Butera Dark Stoved

(2.91)
For the connoisseur who appreciates and enjoys the tangy, fragrant aromas, and sweet, rich tastes of well-seasoned, dark stoved tobaccos. A single zesty lemon Virginia leaf, picked at its peak, aged to perfection, carefully slow-stoved under pressure until the cakes turn to beautiful chocolate brown. Cut to flake form, Dark Stoved offers a maze of diverse tastes, with a mysterious flavor curve ranging from tart and spicy, through smooth and mellow... The perfect after-dinner, evening smoke... Cool and slow burning from top to bottom.

Details

Brand Butera
Series Royal Vintage
Blended By McClelland Tobacco Company
Manufactured By McClelland Tobacco Company
Blend Type Straight Virginia
Contents Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Flake
Packaging 50 grams tin
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

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

Average Rating

2.91 / 4
18

9

10

6

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 43 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 08, 2014 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
Dark black and thick flakes with some brownish overtones. Rather wet fresh out of the tin. I took one look and thought to myself that I'd better get the microwave going, as I do with Dark Star and 2035 from McClellands. This looked identical. But comparing it directly to Dark Star, it's a bit darker in color and has a slightly tangier tin aroma. So I first simply dried out the flakes for a couple of hours and loaded. The leathery flakes were almost rubbery at the start but became less pliable. Dry Virginia is good Virginia.

Surprisingly, I did not need to bake this stuff to get it to smoke. I did crumble up some for top kindling and, while it needed more than a few relights, it did quite nicely. This is a bonus, because no matter what else I do to Dark Star, the 10 second microwave is necessary. Taste-wise, this is tangy as you would expect and also has some interesting flavors such as creamed coffee and dark fruit. The sweetness was there, but not over-intrusive like some lemon Virginias are (this one starts out as a lemon). Fairly high in complexity but also had a constant base - sort of like a mimimalist music piece with the overtones being the complexity while the actual notes provide the stability.

Comparisons to Dark Star are unavoidable but, smoked back to back, I prefer this one. Dark Star tasted excellent but was fairly monochrome, while Dark Stoved had a similarly excellent flavor but provided some variations. Both are worth a try, but I think I'm going with this one. Butera's vision with McClellands raw materials and execution definitely produces a lot more hits than misses. This one is a hit.
Pipe Used: meerschaum and morta
Age When Smoked: 3 years
16 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 07, 2015 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The “vinegar” goes away after a few puffs. The stoved lemon Virginia has a multiplicity of flavors: very tart and tangy citrus, some wood and earth, light spice, mild grassiness, and fermented sweet dark fruit (figs, raisins, dates, plums) that dominates the blend. There is a slight acidity as well, but it doesn't interfere with the experience. Needs a bit of dry time, and even then, will burn slow, wet and leaves moisture in your bowl. Expect to devote time to keeping it lit. I experienced no bite, but the spice did play on my taste buds a little, but in a modest way. The taste is a step or two short of medium. The nic-hit is just short of the center of mild to medium, thought the strength level sits squarely on that mark. The medium sweet and mildly savory flavor is very consistent to start to finish, and has a very pleasant after taste. The room note is pleasant to tolerable, and not always appreciated by women. Not quite an all day smoke. Three and a half stars because of the abundance of moisture.

-JimInks
11 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 09, 2006 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
Appearance: Small somewhat thick flakes, uniform dark brown in color. Just like McC Dark Star (which is a close cousin, IMHO.

Aroma: Some of the McC vinegar upon first opening, which goes away after a few days. Then you have the smokey/sweet smell of the heavily stoved Va.

Packing: Usually needed to be somewhat broken up for easy packing, but NOT fully rubbed out. When rubbed out, it loses flavor in the pipe. (Again, like DS)

Lighting: Slowly, needs two matches for a good charring light. Initial flavor: A tad sharp at first light, then tones down into a mélange of tastes. There is a wide range of high and low notes, characteristic of a stove lemon Virginia. Less dramatic than Dark Star, but also less tempermental.

Mid-bowl: Lovely complexity of flavors when enjoyed slowly. When puffed too quickly, only the high notes come through, and the pipe will smoke wetter. Relax and enjoy.

Finish: Just a little stronger at the end of the bowl. When enjoyed slowly, there will be nothing but ash in a dry pipe.

Summary: I think it?s enjoyable any time of day, under the right condition. Absolutely perfect for an evening companion.
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 16, 2016 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Used my food chopper to turn this into BB sized pellets and dried completely. Requires about three to four lights to get it going and then it burns very well after that. Very tangy, more sour than sweet, spicy, fruity with some coffee notes. The deeper into the bowl you get the darker and deeper the flavors. This is an outstanding smoke in both briar and cob, but in a clay it's pure heaven. The flavors in a clay are clearer and crisper. I'll relegate this flake to clays only. The small bowl on my 6" Dutch Gouda is perfect for a 45 minute smoke. This flake is absolutely delightful.

