Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Clan Aromatic (Original)

Viewers will no doubt agree with my ratings up to the point of 'recommendation', where I deviate from the common opinion. Don't worry, I too find clan to smoke way too hot, to be a confused muddle of flavours and to bite like the devil's pet terrier, but I have just had a eureka moment (pipe smokers may say an 'epiphany').

Before Christmas I bought a pouch of the stuff, had all the old problems, but before leaving to visit my family I put two drops of peppermint oil in with it and left it back in the drawer. Upon returning (five days have passed) I found a completely reformed character!

The pouch smelled almost exactly like Murray mints, still lit nicely, but most importantly was an absolute JOY to smoke. Cool as you like, no bite, and the clusterfuck of flavours had transformed into beautiful complexity to be teased out a few at a time the whole way down the bowl.

This commonly available, dirt cheap blend I now hold up there with Samuel Gawith and Dunhill's aro's.

I've occasionally come across mention of peppermint used (in minute quantities) to 'cool' tobacco and reduce bite (one reviewer here went as far as to accuse SG's Squadron leader of being surreptitiously doped with the stuff on account of its mildness, as if it's a bad thing!), but the results here were astounding.

Try Clan, if you find the same problems as I did, consider the couple of drops. It may be the difference between a binned pouch and a fine smoke 🙂

well this is the worst tobacco i have ever smoked . i would prefer to smoke my shorts !

A friend of mine brought back this pouch of Clan tobacco from Spain as a gift for me. (It's blended in Holland, though.) The pouch describes it as "...cool and fragrant, mild in taste and slow burning ... containing no less than 14 different tobaccos from all over the world."

This is definitely a unique tobacco. The scent from the pouch was very natural (reminiscent of cigarette tobacco) but with a strong overlying medicinal smell like a sweet cough syrup. What really surprised me about this tobacco is the cut of very long, thin strands (shag?). Using this tobacco is like filling up your pipe with alfalfa: you don't trickle it in so much as stuff in tangled globs.

I was a little reluctant to fire up this blend because of the decidedly unpleasant smell. Much to my relief, however, it wasn't too bad. Although I could taste the faint sweetness that my nose had detected, it remained a fairly natural tobacco experience. Best of all, this thin stranded tobacco packs and burns surprisingly well.

In the end, however, I felt that although it's not a bad tobacco, it's not one that I would bother reaching for when there are others I enjoy far more. And there's something about the mediciny cloying character of the tobacco that unsettles me.

Well, I don´t know. I don´t like it.

Out of the pouch it smells like some liquor and then, you light it up and almost all of the (not very attractive) aroma is soon gone. Tobacco flavour is rarely there. The only thing that is present is a tongue bite.

Funny (when you are not smoking it)

UPLOAD: I got used to it. Now I see it as a typical aromatic blend. 2 out of 4

Despite the relatively negative ratings of this tobacco, i think it is an extraordinary aromatic blend. Mild with a rich flavor. Easily lit and smoked, with consistency throughout.

My first pipe tobacco. After many years of smoking a variety of cigarettes. And some cigars and cigarillos. I find it quite pleasant, has a nice caramel-ish sweetish aroma, with hints of vanilla, perhaps sherry or some other type of alcohol and more.

I like it very much and have had little to no problem smoking it though, I'm only starting out as a pipesmoker after having quit cigarettes and wishing a hand-to-mouth movement as well as enjoyment, relaxation and a healthier alternative I am not addicted to.

I smoke with a variety of pipes and a variety of filters as well as a few unfiltered, I have not tried it in an unfiltered pipe and I can't see it gaining any benefit from it. I has been called a pipe tobacco created by a cigarette smoker and perhaps that's where it holds its appeal for me.

All I know is that it is nothing like cigarettes to me and I enjoy it very much. It does seem to tend to ghost pipes, though I thoroughly do not mind it.

I'd definitely recommend it for any other new pipesmokers. Especially if you're in the same position I am where it is difficult to gain access to a great variety of tobaccos. This was what a tobacconist I trust recommended to me, and I'd recommend it to you. It's nice with a french vanilla coffee and some liqueur.

It's THE CLAN. That is the history of pipe smoking, the smell of your granda's pipe. I remember smoking it sometimes during the 80's and 90's and I was disappointed by the difference between pouch aroma, the room note AND the tast in pipe. All the wonderful scents disappeared for the smoker, but were still detectable by others in the room. Today, it could only get worse. Easy packing, nice packaging, good lighting... and nothing else. A taste of plastic. I rated it 3 stars instead of minus 1000 just because of its history and legacy.

I know a lot of people dislike this tobacco so let me add my tuppence worth. The pouch note is very pleasing with hints of vanilla, cream and summer fruits. The cut is a shag/ribbon cut. I took out enough for a bowl and I leave it out and pull the ribbons apart even though it's not a damp tobacco it's just something I do with all my blends. I lit it and after the true light it did have some of those flavours I mentioned that I smelled. Then within ten minutes the bowl was finished and it burnt very hot. For this reason I wouldn't buy it again but would definitely if it didn't burn so fast and hot Edit on 11th May 2021. I stuck with this tobacco and wasn't letting it get the better if ne6, now I religiously have a bowl of it last thing at night and thoroughly enjoy it. Early evening I prepare a biwb, pull apart the shah and keavite it in the pipe until later on. I has as very nice creamy taste to it as long as it's sipped, it still burns quite fast but I would fill it more than in the pipe more than any other blend to the point where it's a tight draw so when I smoke it I use my pick from Czech tool to free the airway by pushing it down the front of the bowl to the draught hole. I enjoy it that much that I sometime have two bowls! (living dangerously lol) I can detect Virginia and burley under the topping which is mild but tasty as is the vitamin N. If you haven't smoked it solely because of its notierity I'd suggest you invest in a 25g pouch (€15.30 here in Ireland) I'll give it 3 1/2 star's that's just me

One of the more common tobacco blends, at least in my country. Cheap and easy to find are things that add to its popularity.

It burns really faster than other tobacco blends and it has a dry feeling right out of the bag. I didn't enjoy my exprerience with this one, it has a very mild aroma and due to the fast burn it might make some pipes hotter than usual. Those are briefly my negative remarks. On the positive side it's one of those tobaccos that you won't usually need a relight and it's a fairly light smoking experience.

It's a cheap tobacco but since there are better ones in that price range I wouldn't recommend it but I would suggest that if you haven't smoked that classic tobacco even once to give it a go. It's not for me but it might be for you! I believe due to many reasons, like those mentioned above, it's probably the most popular tobacco that has its lovers and haters.