Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Troost Special Cavendish

I get a mild toasty Burley with hints of cocoa and a sweetness that might be honey. Too light to tell. I get some Virginia citrus that always, for me, gives the smoke a "fresh" feel. Mostly natural tobacco flavors here that taste pretty dang good. Not too complex, but that's exactly what I sometimes want. I think I'll keep some of this around to enjoy on occasion.

Mild to medium in body and flavor. Burns well out of the pouch. but improves with a short drying time.

It has been 47 years since I first tried this blend, back then they included coupons, collect 10 and they sent you a free pipe of your choice (basket quality). I still have a few that I smoke on occasion. Well, on to the review of my recent purchase, basically an upscale drug store blend. It starts with a slight liquorish citrus flavor, some sweetness from the Cavendish and I feel it has got to have some Burley, very mild. Now that Peter Stokkebyes is manufacturing this, it reminds me of a milder Orliks Golden. The next time you're in "Rite Aid" and you ran out of tobacco, try some, it's better than anything else they stock.

Oh, and if I remember correctly from 47 years ago, Troost Aro tastes and smells like cookie dough.

updated 12/1/12-I've had a sealed pouch of this in the cellar for over a year and just decided to smoke it, what a pleasent surprise.The light topping of liquorish citrus flavor is gone and all that's left is the natural smooth Virgina tobacco ( no Burley flavor). It is naturally sweet, an easy burning broken flake without any bite. I now remember why I used to smoke this. Bumped to 3 stars

I was gifted a pouch by a friend that raved about the 5 dollar tobacco. There was a little more than 3/4 of this pouch when I received it and it's down to about a bowl's worth.

Opening this pouch, you'll see a mixture of broken flakes in a medium brown hue with specks of Khaki. They say black cavendish but I don't see that as the dominating leaf in this blend. Scent of the tobacco smells very natural, with a hint of sweetened nuts and honey. It just a little bit too moist out of the pouch (at least for my liking) and can use 5-10 minutes of drying time.

This tobacco packs very easily and burns just as well. My favorite way to pack this is find the bits of intact flake, round them up and pack them like you would a flake. Then take the little specks of tobacco and use it as kindling on the top.

Now, I can see where some people say this tobacco bites. I can only assume it's due to the flavoring that has been added. But puff it slowly and you can coax some wonderful sweet VA profiles along with some honey and even some lemony zests. It even reminds me a little of Amphora Full Aroma with a bit more burley profile coming through. Once in a while a cocoa/chocolate flavor comes across, probably the Burley.

I love using this tobacco to break in new pipes as it doesn't ghost and helps build a nice carbon cake. At 5 dollars for the pouch, there isn't much not to like about this tobacco. I could even consider giving it 4 stars considering the price tag, but all it in all a solid three.

Though it is now being produced somewhere in Scandinavia, this tobacco is all Dutch in structure, composition, and flavour. It’s a different type of Cavendish processing from the typical Danish or American Cavendish heavily cased aromatics. If anything this tobacco today is closer to the old Amphora original (or regular, brown pouch blend) than the new Amphora version itself (produced by the Danish MacBaren).

It was Eulenburg who pointed out the difference between spraying a tobacco, and casing it. This one is sprayed with a very delicate, almost imperceptible dark cocoa aroma. But unlike the cased aromatics, it retains most of its tobacco taste. I can certainly feel and taste the Burley and Kentucky nuances alongside the matured Virginia. Thus, it is a mild aromatic, with plenty of tobacco taste, which burns slowly and easily.

Warning: it is very mild so if you draw too hard trying to “get” the delicate flavour underneath, you may get tongue bite. But if smoked slowly, gently, it is a very rewarding tobacco. A very nice blend in the Dutch tradition: elegant, unpretentious, yet satisfying. Recommended for beginners and well established smokers who wish a change of pace.

Besides, the artwork always makes me smile.

