Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Clan Aromatic (Original)

Oh dear. A bit of history: my first smokes were with some borrowed St Bruno and Condor. When I bought a real pipe (instead of the homemade job I had used till then) I bought a Peterson Lightweight and a pouch of Clan. It smells lovely in the pouch, and it smells lovely in terms of room aroma. But to the smoker it's hot and hellish, and always makes your tongue sore. Who is it that buys so much of this stuff that it can always be found on European tobacconists' shelves, no matter how far from civilisation they be? I soon moved on to Amphora Red, Holland House (RIP) and then away from aromatics. I can't recommend this except as an experiment in experiencing how bad a tobacco can be, and yet sell so widely!

You just have to smoke this one at least once in your life, to pay your toll as a pipesmoker! 🙂 But then you can easily stop and smoke something else! It gives its best in the room note field, but air-purifiers are cheaper. It is tasteless and can easily burn your tongue if you don't pay enough attention.

This is not as it was. It is far less aromatic than when I started on it in my youth but has a similar taste. A new version clan malt whiskey is now available which is very good indeed.

Ok. I started reviewing the blends I like the most. Is there a blend that I realy don?t like. Yes. Clan. These pouches are ubiquitous, so I suppose a lot of people must like this. This is one of the reasons I kept coming back to it, the blend must have some quality. Well, I haven?t been able to find why it is so popular. So this is a fine ribbon cut, a bit like shag ? over here people say ?dryed pubic hair? 😉 . Chemical smell in the pouch ? chemical room note. Ok, the taste isn?t so bad. Tobacco and liccorice, IMO. But in all those smokes, I have never found a way to get it to behave, which makes that I never had a nice relaxing smoke with this, which is the entire point for me of smoking pipes, so if it misses that point, well I can?t find it very good?

Another tabocco from my homeland that is awfull. After smoking three pipes of it, I could not drink cola any more because of the tongue-bite. I threw the halffull pouche away and will not smoke this any more.

It seems I am a true lover of only English blends. Pity that not all British are availabale here!

Never smoked a tobacco which burns so badly. Shit tobacco, don't buy it!

As Captain Black is in the US so Clan is in Europe I guess, a readily available 'drugstore' brand. My pouch was given to me by the mother-in-law, which should have made me suspicious I suppose. I found it very dry straight from the pack, with a very sweet aroma.

As to the smoke I found it disappointing. I was prepared for a full on 'flavour-attack' as per previous reviews but found it bland and uninspiring to the taste. Like many aromatics Clan seems to have a reputation for creating an amiable room note, but my female 'guinea-pig' found its aroma sickly sweet and not as enjoyable as my usual latakia favourites.

I don't want to put a downer on aromatics as a whole, but I always get the feeling as a pipe smoker you are encouraged to try them for the benefit of the non-smoker. Goodness knows it's a rare aromatic which actually gives you a flavour or taste comparable to the aroma it produces for those around you. Give me an English blend anytime, something with some real taste.

Still, I?ll hang onto my pouch of Clan just in case. But I don't think I'll be going for a repeat prescription of this particular 'medicine'.