Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Half & Half

This is a seriously underrated tobacco, and I think most seasoned pipe smokers know this. My first experience with this, was when I was young. But at a drugstore while on vacation. I won't lie, I hated the taste. But I was young, and I really didn't know much about tobacco, all I smoked at the time was aromatic blends. I know, I know, dont say it. But in all of my youthful ignorance, I did make one good observation. This stuff has a truly unique room note.

Time passed and I matured, after a few years of the normal pitfalls. The hard lessons, torched tongues, and general dissatisfaction with the flavor of smoke caused me to reevaluate everything and start a new from the basics. Corn cob pipes helped greatly to taste the true flavor of tobacco and become familiar with it. Cobs also help greatly to drop the pretentious image that so many young smokers pursue.

Eventually, years later I came back to this blend, and found it to be quite charming. It's an old time smoke. It smokes best from a cob. You don't puff this blend, little sips bring out its best. And yes, it still has a fantastic room note.

Knowing this blends reputation as a classic otc I was looking forward to trying it for quite sometime.. I was quite disappointed immediately after opening the pouch and smelling what I consider to be a rather aggressive and cloying chemically aroma.. but I figured it still may have a secret to two up its sleeve, so I lit it up hoping for some kind of Carter hall or prince albert level experience.. I really despised my first smoke.. I am stunned that some people refer to this as a 'natural' tobacco.. you really have to dig to get to the leaf.. and the leaf to me is very underwhelming.. I did come back to it again.. and like so many things after the initial letdown you can find things to like.. it does settle down as you go down the bowl.. but it just isn't for me.. I think you really have to like the flavoring to dig this one.

This was my father's daily smoke, and I have tried it every ten years or so. For my palate, it has a somewhat sour taste and does not have much to recommend it. You can get it everywhere, and some people seem to like it. I am not one of them.

FWIW, I did not taste any anise or liquor favor. There is a little grassy Virginia in there and the burley is a fairly non-descript nutty. The flavor improves when dried and the topping flashes off, but is still sour. From the pouch I get a chemical taste when first lighting.

Edit: I bought another pouch of this and found it better than I remembered. I finished this pouch and decided it needed more than 1 star.

Half and Half is a smoking mixture that has been around since time immemorial, but it has not always been exactly the same.

Since pouch and tin declare "burley and bright", many have concluded this is an even mixture of burley and bright Virginia. It isn't, and never has been. This is a burley forward mixture with some Virginia. The "half and half" comes from its origin as a mixture of Lucky Strike smoking tobacco and something known as Buckingham Cut Plug. (You can find pictures of the tins on the internet under tobacco memorabilia.) For a brief time about 40 years ago a manufactured Half and Half cigarette was available.

During most of its long history Half and Half was a product of the American Tobacco Company. Somewhere along the way it wound up with Pinkerton, and then with Lane Ltd., Lane now being a part of the Scandinavian Tobacco Group.

For decades Half and Half has declared "cool smoking/ improved cut." The cut is fairly fine, and lights very easily. It smokes cool enough if puffed gently, but the fine cut will produce heat and bite if puffed aggressively.

The pouch (or tub) aroma is a bit off beat. Half and Half has a clearly discernible casing of anise or licorice. Traditionally it was top noted with cinnamon and clove. Lane's website notes a hint of cherry. Both with and before Lane, the sniff taste does not really discern the flavoring. The same is true with the smoking taste. Half and Half is a semi-aromatic, but the precise flavor is hard to describe.

The room note is equally a mystery. It is not quite natural tobacco, it is not quite aromatic. I personally find the aroma OK. The nicotine level is a bit below normal for a burley forward tobacco.

Pinkerton had some quality control issues. Lane Ltd. does not. But it seems to me that with Lane that the recipe has been altered. Lane's version is distinctly the better.

The current version of Half and Half provides a decent smoke in the budget priced category. It is far from being a gourmet product, but I find it to be a more than passable low price offering.

