Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Velvet

Been playing around with this blend. Here's what I found to be the best method for prepping this OTC: Air a batch out overnight (48hrs for less potency) on parchment paper then jar it. Fill the jar about 3/4 full. Wait a week or so which will allow the burley to age. The day of smoking, take out desired amount for the rest of the day. Spread evenly on parchment paper. Wait about twenty minutes before smoking. The tobacco should be moist, spongy to the touch and light brown in color. Pack light by gravity feed method. Give it a good charring. Due to the fact this is straight burley, you'll need to do a few relights. Do a series of quick hard draws to get it going. Take it slow. Tamper ocassionaly. Mellow fruitiness with a slight peppery undertone (like Big Red gum). Silky clouds of smoke. Midway down tasted a dark chocolate note. Classic room note. Nice compliment to Smoker's Pride Whiskey. When prepped and smoked properly this is a solid burley blend you'll go back to time and time again. Excellent in cobs and works best in larger bowl pipes. One word of advice, buy the 12oz tin. The foil pouch gives the blend more bite. Update 7-26-15: after jarring for a week took some out for my smoke breaks at work. I noticed this blend had become more well rounded. The fruit essences are there but more subtle on the pallatte. There was a faint earthy quality which had me begging for more. I have several jars cellared, as I'm beginning to rediscover Burley...

I've been working my way through a pouch of Velvet this week and have been very happily surprised. 

It's smooth smooth smooth and the flavor is actually really good. If I sound incredulous, it is intentional. I didn't expect much, but wanted something simple and cheap to break in my two new pipes. 

In the pouch. Burley Aroma - Sweet with a twang. Soft ribbon cut, good moisture.  Packs well with the Gravity fill method.  First light - good flavor if not a little boring, but when the bowl settles down it is a smooth ride from start to finish. 

Flavor: 1st 1/4 of bowl, woodsy and slightly nutty. Midway a dark fruit flavor, hints of molasses, nice round burley nuttiness almost no woody notes now. The latter half of the bowls have gotten progressively better. Deep notes of dark sugar, hints of toasted bread and raw oatmeal. For me it is perfect for the drive to work with black coffee. 

Leaves the pipes with that great 'pipey' aroma. 

Just my 2 cents. I actually might prefer it to my venerable PA when I'm looking for a cheap easy smoke.

I have always purchased this in the large tin. I open it up and put it on a large cookie sheet to air out overnight. Once done I jar it and let it rest for several days. Three is what I like to go back to. After 3 days it is ready to smoke. Pack with a drop and fill three times. Lite. Char. Tamp. Relight and smoke to enjoy. If you are a train you will get burned. Slow puff and the flavors will come. This is a very traditional smoke. I have jars that are 20 years old. They smoke very well and yes there is flavor. Light ash at the end. Great for building a cake or to break in a new pipe. If your new wait to try this a little while. Stick with PA and a good pipe. I feel that more pipe smokers are turn off by this because us old guys never explained the best way to smoke it. My smoke time here is about an hour and a half.

There is a fellow pipe club member who is a big Velvet fan. As mentioned in other reviews back in 1999 I worked at a cigarette/cigar store next to a drug store. One day I stopped by to get something to drink or eat and saw all of these pipe tobaccos in a clearance basket for the incredible price of 10 cents each. I bought them all with some being large Super Value bags, boxes of SWR, Carter Hall and there was one Velvet box. Many years roll by or I should say several decades and for the most part I just kept these hanging around in my cellar. Since I had a good Velvet candidate, I decided to bring it in. This one is made by the Pinkerton Company. After the honors of him opening it I loaded some into my corn cob. The tin (pouch) note was of the vinegar, ketchup smell, at least that is the impression my friend got. I fired it up and the burley did the nose tingle for me several times and then progressed to a really smooth smoke. There is a liquor topping which also my friend described as a licorice taste. I am not the best a putting words to flavors and taste but since Velvet is his bag, (70s talk) the description seems appropriate. I liked it and it was pretty good for an OTC burley blend. Also the smell was pleasant according to some of the other pipe smokers in the room. I gifted him the rest and there you have it, my review of a 20-year box of Velvet. I have not tried the newer but I am sure it is pretty much along the same line. My friend also told me he was able to try a 40-year sample of this. A good all-day smoke but I can see that it might bite some if puffed too fast. Not much more to describe other than Drug Store tobaccos sometimes get a bad rap but some can actually be pretty good. Give it a try.

Velvet is Kentucky Burley with a topnote of something that I cant put my finger on . It takes two or three lightings to get going is about the only " con " with this blend . Other than that it is absolutely smooth ! It smokes well and cool and is one of my favorites in a clay ! I just cant place the flavoring . I hear people say it's like play doh but they have that confused with Paladin being the package color is similar . Velvet is not the play doh blend .

Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Velvet.

The mixture's quite coarse, but easily manageable. The pouch (I bought this bulk) only has a slight aromatic smell.

As this was bulk the moisture makes for easily lighting, and the one word to sum this up to me is Soft. The consistency, like it's namesake, is velvety, and any toppings come across with a sweet taste; not much sharp alcohol/liquorice. I get an unadulterated Burley taste, rich, rustic, and nutty, and there isn't a bite throughout. The burns quality goes without question, leaving a pure white ash.

Nicotine: mild. Room-note: pleasant.

Velvet? Recommended:

Three stars.

Ahhhhh...Velvet! When I saw some recent review of this blend, it brought back many memories. Back in my younger days (yep, some time ago,) I smoked Velvet to break in my new pipes because it was as mild a blend as I could find.

Velvet is Burley, pure and simple. It is fairly moist in the mylar pouch it comes in, but not so moist that it needs drying out. Of course, like Captain Black, Borkum Riff, Prince Albert, Sir Walter, etc...you may not be able to dry out this tobacco even if you tried. Whatever it is that keeps these blends young & fresh ought to be bottled and sold to women -- talk about making a fortune!

The smell is really very subdued. Of course, so is the flavor, and that's why I doubt I'll purchase another pouch anytime soon. My palate begs for bigger flavor these days. Still, many fellow tobaccoreviews.com members enjoy these simple blends and one could do a lot worse than Velvet.

Velvet is certainly one of the classic over the counter burley blends from way back.. Pretty basic.. but the toppings really work better than most blends of this type at least for me.. I don't find it nearly as cloying as half and half although it also has a spin on the anise thing.. just an all day burley that tastes pretty good and burns well.. Not a nuanced tobacco flavor.. but something very familiar tasting and smelling.. A nice nostalgic classic..

I find this basic tobacco to be just that - basic Burley. It smokes cool and slow as long as you don't puff like a coal fired locomotive. Nice cut and packs well. My wife doesn't like the room note at all. She says it smells like a cigarette. It's a pleasant enough mild smoke as long as you don't expect too much from it.