Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Skandinavik Full Aroma Cavendish

Class stuff if you are looking for a pleasant, mild smoke of aged and pressed Va/Burley. It has a very mild fig-like flavor and aroma and a slight spice when you blow it through your nose. No very complex or mind-blowing. Just simple and pleasurable. Enjoy this weed while working in the yard, while you are too distracted to enjoy something more complex.

Smoked a pouch of this blend when I first started my venture into pipe smoking and used it as a mid-step between aromatics and natural tobaccos. Now I strictly enjoy VA, VAPer and English blends but recently bought this blend in the tin as I was attracted to the price and hopes of recreating the pleasant experience I had years ago. The tobacco is at perfect moisture level right out of the tin and has a very pungent berry, almost grape smell. I've been smoking this blend in a wide-deep bowled Peterson knock-off pipe and have only needed one charring light to smoke this blend to the bottom. Despite the strong tin aroma, the flavor in smoking is very mild, natural Virginia and Burley sweetness with no berry tones but some cocoa and honey flavors. This blend does smoke hot and fast even with gentle puffing but has not bitten yet. Perhaps this has to do with my own body chemistry as I have never actually experienced tongue bite even with the hottest of smokes. I noticed some nicotine effect near the bottom of the bowl but I leave it to the fact that I was smoking a very large bowl. Overall, a very mild, natural tobacco with OK burning characteristics. Easy to forget about though and a little too one-dimensional in taste for this smoker to give it anything more than two stars.

Upon opening the can one is greeted with a faint cherry and sweet natural Virginia aroma. This tobacco is in the class of a mild and fragrant Danish style, and the flavors can elude if not sipped slowly. I find this performs best in a Danish freehand with a conical shaped chamber. I wonder if the Danes design their pipes for the styles of tobacco they often produce. I find this tobacco to taste like it smells- sweet Virginia high notes with a hint of what one reviewer described as real cherry flavor. I don't classify this as an aromatic myself, but rather a nice Virginia with a hint of toasty Burley that really evolves throughout the smoke. The hint of natural cherry seems to complement the high notes of the Virginia for a clean, cool and refreshing smoke. I find that devoting a pipe to this blend alone brings out the subtle flavors. I puff away like a steam engine, and have had no tongue bite. I love the rubbed out flake, ready for service. There are no low notes to be found, and I find that after the can has been opened for some time, the tobacco darkens slightly and the flavors round out a bit. It burns cleanly and easily, with no gurgle. If one likes Virginia's, this is a good addition to the rotation when a dark and brooding mature Virginia is not called for. I do recommend it. Update 6/2014...... I no longer find this blend as enjoyable, so downgrade to 2 stars.

This tobacco while not bad, is not great either. I found it to be lacking in any real taste, and yes it will bite you if you puff too fast.

If you are in a real pinch for a quick smoke this might fit the bill, but there are better choices.

10/28/2004: I give this four stars only as an Aromatic. It is one of the dry non-goopy aromatics that has a lighter touch of flavor than the U.S. types. I bought a pouch of this after reading some other reviews. It is a big step up from Capt. Black, etc. The Virginia component is quite pronounced, even forward. I smoked this in a very small pipe which worked perfectly for this relatively strong blend. The flavor is a bit stronger than other Danish-style Aromatics so keep this out of your most valued pipes until you decide if it's a keeper. I will happily smoke the remainder of this pouch on an occasional basis, then probably not buy another. I prefer Virg. flakes or Balkan-English type blends most of the time, though this was a very nice changed of pace.

11/17/2006 Update: No longer in my rotation. Still a decent Aromatic.

I don't recall the old Amphora tasting like this, but it has been 30 years. This blend seems high quality with a strong fruit juice taste. Not artificial cherry, like maraschino, but the way cherries actually taste: sourish. I recall the original Amphora had a more oriental taste which I crave. As far as cherry blends go, I prefer this natural flavoring approach to the candy-like Middleton or Paladin.

This scratches an itch I sometimes get for an aromatic, and I'm glad to have it on hand, but it ultimately fails as a regular.

Update 4/05 I have bowls of Amphora red fresh from Holland and Skan red both burning. They are both cavendishes with fruity toppings, but the similarity ends there. Nah. Not the same at all. Not even particularly close. Amphora rocks. Skan... ok. Skan's topping is 3x as strong in the container and the pipe and smells different as well. Skan has more virginia character. Amphora is less fruity and more... sweet? floral?

This blend is a surprisingly high quality offering for an OTC blend. The pouch aroma reminds me of lightly spiced raisins, and that flavor comes through the smoke as well. The pouch I bought had enough flavoring that I could taste it quite easily without lighting it. The moisture level was good, and it packs easily, reminding me of some of Rattray's broken flakes. I could see this as a good blend for those who appreciate discreetly cased aromatics, or as a warm weather smoke, or perhaps a nice change of pace. It burns warm, so don't puff too hard. No goop or gurgle, but the essence does linger a bit in the pipe. Don't let my rating fool you, the quality is quite good. I just won't smoke this often.

Full aroma? You have gotta be kidding me! Even though the tin description does not give any clues as to what to expect in terms of aroma, I figured that, given its association to Peter Stokkebye, it would be acceptable to interesting. So I ordered it and opened the paint-can tin expecting, well, a full aroma. WRONG! There was almost no nose, even of tabacco. It was kind of dry as well. It was not until I read here that it was supposedly a cherry aromatic that I had a clue as to its supposed topping.

And the taste? Well, kind of flat. neither the best of burley or virginia. It is not offensive, just kind of nondescript. Maybe I got a bad batch, I don't know. Others seem to find it a good product. I remain openminded enough to try some from someone else's tin sometime, but I do not see me purchasing it again, unless future tastings give me a diffferent impression.

This is a nice Danish Cavendish. That being said I feel it is a little boring. Although certainly not a drug store baccy this stuff is not very complex and leaves me wanting more. The Virginia content was higher than I expected and made this stuff bite just a tad if not smoked correctly. All in all a nice change of pace for working in the garage.