Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Granger

5/9/21. I’m updating this review to 4 stars. Granger has become my all day go to blend. I now smoke “Codger” blends almost exclusively after smoking many various blends since the late 1960’s. But now enjoy simple American blends over all others and go from one to another bit Granger gets the most attention. I would note that it is not monochromatic as there are light and dark brown burleys so it is minimal bi-chromatic although the flavor is indeed simple. It is burley with a mildly sweet casing and zero topping and is not an aromatic. The casing is likely molasses and I get a light caramel sensation from it but otherwise simply a quality burley smoke with the subtle flavors of the tobacco itself. I don’t find any chemical taste at and no bite. STG has done a spectacular blending here. I hadn’t smoked this in years and had only smoked the Pinkerton which I believe to have been inferior to the STG. I went through the STG in 6 weeks and have a second in progress at the moment. Granger is simply a great sit back and enjoy a pleasant pipe kind of blend. If you want to try it but not commit to a 12oz can, WestVirginiaSmokeshop.com sells bulk.

Over the past couple of months I began seriously searching for OTC blends that would really satisfy something that I've not been able to satisfy with tobacco shop bulk blends. I've been smoking a pipe since the late 60's and in all these years have never found a bulk tobacco I wanted to really stick with - something I could come home to, plug into my pipe without thinking and being satisfied with - something simple, pleasant, not requiring thinking or the temptation to taste this or that and having enough nicotine to relax me.

Since I can't find a store that stocks a good selection of pouches any longer (I'm getting the impression that people only smoke Captain Black anymore) I ordered tubs of three classic American blends to try. Tubs of tobacco are a bit of a commitment and I read hundreds of reviews on this site to narrow my search down to those that sounded like what I would like. These reviews have proved immensely helpful because I like all three so far.

This review is about what I think is my favorite of the three, Granger. The other two are Walnut and Sugar Barrel. I have, in the past, smoked adequate amounts of two standards of the OTC genre, Prince Albert and Carter Hall. Both were quite good but neither was quite what I was looking for. Oh yes, I forgot to mention SWR. I buy that from time to time but have yet to finish a whole pouch. I keep forgetting I really don't like it - too flavored I think.

Granger is a straight burley that isn't overly cased or flavored. In fact, there is very little. The tobacco isn't overly PG'd either. I really hate sticking my hand into tobacco and having it stick to my fingers. I like the cut of the tobacco as well. It is large and burns slower than ribbon cuts. The flavor was burley, burley and of course, burley - burley up front, burley in the middle and burley in the rear. I forgot to mention that I like burley. And, it feels full in the mouth. I think of it as kind of round. I love the fullness of it. PA is "thin" by comparison. I have to say that it does bite a bit but I'm willing to tolerate the bite for this one. I did spread this out on a thin tray to give it a weeks drying time and it reduced the bite. I grew up in VA where Edgeworth Slice was as common as PA and I found it a bit bitter or something and I could never quite get into it. I just smoked enough to get the little hinged tins I liked so much that were very handy to keep a little tobacco stash in the glove compartment. Anyway, I like this much better than what I remember of Edgeworth and that is the closest comparison I can think of. There is some similarity to Half & Half but Granger burns slower and has a bigger flavor uninterrupted by Virginia and is less cased.

As far as the room note goes, I don't really know. I can't sense the room note of something I'm smoking and since you can't smoke around other humans any longer it really doesn't matter what it smells like anyway does it?

This certainly isn't the "end all" in tobacco but it very much satisfies what I am looking for in an all day smoke and I very much recommend it to other burley lovers as a must try.