Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Half & Half

Update 6/17/2020 I’ve gone back and forth on this a couple of times. The first was unfortunately the Pinkerton version. In any case, I recently saw a pouch in a local shop and bought it. I got back in my car and lit up a bowl and after a few minutes wondered how I had missed what I was now experiencing. This is remarkably good stuff. I’ve been smoking pipes for 52 years but ignored Half and Half smoking only “fine” blends. The more I smoked it the more I enjoyed the lightly topped blend and now I smoke it a couple of times a day - sometimes more. I’m 71 years old now and my days of experimenting and trying every blend I come across or hear about are over. All I want is a quality simple blend to smoke and enjoy without analyzing it. I only have two “go to” blends now, H & H and Sutliff Victoria. Both are smooth, lightly topped, creamy (to my taste) and most importantly non distracting. I still have a number of higher end tins and a few ounces of Lane remakes of OTC’s when I want a quick change up. In the end, I am very satisfied with my two “go to’s”. I’m upping my rating of H & H to four stars because it is a four star tobacco for me even after having been around the tobacco block many many years. Update: I'm dropping my recommendation to two stars. I'm finding it burns to quickly and is too cigarette like.

First, the pouch aroma was offensive to me, however, it did not carry over to the smoke and as I continued through the pouch the pouch aroma became somewhat pleasing. I enjoy OTC blends - American classics actually - and often prefer them to tinned tobacco and continue to search for those I can stick with. I had tried H&H on previous occasions but this is the first time that I found myself liking it. It is a good simple one dimensional smoke and that is what I look for. I smoke a pipe to relax and forget life's complexities and the last thing I want is a complex smoke.

My father smoked H&H exclusively and it always smelled like home to me. He gave up the pipe for cigars in the 60's and I really missed the pipe tobacco aroma. I started smoking a pipe in the late 60's and having a tobacconist locally, I just bypassed drug store tobacco and it has only been the last couple of years I've starting smoking them. They are worthy tobacco blends and I now prefer them to tobacco shop "jar" tobacco. In all these years I've not found a bulk tobacco in a tobacco shop that is one I wanted to stick with. I'm actually finding more satisfying smoke in these classic American blends. As many reviewers have pointed out, they have been around for a hundred years for a reason. I will always have some tins of tobaccos around for an occasional treat but I have to tell you, I'm really stuck on the drug store stuff - simple, satisfying and reasonable price.

I find H&H to be a very pleasant smoke with decent nicotine and very little bite and my only problem with it is that it burns too quickly. I'm just getting into it and it is gone already. I recently purchased a tub of Granger which scratches the same itch as H&H but burns slower and I think has the edge on flavor as well. It does have more tongue bite though. Were it not for Granger, H&H would be a "go to" blend for me but I believe I will stick with Granger and enjoy a pouch of H&H on occasion. Like many others I enjoy it in a cob but I enjoy it more in a large bowl brier.

I have to give this tobacco a "recommended". This is definitely worthy of a try. I'm sure there are many people out there that would love this tobacco but they will never consider trying it. If I get bored with Granger and want a change of pace, I'll come back to this to fill the gap for sure.

As of now, I find Granger, Sugar Barrel and Walnut adequate to fill my mood and taste swings. I just wish there was greater availability of pouches of these classic blends. There are many others I would like to try that I can't find. I don't understand why stores no longer stock them. One day they were there, then they were gone.

I should mention that the pouch I bought last week was Pinkerton production. The shop only had Lane in the tub. I'll continue to look for a pouch of the Lane production as I want to sample that also.