Peter Stokkebye Cube Cut (PS41)

This is a hard tobacco to enjoy. Not since I began smoking tobacco 20 years ago have I suffered mouth burn and tongue bit as I have from this. I have also learned not to give up too quickly and tried in different pipes. For the most part, this tobacco is hard to smoke, will bite easily and can lead to strong/long pulls which lead to mouth burn from hot smoke. It is hard to light, and what I've found works is to toast the top layer without drawing through the pipe for a few mins to get the top layer "toasted." The best advice I can offer is that this works best in a small diameter bowl with tall sides (chimney style). That resulted in a flavor rich smoke and allowed the cubes to burn well. It has quite a nicotine hit. Tough to enjoy, but does have nice burley flavor once going.

Peter Stokkebye Cube Cut: Bought this 2 year-old tobacco from a friend. The cube cut is an interesting challenge to smoke. Don't pack it tightly because the cubes expand when they burn and you may have tobacco heaving out of the top of the bowl when you light it. I use gravity to load the bowl and stop short of filling the bowl by about 1/4 inch to leaf room for expansion. Due to the shape of the cubes, it is easy for a lit cube to tumble out of the bowl and burn your shirt or pants if you are not careful. It takes some effort and care to light this blend without burning your tongue. Be prepared to relight several times. You want to be careful about puffing too vigorously, particularly when you are lighting it for the first time. You can experience bite if you do. The initial flavor is of Burley with an early threat of a bite from the Virginia. The natural sweetness of the Virginia comes out with slow, careful puffing. Mid-bowl brings a balance of flavors between the Virginia and Burley, nutty, bold Burley flavor and subtle Virginia sweetness. The finish brings more of the Virginia taste to the front, with the Burley fading slightly. I smoked it in a Comoy's Guildhall billiard and a Missouri Meerschaum that is about 40 years old. I like the taste of this tobacco, but the bite factor brings down my rating to 2 stars.

This isn't a bad smoke, but like other stokkebye tobaccos I find there to be an issue with consistency. I've ordered this a few times over the years and I've noticed the cut and colour is never the same as the order prior. This might remind one of the original Kentucky Club in terms of cut (at least the last few lots ive bought) and the flavour isn't a bad match for an old Edgeworth RR smoker. There is no topping detected and the leaf isn't overly stout or boisterous. It burns relatively smooth the whole way down but can get hot if you try to jumpstart it when the embers dwindle. It's worth a try if your into burley/va natural blends, the simplicity here is really it's shining attribute.

PS Cube Cut was another of my stops to find a replacement for Sir Walter Raleigh. This is a straight cube cut, whereas SWR is a mixture of cube and crushed plug (or, at least, some loose non-cube tobacco).

I have had nothing but trouble with this from the get-go. Hard to light and get going, I have (as suggested below) tried "toasting" the top, rubbing some of it out and placing the result on top, and topping the bowl of Cube Cut with some other ribbon cut tobacco. I have gravity packed, tightly packed, packed, unpacked and repacked. Nothing has worked consistently. I always end up with either a bowl in perpetual need of relighting or scorching my tongue. Now, when I look at this mixture I have visual flashbacks of the album cover from Frank Zappa's "Weasels Ripped My Flesh".

I used to think SWR was bad about jumping out of the bowl, but Cube Cut has it beaten by a mile. The few times I have gotten Cube Cut going moderately well have convinced me that not only is it no replacement for SWR, but that it isn't for me.

Somewhat recommended. I'm sure, based on previous reviews, that some will find it pleasant. I'll use what's left of my stash for blending.

Stokkebye's "Cube Cut" tobacco has a gentle, very complimentary fruit-like flavoring of some kind; whether it is a top dressing, casing sauce, or natural additive I cannot say. It may even be the magical result of "Cavendish pressing" Tennessee Burley and aged red Virginias (but I doubt it.) It reminds me of the apple-like flavoring I detect in Kentucky Club's "non-aromatic" blend -- the one in the blue & white can. That said, I hasten to add that Stokkebye's use of that flavoring is far more restrained and seemingly appropriate for the blend.

All you need to know about this stuff is covered in kilted1's review of 01/23/2006; and I couldn't describe the experience any more accurately or eloquently. I will say, however, that I had a lot more trouble with it than he did.

My chief gripe owes to my lack of technique in handling the hard, very uniform ⅛" cubes, or nuggets of pressed tobacco. It was difficult to light; demanded way too much attention with the tamper; and resisted every puffing tactic that I tried. I had to puff aggressively to maintain good smoke volume, but that made the tobacco start to bite, and the increased heat also caused the flavor to wash out. If I maintained the right pace to savor the admittedly good taste, I quickly lost the burn. Also, something I rarely experience, every smoke left an unavoidable heel of tobacco at the bottom of the bowl: dry dottle, but dottle none-the-less. Cube Cut burned better in a smaller diameter bowl, but not much better. I also crushed those little wood-like blocks of tobacco somewhat with a mortar and pestle, but that didn't help too much either.

For me the experience was not as pleasant as pipe smoking should and can be. There are too many good, hassle-free tobaccos out there for me to struggle with Cube Cut.

If you are an outdoor smoker, or your technique is better than mine, or you are enticed by some of the more enthusiastic reviews of this blend, then I suggest you first try a sample, available in 1 oz. packages by OutwestTobacco.com for $2.25 as of this writing.

Toasted grapenuts cereal; I want to put this in milk and serve it to the wife the next time she yells at me for pipe smoking in the house.

This is a decent, good burley in the way that the kid down the street is an honest, hard-working kid. I don't really want to shoot the breeze with him on a daily basis but I'll smile and wave hello.

The burley in here tastes good. The VA gives it mid-body. The first part of the bowl is almost cavendish-sweet but that's gone a quarter of the way in.

My ratings: 1 star: wouldn't smoke again 2 star: decent, might smoke again 3 star: will smoke again 4 star: must have on-hand at all times.

This blend : 2.3

Images evoked include a mummified santa clause dropping brain-tweezers into the the parents' stockings of all the bad little boys and girls. It's going to be an undead egyptian Christmas!

Smells like molasses/chewing tobacco with a touch of chocolate if you stick your nose in the jar.

The cube cut flakes demand a gravity fill and a very light tamp before lighting. Initial light can be a bit fussy due to the smaller surface area of the little cubes, but once lit it is mostly trouble-free.

As for the taste, imagine Carter Hall with a bit of Cavendish. The topping is nearly identical. No nicotine to speak of. The Virginias will bite a little if rushed.

I’d give it two and a half stars if it’d let me.

Cube cut is a smooth burley blend with easy packing and good burn quality. However, the flavor is one dimentional and some herbal like smell. This is not my cup of tea.

This was a really nice smoke, but I just couldn't get it to not bite my mouth...entire mouth that is. It was a very odd sensation to feel my whole mouth hurting. There is something noxious about this and I had to put the pipe down midway. Too bad really, it seemed processed really well in its construction and had a nice aroma.

May all your weed set you at peace.