Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Erinmore Flake

i tried this tobacoo for about 3 or 4 times.not bad tobacco but we cant say it is very good or great tobacco.too much flavoring is the biggest problem with this that i cant tolerate .some times it burns my tongue .medium in strength .i think it is good tobacco for those who like cigarette smoking.also i didnt like the taste.

The tin note smelt very much of honey and licorice with just a hint of fruit in the background.

Upon smoking the flavour seems to alternate between a bland tobacco flavour and the fruit topping making an appearance. The topping is a perfect match of Mrs Balls Chutney, which is made with peaches and apricots.

Summary of My Qualifications for Reviewing Tobacco: I am 22, first time smoker, and do not have a sophisticated palate/tastebuds. I am learning the art of noticing the subtleties of pipe tobacco, but am still at a beginner phase - I don't notice much. I enjoy a variety of pipe tobaccos: Virginias and Burleys in particular, but I also enjoy Balkan tobacco very much.

Review of Tobacco: This is tin provides a very pleasant aroma to Virginia lovers. A little bit heavy in fragrance - like a 20 year old girl spraying perfume on herself before going on a date to a nightclub - but has lovely touches of... maybe... creamy pineapple. Upon opening the tin, a wave of aroma slides across your face and provides a rich and fruity smell. However, as pleasant as the aroma is, smoking this tobacco was unpleasant. It burns the tongue, gets the pipe too wet too soon, and has a little too much bite relative to the other tobaccos I've smoked before writing this review. I will have to rereview this product in the upcoming months as I gain more experience, but as for right now, I would suggest this tobacco to adventurous types.

Erinmore Flake is one of only about 3 of my experiences with tinned tobacco, and my first flake. The smell of a freshly opened tin is absolutely wonderful, a smell that reminds me of the taste of sweet iced tea and dried apricots. Surprisingly enough, these notes carried in the smoking quite well, something that rarely happens with any of the locally blended aromatics that I smoke.

Not heeding the warnings of letting a flake dry out for 10-20 minutes or so, I will say I had some problems with lighting, relighting... but this did not seem to adversely affect the flavor. After experimenting with some rope tobacco the night before, the mildness of the nicotine was a welcome change from the sledgehammer that is typical of rope.

I really enjoyed this tobacco. I used it to break in a brand new pipe, and I have decided that Erinmore will always have a place on my tobacco shelf, and will be the only blend I smoke in this new pipe.

***UPDATE 2014-07-18*** While I still enjoy Erinmore from time to time, my beloved ship has sailed as it being one of my favorite tobaccos. I find the topping to sometimes be slightly off-putting and pungent if I'm not expressly in the mood for it. I have quite a few tins that I will sit on for a few years, and I'll enjoy it from time-to-time... but no longer is Erinmore practically a daily smoke for me.

It's sort of a standard burley flake, but it seems to have some flavoring added, which doesn't come through strong, but I'd still prefer not to have it. Upon lighting it, it smokes nice and tastes great, but as it goes down it quickly starts tasting funny, to me almost like a dill pickle taste. Very unpleasant, and unfortunately happens every time I smoke this blend. This blend was a disappointment to me, but my friend seems to love it so it might just not work for my taste buds. Two stars.

I found this flake to be a little too cased for my tastes, like juicy fruit gum. I don't like the way the fruity topping blends with the smokiness of this blend. The flake rubbed out easily enough and took to flame well. This fruity, flowery flake didn't work well for me, but I could see some liking it.

Smoke in peace, my friends.

Despite having been predisposed to favor it, I cannot describe it as a preference. The tin aroma is fruity and pleasant, and the tobacco rubs out nicely and packs easily. But it has an edgy smokiness in the mouth, a dry harshness that its aroma belies. That said, it draws smooth and fairly sweet, and I've walked away from other tobaccos with a fair dirtier mouth. I'll accept it in a pinch, but not as a preference.

Nice slightly sticky flakes that have the aroma of a kind sophisticated Juicy Fruit gum. They rub out easily. I don't dry them as some folks do, I aerate the tobacco, sifting it and sprinkling it as I rub it out this makes it very easy to light and smoke. The flavor is not overly complex. It starts off a bit ashy but quickly becomes a nice smooth blend of pleasant but unspectacular, mild Virgina and Burley flavors complimented by that nice but artificial tasting Juicy Fruit flavor. I really don't notice much of a flowery taste. Perhaps after having been recently assaulted by a dose of Lakeland before smoking Erinmore I simply didn't notice it. It's a not unpleasant easy to puff away on smoke. While it is Danish it is not a heavy and goopy aromatic. However it is an aromatic so I've been smoking it in a Vauen or Big Ben 9mm filter pipe. I experience no tongue burn, just the mildest Virginia tongue tingle. It burns somewhat rapidly but not overly hot. It will provide a mid-level helping of nicotine. While not unpleasant I don't regularly smoke this blend as there are so many better aromatics available to me when I desire that style of tobacco. I have used Erinmore in some of my personal concoctions, one of them mixing it with a dash of a heavy Latakia blend, some nasty musty C&D Burley and a bit of Black Cavendish. Sometimes the outcome of using this as a blender has been good but other times whatever is used to flavor this blend does not harmonize well with other tobaccos creating a rather unpleasant bitter taste. I tried a blend while visiting a tobacconist in Houston on a recent trip. They had combined Erinmore with Maduro leaf and Latakia in a house blend. I found it awful and recognized that nasty bitter unharmonized flavor. An upside is that Erinmore is very economical and the tin design is quite charming. Slightly Recommended.

Nicely cut flakes, I gotta say, this was my first flake when I started a while back and I loved 'em. I have again started smoking them and will finish what I have in the next week. I had bought another tin about a year ago and it is in my cabinet storage and will be brought out in a couple years. It's a good blend, nothing that stands out and says buy me, buy me, but a very pleasant and solid tobacco. It smokes a bit wet, even after a year in a mason jar, so it might be just me, but I'm not sure. The tobacco is a dark brown and rubbed out has long strands. Even rubbed out this tobacco smokes long compared to others tobaccos in the same pipe, which is a good thing if you like to smoke whilst watching a movie or such.

A good tobacco, but I will have to try the other tin after I'm done with this, and doubt I will buy another one. I like it, but can live without it.