Stanwell Melange

The tin note is a fantastic apricot, peach smell. The ribbon cut tobacco was just a little wet, but was easy to pack and light. The tin note translates directly into a wonderful room note that I cannot imagine anyone not liking.

The tobacco itself is of high quality and offers a mild, slightly nutty, slightly sweet taste. Unlike some other aromatics, this one burns nice an cool, allowing you to really relax while smoking this.

This is probably the best aromatic I have smoked so far.

The Virginia is tart and tangy citrus sweet with some grass, and forms a base for the other tobaccos. It’s always noticeable, but often stays in the background. The burley is nutty with a touch of earth and wood, and usually stands out above the Virginia. The black cavendish is mild with a smooth sugary essence, and underscores the work of the other ingredients. The gold cavendish is citrusy with a touch of honey and grass, and plays well with the citrus of the Virginia. The Orientals add a light floral, sour and sweet smokiness, earth, wood, herbs, with a minor spice note, and is present in every puff, mostly in the background. The vanilla topping is lightly applied while the apricot is just a little more obvious, well complimenting and moderately sublimating the taste of the tobaccos. They don’t list peach as a topping, but I notice it here and there. Has a slightly more than mild nic-hit. The strength is in the center of mild to medium, while the taste is medium. Won't bite or get harsh. Burns at a reasonable pace, clean and cool with a very consistent, well balanced creamy sweet flavor that has no harsh or dull spots. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. A very repeatable all day smoke with a pleasant, short lived after taste and room note.

-JimInks

Update..... I allowed my tongue to heal after smoking Mac baren blends, lol...and tried this again, To my suprise it is quite tasty ! Sweet with an aroma more like hickory nut than apricot. In fact it tastes and has an aroma like an ultra premium version of Middletons Hickory ! I wish Hickory was this good. This is very nice, fruity and smooth, no bite. Its nice and soft and full of flavor and it lasts long. I was smoking Peterson's deluxe blend all day and was suprised to see how slow and cool this is, delicious ! It required a few relights but tobacco tastes better to me when moist rather than dry. When tobacco is dry it tends to be harsh and rancid, this is delightful ! One medium sized bowl lasted me an hour and 15 min.! Just a LaRocca due egg bent. I up this to 4 stars today thanks to my tongue being replenished ! Try this you won't be sorry, yum !!! I may make this my go to tobacco !

PS. This tobacco has some kick ! I'm an ex cigarette smoker and I get a nicotine Buzz from this. This has the kick of a medium English! Anything with Burley is going to have more nicotine than a latakia blend. I upped the strength t o medium because I have other mild medium blends and this has more punch ! Not a bad thing but if your a beginner start with a smaller bowl or smoke it a little slower, it will get you .

I can't get enough of this blend, I can't wait to try the Kir and Apple ! I think this is the best tobacco I've ever smoked, the perfect aromatic ! Finally, I've found nirvana !

I like Melange for it's unique apricot cheesecake flavor. But there are some drawbacks...

Extreme ghosting of the PIPE (pleasant though). Hot burning tobacco with occasional flare up. Flavor fades substantially after tin is opened. High sugar content makes for a messy pipe.

What I do with Melange....

Mix Melange with Black Cavendish for an interesting but easier smoking experience.

Layer Melange under Virginia for a milder yet sweet smoke.

Open the can and smell Melange when there isn't any dessert around.

A tobacco smokers aromatic. Nice coconut, vanilla, fruity smell in the tin, yet the casings/flavoring are not heavy and the blend is not goopy. The mix has a predominantly tan/brown color from the burley, virginias and orientals. The balck cavendish is mixed in with a light hand; just a smattering of BC throughout.

The smoke is very pleasant and enjoyable. Slightly sweet taste, maybe a litle nuttiness from the burley. The aromatic casings/flavoring don't overpower the smooth virginas and orientals. Nice kind-of-salty finish to each puff.

