Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Troost Aromatic Cavendish

I've just finished my first pouch of this Aromatic Cavendish and would comfortably come back to it again as a rotation tobacco.

It's certainly a dry cut upon opening and requires no further airing to appreciate. Indeed, leaving this out for an hour or more would, most likely, undermine the taste and tones apparent upon opening.

What you are getting with this sub-3 star tobacco is a pleasant butterscotch/toffee caramel aroma, with a dash of licorice thrown in to balance it. As an aromatic, it's not going to please everyone with its punch, but realistically, how many actually do? For me (and I like bold blends) there's enough life here to make this an all-day smoke and I'm satisfied with the various flavours I get from smoking this to the bottom of the bowl. It lights easily and works exceedingly well with the Frank Method of pipe-packing.

Surprisingly, it's not the driest of smokes, but it doesn't clog the bowl either. Tongue-bite is present, but if sipped meditatively and at a reasonable pace, this smoke is relatively smooth, sweet and mild. For me, the casing accentuates the taste of the tobacco and compliments it, rather than kill it.

All in all, semi-fragrant smoke that I'll most definitely be having in the future - but not until I've had the chance to sample other stock. Best savoured in a shorter pipe.

I would be inclined to agree with many of the other reviews that would categorize Troost Aromatic as a non-aro blend. It smokes and looks like a pleasant cross between burly and Virginia with a soft caramel top note. It has a uniform ribbon cut and packs nicely. It's flavor is straight forward and honest with little fanfare. I still rub this out a bit more before smoking to improve the burning characteristics. This blend may bite a bit if smoked in haste. I would probably add this to my rotation but quite honestly I prefer a bit more complexity in my smoking pleasure.

I was curious to visit Troost after the most recent ? nostalgic - review of Special by Bluenoser? but Aromatic Cavendish is not Special, I was confusing? and Special is not available in Italy, nor are Slices. Troost Aromatic Cavendish was a traditional cheap dutch Cavendish commonly available in Italy just like Amphora, but not nowadays: I had to go to ?specialized? tobacconist to find it. Means to me that it is not encountering great appreciation. Light and medium brown in colour, soft broken flake "a? la Amphora", perfect humidity (the pouch is fresh). Faintly sweet pouch aroma, something between vanilla and tonquin - after smelling at SG?s 1792 Flake I?m more for the second - in the dutch tradition. Unlike many aromatics, the pouch aroma reflects coherently on the smoke, both in the taste and the nose as well, pleasantly sweet and peppery but in a kinda natural fashion. Non forcing of the draw avoids ? over heating, that?s obvious ? a possible sourish note. I have not faced any bitter note which is possible in this kind of products. Strength and body are just mild. I cannot avoid to compare Troost with Amphora?s. Aromatic Cavendish seems between today?s Green and Red, but much better quality and no bite at all. This is not ?exactly? the kind of tobacco I go to, but the experience is quite nice. Two stars and half.

After some years of antipathy, this summer I reconciled my senses with Aros and Cavendish, so when I saw the yellow pouch on the shelf of the tobacconist I remembered that some months ago our fellow Clarkus suggested me to try Troost, I guess he was talking about the Special version ... Well, not being available Special I tried Aromatic, curiously the pouch came in my hands so fresh and well sealed that I found a moist tobacco, not usual reading others reviews! Despite the name it seems a classic Cavendish not much Aromatic, yes some traces of caramel-like flavouring but a tobacco-woodiness (slightly and well rounded) dominant aroma, a pleasant tobacco but it lacks of depth. A comparison with Amphoras comes to my mind as for others, IMO this Troost is a notch better. Three stars on a scale of five.

I received this as a free sample. It was okay. Kinda bland, but it's not completely terrible. Burned rather hot, I was expecting that though. Aftertaste was pleasant and the room note is really nice. It's forgettable, only because it has potential to be a decent blend if tweaked a bit. I was really expecting it to be better, but in the end it was just another mediocre blend in a very vibrant pouch. Somewhat recommended to beginners for three reasons: it doesn't leave the pipe overtly wet, it smells nice and the pouch is kinda cool.

No match for the slices, this is a passable aromatic that one would not frquently reach for.

Because they were old and packaged attractively, I bought two 100g tins of this blend on Ebay in the Spring of 2017. I had them on my 2017, 2018 and 2019 NASPC tables but they attracted scant attention. What attention they did attract centered around the quaint and touching illustration on the lid of a man giving a pull off of his clay to another guy in a stockade. One person looked at them in 2017, but, they were the aromatic variety and he wanted the non-aro version. Now, in my Covid-19 isolation, I am opening one to see just what Troost Cavendish Aromatic is all about-or not. The tin looked like it was circa 1980, was still sealed and is the original Van Rossem product. Instead of tobacco I saw a paper circle in between the beautiful doily liner and the tobacco which advertised how to collect coupons to send in for a clay white and blue tobacco cannister or a white and blue clay pipe (no thanks). The tobacco itself reminded me of Amphora or other blends of that ilk. There was alarmingly little aroma from the tin and the tobacco was 75% dried out; making it instantly smokable. Roughing it up was a serious chore, as, the tobacco had become somewhat stiff and brittle with age and was filled with sharp pointed sticks that tried to pierce my fingers very annoyingly. The blend lit fairly well but produced a confused and vague taste and aroma at first. The top third settled down to a light smoke that was unfamiliar to me and only marginally enjoyable. The middle third took on a slight strength in both taste and aroma but was still way below my enjoyment threshold. Oddly, the bottom third was the best part of the smoke. Where most blends go south, this blend got to it's best point in that third. I have no desire to light a second bowl. I tried blending with Troost AC but the results were mediocre. So, not actually offensive or anything, I rate this at two stars and somewhat recommend it to the reader. It will be hard to find tins of this blend to sample and, even if you do, you might wanna pass.

I bought this on a whim, I saw an add that said it was being discontinued and thought I had to give it a try. Apparently this is one of those classic, nostalgic blends that I had never tried before. To some degree, I am glad that I did. I went into it with no expectations other than a decent aromatic experience. when I popped open the pouch, I found it to be quite dry. Not like hay, but tightly packed together and it slightly crumbled as it came out of the pouch. Part of my issue with it stems from this. I tried it straight with out trying to rehydrate it at all, but it tasted and smelled like it looked.... dry and lifeless. I decided to give this a real chance and took a large chunk out of the pouch and put it in a jar with some hydration stones and it really helped. What came after that was a very mild and interesting taste sensation. I may have over hydrated it because it burned the skin off my tongue after about half a bowl. I took it extremely slow for the remainder of smokes I had, and it evened out. Unfortunately it was never really very stellar to me. Many people will probably like this tobacco, I know I did somewhat, but in truth it didn't really wow me. There are too many other brands to try without forcing myself to like it all. I give this a solid "Meh... its ok i guess"

Smokable while doing something else, stacking firewood, cutting grass etc. Packs and lights OK. I needed another match a couple of times but no big hassle. Nice aroma but not much in the way of flavor, nicotine, complexity, or any other redeeming qualities. Puffed on Troost in between shipments of other tobaccos then tossed the remainder of the pouch.