Stanwell Vanilla (Sungold)

Excellent tin aroma translates pretty well to flavor in the bowl. Good blending and base tobaccos are evident. After things settle down from the single light after the char, the vanilla (and hint of semi-sweet chocolate?) tone down to a pleasant background, with very good pure tobacco flavors coming through. Smokes cool and dry all the way down. Performs extremely well in the churchwarden. 3+.

Based on how much I liked Malange, and I love MB Vanilla Cream, i thought I would give this a try and expected to really like it. While it is a mild, nice smelling blend that lights very well and stays lit, there is a tartness to it that was very unexpected in a vanilla blend. i think of vanilla blends as very soft with the sweet taste of vanilla wafting through. This one has that but has the added flavor that I am at a loss to identify but it left my mouth very dry and with a sourness on my palette. It is very nice in the tin, a mix of black cavendish a and medium brown in a ribbon cut. It is not neccessary to dry it out and it loadeds very well in my pipe. It is like the Melange where it is not a typical aromatic in that it leaves no moisture or goopiness in the pipe and smokes all the way down the pipe to a fine grey ash. Nothing about the tin aroma eludes to the tartness when smoked, it smells like a vanilla blend should smell. I cannot five it more than two stars though as it just is not what I expected and enjoy. I don't like the tartness at all. But it is a nice quality leaf and if one is predisposed to liking the tartness, it would be a great blend. It that ingredient were left out of the blending, it would be a great one of it's type.

>> 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 usually smoke at least a whole tin of something before I review it. This time, I couldn't bear the olfactory torture. The only taste I could discern from the time I lit the bowl was a sour-vegetable-like note that barely mellowed during the smoke. At first, I thought something I ate caused it. So, I dumped that bowl, and came back to it the next day after a bowl of Kendal Kentucky. The KK tasted like it always does, and the Stanewell Vanilla was still a sour wretched mess. Therefore, based only on 2 half bowls (hey, I'm a coward, okay?) I'm tanking this one. Easily the worst blend I've ever tried.

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.

Stanwell - Vanilla.

I love vanilla aromatics so a blend named Vanilla was a no-brainer!

The blend isn't presented as your normal vanilla aromatic, it's not just black, but a selection of black, brown, and bright yellow ribbons. It's been firmly packed into the tin but isn't too moist.

There's quite a lot going on in the smoke, for a vanilla aromatic. Of course, there's vanilla, but that isn't the only flavour. The Samsun gives definite flavour, and is more than just a 'seasoning'. It gives the smoke a floral flavour, more-so after halfway. The Virginia and Burley are a stable addition, but they taste nothing out of the ordinary for what I'd would expect from them. The Cavendish is what surprises me, it isn't 'just' a sticky black Cavendish taste, but much 'fresher' and lighter than normal: honey sweetness and Virginia grass. I can't identify any plums like in the description. On the negative side of things the burn's too warm. And it's a bit of a biter.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: pleasant.

Stanwell Vanilla? In a market that's awash with vanilla aromatics one will need to have an exceptional quality to get highly recommended. This is worth two stars:

Somewhat recommended.

This blend made me quit smoking aromatics. It has an extremely artificial flavor, starts off with a pleasant vanilla taste, then an absurdly strong citric taste hits your mouth, leaving an unpleasant after-taste that will linger for hours. After trying the Melange flavor, I was looking forward to this blend, but was very disappointed.

I get the same unpleasant sour / tart mouth sensation a few other reviewers have mentioned. Akin to holding a battery to my tongue when I was a kid. Also just too mild for my liking. The room note is quite good but not up there with the best. Definitely prefer the excellent Stanwell Melange to this.

I started smoking a pipe fairly recently and did so with this tobacco. My original idea of pipe smoking was to smoke aromatics exclusively so as to not plague my surrounding loved ones. I have since then decided on going with a more "to hell with them, I'm smoking what ever I damn well please" approach... but I digress.

The tin offers a almost sickeningly sweet scent with promises of apricots and vanilla. The vanilla carries through in the room note but I struggle to find it in the taste. I get a vaguely fruity taste of undefinably origin mixed in with sugary virginia. Mild and sweet, simply put. A "ok" tobacco in terms of quality, taste and room note... calling it vanilla is a bit of a stretch of the imagination though. I also find that it leaves a very dry, ashen taste in my mouth after I've finished a bowl which isn't all too pleasant.

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