Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Velvet

If you are looking for a cheap burley you can certainly do worse than Velvet. Although I usually don't care for burley blends, I bought a pouch of this because my friend said his father smoked it and he said he missed the smell. Be fore I gave him the pouch to take with him, curiosity got the better of me and I tried a few bowls. I have to say I was surprised! Although nothing spectacular it was certainly passable. It reminded me of cigarrettes and I could barely notice any flavoring. I have to say though- this stuff truly lives up to its name. It is perhaps the smoothest smoke I have ever tried. It smokes effortlessly. Unfortunately there is nothing to keep me buying more. Try it out though before you try any nasty "burley light-without a bite" in the jar stuff!

This is the closest thing to Carter hall that I have found although it is stronger it is still not as strong as half and half but it is a once a day smoke (any more and your tongue will hurt) buy other then that it is pretty good you could mix it with super value if you want to tone it down but that's about it

To me, Velvet is Half/Half poured into a tin that recently had Capt.Black Cherry flavor in it, and allowed to rest a week. These two are so close to my senses, it's hard to differentiate. We actually put some Velvet in a long time H/H smokers pouch and he just puffed right along. Not scientific perhaps, but notable. The tins opened side by side were visually identical in color, cut and surprisingly almost the same odor. To be just burley, this was strikingly different colors like H/H. I am really starting to think, based off of some older reviews, that this has now changed to containing some Virginia or light Cavendish in addition to just Burley. The Velvet also had just a hint of cherry odor, compared to H/H. That's with several sniffers sniffing, and really trying to find a difference. Smoke is fine, typical of these offerings. It does nothing that H/H or SWR can't do for me, and I have tons of them, so I imagine this tin will last me till the trumpet sounds. It surprises me at so many 1 star reviews. It isn't that bad at all. I suppose if you judge everything off of an faded old dusty pouch you found at Elmer's BBQ and front-end alignment. I do like to add a bit of cherry to this as a Ziploc bag blend, about 80% Velvet 20% cherry.

Edit: I recently had the pleasure to smoke a good sized, 20min bowl of some 40+year old Velvet from a collectors stash. I can tell you what I smoked, is NOT what is in the new tub I personally own. The vintage Velvet is darker (in flavor and color-which may be expected-) with more coffee and chocolate tones. The newer is much more airy flavor and a hint on the cherry side. Two radically different tastes, but both good on their own. The older Velvet was a finer grind of leaf as well. I wonder how much is age, or change of blend by manufacturer.

I ran accross an old pouch of this tobacco as I was out and needed some. The pouch was all dusty on the outside and looked old. The pouch not wasn't bad and had a berry scent. It lit without any problem, probably because the tobacco was so dry. It tasted like really bad cigarette tobacco. I didn't care for it so in the trash it went.

So I went out for a search for some pipe tobacco a few weeks ago at my local brick and mortar and saw a pouch of Velvet on the bottom row. I have always been curious about this blend so I decided to give it a try. Upon opening the pouch I was greeted by dried up tobacco with little pouch note - mainly cherry. It lit well and stayed lit. There was no bite, but no flavor either. The bowl burned quickly as the tobacco was so dry. I doubt that I will revisit this product again.

Very pleasant to me. No frills, just smooth and.enjoyable. Didn't bite. And I'm a freight train when it comes to smoking. Would recommend as an everyday smoke.

Solid reliable blend with a pleasant room note. Bites me if smoked too quickly. Lacks a little nicotine strength for me but still it is a regular in my rotation. Room note is maple sugar and a little anise. Packs and lights easily. Buy the big tub - better than pouches and more cost effective.

This OTC blend needs to be compared to other OTC blends. It's not nearly as mellow as CH. It doesn't have that slightly nutty quality of PA. It has less flavor than CB. But it also has less bite than BR. Burns hot and wet. The price is a bonus, but is it really? There's just so much better out there, for just a few bucks more, if you want a decent OTC, burly-based blend. Can't recommend.

This tobacco shines with age. Nothing complex and very mild, but a slow, gentle smoke reveals a nice dried raspberry sweetness with a hint of dark chocolate on the edge. When I opened a jar that has been sealed for 5 years the fruity, nutty, tin note was astounding. Ten years ago when I put this back it was my apocalypse reserve and I wasn’t high on it, but today it is a decent smoke. For an inexpensive otc tobacco it’s well worth having on hand in the cellar, and in 10 years you’ll have a pleasant surprise.