Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Velvet

Velvet was the first pipe tobacco I ever smoked. As a matter of fact I smoked it almost exclusively for over 10 years. I have boxes of the metal tins in storage. My taste in tobacco runs through every type of blend out there and I have found very few I did not like, I guess I am a pipe addict! I always have Velvet on hand and smoke it on a weekly basis. It is one of the least costly blends out there but that is not why I keep coming back. Pure simple sun ripened Burley with a sugar and anise topping. Simple pleasure for me and it always takes me back to a simpler place and time when I light up. It is one of my go to blends when I feel like reminiscing. In a cob or and old beater Dr Grabow it is the same simple taste of a true American icon. Velvet also gets better with age, I have some jarred that is over 10 years old.

I like this stuff. It's got a really nice licorice and cherry pouch aroma. This mildly touches the flavor, but it just tastes like soft burley. I found it a tiny bit damp, but it packs and burns well. The cube cut offers no problems, but demands a gentle lodging to get the chamber packed just right. It's a little sweet and nutty from char to finish.

It is a very mild and bite free smoke. I find it a nice rest from stronger English blends.

After a pouch, I was happy enough to buy a tin.

Man I am very disappointed. This was one of the first tobaccos I bought when I first started smoking a pipe in 1996. I used to buy it by the tub. It had an absolutely mouth-watering aroma that was like cinnamon raisin English muffins. I couldn't get enough of it. But I bought some recently and something changed drastically. The aroma is no longer there. The taste isn't there, either. This doesn't seem to even be the same tobacco. What the heck happened? I know blends change over time, but this is ridiculous. I'm saddened because it used to stir up great memories for me whenever I'd catch a whiff of it. Reminded me of fishing and smoking out on our deck with my father. Not anymore. This sucks.

I decided to revisit this old timer as I have not had any in over 25 years. I love the package design, it always catches my eye. This is one of the OTC blends and it is nothing fancy, a crimp cut burley with a sweet fruity pouch aroma, like a cherry twisler. Not life saver cherry but there. It is an all brown blend and packs in the pipe very easy, it is a little moist but nothing an hour sitting in the pipe can't take care of. It lites very easy like PA does, and it rewards one with a nice sweet burley taste, mild and for me no bite at all. The room note is exceptional, creamy, smooth, and sweet, and this pretty much describes the taste here. I agree with with others that one can get a pack and it will be harsh or you can get one that is spot on. I was lucky and got one of these. This is a delicious blend for burleyphiles. I have no idea why I have not smoked this one in so long but I will be ordering a large tub to keep on hand. It burns down to a clean grey ash with no gunk at the bottom of the bowl. It is not expensive at all, and for what you get, it's a bargain. Try it!

I am going to be kinder to this little tobacco than others have been. When you open the pouch there is a smell of something sweet added to the Burley. I don't know what it is, but it is not too strong and doesn't last long in the bowl. When lit, the first few puffs give off this same aroma. Again, the word is sweet. Not, mind you, like candy, but more like the sweetness from chewing tobacco or something like that. As you smoke, the flavoring disappears and the mild Burleys shine through. Now, the word is mild. Although the contents of the pouch seem overly moist when opened, the smoke is dry and cool. The taste does not change throughout the bowl. Even down to the last puff, the taste doesn't change. There is no bite. It burns cool to the end. The nicotine level is a little low for my taste, but that can be a real selling point to some smokers. And, speaking of selling points, this is the only Burley that I've found so far that the wife will tolerate. Most Burlies get tossed out with me in tow. Velvet is tolerated in small doses. The same cannot be said for Prince Albert, Granger, Half & Half, Sir Walter Raleigh, Carter Hall, or any Burley from the tobacco shop. Velvet does what none of these could do!

I feel there isn't much to talk about with this one. It is REALLY light & pretty bland. If you are in a pinch and need a quick smoke I suppose it would get you through. Just buy 1 pouch though......

I tryed this again. On my first review I must have caught a bad batch of this stuff because I like this tobacco! Mild,nutty, naturally sweet, and no bite. Has the aroma of raisins/prunes out of the can and when smoked a nice sweet nut like aroma that is very pleasant. It is not as strong as Granger but tastes a tad sweeter. This is just a good old fashioned sugar cased burley. If you want a nice no bullsh!t burley, spend the rest of your life on Velvet!

This is my "work smoke" and my go to when out of my favorite blends. (also burley based)

This is a burley and, of course, it is going to bite if you smoke it too fast or hard. Take small slow "sips" and this tobacco will burn smooth all the way to the bottom of the bowl.

I am confused about the Ligett & Myers listing since the package I have in front of me says 2004 Pinkerton Tobacco Co.

I think the long and short of this is that if you appreciate Burley, you will find this smoke enjoyable, and if you don't like Burley, you won't like this smoke. All in all, I found it to be smooth, well behaved, and fairly well tasting if somewhat too mild.

Don't be put off my it's relatively low rating...the way most people purchase anything will tend to create a bias giving relatively low rates to the cheaper, and most available blends such as this.

One of my favorite tobaccos, Marlin Flake, has a total of 26 very favorable ratings. Deservably so. However, it is fairly expensive, and not available at the corner market everywhere. In other words, practically everyone who has bought it has some experience with Virginia tobacco before, and knows they like the genre, before they go through the effort to find, and shell out the money to buy, a can of Marlin Flake.

Not so with Velvet and other cheap and available tobaccos. It is very easy to purchase a pouch "on a whim" without knowing whether or not you even appreciate the general type of tobacco. Therefore, you are going to get a lot of people buying it who don't like the type, and therefore aren't going to like that particular blend.

If Marlin Flake was available in every drugstore for $2 a pouch (heaven!), I guarantee you there would be a much lower rating, simply because you would have people buying it who don't appreciate the genre. And I think much of the negative rating of Velvet is due to the same sort of thing.

This is a smooth tobacco, little or no topping, with a pleasant, if not full, burley taste. You can certainly do worse.