Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Half & Half

Been smoking pipe since e 1980's and still quite passionate about it.Smoked H&H back then. Found out from another blends(mostly so called English). Last Saturday got a tin of H&H from my uncle who's been smoking pipe around 60 years. This old fella smokes mostly Carter Hall,Prince Albert,Holland House,Erinmore flake and H&H. We have had discussions 100 times about H&H and finally adjusted my mind to this blend witch's made again by it's original recipe after Scandinavik started to make it .The tin aroma is sweet and little bit odd...is it from burley or what.I dunno.Took my old faithful Chacom Billiard with medium size bowl.The smoke was quite nice...the burley blends nice with sweet virginia...there's some kind of peculiar sweetness which I haven't met for awhile...No bite,burns nice and smokes cool all the way down to the end.Next day I smoked H&H with my old MM diplomat and now I understand my old Uncle...the smoke was quite rich,cool and pleasant. H&H is not my favourite blend or blends but let's say taste from old times...I'm gonna finish my tin and perhaps some day I'll buy a another.Too many people ignore this blend and I can imagine why-young lads with perhaps just a few years of smoking in their belt can have this absurd thought that pipe smoking is rocket science or feast for people with cultivated taste and etc...Give H&H a change...I should know after almost 30 years of smoking different blends from OTC's to posh blends.

Another popular codger blend, H&H sets itself apart by being topped with an anise flavoring.

Mild, no tongue bite, forgiving of your pack, and readily available. Easily an all-day smoke with a pleasant enough room note.

I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED! Have been smoking pipes regularly for 6 years. Started with Capt Black and moved to bulk aromatics from a pipe shop, Lane 1-Q , BCA, RLP-6, some light burlys, and various fruit flavors, predominantly black raspberry. I am still experimenting with my mixture preferences. I recently ran out of tobacco and purchased a pouch of Half & Half to tide me over until I can get to the pipe shop & because the price was right $4.50. It was the first thing I ever smoked 46 years ago as a teenager and found it harsh with much bite. (In all fairness, as I remember the tobacco was dry & stale and I smoked too fast: no wonder harsh & biting!) Upon opening the pouch, I found it moist with only a slight aroma. When I lit it, I found it to be much more mild and pleasant than that first experience. I have to agree with the many other reviewers that rated it as a good "go-to", working man's smoke: by no means a " top-shelf" smoke, but a solid and frequently underrated value for the price. I give it 3 of 4 stars for what it is. Just for the record, it is now made in Denmark by Scandinavian Tobacco Group and imported by Scandinavian Tobacco Group Lane Ltd according to the package.

I visit Carolina Tobacco Emporium in Manchester Ct about once a month to buy high end MacBaren flake and Seattle Pipe Club plug , Peterson’s English blends and can get a little sore at the prices after paying Connecticuts 33% consumption tax on tobaccos , plus a 6.35% sales tax on top of that so it’s nice to find a more than smokable pouch of Burley and Virginia at $5 a pouch…… I started working in a foundry in the 70s ( when there was such a thing in the US ) and I remember the guys smoking it then , so I bought a pouch today for old times sake and I have to give it a recommend. It has a good stiff burly flavor that doesn’t bite and never gets hot, good balance with mild flavoring that doesn’t give palate fatigue and decent Virginia rounds it out. The second half of the bowl petered out a bit and Lane Limited doesn’t date it’s stuff for Ct sales; which peeves me , but all in all it’s a quality pipe tobacco….…I’ve spent a lot more money on “premium” tobacco from the major European companies with blends from around the world that I liked a less. Will I make this part of my rotation? Me thinks I may…..I’d like to see Scandinavian TG produce this in a flake.

I have only been reaching for half and half lately. A solid not too strong not too mild smoke with notes of spices that I like. My first foray was the pinkerton iteration which I think tasted more mysterious than STG however it bit (which I kind of liked). STG has more of a cherry flavor than the 10yr old pinkerton which had mysterious spicy topping. It was also darker. Maybe this is a product of age. Nevertheless I am enjoying the tin that I recently popped. Almost no humectant flavor compared to other OTCs that I have tried that leave a PG film in the mouth. This blend is smooth, sweet, fragrant and lends to inhaling if you are so inclined. Not for everyone and that's why I like it. Strong 'recommended'.

