasty surprise. Sweet, nutty, and mildly smoky. A hint of hay, earth and a touch of wood. Burn is near perfect and cool. Flavor is very consistent. No real evolution, but it taste so good that I can easily overlook that. Gonna have to stock up on some of this.

Mild in body. Medium in taste. Added sweetness is mild. As stated above this has a near perfect burn.

Just finished up a pouch of John Bull. It was my first shot at an English blend having smoked mostly Virginias and Cavendish. Good stuff. The operative word here is mild. The Latakia takes center stage but in the meekest way possible. The first couple of bowls didn't leave much of an impression at all but once I got toward the end of the pouch subtle nuances of different flavors began making themselves known and I found myself interested in another bowl over the aromatics currently in the lineup. Although I did like this smoke, I probably won't be buying any more John Bull because the requisite Kick of Nick is just shy of acceptable. I will, however, be trying other English blends because of the favorable introduction to the genre.

Update 2021--upgrade to 4 stars. It turns out I like my English blends mild. My favorite blends are burley based but I always have John Bull on hand for a chance of pace. Of all of the tobaccos I've smoked only Prince Albert and John Bull are always in the cellar.

Typical light-to-dark ribbons with a pouch scent of latakia and an underlying sweet-type of aroma. Hard to describe, but led by the latakia. This pouch was gifted to me and much appreciated! It was best with just a bit of drying time, but I hesitate to recommend drying since it may be perfect by the time the pouch is opened.

As I suspected, I found this to be a far superior product to the Sutliff pouched English I recently smoked. Where that one was simply boring due to the dumbed down flavors, this one tasted like a "proper English"... even though traditional proper englishes didn't contain burley or black Cavendish! This was mostly mild in flavor but a bit more authoritative puffing brought out its best. The latakia led the show for the first part of the bowl, followed by the burley. The latakia was light but everpresent and the burley had a nice sweet side to its basic nuttiness, probably the result of the Cavendish. No chemical flavors in this one, which further elevates it over the Sutliff. Mild and mellow, but with a nice rich flavor and a depth I wouldn't have thought likely with a pouched English. Not a world beater but definitely a very worthy and smokable blend - and cheap too! Recommended for cost-conscious smokers that want a proper English with some traditional flavors. This was a nice surprise!

Very mild english blend. Faint trace of latakia. Not bad for an OTC blend. I usually prefer a stronger smoke than this. I did mix this with C&D 412 Billy Budd in a glass mason jar to pick it up a notch or two.

This was my first English blend tobacco. I've tried a variety since then ranging from McClelland's to Dunhill. Now I've revisited John Bull Royal English and can say that this a very decent blend of tobacco. In fact, for it's price, I would highly recommend trying it. This is a great introduction to English blends.

This is similar to those English / Aromatic types -- think Frog Morton's Cellar. True, the whiskey note is not there but the Cavendish addition gives the blend a very pleasant note and sweet taste. My own negative comment would be it's mild strength.