Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Skandinavik Regular

I'm halfway through this pouch of tobac. I'm still trying to decide if continuing is worth it. The packing, lighting and smoke generation is fine, the dryness, lack of denoted flavor and resulting burn if not careful, can spoil any pipe experience. With this blend you will have to take care in your draw and prepare yourself if you don't. On the principle of cost and budget, I will finish the pouch. But, won't revisit. Not for the novice. Even though noted as mild...

Skandinavik Regular is a simple mixture, an unpretentious blend. Virginia, Burley and nothing else. Regular is the appropriate word. Yet it is one-dimensional, boring, without nuances. And it has an unpleasant bitter aftertaste. In my opinion this is a classic national – popular mixture, cheap, not at all sweet and it doesn’t cloy. But it is banal and common. Nothing special. In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 6 and two stars.

This is a bit of an odd one to me. And odder still is that I actually preferred the Full Aromatic Skandinavik to this one. I will just echo what many other hit on in the review. It is extremely bitey!

I don't think I have the slowest cadence out there, but I am no locomotive and this one left the tongue a little sore after each bowl. There were moments of sweet nutty Virginia burley sweetness here and there, but it is hard to enjoy when your tongue is being shredded. This must be a blend made for the slowest of smokers out there. Those that like to relight. I haven't time for that.

There are just too many blends out there that offer this same flavor profile that don't require this amount of concentration to enjoy; Peter Stokkebye's Aromatic Dutch Slices is such an example. I can't think of any reason I would recommend this and for that reason I am leaving it with one star.

Skandinavik Regular quickly became a favorite for me. It's in a nice little brick in the pouch. Dark in color and has an earthy smell. After breaking it up and firing it up, I got the taste of delicious tobacco flavored tobacco. Only took one relight after the char and burned smooth all the way down to a fine white ash. The Burley and Virginia are balanced out perfectly. No tongue bite even when I puffed fast on this one. This is one I enjoy on a regular basis. Nice clean taste.

I've seen a couple comments comparing this to Amphora Brown. Amphora Regular (Brown) it ain't. Not even a wannabe. It's pretty obvious this tobacco is an attempt to duplicate the old and respected Amphora blend but it fails at every level. I bought Amphora Brown in 8 ounce tins till 1998-99 when import was discontinued. I bought a lot of it at that time and still have 2 unopened tins. Back then it was my daily smoke. Since then, I've nursed my limited supply along. The old Amphora was a broken flake - a smooth, creamy, cool, and delicious smoke that had a nutty aroma. Skandinavik Regular is primarily ribbon, basically tasteless, and a fireball to smoke in comparison.

I try hard to rate a tobacco on its own merits, as my few other reviews will show. In this case, it's hard to be objective because the intent to clone Amphora Regular Brown is so obvious. There is one interesting aside: The cut and blend of Skandinavik Full Aroma would come close to the old Amphora if it didn't have the casing. The casing is light but obvious. Full Aroma, though I'm not an regular aromatic smoker, is a better blend than Skandinavik Regular.

Package note of tart dark fruit and peaty vegetation. Tobacco is a thin ready rub of dark brown and tan. Moisture content is great. Burns moderate with a few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is very mild sweet casing that drops to the background and never goes away. Taste is mild to medium and mostly consistent, with notes of peaty vegetation, floral, woody, toasted bread, sugar, molasses, orange peel, nutty, hay, rich earth, zesty tart and tangy citrus, grassy, a spiced sour dark fruit background note, and a peppery retro. Burley is leading with Virginia supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

One of the worst tobaccos I have ever try... it’s mild but with a very intense flavor that seems to be unnatural.... after a couple of days I use it my throat begins to feel dry and turn red... totally one of the worst..

Upon opening the pouch the aroma of Bridgemix came to mind . This Cavendish looks dry but after the squeeze test appears to be perfect to pack an light , the taste of the tobacco through the unlit bowel is a pleasant preview of whats to come. I'm delaying the light-up to savor the moment. The char revealed a subtle sweetness mixed in with the natural tobacco taste. Some of the other reviews warned of tongue bite so I'm proceeding with the true light very cautiously holding the fire above the bowl an gently drawing to produce a cool light. The first thing I notice is the sweet mild Virginian in the forefront which is the only front but is being supported by the flavor of natural tobacco . Working my way down the bowl nothing has changed , still a flavorable no-bite experience taking place . Mid bowl now the smoke seems thicker you can almost feel it. It's quite evident when exhaling through the nose. I'm trying to keep my smoking technique slow and easy for now . The pipe I'm using is a no-name meerschaum with yellow stem and med to large Dublin bowl . Puffing more aggressively wanting to test for tongue bite. Time to return to slow an easy draws , it will bite you if that's what you want . After letting the bowl cool a little were into the lower half nearing the bottom . The Virginian sweetness is still noticeable as the natural tobacco taste becomes prominent. I'll be keeping a ample supply of this in my stash. I do like variety so I can't say this will be a rotation. I'll have it available when my whim calls for a mellow morning smoke. This blend satisfies my requirements , I encourage others to give it a try. I'll probably smoke this exclusively for the next few days until my taste buds are saturated. I'm packing another bowl

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right now !

I have great difficulty finding non aromatic blends to buy here due to living in a small town out in the Pampas so I just have to buy what is available. The Argentine produced tobaccos are very low in quality so I have been desperate to find something non aromatic to smoke. I popped in to the shop and found this blend for sale so snapped up a 50g pouch to give it a try as it seemed to fit the bill of being non aromatic. On opening the pouch I was disappointed to find it had the smell of an aromatic blend....kind of chocolate and prune I thought. Anyway, after that initial shock I can tell you now it doesn't in any way smoke like an aromatic so that's a result in my book. Not a strong smoke but neither is it a weak one. I liken it to English blends especially those with a Virginia bias. On first light it might disappoint those who like an instant blast of nicotine. I know I was but as you smoke your way through the bowl it gets stronger and better in my opinion. A bit of tongue bite but I like that.

For a tobacco that is half the price of Samuel Gawith it certainly isn't half the quality. I shall be heading back to the shop asap to buy their remaining stock.