Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Sir Walter Raleigh

This is a very simple smoke. If you like mild on mild then this is it. Tobacco flavor that burley gives is soft cocoa, a little grassy note here and there and nuttiness all tide into a light topping that has a little sweetness an anise flavoring. It does bite but for me I have noticed that the milder blends typically do that. Big burley blends don't so much but the milder side does. Maybe I push too hard to find the flavor but bite it will. Still not the worst smoke in the world. It is great for just smoking when not wanting to focus on finer nuances of a blend I love. Others don't seem to mind the room note as much as my other blends too. If I were to ever fall on hard times this would be 1 blend that I would come back to.

Found the taste somewhat pleasing. Had minor bite, but had to puff like a freight train to keep lit. Has decent aroma. Will have to smoke a few more bowls as I think SWR has potential in my MM corn cob.

1-9-2010

Wow! Lane Limited has improved this tobacco since it had taken production over from Brown and Williamson. Still not as good but definately improved. This tobacco was from the pouch and not the the large tin which I would stay away from. From what I can remember their large tin tobacco smell like sweet alcoholic hairspray wether SWR or Captain Black. Anyways, the cut is a finer short, crumbly texture than the previous irregular chunky cake-cube. The B&W version was like small, crumbly cake pellets. This version doesn't quite have the weight of flavor and aroma of the former but again much improved over Lane's original reformulation and more like the older version. The pouch aroma reminds me of chocolate and the spice mace or nutmeg. Very mild to bland tastewise but positive on contemplation I think. I giving this a strong 2 stars and will likely buy it again. For me it beat out the current Granger which isn't quite as good as it used to be years ago. The original SWR in my opinion was the best burley tobaco of all time even though it was a "drugstore blend." This incarnation isn't quite there but pleasureable and reminiscent. Still even better then most Mac Baren burley tobaccos.

The Original Sir Walter Raleigh is an O.K. tobacco but nothing really great just a plain and simple burley that seems to have a faint citrus casing. Overall, I was not highly impressed by this blend but also not totally put off by it. I would buy it again if I forget to take tobacco with my on a trip or for a car ride, as it is easy to find and rather cheap. What really stumps me is how can a company produce this tobacco and Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic at almost the same price point. For a 25 cents more in my area for a 1.5 oz pouch, you get a tobacco that is of 10 times better quality leaf plus a flavor that is at least as good if not better than most expensive aromatics. Save yourself the trouble, and skip right over the other cheapies at the store and go right for Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic a true sleeper tobacco blend.

I was recently looking for blends that I can smoke for my commute to and from work. Sir Walter Raleigh seemed to be a good contender. Ordered a few pouches of this non-aromatic version. The bag note has this amazing pure nutty burley flavor. I was unable to pick any flavoring in the bag note. It seemed to be a pretty good smoke for my intention which is smoking during my commute to work. However, when I loaded up my pipe with this and fired it up I tasted an obvious brown sugar almost molassesy note accompanied with some alcohol. The alcohol flavoring seemed to be the same as what they used in the Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic version. It took me quite a while to find the burley that I smelled once I opened the pouch. The flavor remains consistent throughout the bowl. The earthy and nutty burley started coming though with a hint of sweetness. Burns really cool. No tongue bite, although you loose a lot of flavor if you push it too hard. Nicotine is medium, just enough to get my morning started. I think it fulfilled my intention to smoke it during my commute. Not a complicated blend. It won’t ghost your pipe. It’s a one note type of tobacco, but interesting enough to come back to it every morning with a cup of coffee. A two and half star blend due to it’s tendency to lose flavor every now and then.

I had never tried SWR but recently received a pouch in a trade. I decided to give it a try and pulled out a cob for the honors.

From the pouch, the moisture seems about ideal. The smell was a little chocolate and a little bit fruit to my nose. The texture/cut to me is about perfect as the cubish cut makes it simple to pack.

The first half of the bowls are chocolate and very similar to me to carter hall. In the 2nd half it seems to pick up a little sour fruit and I'll take that as anise as others have mentioned. It burns well in the cob and didn't leave too much moisture. When sipped it stays cool.

I'm enjoying the pouch and wouldn't be afraid or upset to pick some up in my travels when I run low on tobacco or need to grab something for a quick smoke. The price is right, but I don't see it joining my normal rotation is C&D cubed burley fills this notch.

Not that it is absolutely horrible, but it is not the best OTC I ever had either. It looks as though it wants to deliver halfway through, but there is nothing remarkable about it. The cut is more of a rough cube cut than a ribbons', so it was easy to pack, but I needed a few relights to get it going. Most of you will probably let it go without a fuss, but I don't think I've got the heart to bin it.

Uniform medium brown color. The cut is unique - it's "clumpy." It reminds me of a breakfast cereal, something like Grape Nuts or chunks of granola or something. This review is of the tub variant, but have also smoked a few pouches of SWR. The pouch version is drier and even more clumpy, but the clumps are still there in this tub version. Perfect moisture in this tub version (pouches always seemed overly dry on inspection, but smoked and tasted just fine). Nicotine is mild, a tic milder than PA. Very well behaved in the pipe, as one would expect.

SWR has a somewhat darker and earthier flavor than the other drug store burleys. I believe there is a top flavoring added, something like chocolate but not quite. It's more obvious in the tub version than the pouch version. The pouch version has more of just a straight tobacco flavor. Not much more can be said about it flavorwise - pleasant and straightforward, burley with some "sort of chocolatey" flavoring, more towards the earthy and less sweet end of the spectrum.

originally reviewed 12/6/2012

It's OK. Decent taste. Nice room note. Nothing too awful or amazing about it. It'll bite if you push it.

I removed the contents from the pouch and placed them in a smaller bail-top jar. It isn't my favorite and I only smoke it when the mood strikes me.

I won't tote a billboard recommending it. But I can't say I wouldn't recommend it either. It would work in a pinch if I was out of something else. I may give it more chances and see how I feel after several more bowls.

Happy Puffing,

Mike

P.S. This also comes in an aromatic version. I purchased the aromatic at the same time as the SWRR. My opinion of it is basically on par with this one.