Never had any earlier versions of this stuff, so this review is of the current Lane production. I've recently gotten back into the ole drug store tobacco circuit, trying to rediscover the blends that launched me on the pipe journey. Half & half was one I missed along the way, being preoccupied with the Carter Hall, PA and SWR. It's not a bad smoke. Actually, and especially considering cost, this is a pretty decent blend. I don't find any virginia, but I do get a healthy dose of nutty, bready burley in there. The topping is reminiscent of a much tamer Velvet, which always reminded me of peppery cinnamon (specifically of the Big Red chewing gum variety). The topping in Velvet is a bit overdone, but much more balanced and relaxing in H&H. Keep in mind that burley is a love it or leave it kind of tobacco...some people like me can't live without it, others shudder at the thought it should ever touch their pipes. If you enjoy burley, this might be an affordable all day sort of blend for you, but if not you'll likely be another 1-star rating hater. It does burn well and never bites me. I'm giving it 2 stars, just because I'm more likely to go for Carter Hall or SWR burley when out with a pouch.

There were two very distinctive aromas I associated pipe smoking with when I was a kid: maple/vanilla, and what ever you chose to define Half &Half's (cider? apples? citrus?). An uncle used to smoke the former, and the father of one of my best friends the latter. I loved both, but always thought Half &Half's had a manlier note to it, as it was more discreet and tobacco-like. As teenagers I remember stealing some H&H from the canister in order to roll up cigarettes, and the aroma-compared to cigarettes-was absolutely out of this world.

Nowadays, many years later (and I mean many) I find H&H more of a trip down memory lane than a smoking experience proper. Together with Prince Albert, Carter Hall and some other Middleton concoctions, this is one of the ?classic? American tobaccos readily available in Mexico City. I don't smoke it that often, but every now and then, especially when in public or family reunions, this tobacco and the Prince do come in handy.

I don't know if the H&H version I used to smoke as rolled up cigarettes was the American Tobacco Cº version or if it was the Pinkerton rendering. Today I find this tobacco has an ?industrial? note to it: both in its presentation and in flavor. It is obviously machine processed and blended. More than cut, this tobacco is chopped and even if it isn't shag, I assume it can still be smoked in cigarette form.

As far as heavily industrialized drug store blends go, H&H is a pretty good smoke. It has a subtle and piquant aroma (not entirely sweet, not entirely sour, but somewhere in between), it packs and burns easily, it isn't prone to tongue bite (except if you puff too often and heavily), and it's cheap. In spite of the strange aroma/topping, what you actually get is an unmistakable burly taste (I don't detect any Virginias here). If you do smoke it too often, I find it dries up the palate. It won't age gracefully (like a good Virginia), but it will simply turn to dust. Like memories sometimes do.

This disaster grew on me. It smells like cough syrup in the bag. It has a strong cigarette scent when smoked - you will have to wash if you don't like the smell lingering on you.

The first draw, I got cough syrup and bad ciggy taste....I tried to finish the bowl nd the more I smoked it, I found myself actually getting used to the cherry cough syrup nightmare.

I can see someone who enjoys cigarettes taking a liking to this, so I would recommend this to them.

I won't buy this again but it has encouraged me to try Cult.

Going back through some OTC blends for a change of pace and I have been pretty excited to try H&H. I knew it would be sweet, so I wasn’t turned off by the topping/flavoring. For me this blend sits inbetween Carter Hall (almost no flavoring?) and Captian Black (all flavoring?). That is, I can actually taste the VaBur tobacco (under the flavoring) and its very enjoyable. Having said that, the flavoring is VERY present. Thus, in the end, for a bit of nostalgia smoke, and as the only thing close to an aromatic in my cellar, I like it.

I have a large can of this that I bought at least ten years ago when it had the Pinkerton label on it. For some reason I still have not opened it. I did buy a few pouches of this a year ago and am not sure what to think. It has a really funky spicy/fruity smell that I do not particularly care for. It does not seem to transcend when I smoke it which is good. It actually tastes a little bland but I enjoyed trying it out like I have with the other Over the Counter pipe tobaccos. Okay but not probably a repeat.