Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Half & Half

I have no idea what the topping/casing is on this stuff (variously descibed as anise or fruit) but it disagrees with me in no uncertain terms. I have tried letting the tobacco "breathe", sometimes overnight, with no relief. I cannot get past two or three draws before the taste gags me and I have to dump it out.

I have attributed this to the topping/casing, but I guess it could be some other additive. Because of this reaction I cannot really gauge the strength of the blend. Some pipesters like this (obvious by those four star ratings) but I cannot recommend it.

This was boring. I bought the 50g pouch because I remembered the name and it felt like a better buy than the rest of the bags in the convenience store, but no. I should have bought the Borkum Riff or the Greve Hamilton standards 'cause this one was just plain boring. A dark, dull Burley taste, makes it possible to use it as a blending base for some interesting Latakia home made mixes though. On its own, don't bother.

Searching through the Orlik website I came across this perennial favorite. Count me as uninformed, I didn't know it was possible that Orlik could have acquired such a horrible tobacco. And, according to their description, it is indeed a half burley and half virginia mix--another surprise. I've heard the claim before, though I always discounted the idea. I just naturally assumed that the Pinkerton people went about collecting cigarette butts off of parking lots and threw it all in a cement mixer with a fair portion of potpourri.

Amazing how anybody could screw up perfectly good tobacco this bad.

This is instantly, noticeably harsher on the throat and nostrils than Sir Walter Raleigh, and burns a bit hotter than most American OTC's I've tried. The flavor lacks the depth and rich nuttiness of more refined codger blends. With so many better American-style OTC"s readily available for the same price, I simply cannot recommend this blend

Wow, not in a good way. This is the worst stuff I have ever had the displeasure of paying for.

It looks nice, packs nice. It is a tad moist out the pouch but man oh man the smell is horrible. Talk about bad flavor science. That aniseed smell, neh the fake chemy aniseed smell almost made me gag I’m not exaggerating there. I once bout mixture 79 (the one hugh Hefner smoked) and it ghosted my falcon... the metal body. Swore I’d never go near that aniseed stuff again. Well unbeknownst to lil old me this stuff has it as well. Man these American otc/drugstore blends are a real mine field. I should have gotten velvet or Borkum riff or captain black but I didn’t want to pay the xtra 4 dollars.

I emptied the pouch out the car window not more than a block from where I got it. It was that bad.

I hate when blends don’t write what the hell is inthem on the tin. Oh well lesson learned and some of you well seasoned smokers who enjoy this atrocity should have your pipes confiscated by a government body much like DCFS will take your kids away for abusing them

All I can say is NO. This blend is not only bland but simply incorrigible. It most definitely has this nasty, soapy taste that isnt pleasant at all.

Upon opening the pack I was met with a nice earthy tobacco fragrance with Anisette. The tobacco seemed very moist so I sat it out for an hour and a half and squeezed it between my fingers and the tobacco sprung out like it should although it still seemed moist to me and proceeded to load the Meerschaum and I noticed how small the pieces were. It filled easy enough but I drew and it plugged the pipe enough to make it draw hard, so no big deal. Re-filled and this time it did the same thing. Third time is a charm as they say and we were ready to go, or so I thought. By this time it has been two hours this tobacco has been sitting out under a ceiling fan drying.

Did the char and then lit it and was greeted by a nice flavor of light grass, light wood, anisette, liquor, touch of molasses and .... is that .. a very slight taste of cloves.... and a light, light touch of cherry? not bad I think. The smoke was average and the room note nice.

Then the fun began. Had to re-light after the first sip which is no big deal unless you have to relight after each sip. Obviously still to wet but I soldiered on liking the tastes that played well together leaving a pleasant and sweet aftertaste. Then we hit the halfway mark of the bowl three hours after getting the tobacco out and I noticed the taste fading and then a relight that was... well.. bleh... relight again and I got bit and the bleh taste again.... not a hard bite but enough to bring this to a halt.

I emptied the bowl and let the rest of the tobacco I took earlier out sit until it had been out for 7 hours. This time I grabbed my BBK Hunter and squeezed the tobacco and it felt perfect and reacted perfectly. I charred and then re-lit and the same nice taste and then the same not wanting to stay lit past one sip. So I turned up the heat drawing a bit harder and it finally limped along to past half the bowl and a repeat performance of the flavors fading rapidly and disappearing. A repeat of the bleh taste upon relighting followed by another bite while not severe was not a great deal of fun with that taste in my mouth. That was enough for me. The rest of the bowl was dumped out and just like in the meerschaum there was a good bit of moisture.

Half and Half has a pleasant taste which I enjoyed for half the bowl and after that bleh, and believe me that is the nicest word I could think of for what I tasted. The tobacco burned very inconsistently. It didnt want to light and when pushed it did light but then burned hot and eventually bit. The aftertaste for the first half of the bowl was pleasant. I enjoyed the flavors. The second half of the bowl I did not explore very deep for the taste was, shall we say way less than desirable.

How does one rate a Jekyll and Hyde experience like this? The taste of the top half of the bowl is a 3.5 and I enjoyed it immensely, the bottom half a 1.0. with a taste that I hope to never experience again. I like the cut of Half and Half it made filling the bowl a real pleasure a 3.5. I liked the room note a 3.5. I liked the smell and looks of the tobacco 3.0. The lack of burning then burning hot when finally lit was an interesting experience 2.0. I like to sip, not puff and do not like biting. I dont mind relighting for I am a slow smoker but, well, I can usually get a few sips in before relighting... But, the tipper on the scale is the last half of the bowl taste... a 1.0

I can see why those who love this tobacco do for it can be pleasant and I enjoyed it for the first half of the bowl. I can see why some ppl do not like this tobacco also from my experience with the bleh taste, the biting and the inconsistent burning which was not pleasant. I do not consider this a bad blend as some claim, I just think I should let it dry for a week before lighting the next time....maybe two weeks or perhaps three....May do a follow up review on this after more extensive drying of the tobacco to see if changes my review for I do want to really like this tobacco and I do not want to give up easily.

-updated to a 1 star rating. Tried numerous times to like but nothing changed. Gave the rest to someone who does like it.

.

Half & Half is OK. The tobacco in the pouch smells like a box of raisins. It doesn't really have a flavor. It has an earthy, tobacco taste. Half & Half would probably be a good choice for a former light cigarette smoker making the move to pipes. There are better OTCs available.

It is claimed this was Shelby Foote's favorite tobacco which appears to not be true. He did use it for a time to make a custom mix:

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/drgrabows/shelby-foote-s-tobacco-t7942.html http://uurrff.blogspot.com/2011/01/shelby-footes-pipe.html

I am a big fan of some of the American standards like Carter Hall, various Capt. Black blends etc., but had never tried Half and Half until now. Like I always do with new blends, I loaded a cob with this blend. It packed fairly easily considering the excessive moisture level and lit well. I don't know how to explain the flavor except yuck. The room note was awful, as was the flavor. After drying some for a week, I tried again. Same cob, same bad flavor, same horrible room note. Half and Half and the cob now rest peacefully in the local dump, buried deep I hope.