Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Troost Special Cavendish

Back in 1969 as a freshman in college I picked up the pipe smoking habit. With a master pipe maker owning a tobacco shop in the small central Pennsylvania town, it was easy to get started. After going through the usual "drug store" brands I quickly found that virginia, burleigh and dutch cavendish were where I was most inclined. Somewhere around that time I became aware of Troost Special and, yes it was much more available- in pouches as well as half pound cans. Over the next 35 years, whether I "gave up the habit" or returned on a very sporadic basis, Troost was always my go to tobacco.

Most recently I returned to my off again, on again pipe smoking and bought a pouch, now only really available on the internet. I was not disappointed but either I have stepped into a different realm in my old age or the blend is not quite the same. The latter has been what I have seen on these reviews and I would like to believe that this this is the reason that it is no longer a favorite. I was also disappointed to hear that the slices are no longer available in this country or that these, too have been reformulated.

There appears to be so much good flake and ready rubbed tobacco which incorporates a virginia and burleigh blend that I find myself moving in that direction. Most recently I bought some samplers of PS luxury twist flake and SG best brown flake and I have been enthralld by both. I have an tin of Orlick golden still to open and it looks similar to the troost slices but that remains to be seen (or smoked).

I can still recommend the Troost Special. It just isn't as "special" as I recall.

Pouch note was very pleasant, not your typical cavendish. Initial impression was of a fruity, grassy Virginia. Partially broken flake rubs out easily. Packs and lights with no problems. Flavor is bright and citrusy with a hint of honey. After several bowls, I had a hard time getting it to burn cool and not burn my tongue, despite some real effort, which is keeping me from categorizing it as “will buy again”, which is a shame because it’s really a high quality cavendish in the danish tradition. Will finish the pouch, but will be adding a bit of Perique to help ease the tongue bite.

This is a nice Danish style VA/Burley with practically no topping, if any really. I like this better than Golden Slices, but just a little. It produces a simple, monogustatory sensation, but very nice to just smoke and not meditate over as one might with a more complex blend. Very little aftertaste, clean and pleasant. This was a free pouch from the manufacturer advertised on this site and I'm glad I took advantage of the deal. This is a broken flake and packs nicely, lights well and produces a good volume of smoke. It can be a little bitey and burn hot if you get excited, but otherwise this is a good smoke.

Smoke in peace, brothers and sisters of the leaf.

Along with the typical grass and wheat of virginia and burley leaf, this ready rubbed flake smells, unsurprisingly, like dutch cocoa.

In the bowl, the husky burleys and rich gold VAs are further smoothed by the cavendish process, which also adds a minimal touch of added sugar. There is a touch of dark fired leaf, which I will assume is burley because its contribution to the blend is subliminal to me, as is any turkish which may be hiding amongst the leaves.

Troost Special is the very definition of mellow. Its homogenous richness, without variance or interplay, is perfect for all day smoking for those seeking something both robust and reserved. This was best in narrow to medium gauge chambers.

Update

Troost Special cavendish is tastier than Skandinavik full aroma. For beginners wishing to upgrade to something tastier, I recommend it as the next step to a tobacco similar to Skandinavik. I have now tried the pouch version and it is not as good as the tin version. All my pouches were partly opened. The tobacco was dry and I used it to cake some of my new pipes. If I can not get SC in a tin, then I will not resmoke it1

Original review 07/30/2008

A friend brought back for me a 100g tin that he purchased in Amsterdam this summer.

A bit disapointed at first, because Troost is readily available in North America, I finally gave into giving it a try.

I was pleased to find a nice ready rubbed tobacco slightly cased with what seems to be walnuts. The colours range from golden to medium brown.

Packs easily,smokes easily with the nice subtle walnut taste which does not overcome the pure taste of quality tobacco, I truly enjoyed this beautiful change of pace that smoked dry all the way down.

As long as you don't rush it, your tongue will be spared.

I have slightly mixed feelings about Troost Special I would definitely recommend it to try.The only thing is the tobacco is so darn dry but that make be how they make it.Smoking it I found Special to have a strong spice to it,maybe a slight hint of anise and clove. However this approach works nicely for those who enjoy the taste of spices but the price per pouch is just a tad high.I will gladly admit though that Troost Special burns nice and slow:)

At the beginning, on my first bowl, I was a bit disappointed with this one, as it is rather dry and almost agreesive. However, bowl after bowl, I discovered that is is a pleasant smoke, on par with other favourites I have.

Give it a try.

Like so many of our reviewers, I have smoked most of this genre's blends. I started out with Flying Dutchman but wound up settling on Sail in the Ivory pouch. This all occurred in the early and mid 1960's before I discovered English blends. From that point on, they all disappeared until recently when I obtained a 4 oz tin of old authentic Van Rossems Troost Special Cavendish from an ebay seller. This tin was advertised as unopened; however, I could see in the single picture provided that the lid was absolutely flat and any vacuum gone. When it arrived I knew immediately that I was correct and the tin had been opened. The tobacco itself, however, was still somewhat moist with a couple of bowl fulls removed. I lit up and discovered that any bite once present was now long gone and the blend could be puffed at a moderate pace with no dire results. Then it all came back to me - there is a limit to how much enjoyment can be extracted from these Dutch formula Cavendish blends. They don't offend so much as fail to satisfy. Very monochromatic in the taste range; this blend smoked best in the top third of the bowl and I was happy with it, considering how old it was. In the middle third the taste began to fade and the bottom third saw an almost complete loss of taste. Not offensive or anything, I saw TSC as a two star blend all the way. Then, I decided to include it in my micro blending regimen as a background ingredient. This turned out to be the most interesting aspect to this blend. It softened and smoothed-out every blend I used it in and this caused me to raise it's rating to three stars.

Troost is pretty darn good! This mild to medium strength baccy is nicely sweet and to me there is no topping evident; if its there, there is no unpleasant aftertaste that I find with many topped blends. I really like the taste, but even more is the seemingly naturally sweet aroma which reminds me of caramelized sugar. The tobacco needed just a little drying time and then it packed and burned just fine. The price of this pouch was very reasonable and I try to keep a pouch around to intermingle with the smoking of my favorite English/Balkan blends. PLCHM