Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Drexel VIII

I too received this from pipesandcigars.com some time ago, maybe even last year. This pouch is dated 10/2/17. A good two years of age. It felt hard in the package until I realized this is flakes in a 1.5 oz pouch. At first it had an odd sweet smell to it but then airing out somewhat was not as strong. I take a nice square flake and fold, double fold and crumble and stuff it into my meerschaum. Upon smoking this I kept getting a sense of déjà vu. This reminded me of a blend I have tried but I could not place it. I like reading other reviews when I am smoking to get a feel of what others experience. It does not change my opinion but sometimes helps in trying to describe what I am smoking since I am not great at the usage of words to describe what I smell or taste, i.e. figgy, grassy, plum, hay, etc. To me I smell, say sweetness but sweetness compared like to what? DeathMetal.org to me hit the nail on the head. This reminds me of Peter Stokkebye’s Luxury Navy Flake. Though this says there is no flavor I sensed a topping that I really do not care for. There may be none, but there is something that for me detracts from this blend. This one is all over the map, either you love it or it tastes like crap. A lot of 4 and 2 stars. Whereas this does not taste really bad I would only somewhat recommend this one as it just does not ring any bells. Nice to get a free sample, which makes me wonder why are they giving it away? Ha.

I purchased this from cupojoes.com from their clearance section. The price was very good so I bit and bought a pouch. When it arrived the tobacco was very dry. It was a year and a half old from the date of packaging. It had a grassy hay like smell in the pouch. Filled a bowl and it lit easily. It smoked slowly with no bite. It tasted of citrus with plum spiciness from the Perique. I was surprised to find flakes in the pouch. They were perfect and thinly sliced. I liked this so much that I purchased six more pouches. These I jarred and hydrated for future smoking.

Summary: not quite a breakfast cereal Va/Per, but soft Virginia flakes with mild Perique and a coconut topping along the lines of Peter Stokkebye "Luxury Navy Flake."

Upon opening the packet, one finds a stack of soft, sweet-smelling flakes. The coconut topping wafts upward. First light brings out the Virginia sweetness which has been made mild with a coconut topping, eliminating much of the natural variation. The Perique manifests as a slightly piquant fruity flavor melding quickly into the Virginias. As the bowl burns down, a syrup-like flavor appears from the melting Virginias, topping, and denatured Perique. It has a bit of bite, little nicotine, and while an easy smoke, remains an uninteresting one. There is nothing wrong with this blend but nothing to particularly recommend it either, but if you want a sweet but not cloying all-day smoke, this semi-aromatic will do.

First received as a free sample a number of years ago. Bought some more because I liked it. Has a nice semi-sweet Virginia/Bright Va flavor, with a mild Perique Plum/Fig flavor that's well balanced. Perhaps a small percentage of Unflavored Cavendish in there too that adds a little bottom to it. Produces a good amount of smoke. A mild to medium no nonsense VaPer that's a good all day smoke. Ages well, add a good value for the price. I recently re-discovered some that I had squirreled away in my cellar, and I'm enjoying it...

There are 100's of VaPers on the market; The quality of the leaf in this blend is by no means substandard. I give this one high marks for it's simplicity, easy smoking, balance and price. It's in the top tier for me.

I got a pouch of Drexel 7 in my National Pipe Day goodie bag from P&C (great promo btw), so I had zero expectation of the product. A few months after Pipe Day (whenever it actually was), I decided to properly celebrate with my Pipe Day swag bag (the corn cob pipe, mini tamper, book, and included tobacco).

I sat down with the book on pipes (a good read, though slanted towards Stanwell products) and cracked the seal on the pouch. I was very surprised to find flakes inside as I don't associate them with pouch tobaccos. The contents had a fine sweet Virginia hay aroma with perhaps some added topping to sweeten it up.

The cut was so precise you could use these flakes for a ruler (machine made and exacting), they were also wafer thin and quite dry. Rubbing them out sucked as they had no body and immediately broke down. The lack of much moisture sparked a cherry quickly, yet it didn't burn excessivly hot, it did however give off a dry "chokey" smoke. The flavor was almost tart and without any country-time barnyard taste I would want from a Virginia.

Ultimately it was not a good smoke (1.5 stars), though for what I assume was a bargain product, I was impressed with it being a flake and not a lazy ribbon cut (so it gets a .5 star nod).

A very pleasant vaper at a reasonable price, probably because it's USA made by a large company. I don't taste much perique, but even so it's to my liking. Smokes cool with no bite. Recommended.

VaPer flakes in a pouch. The flakes are uniform, symmetrical, intact, and a rather wide for a navy flake, as well as darker in color. They are on the dry side. The aroma is strong and is of sweet hay and fermented fruit, as well as tangy, spicy, and peppery.

Upon lighting, the Virginia’s shine. They are sweet with hay, with a little bit of lemon grass, and are on the bright side. The perique has a lot of black pepper and is spicy, with a some dark fruit flavors. I can pick out strong notes of raisins and plum as well as fermented/stewed fruit. I think there is a light rum and fruity topping present. They fade as the bowl it smoked down, but never fully goes away, especially the fruit. This blend is similar to OGS, but a little more full, not as bright, and with more perique.

Drexel VIII smoked cool, burned slow, and didn’t require a lot of relights. I had success smoking this folding it and rubbing it out. It never got hot or bit, but can have a slight edge if aggressively puffed. It lacks a strong nicotine hit, so this one falls into the all day category. If there was an OTC codger style VaPer, this would be it. I would bet money that this blend will age well in a jar. 3.5 out of 4 stars.

Even though sealed in an outer cellophane wrapper, this one was dry from the pouch. Nicely prepared, uniform flakes. Burns evenly; no bite or condensation; few relights. Not much influence by the Perique and comparatively bland overall.

A very uneventful Virginia/Perique. Both the flavor and room note bring the idea of rolling tobacco, with not much else to add.

Be careful when smoking this: if you smoke it a bit fast, it will burn very hot. If smoked slowly, there are very subtle hints of flavor (black pepper and golden plums).

When you get to the last third of the bowl, the flavor becomes a bit more pronounced, and it is actually pretty enjoyable. It's a shame that the first two thirds are just mediocre.

The tobacco needs quite a few relights (a problem I have with many flakes) but does burn completely to a nice fine powdery ash, all the way to the bottom of the bowl.

One very good use of this I have discovered is combining it with an aromatic tobacco that is heavily cased or topped, losing its flavor soon (which I have found with several of the poorer aromatics), the type that leaves a soggy mess at the bottom of your bowl. Taking a pinch of such tobacco, folding it in a flake of Drexel and stuffing it in your pipe takes the strengths of both and alleviates the weaknesses. The Drexel adds structure to the flavor and makes the tobacco burn better.