Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Half & Half

This stuff is vile.

So I'm a newbie pipe smoker, reveling in the experience of taste-testing the vast world of pipe tobacco. Not a snob, no preconceptions, and every 'baccy in this country costs the same (i.e. too much) so cost-cutting didn't enter into any buying decision. I caveat all this because some people try to paint criticism of OTC blends as some sort of class thing. It isn't.

“Notes of anise, cardamom and coriander.” Great! I think. I love those things! I eat Dutch licorice for fun. Buying it blind but can't go wrong, right?

Wrong. I bust open that bright retro pouch ready to meet my new favourite tobacco, and I'm immediately repelled by an overwhelming waft of cough syrup and vomit. It's like someone in a desperate and dark moment of life tried to chug a bottle of Robitussin and threw up into an ashtray. I'm not getting herb or spice, just sick-tinged cherry chemical.

But I'm a newbie so it's got to be me. I'm misjudging this stuff. So I half loaded my brand new dee-luxe MM Kingston Judge and took a sip. I was hit a sharp spike of pure chemical that caught my throat and made me gag as a actinic tang rushed through my sinuses and into my skull.

For some reason I soldiered on and finished the bowl. It never improved. The sweet and sour taste -- less reminiscent of Chinese takeaway and more of animal decomposition -- would fade into wet cigarette then blare up again as I hit another hellish flake of casing. I have never so badly wanted an aromatic to fail in its duty, and never had one so stubbornly, even spitefully, refuse to do so.

My head was reeling afterward, and it wasn't nicotine but some other nameless additive that was making my brain hurt. The tongue bite was the worst I've ever experienced, and my mouth felt like it was coated with burnt plastic. I went to brush my teeth. I always do this after a bowl, but this time I started seeing black, tarry soot slithering down the brush. --> Half & Half made me spit black tar! <--

I coughed for three days while my scorched throat healed, and a month later I'm still trying to get the vomit taste out of my poor snob-cob. I'm too cheap to throw the pouch out but I don't know what I'm going to do with it. I hear it shuffling and muttering in the night.

This was quite a disappointment. I was hoping, especially with the aromatic classification, for a unique, good-ole-days smoke. This was an odd smoke all around. First, I noticed no topic. I was confused as to how it was even classified as an aromatic. It just tasted and smelled like burley. That's all. Just bland all around. Perhaps it can be useful for a DIY blend, but I'm going to avoid it myself.

As an undergraduate at UGA I had a chemistry professor that always smoked his pipe during his lectures. I have found memories of the aroma in his lecture room, wood, chalk and the aroma of his pipe. There was always a pouch of Half and Half on his desk. Will never forget the mentor he became and the knowledge he imparted to me. I like good Virginias and VaPers but sometimes a simple satisfying bowl that does not require attention just good pipe tobacco flavor is special. Half and Half has that whiskey aroma that has not changed over the various iterations of this classic. Maybe not for the 'single malt moments' but sure goes good with coffee, coke or beer anytime. I always keep a pouch around for those contemplative porch sessions just to relax and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

I’ve given this stuff several tries within the past two weeks. I should have stopped at the first bowl, which wasn’t pleasant. But I decided everything deserves a second chance. So I left the pouch to air out a bit.

When I returned to it a few nights later, the second bowl was reasonably pleasant. Of course, it was in the wee hours of the morning after a long day of heavy smoking.

So I rise the next morning, cautiously optimistic, and reach for the same pipe... not completely finished. So I decide to give it a couple more puffs.

Oh god, what a mistake. Sour. Bitter. It was like inhaling throw-up. Clearly Half-and-Half is not one of those tobaccos you can let sit once you’ve started.

Anyway, I decided maybe that was my mistake and went about the task of packing a fresh bowl of H&H in a different pipe.

Nope. Read the other negative reviews here to get more detailed descriptions of my experience. Just lousy. Very chemical-y. Coats the mouth with a foul layer of vinyl.

I really tried. While, true, I apparently have caviar tastes when it comes to tobacco, I’m quite a spendthrift and would like nothing more than to be able to make my primary tobacco something economical. It certainly won’t be Half and Half.

Fresh off the pouch, this nicely cut mixture advertises its aromatic nature with a sweet and minty candy-like aroma. Moisture is "just right", and it packs easy.

