Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Skandinavik Vanilla Cavendish

It seems that this blend was discontinued and its place was taken on the market by "Skandinavik Sungold", which I tried in the last days.

The contents changed to "black cavendish blended with 2 types of bright Virginia leaf", that is what I sensed from the start, years ago.

Pouch aroma reveals a strong casing, that goes from Vanilla to Candied Fruit and a typical Italian sweet called Panettone.

Rather wet but not that much, it is a decent steady burning blend. The cut is coarse, the color reveals a lot of black cavendish, very sweet one, with occasional Virginia here and there.

The taste of tobacco, if not for some Virginia herbal tangyness, disappears under the casing but it still has some appeal. Easily shadows a pipe. Of course nicotine punch is very low.

More or less I confirm the 2 stars I gave to this years ago, but just for lovers of a very sweet vanilla aromatic blends. A typical Danish sweet cake tobacco.

First time i saw Skandinavik Vanilla Cavedish was way back in my high school years, where i met a girl that was an actual pipe smoker and mainly smoked STG tobaccos. Imagine that, a 17 years old girl smoking a pipe. Oh boy, was that a sight. Anyway, i did not try it back then, i was getting in to cigarette smoking at that time, but i remember the distinctive overwhelming room note of vanilla that was all around the caffeteria we used to hang out in the afternoon.

Skandinavik Vanilla Cavedish is the tobacco i usually recommend to begginers. Right after i open the pouch, i literally stick my nose inside, cause it smells so sweet and full of vanilla that i find myself trying to prevent me from chewing on it ( like a cool-old cowboy). Its so mild in strength that if you try to inhale it, you will find it is simillar to a medium nicotine cigarette. (even though i strongly advice you not to inhale pipe tobacco).

The flavoring is strong in this one, somewhat artificial cause the vanilla is so predominant. The taste on the other hand is mild. Its actually so inconsistent that you get a different tobacco at the end of the bowl than what you get at the beginning. Seems like a top-flavored tobacco, mainly because the vanilla starts to disappear as the tobacco burns. On the contrary, the tobacco is not sticky, its pretty dry even fresh from the pouch. That is one of the reasons it has a fast uneven burn, with constant relights and a mild to strong tongue-bite. The tongue bite is pretty much inavoidable for a somewhat experienced pipe smoker. Its very mild strength forces you to puff aggresively in order to get that nicotine kick.

Wife factor is pleasant, the room is full of vanilla aroma. After i have quickly smoked a bowl of Skandinavik Vanilla (usually takes 10-15 minutes for a fully packed bowl), the wife will come and kiss me cause claims she likes the vanilla scent it leaves on my beard. Go figure...

It is an all day smoke, it goes very well with coffee but i advice you not to try it with any kind of alcohol. The overwhelming vanilla will ruin the enjoyment of a probably good beverage. Personally i smoke this tobacco after a heavy meal, in which case a stronger tobacco might feel heavy as well.

To sum up, for a pretty experienced pipe smoker, this tobacco could seem childish. It has not much to give. If you like vanilla aromatics then you should try Mac Barens Loose Cut which is a much more mature version of Skandinavik. (check my review on Loose Cut). As i said in the beggining i highly recommend it to amateur pipe smokers, to experiment with the basics and when they feel ready i urge them to move to Mac Barens Loose Cut, so that they can appreciate the differencies between a medium quality and a high quality tobacco.

UPDATE!! : After trying many more pipe tobacco blends after the time this review was made, i will add the following: It says that it contains orientals. No way this is true. Burley? No nutts involved in the flavour. Unless they mean burley was cured the cavedish way. Then they should only reffer to cavedish cause that is all you can taste, artificial vanilla. I would change my rating to one star but considering the love this blend gets from my wife and being one of the first i tried i will keep the 2 stars. But this is childish. No tobacco at all. Only topping.

Dr.Leonidas

Sometimes, in the summertime, I add some vanilla to my EMs, trying to obtain some light, cool and a little bit less demanding smoke for the morning. Skandinavik Vanilla (I don't know what "Skandinavik Vanilla Cavendish" is) does his duty, although my favourite is Sweet Vanilla Honeydew. 3,0/5 in my personal rating system.

Well it's my first review and this is my first tobacco that i've ever smoked so i don't have so much experience but i'll write down what i got from smoking that blend.

Strength: I used to be a cigarette smoker so i'm used to different kinds of strengths in tobaccos..i would say that my very first bowl of this blend was about medium strength not so strong not so mild.

Flavor: i'd say it's about medium to strong. When you first open this bag you would smell the aroma of the Cavendish that it brings you up memories of a childhood (especially if you used to like vanilla). it reminds you of real vanilla and it seems delicious.

Taste: a bit disappointing as the taste can't be compared to the flavor you've got when you are opening the bag. That makes you realize how chemical was the aroma of the blend as you don't get any vanilla at all when you smoke it.

Room Note: It's strong and pleasant to those who like vanilla. So i don't recommend anyone to smoke and sit next to someone who doesn't like vanilla. the blend "screams" by its aroma to whole room.

Conclusion: An all around ordinary blend who doesn't give anything at all to the smoker and it's especially for those who are new to pipe smoking. But it's good for breaking a pipe and making a good cake. As for the aroma there are only two things to consider in vanilla. you love it or you hate it.

I'm not ashamed to admit to trying this stuff a while back. When you live in the backwaters of pipe smoking culture, you do what you must. That said...thank the gods for mail order!

This is indeed a very full flavored, heavily cased aromatic. The vanilla flavoring is strong, but not especially sweet. It burns fairly well, so I suspect an accelerant has been added.

If you want to taste tobacco, this is not for you. If you don't like vanilla, this is not for you. If you despise aromatics...you get the idea. The name says it all.

It won't become a favorite, but I have had worse. Skandinavik makes some of the better pouch blends, but I prefer the nutty flavor of the regular, and the raisiny sweetness of the full aromatic better.

The reality is that all three have become difficult to get where I live, leaving me with Sir Walter, Prince Albert, Carter Hall, Mixture 79 the Captain, and Half & Half.

So I help keep the mail trucks running!

Allow yourself to fall through the ice (chocolate) covered waters, If you have not banged your head breaking the surface- be vigilant -explore the layered flavours , are you so experianced to swim so deep -wow!

Nothing complex about this tobacco. Very highly aromatic, vanilla and honey like flavours. Strong Cavendish presence. Recommended for the lovers of overwhelmingly strong aromas for pipe tobacco.

Well...probably too strong on flavouring to my taste, as was quite impossible to feel the tobacco in the middle of so much vanilla. At beginning it's even weird but as soon as I got used to it, well, just gave me some pleasant times. A wet smoke, sometimes it bites and the room note can be very pleasant.after it dissolves well in the atmosphere. At least for those that do like vanilla flavouring, this is probably the right pack to be with. Not for everyday use, however.