Haven’t had any of this in a while. Rooting around in the cupboard and I came across the jar, aged about three years. Cracked it open, put some in the pipe; it lit and stayed lit.

Surprisingly, not much of a nic hit, and I’m not crazy about nicotine. Generally I steer clear of Burley tobacco’s for that reason. Bought this one for the sake of nostalgia, because it’s what the old man used to smoke in his pipe.

Now onto the taste. There is definitely sweetness in it, whether it’s the Virginia or the topping I cannot tell. I don’t recall having that experience the first time I opened it. And of course there is some spiciness. But the best surprise of all was that the coco definitely comes through. I would suggest that if you buy a new pouch of this That you let it age and get a little drier. It’s a very smooth, flavorful aromatic pipe tobacco. Apparently the old man did know something about pipe tobacco that I didn’t. Thanks, Pappy!

Not a true ribbon cut, but something a lot shorter, probably some kind of granulated or crimp cut. The tobacco is mostly mid to light browns. The pouch note is something fruity, my guess would be strawberry, but previous reviewers suggestions of cherry, cranberry, plum etc would not be out of the question. I don't get any of the spice or licorice/anisette notes in the product description or other reviewers opinions.

Descriptions of this tobacco are all over the place in the reviews. It is a mystery to me why this is so. Perhaps the brand has changed over time, or perhaps the Danish and US iterations vary. Perhaps even some reviews are of the now defunct Half & Half Light American. (There are dozens of reviews that [incredibly] mark this as having no flavouring. And dozens more marking it as having mild flavouring.) I say a mystery because there is nothing complicated about this tobacco at all. It is a pleasant medium strength aromatic. The taste and smell of course is a matter of opinion as to whether one finds it pleasant.

This is almost literally a one light tobacco. It will burn right down leaving very little dottle. It doesn't bite as such, but be careful as to your cadence, it will burn hot if you puff too hard. I found it left a coating in my mouth afterwards; this might be a deal breaker for some pipesters.

The top dressing fades as the bowl progresses, either that or I get sensory fatigue and just can't pick up on it after 15 or 20 minutes. The tobacco aromas and tastes are never really in evidence. Congrats to those who picked up Va and Burley aromas- clearly you are super smellers.

It is what it is. Cheap tobacco with a pretty fragrance that is a dream to take care of in the pipe. I am not surprised it has been a codger mainstay for generations. I quite like it. In truth somewhere between a 2 and a 3, I am aware that any recommendation for this tobacco will have to have some caveats. But I have rounded up because it does exactly what a codger tobacco should, and without pretense.

I was never really a fan of this one, but when STG sent me coupons for my birthday I decided to use one and try this again (mainly because STG makes it now). It doesn't say on the pouch, but as the description on this site says...cardamom, coriander and maze (corn). Maze, not mace which is the outer shell of nutmeg. This description is on point. This STG version is so much better than any other older versions. Very easy pack and burn, couldn't bite if you wanted it to and a nice flavor. Makes for a good working in the yard smoke, really shines in a corncob. If you have had this in the past and didn't care for it like me, give it a try again. Now that STG makes it, it's actually smokeable. In this age where we get almost nothing but bad news about pipe tobacco, STG has given us some hope. What they are doing for the pipesmoker has been wonderful, with this and many other blends that they have taken control of, and now they will even bring back Dunhill blends.

H&H was the first pipe tobacco I ever tried back when I was young. It is not forgiving of poor technique, and has a very broad array of flavors depending on how it is smoked. This can be good or bad, I guess. Burning strongly the smoky burley dominates. When it is going out there is a strong grassy flavor that I hate. In between there is literally a sweet spot where the sugars in the virginia and the casing carmelize, and combined with the nutty bread flavors of the burley you get a muffin flavor. Awesome with coffee! However, this sweetness can also get cloying for those who don't really like sweet in tobacco (like me). To get the best results (for me) I need to mix this with a straight burley like Granger. Those who like sweetness will find magic with careful smoking. Be sure to try a conical bowl pipe.