Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Five Brothers

As good as the Burely flavor was, I was always getting a pepper kind of taste along with a lot of nicotine. Which I didn't mind.

I was not a fan of the shag cut, thought it was hard to light, and if it did light, burned a bit hot. Not bad, not good. Two stars.

I bought this to expedite breaking in a new pipe well,try blowing up a large air mattress and you will get the same light headed feeling you get after smoking a bowl of this stuff.This works great with a strong cup of coffee in the morning gets everything moving.Not my idea of an ideal relaxing smoke.

Five Brothers is very strong. I tried smoking it in a cob on its own to see what all the hype was about. Wow! This stuff is no joke. It's a nicotine bomb! It was a fine shag cut in the pouch. It was very dry when I got it. I used it to spice up a couple of bland blends that I had, and it was good for that. I ended up giving the remaining 2/3 of the pouch I had to a friend. He rolled cigarettes with it and said he really enjoyed it. I'm on the fence about giving it another try.

This one does appear to be a solid burley blend. Though the taste isn't to my liking. The strength is okay. One could do better in strength by purchasing an oriental or latakia blend. I love the cut. Shag is an excellent way to pack a pipe, light it, and keep it lit easily. The price can't be beat, either. Shag is traditionally a cheap tobacco and it still holds true today. If one is looking for a nicotine hit, then this is it. I usually smoke it when I have coffee or tea in the morning. All-in-all, it's a decent blend but I'm sure that there are better shag blends available.

I recently won a pouch of Five Bros from ebay. It arrived very crinkly in its package and upon opening, was desert dry. Surprisingly, it was smokeable. Was it worth the $9.99 plus shipping? Sad to say, no. It did have a taste unlike any other Burley I have ever smoked, but not enough to win me over and it was quite boring. Retrospectively, it wasn't worth the effort in hunting it down. I suspect it would serve its purpose as a blender, but as for a solo smoke, there are far better. When all is said and done, happy I finally tried it and only "somewhat recommended" for the experience alone.

How does one tell is Five Brothers is fresh or not? It's drier than hell, and looks like it might be used to line the bottom of a hamster cage.

It's strong and it burns really fast. But you knew that.

If you're looking for a nicotine delivery system, here it is. If you're looking for snobby subtlety and nuance, you probably wouldn't have bought this in the first place.

Another tobacco gifted by Clarkus that I thank, I can endorse his review: I expected a stronger tobacco, the contents of nicotine is certainly in high dosage (too much for my preferences) but not bombastic and contributes to coolness of the smoke despite the type of cut and dryness make this tobacco highly flammable. What is surprising is the delicacy of taste, not bad but rather neutral and (IMHO) natural, placed on the top of the bowl (just a pinch) can be used as a trigger for blends too wet or too weak.

Well I didn't think this was bad, but I got a pack-a-day habit anyways so the nicotine kick wasn't bad at all for me. I opened the pouch, saw what looked like a cat fight crime scene and left the pouch sit for 2 weeks till I got curious. I used a MM pony and just crammed in a bowl sized pinch and lit. I thought it might catch the house on fire! The shag cut and the tinder dry moisture content made it flare up like a burning bar. It took all of 5 minutes to finish the smoke. Cigarish discribes the first quarter then it just got strong tasting, not bitter, not hay or grass like just pure burley cranked up to ten. I'm not gonna put this in my rotation, but I think I will revisit it once in a while.

I bought some to see what all the fuss is about. My recommendation....Buy some rolling papers and make it into cigarette. Don't inhale! Not bad. I don't advise trying in a pipe unless you have a really small bowl. In a pipe it burns much too fast and becomes harsh. I probably won't buy any more unless I take up R.Y.O. cigarettes. Not likely.

P.S. How on earth are you supposed to chew this stuff?