I was curious on Vanilla aromatics, since i had read a lot on some of them, and felt like giving it a try. I'm still smoking the pouch, but the first impressions were quite pleasant. It lights well, and indeed burns hot. I truly enjoyed its taste, and will now and then be becoming to this brand, unless i find one that pleases me more.

No bite at all!

Eventually, i'll update the experience when the hole pouch is smoked.

Skandinavik seems to be readily available, the price is adequate for what you get, and if you want a vanilla flavoured aromatic to smoke every day, this one surely beats Stanwell (which is more noticable, but annoying and overwhelming after a couple of smokes) and many other aromatics I have tried.

The aroma is pleasant, translates well into both taste and room note. It burns hot and short and is somewhat flat, but bites very little. Overall, a cute little tobacco that will probably not be of interest to anyone who takes pipe smoking seriously. If your vanilla aromatics are limited and you find them too strong (vanilla additive-wise), give this one a try.

The smoke is mild and fruity, the vanilla flavor is more candy-like, there is no bite but the bowl will heat like a nuclear reactor, so you may consider slow down your puffing cadence.

upon opening the pouch I noticed (as another reviewer stated) a cherry/vanilla scent. And it was strong.

I used the german method or Frank method to pack the bowl due to the cut.

The char light had an excellent room note, and yes the vanilla/cherry flavor was there.

The top: Strong blast of the flavor, almost overwhelming and kind of perfume(y).

The middle: The tobacco flavors are coming through more and since I always smoke slow and enjoy my pipe it is not biting at all. Nice and smooth.

The bottom: The flavor has developed into a VERY nice smoke. Tobacco and flavoring balancing out. Very relaxing and tasty with an excellent room note. A little bit of gurgling

Summary: This is an EXCELLENT smoke. High quality tobacco that when smoked right (slow) is smooth and full. I love this stuff and for the price I will be smoking alot of this when I want a full flavored aromatic. The reason I didn't give it 4 stars is because it takes too long to balance out the flavoring and the tobacco, plus the gurgle at the end.

PS....Try adding a little Perique/Latakia.

Also, please note that in my area all Skandinavik Blends are widely available and the most affordable ones. I experiment with those quite a bit trying to minimize the cost of tobacco and subsidize my PAD (Pipe Aquisition Disorder). In any case I have tried most of the costlier blends available in my area and I have been often disappointed.

FIRST REVIEW REMARKS Too mild for me... simultaneously exhibiting all the drawbacks of aromatics. The wife likes the room note. I might get another pouch to mix it in with some more real tobacco - for cover up purposes.

UPDATED REVIEW The wife was NOT overly enthused with the room note of Mac Barren's Vanilla Cream Loose Cut. I do not understand this, as I find them quite similar - but this is not the first and will certainly not be the last thing I do not understand when wives are involved.

Anyway, I did get a second pouch of this. The flavoring results in a very annoying tongue bite - even when you manage a really slow and relatively cool smoking.

So, I have come up with some conclusions / resolutions.

a) I will never smoke this stuff again - I consider throwing the pouch contents away. I will try mixing this in very high dilution with something else (perhaps Skandinavik Regular to spice it up a bit) - but OVERALL Mac Barren's Vanilla Cream Loose Cut is better for such purposes, and it is smokeable as a standalone.

b) I will keep the pouch itself and use it as a disguise - perhaps the wife likes the pouch; not the note....

c) I change my rating to 1star. Even if you like pure vanilla aromatics, you can do much better.

It is icky from start to finish. Like the esteemed lustra, I am not totally convinced this is tobacco. It did burn rather cool for a cough syrup though.

Pipe: Broken-in Brookfield with 9mm filter Weather: Cool and overcast, with a slight humidity Mood: Upbeat Flame source: Butane pipe lighter Modifications: Denicool crystals in bowl

Packaging: I ordered a 100g tin of this and a 28g pouch was thrown in for free. The tin was solid with a coin-poppable lid and a vacuum-sealed foil cover. The tobacco is guaranteed to be fresh with care like that. The pouch was a standard vacuum-sealed plastic/foil bag.

