Stanwell Vanilla (Sungold)

>> Update: my taste developed I guess, more towards natural tobaccos. This ones aromatic taste is less favorable. Downgraded to 3 stars.

Great tin note, smells really like Vanilla 🙂

Smokes well, not moist at all. For an aromatic it's a good one.

Room note is marvellous. Wife likes it.

You can smoke this all the way down into grey ashes. This is one tobacco I keep coming back to in rotation.

I confess I was disappointed by this one… Extreme artificial flavour out of the tin box, almost no vanilla flavour while smoking and a very discrete aroma. Left an "ash-like" taste in my mouth. I will try it drier in the next time.

On the other hand, it smokes well, no tongue bite and burns completely to the end, no gurgling whatsoever. That is my opinion…

REVISITED AFTER 1 MONTH: It greatly improved after cellaring. The artificial taste has dwindled to the point of being tolerable and even agreeable.

This is another Go To aromatic in my collection. If you are a fan of vanilla hints and fine tobacco this is a good one to try.

In the Tin

A strange but not unpleasant tin note. I expected a heavy vanilla extract smell but instead I am meet with a mild vanilla and a fruity scent, apricot perhaps? Whatever it is this tin smells great. The tobacco is a blend of light and dark making a very visually appealing blend that is not very heavily cased. The tin was rather moist but a few hours with the lid open solved that problem.

The Pack and Toast

This blend is a little sticky when packing. I found rolling it in my palm helped reduced some of the stickiness (and now my palm smells great!!) The toast revealed a large range of unexpected flavor. First and foremost is the tobaccos themselves but the vanilla and fruity flavors come a close second. Right after toasting I thought the flavoring might be a little much.

The Rest

After a second light the flavors settled nicely. No longer was there a heavy flavor but now a subtle one that seemed to change as the bowl burned down. Vanilla at first then the Virgina and Turkish. All the while a slight fruity sweetness in the background. This was a great smoke from start to finish but it is pretty sweet and will not be an every day smoke. Once a week instead of a sweet treat after dinner perhaps.

A good one for any aro smoker

I honestly expected a stronger vanilla smell/taste with this tobacco. I had tried Melange a couple of months ago and loved it, so I thought I'd try a vanilla. Smells sweet and nice in the tin, though, as I said not very vanilla-y. Tastes great though it does bite if you're not careful, especially in a smaller bowl. But to me it tastes like Melange without so much apricot flavor. Of course I still have not learned to taste properly, maybe I have really dull taste buds. I still can't taste any the flavors my peers claim to taste at wine tastings, and I've been drinking wine for decades. Anyway, I do know what I like, and this is a good tasting tobacco, though probably I will stick to the Melange when I want a sweet smoke.

This stuff compares to Captain Black (no offence intended to CB fans) as fillet mignon compares to leftover mulligan stew. One bowl of Stanwell Melange or Vanilla and you can never go back to OTC crap.

There is something in the blend in addition to vanilla that makes it a bit more complex than other vanilla blends. A previous reviewer suggested it might be a hint of nutmeg. Whatever it is, it makes this stuff luscious.

Disclaimer * I don’t smoke aromatics much at all*

Stanwell Vanilla has a very nice tin aroma. It makes me want to eat it. I do not get any vanilla. This blend smells like strawberry shortcake rolls to me. It brings me back to my early day’s of smoking house blend aromatics, full of cavendish and savory sweet notes. It comes smokable - maybe a little on the drier side of things, which is good to help it smoke cool and not steamy. This is a world away from any natural tobacco flavor. I smoke pure tobacco blends with no added flavors. I can’t detect anything in burley, or Virginia - just cavendish.

The room note is very nice. I am happy to be smoking this today because it truly reminds me of the first time I ever smoked pipe tobacco. It’s been All of 5 years since I had an aromatic pipe tobacco.

Description says plum flavoring and I would say it’s fruity and sweet and , ya I guess a little plummy. Quite large clouds of smoke and the retrohale is very nice. If you like aromatics I don’t see how you wouldn’t like this. Just try smaller shuttle sips instead of freight train puffs. It will be nicer on the tongue.

All in all , there’s a mildness to the tobacco , the cavendish is at the front lines, high fruity notes with a smoothness about it in the middle, and a nice pipey cavendish aftertaste at the end.

I’ll give this 3 stars + all day. The only reason I won’t give the 4th is because I haven’t smoked aros In years and have nothing to compare it to. But I’d Definatley buy it again for anytime I want a heavily flavored smoke.

I was happy to find Stanwell's Melange, as it was a great replacement for my lost Drew Estate's Grand Central, so I wanted to try another of their products. The tin aroma was a fantastic (though overbearing) mix of vanilla and Fruity Pebbles and I was excited to dive in.

The cut is very rough and filled with all sorts of twigs; packing a bowl was a pain. The large pieces also caused a wonky hot burn that would go out on occasion if not puffed on constantly. The flavor was very close to the initial smell and left a sweetness on the wetness of my mouth.

I'm giving this one 3 stars, but likely won't rebuy it since I found the cut and wonky burn to be frustrating. There are better and more sublime vanilla aromatics out there that don't come with a rolling pin to konk you on the head.

This is a good blended aromatic, you will love it! It is something you can smoke all day, mainly because it burns cool and doesn't make the bowl too moist. It leaves just a white ash, awesome to build cake!

The room note is very pleasant, well balanced. The flavour is sweet but not overwhelming, smoking in a normal pace doesn't bite. The taste is very enjoyable, even if you don't like aromatics, it lasts and remains sweet till the end of the bowl. It is not strong at all, it's actually the only thing I miss in this blend. You can also add some pure virginia and light it up 😉

The smell out of the pouch is very sweet and pleasant. The tobacco is a little bit wet. Just dry it a bit. There are no tongue bites and the tobacco burns very slow and cool. It is very mild. The taste of vanilla comes when you smoke it. The roomnote is very pleasant. Smells lovely. I will have this tobacco AS one of my all day smoke ones.