The burley is unsurprisingly nutty. The virginia sits coyly on top and seems to struggle to come through most of the flavoring, which I can only imagine bonded strongly with it. The retrohale reveals some spicy mint, similar to the kick one gets with Wrigley’s spearmint chewing gum. The rest of the smoke is adorned with very pleasant anisette.

There is a very nice and copious smoke coming out of this blend, and it leaves with with a slightly pleasant aftertaste and a bit of a dry mouth, but no bite at all. This mixture is easy on the relights, leaves a little bit of messy ash, and above average moisture. Hard to go wrong with this aromatic mixture.

A very good OTC blend with the aroma and flavor of black licorice. Will not bite and has a good strength both of tobacco and casing. I do like smoking it from a cob on a summer day in the yard. Will ghost your pipe so either really like the flavor (as in you want all your tobaccos to taste like half and half) or dedicate a cob or pipe to it. Can leave a little goopy sugar in your pipe, but it’s worth it.

Otc blends are like bottom shelf whiskey,some are as good as the high end brands. I smoked H and H back in the 60's and always enjoyed it. Then another company took over and it all changed and not for the better. Every time I bought a pouch I always wish I had left it in the store.Then a couple of years ago I noticed H and H was in a new package. Went ahead and bought one and was very impressed! It was better than back in the 60's. Seems like every brand taken over by STG has improved. Just fill the bowl loosely,tamp once, light,tamp lightly, relight,and you're good to go to the very bottom of the bowl.Thanks STG for saving a good traditional blend.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group - Half & Half.

The most of Half & Half is almost cube cut, but there are a few ribbons, and smaller flecks, too. The pouch has quite a spicy/sharp aromatic aroma to it. The moisture level makes for fast a smoke without any need for drying.

It only took me a short while to work out I didn't like the topping, it tastes quite, what's the word? Rank. Astringent, sharp, maybe acidic, and heavy. The tobaccos are a redundant flavour, as the topping covers them. I'm guessing many peoples opinion on the strength of added flavour will differ, but to me if the added flavouring qualifies as horrible that's more than enough credence to mark Strong! Here's a good point: the burn. It has a steady, and medium temperature, burn. Getting back onto the bad points, it bites me.

I don't find the room-note TOO bad, and the nicotine from Half & Half sits at about medium, maybe higher.

Not a fan:

One star.

This is a perfectly fine tobacco. It is a definite 3 star tobacco I am giving 4 stars to in order to offset it's low rating, as a couple others (at least) have noted, whom I have quoted below. The Burley is a bit more present than the Va, and it behaves very well in the bowl throughout the smoke. The flavoring is not overpowering, nor chemically. If you think this is a cherry and anisette blend, as noted here, that is not correct (I actually just changed the 'tin description' and flavoring to make it accurate, as it incorrectly stated cherry and anisette as the flavors). STG defines the flavoring as follows: 'A timeless mix of loose cut Burley and Virginia tobaccos with flavorful notes of Cardamom [spicy/herbal/citrus], Coriander [lemony/citrus] and Maze [Mace - part of the nutmeg nut and a bit lighter in flavor than nutmeg]'.

And they have done a nice job in the application of those interestingly flavorful notes to a VaBur base without drowning out the tobacco. Though an aro, the topping is not overpowering, nor chemically. It isn't cherry (there is a similar type flavor invovled), though, so don't go looking for that flavor. Don't let the lower price/OTC classification or aro status deter you from exploring. This is no more flavored than some other VaBurs well liked and not considered true aros.

A couple quotes from others:

"I am setting the record straight. This tobacco is a very good smoker, it has a great taste, and is does not bite like people say, there is a little bite at the end of the bowl, but that is common with a lot of tobaccos. I say try it. You see the problem with most reviews are that 1. These people are newer to pipe( I'm 18 years running) 2. Haven't explored the range of tobaccos( I'm 830 blends stong 3. ( the big one) their palate isn't for this kind of tobacco ex:aromatic, english ect. This is a good blend, just give it a try before these bad reviews make it disapear forever."

&

"Keep telling yourself that you need to spend $5 an ounce on pipe tobacco before its any good. If Pease had his label on this blend, and a $50 per/lb price tag. The internet tobacco experts would all sing its praise."