Troost Special Cavendish appears to be produced from a rubbed out flake. It's a sort of reddish gold color and is really quite attractive right out of the pouch. Its appearance, coupled with a mild and elusive aroma made me want to like it. It's tough to describe the smell of this blend, but it seems to be the result of a tug-of-war between some grassy tobacco scents and something lightly fruity. On occasion, I find light cocoa notes, too, but whatever it is that makes this stuff “Special” has been applied with a very light hand.

Reviewers here are almost unanimous in describing this as bland, unexciting. I confess that I developed pretty much the same impression from the first few bowls I smoked. But I also thought it smoked very nicely. So as an experiment, I decided to spend an entire weekend with Troost.

I came away from my little experiment believing that the real trouble with this is that it is so easily overwhelmed by most other tobaccos. People who frequent sites like this probably smoke a variety of blends on a regular basis, some mild, some intense. This is so mild that I think for it to come into its own, it needs great attention, complete fidelity. It's like a mousy date at a Clash concert. In order to hear her, you've gotta shout, “WILL THE REST OF YOU PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP!” You lean in close. You think there's something there, something worth committing to, and so you shelve those other lovers and marry her. One day a memory of a distant experience pops into your head and even though you can't remember the details, the intensity remains. You realize you've lost something. And so you cheat one day with a bowl of Escudo or Grousmere or, heaven forbid, Old Joe Krantz. It will be weeks before the Special Cavendish-ing provided by your little Troost will allow you to stop pining for that intense experience the event of infidelity provided. And so you run off into the Wilderness and lay down beside the 3 Oaks with each of the Three Nuns. One right after another. And you know them while Old Joe Krantz sits nearby taking notes. The relationship you have with simple, mousy Troost begins to unravel. You realize it was never more than boredom's own braid. Recommended, but only for faithful types who vow not to stray with other tobaccos.

Upon breaking the seal of the pouch and sticking my nose straight in naturally inhaling deep I was instantly transported back through time. I am walking through an old lumber mill, I'm maybe ten or eleven and Dad is holding my hand. I smell freshly milled logs,Red Rose tea steeping in a tin pot on a hot plate, and a seducingly sweet and pungent aroma coming from white dancing smoke of the millers pipe. In one breast pocket of his coveralls I see a plastic case holding pens and pencils and in his other pocket I see an orange and red pouch with the name Troost written near the top of the exposed end. This is an old school classic tobacco, once popular and available everywhere, enjoyed by many I am sure. Its smoke tastes the same as its pouch aroma. A true classic that I will not be without! It is not my favorite but it is the only tobacco I have smoked thus far that takes me back to those Saturday mornings in the mid 60's when I got to have my Dad all to my self, shopping for lumber, returning beer bottles for pocket change, or sitting on a wooden bench watching the train slowly steam through the middle of town. Nostalgic bliss!!

The temperature is 110 plus and the air ferociously dry. The usual diet of heavy English/Balkans and cooked virginias needs a change and one thinks of aromatics. Special Cavendish comes from the pouch as a dryish mixture of broken flake and loose ribbon, but does not smoke hot. The basic taste and room note are both tobacco. The flavouring marries very well with the tobacco, adding to the tobacco experience rather than competing with it, or diminishing it, as can be the case with shoddily put together aromatics.

This reminds me somewhat of the Amphora Golden Cavendish. Since I last smoked that some twenty years ago, my memory may be at fault, but this is purer taste of tobacco.

Not a bad blend really......I remember my father smoking a lot of this when I was a teenager. Lots of nostalgia here. Once it drys, it burns decent. Some caramel, nutty and toast flavors that do not over power. It does have some tongue bite, but puff slowly and this can be enjoyable. Not stellar, but a nice smoke when you are not in the mood for a super sweet aro, a super smokey lat, or a hot Va.

I have tried both the tin and the pouch.

Please avoid the pouch. It is not up to the wonderful tobacco contained in the tin.

The tin displays an outstanding broken flake of light and medium brown.

The tin aroma is of walnuts with a little sweet extra, maybe a bit of vanilla.

The tobacco is mild but rich, a real pleasure to smoke.

The tobacco is the pouch is dry and hasrh. Stay away from the pouch if you can!