Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Granger

My son gave me a can of Granger for Christmas, and I couldn't have been happier. My Great-Grandfather smoked this and nothing but this his whole life, and now I know why. You just didn't mess around with Grandpa. He was very straight forward, and that's what I have found out about his favorite tobacco. Granger is just a really good, nothing fancy, but very satisfying smoke. Smells good in the can, smells good in the room, and even though there's a dog on the can, it will never bite you! Grandpa was, at the very least, a no-nonsense kind of guy, and Granger is all that in a pipe tobacco. I still prefer CH as my everyday burley, but Granger is a nice alternative.

Smoked it for the first time recently. A bit hot & harsh, but flavorful, nutty aroma & taste. A good OTC blend.

This is another tobacco that has changed over the years. The cut is nowhere near the "rough cut" it used to be. Still a pleasant smoke. It seems like most of these old time drug-store blends are now made from the same "cut" of tobacco, regardless of blend.

I really wanted to love this tobacco. That blue package with the pointer on the front makes me think of old times, of good old fashioned hard working people, and morals, and the American dream. Unfortunately all I found was a pretty bland burley tobacco.

I do not want to mislead people. This blend delivers exactly what it advertises. It is a no nonsense straight forward smooth and cool smoke. No tongue bite, not gurgle, no hot pipe, and next to no exciting flavors. It burns great, has a great price point, but does not interest me at all.

Here you have a typical nutty burley blend with a slight sweet topping. Pairs well with a nice cup of coffee but I prefer Sir Walter Raleigh and Carter Hall to this one.

Some people find a really great thing in this blend, and good for them, I wish I could see it too. Just not for me. Not because of what it is, but because of what it is not. As always, try it. It is not expensive or hard to find, and if nothing else your hard earned money is going to keeping a long time brand running.

I don't know about the tubs but this isn't very good out of the pouches. One pouch will be ok and the next will change. Since I can't get the tubs where I live I have to assume it tastes the same from there.

Unfortunately, Granger suffers from a few fatal flaws. The first and formost, in my book, is inconsistency, especially in pouch form. Some pouches are just delightful, while others are goopy with PEG and musky with "Wellman process" flavoring. I believe that the "plastic aroma" referred to (which I have experienced with this blend occasionally) is secondary to the fermentation process and the PEG. If this tobacco is allowed to dry out for a couple of days, the off flavors dissapate a bit and the tobacco becomes more of a smokable burley. I find that if I have been smoking Carter Hall or Prince ,and then switch over to this, I get a bit of bite--not really tongue bit, but total mouth bite. After a few bowls this becomes nicer. As someone mentioned, there even appears to be inconsistency bowl to bowl...sometimes it just burns nicely and the taste is mild and there is no off flavor, other times it is a searing halfbowl voyage into plastic garbage bag land. MAYBE this has to do with personal mouth chemistry...

It's quite unfortunate, and I suspect that in earlier times this was a higher quality tobacco, indeed I remember really enjoying this tobacco years ago when I started delving into the american codger burleys. The recent pouches I have purchased have been disappointing and I'd rather not take a chance on a tub when I can spend less and have a tub of something like PA or CH on the shelf. And it's not that easy to find. In my area, we are lucky enough to have a multitude of smokeshops etc. I have only seen it for sale in pouch form in maybe half a dozen retail places around here ever whereas PA, Half and Half, Carter Hall etc. can be picked up at CVS, some local 7-11's and quite a few other places...

I'll smoke through the couple of pouches I have in my cellar here during the next few years, but likely will not pursue any more.

Try it for the experience, you might actually connect with this tobacco...

This was my great-grandfathers smoke of choice. A straight up burley with a mysterious mild topping. It does kind of smell like prune! Very cool, slow, and dry smoking. Go slow with it and it won't heat up. This has a darker flavor than Half&Half and Velvet. I picked up a couple of pouches of this the other day and my opinion has changed. I like Half & Half better! It's cooler and has more tobacco flavor. Granger does have a weird flavor at times, and it makes my sinus and throat sore. I wish I could have smoked this back in the 70's, when it was much better. Many blends have changed through the years and for the worst! I don't know what the weird flavor is but it's probably the plastic taste other reviewers are refering to. Two days of smoking this and my throat and sinuses were raw and sore. I won't be smoking this again! It's a shame, many of the Old School blends are changed in one way or another. I'll take PA or H & H any day over this!

Okay, must update this. Not sure what happened when I gave this three, I think I was not far enough into Granger to give a good opinion. After several pouches, I'm starting to think, yea, it's good, but it's harsh, and the topping I think is the thing that's making it harsh. I'm just not a big fan of toppings, and though I was tolerating it before, I'm just starting to tire of it now. So down to two stars.

As a burley fan, I had thought I would enjoy this blend more. It wasn't bad, but did not seem to have a solid tobacco taste. I believe this blend undergoes a process similar to that of cavendish to make it mild-perhaps it became too mild.

I've held on to the pouch for about 2 years so perhaps I will give it another try.