Initial Impressions: A POWERFUL vanilla aroma perfused the room and there seems to be a slightly alcoholic tinge to the smell, almost as if it were coated with schnapps. The tobacco was a nice mix of golden and dark leaves, shredded and suitable for packing into a large-bowled pipe. It might need some rubbing to get a good cut for smaller-bored pipes, though.

Packing: A little moist, so I let it dry out for an hour and then it packed perfectly. I loaded 2 charges (the Denicool crystals were in the bottom third) and it seemed springy and fresh.

Unlit taste: Vanilla and a slight hint of tobacco

Lighting: A charring light produced a powerful blast of unablated vanilla flavor for the first few puffs. It charrred easily and I tamped it down for the relight with no wait time.

Smoking (First Third): I must admit that I have a sensitive nose and tongue and that even a few puffs of this tobacco had my head swimming. Even with the charcoal filter holding it off, a strong bass note of vanilla and plum were too much to think around. Smoked fairly hot, so I recommend a longer smoking time. Vanilla stayed strong throughout, but a subtle hint of tobacco was detectable, sort of like a flute playing over a set of timpani drums.

Smoking (Second Third): This part is where my tongue began to falter and became desensitized to the vanilla. The oriental and burley became more obvious through a nutty base flavor with a slightly spicy top note. This was the most enjoyable part of the pipe. The room note remained pleasant throughout, at least to the people around me. The tobacco constantly balances between going out from lack of puffing and heating up to smelting temperature from overpuffing. I'm normally a pretty relaxed puffer, so this was something that really tested me out and made me concentrate on it.

Smoking (Last Third): The Denicool crystals don't smoke, of course, but I noticed while cleaning that they were dark brown, almost black; an indication of high moisture content.

Aftereffects: The vanilla smell wouldn't go away! It pervaded the room, my clothing and anything else I came in contact with. I brushed my teeth 3 times, rinsed with Biotene 4 times and chewed about 50 chlorophyll tablets, but I awoke the next morning with that same vanilla taste burnt into my palette...it might be a reaction with my body chemistry, but I found that only time was effective at restoring my sense of taste.

Overall Recommendation: If you're the kind of guy that likes Borkum Riff or banana peels, this will be your luxury tobacco, indeed. If you're an average pipe smoker looking for a tobacco to test your skills and endurance on, this is it. IF, though, you're like me and you want a good, light smoke without woman-killing halitosis for the next 24 hours, you'll leave this one alone. I admit defeat. This tobacco wins. I lose!

This stuff is mean at first and then settles down.

Think of cinnamon and make it strong. You wind up with Red Hot. Think of vanilla and make it strong. You wind up with Skandinavik Vanilla.

This vanilla is "PROFOUND". Very very deep.

The quality is very good. Skandinavik has got to be the best pouch tobacco around. A pretty gold & black course ribbon cut.

A real surprise. A totally different change of pace. .....This Ain't Sweet!

I smoke this in an Erik Nording Hunter's Series Moose. Upon openning the 1.5 oz Pouch the delightful aroma of Vanilla immediately fills your senses with the sweetness of it's flavor. The cut is a thick ribbon cut which I found that it needs to be packed a little looser than I like. It was a little more difficult to light, but once you had a hot ash it seemed to burn fairly well, but expect to be useing the tamper more often.

The tobacco, if one is not paying attention will burn hot and give a tongue bite, this one needs to be smoked very slow.

All in all, I like the tobacco on occasions, but would not recommed it to someone just starting out smoking a pipe. It does have a different taste because of the Oriental and white Tennessee Burley tobaccos, but a taste that is unique.

This particular brand is made in Denmark for Peter Stokkebye International LTD.