Medium in body. Medium in taste. No added flavorings detected. Burns well when properly processed.
Pipe Used: Savinelli B'Dog, MM Morgan, Dutch Gouda
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: 4 months
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 23, 2002 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
Deeply stoved and rich, Dark Stoved will provide a flavor and strength blast that is appreciated by fast Virginia puffers as it has no bite. Another nice blend in the Butera Royal Vintage line-up!
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 19, 2001 Strong None Detected Full Pleasant
Cut to flake form, Dark Stoved offers a maze of diverse tastes...from tart and spicy, through smooth and mellow... [From the tin]



Complexity is the current vogue word in tobacco æsthetics. Whatever it might mean, "a maze of diverse tastes" is not a phrase I would normally associate with virginia flake. In his classic little book, The Gentle Art of Smoking (London, Max Reinhardt, 1954), Alfred Dunhill says [p. 133]:

An Empire 'flake' or 'Navy Cut' which serves as an adequate tobacco during the day may...seem a little flat and dull in the evening.

Which is not to say that well-made virginia flake, using quality leaf, is not an eminently pleasant—albeit not very "complex"—smoke.

Royal Vintage Dark Stoved is precisely such. I could best compare it to a strong cup of the best Arabiga coffee, abundantly, but not excessively, sugared. It is plummy, but never cloying; smoother and creamier than S. Gawith & Co.'s Full Virginia Flake, which, conversely, is darker and smokier, and certainly less rich, than Dark Stoved. Nor do I become dizzy and queasy from smoking Dark Stoved, as I can with St Bruno.

I normally cut flakes width-wise, with small scissors; a kind of cube-cut that burns slowly and cooly. This is not possible with Dark Stoved, because it is not presented in the neatly-sliced, whole-plug, format. The flakes are heaped, helter-skelter, in the tin, and are often partially broken. So I just took a pinch, crumbled it in my hand, and stuffed it into a mid-sized dublin. Once lit, which took some perseverance, it burned richly and smoothly to the proverbial fine white ash. Very nice indeed.
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 07, 2017 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
a very good almost black flake. This is NOT Dark Star (and if you think that you need more education in tobacco). It bears comparison though with a number of Virginia flakes, including Dark Star and Blackwoods flake. Astelys#44 also, and even Wessex Campaign .....they are all on a spectrum of comparitive stoved-ness. (so to speak). This is predictably moist but not nearly as hard to keep lit as DS....and once lit it stays lit better than any McClellends flake I can think of. its curious to read negative reviews of this. I mean, its a straight stoved Virginia flake...what did you expect? As such, its very rich and very smooth. Smokes cool and has a moderate range of flavors. All the usual figgy and autumnal qualities are here, and a bit more sweetness than I expected. All told its a very very good flake. Nic hit is mild plus a notch. One might wish for more in that respect. I found blackwoods flake and Pebblecut and FVF to have more nic....and even macbarens virginia flake has more. But there IS some.....just not a lot. But in flavor, this is one of the best virginia flakes you can find. All told very good stuff.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 12, 2007 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
The tin aroma of these hard-pressed, dense and oily flakes is fermented and spicy with rich cocoa notes.

Often compared to Dark Star, that tobacco's flavors of grape must and roasted nuts are here, though there is a bit less of the fruit character and more emphasis on the mellow, roasted flavors. The caramelized sweetness is deep and rich.

Overall, this is in the same vein as Dark Star. The broad flavor profiles are rather similar, though the balance is slightly different. With a touch less focus on the fruit tones than Dark Star, Dark Stoved becomes a more reserved and meandering smoke and perhaps even a bit more sophisticated and contemplative. Taken on it's own merits, this is a rewarding and worthwhile experience. This goes best in narrow gauge chambers.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 05, 2009 Medium Extremely Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Very similar to Dark Star, and still much better. Less vinegar casing, a bit more sweet, more complex and with a deeper taste. Golden Cake is my favorite from this series, but this one's very enjoyable smoke.
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 13, 2009 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
I'll keep this brief: A delicious, heavily stoved flake that is quite sweet and mild, releasing occasional hints of lemon and butter -- and much more frequent hints of fine tobacco!

Although this is, in many ways, Dark Star's twin, I found Dark-Stoved to be much easier to break up and keep lit in the bowl. If I had to choose between the two, I would probably favor Dark-Stoved for its "ease of use."

My review is based on a 5-year-old tin.
3 people found this review helpful.
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