Peter Stokkebye Heather Honey

This was a blend, as with others left a lasting impression with me. Its a shame you cant find it anymore, because I think this blend is quite noteworthy! The pouch note as well as the room note were outstanding. Its sad that it cant be found anymore!

I used to smoke this from time to time as it was readily available in bulk from John David, Ltd. at a local mall (alas, long gone). It is aptly named as it is very heather forward with the honey in the background. The Virginia presence is not lacking either, but very mild. Not a bad aromatic as it is by no means cloying or goopy, not did it smoke hot or bite. You have to like the floral essence (not Lakeland-like) to really appreciate this, however. A nice change of pace tobacco for when you are looking for something different. Certainly not in my line-up for rotation smoke, nor would I go out of my way to purchase it again. Never the less, I can recommend it as a pleasant diversion.

The two ounce bag I purchased lay among my other tobaccos for at least a week. I still have yet to open the tin of Rattray?s ?Old Gowrie,? but tonight after dinner is the night for Rattray. This afternoon I finally opened Stokkebye?s ?Honey Heather.? It seemed to be, in some ways, the quintessential pipe tobacco. There?s nothing like a sensory memory and I felt like my Dad was walking right beside me as I enjoyed a well packed bowl of ?Honey Heather.? The taste was more like Bee Pollen and Lavender, but that came as a pleasant surprise. Although it did smart the tongue a bit, I attribute that more to my excitement (okay, maybe I need to get out more) than to the tobacco itself. Even so, the bite wasn?t altogether unpleasant either, considering how consistently good the smoke was from start to finish. This could be a daily smoke, one that I may navigate back to from time to time. My wandering pipe and I so infrequently travel down the same road twice, but it is always nice to make new ?friends? to visit again sometime.

I will say right away that I am not one who normally turns towards aromatic blends. This was given to me in a sample pack from a local tobacconist. On the rare occasions when I do want to smoke aromatic blends I tend to lean towards aromatics that are lightly flavored and have a solid, well blended, high quality tobacco that is the focus of the smoke, using the aromatic agent to enhance the blend. This was not that. This is very heavily cased and does not use the blend of tobaccos as the main attraction. The casing is very forward with almost no natural tobacco flavor. While this says heather and honey, the honey is very subdued where as the heather is very pronounced. While the flavor was not bad, in fact it was somewhat good for this style of aromatic. I felt it was artificial tasting though. This does have some redeeming qualities that I liked. It burned very consistantly and did not require re-lights, it burned fairly cool, and surprisingly in a blend this heavily cased it left the walls of my pipe clean. For this reason I will not give it the lowest rating and may try this in the future in a meerschaum.

I make no bones about the fact that Peter Stokkebye makes some of my all-time favorite aromatics. I like aromatics that are intense enough to really be aromatic, while still having (1) a true tobacco taste and (2) not being gooey and wet. PS does it well in this regard.

Heather Honey has, to me, a very floral tin aroma- the floweriness overwhelms the honey. I ordered a 1/2 lb of this over the internet based solely upon my previous experience with PS aromatics. Upon arrival, the product looked exceptional. The composition included a fair amount of broken flake virginia, some longish ribbons of virginia and chunks of black cavendish. Just beautiful. (Another of the things I like about PS is their habit of combining broken flakes or curly cuts in their blends.)

But the smell of the stuff, WHEW! It was so floral that I wondered: "Why didn't any of the previous reviewers warn me of this!" Are their schnozes busted, or what? It was not like aftershave or air freshener- common comparisons reviewers of other floral blends have used- it was like, well... FLOWERS! Heather, I guess.

It was with trepidation that I loaded a bowl of this in a use-for-anything pipe and lit 'er up. I just hoped that the taste did not resemble the tin aroma. Well, this stuff does taste floral. But that is OK, even good! . The honey flavor was very apparent, blending well with the floral notes. Underlying all is the flavor of virginias. This taste was pretty consistent down to the not-so-bitter end. And the room note was great as well. While I could not smoke this all the time, it is a great treat I come back to regularly. (Not sure what I could smoke all the time...)

Kind of like Erinmore Flake, I would not recommend this to anyone who could not get past the bouquet of the unlit product. To those that like hearty aromatics however, this is well worth a try. Ya might not want to start with a 1/2 pound though.

I picked up a pound of this on-line on a whim. I've always liked honey and always thought Stokkebyes bulk tobaccos were of high quality leaf and I was not dissapointed. It consists of a bunch of broken flake, some ribbon VA and about 25% black cavendish. When I bought it, I was thinking the aroma would be something along the lines of Mac Barens... well, this stuff is 300 times stronger than any Mac B. Think of a Lanes bulk blend. It loads easily, is not wet at all (like a Lanes) and burns down to a nice dry ash. How a blend can be so heavily cased and not wet is beyond me. The taste is pure honey with some nutty notes from the Virginias. There's not any noticeable bite but the blend does hang around in the pipe for a while so I've dedicated a few pipes to this blend. I like it and would recommend it to an Aromatic fancier. If the pouch aroma was more subtle, I'd even recommend it to Virginia smokers, but the way it is now they'd run in fear. Very underrated and cheap in price.

This is a rather light, sweet & tasty tobacco.If your looking for something more interesting than say a Champagne flavour,then this would most likely be it.It's easy to light & doesn't leave any sign of goop in the bowl.The taste is very nice in a mild flavoursome way,without being over powering.Definitely a sweet Virginia taste & Mild Cavendish Honey Flavour.(VERY NICE)I find it can be accompanied while drinking Tea,Beer or Wine without fuss.It's a very nice tobacco all round & would be good for a beginner,or seasoned pipe smoker when in the mood for something lighter.Infact I found nothing offensive at all. In it's class-I'll give it 5 Out of 5 Star's.

I got this stuff at my local tobacconist, and was VERY pleasantly surprised by its aroma! This stuff reminds me of honey and toast.

I packed my pipe to the top, and gave it a light. Right away the casing makes its nuances known. It's a fragrant smoke. Smooth, cool, and somewhat hearty. Towards the middle, the moisture inside actually adds some body. You WILL use a pipe cleaner with this, because it's a fairly wet tobacco. Mid-point, the flavor broadens, and gets nutty. It DOES get hot, so you have to sip a bit mildly. Towards the end of the bowl, the casing fades altogether, and you're left with a nutty, almost minty finish. I'd assume this is primarily from the virginia that's there.

This is a fine tobacco.