This blend is very competitive with some of the equally excellent "big name" aromatics I've tried over the years. An excellent aromatic and a very pleasant surprise, especially for the price.

I think I just found the perfect aromatic! I am usually a VaPer, burley smoker but I enjoy aromatics a few time a week for a change. But this one, WOW! It does not bite! It has a full, creamy, apricot taste that is not overwhelming. It lights on the first light and STAYS lit all the way down. It burns to a fine ash with no moisture or goo or dottle in the bottom of the pipe. The casing flavor stays all the way to the bottom. And it is delicious leaving a very pleasant taste on the palette. In fact in 39 years of pipe smoking, this is the first aromatic that I wanted another bowl full after the first one was barely tapped out. In fact, I had a third. A neighbor came up to my deck where I was enjoying it this afternoon who normally does not like my pipe smoke and asked what I was smoking. He said it smelled wonderful. It does have a great room note. Out of the tin, it is a mixed color blend running from light brown up to a black in a ribbon, and rough cut mix. It is perfect in moisture right out of the tin, no goopiness, no stickiness at all, loose and easy to load in the pipe. This is the perfect smoke for new smokers, for experienced smokers wanting a change of pace or those that like aromatics but don't like tongue bite. I experienced none, and I tried to make it do so. I highly recommend this blend and an added bonus is that it is not expensive and easily found. It is made by Orlik which makes Golden Slices one of my favorites for Stanwell. So it is a quality tobacco. It uses a base of VA, some burley, Orientals, and black Cavendish.

Decided to christen my new Stanwell Vario with some pipe weed of the same name. The 50g tin has a classy look about it. Upon opening, your nostrils are overwhelmed with the scents of citrus and apricot. Definitely a nice tobacco to smoke during the warmer months here in New England with its fruity aroma.

I don't think this blend requires much drying but I am reviewing it a year after opening it originally and it's still fine. Burns nice and evenly with no need to relight after getting it started. The taste is very sweet to me with the flavor of the apricot coming through strongly. The burley acts as a nice base, imparting a bit of its nutty disposition into the mix. Unlike most aromatics, I find the flavor stays pretty consistent with the Melange throughout the bowl. The oriental and VA peak a little bit in and out during the later half of the bowl adding a little bit of spiciness to the fruit.

Overall, a very enjoyable aromatic if that's your thing (which it is for me). I would certainly recommend this to new pipe smokers that want to enjoy sweetness without the bite. Also, quite light in the nicotine department. Stanwell Melange is a spicy apricot tobacco ripe for summer smoking in your backyard and quite enjoyable with a little bit of brandy as well.

Another quality product from Stanwell. Aromatic puffers will delight in the fruity and sweet flavor in the smoke that is too light to "ghost" your fine briars.

I found the cut a little difficult to manage, but despite the added ingredients, it did stay lit well. It leaves your palate feeling fresh and back to back bowls can be enjoyed without worry of getting nipped.

In the world of aromatics this one is a keeper. (IMO, of course).

This is one fine aromatic. There are many aromatics out there, but not too many that also have Orientals in them. Some, but not a lot. This one does and it's what also really separates it from the pack.

First off, when you open the tin, you are greeted by that wonderful apricot-like scent that is used for the fruit flavoring here. It's delicious all on it's own. The leaves are also a nice mixture of colors, adding to the intrigue of this blend. But again, what separates this blend from the others is the addition of the Orientals. In this case, they aren't spicy. Maybe a little sour or tang to compliment the sweetness of the apricot flavoring, but what I really like about them is that they also add a real nuttiness to the blend. You hear that a lot, "it's nutty", but in this case, it really is and has an almost cashew like feel and taste to it. However you particularly perceive it, it's great and very different.

It's also one that is really a crowd pleaser. When I used to smoke in the car, I remember one day going through a drive-thru in the morning for some breakfast. The cashier leaned out of the window to tell me how nice this smelled. When I got to work, the receptionist who usually grimaced when I came in after smoking some other tasty blends said, "now this one I like!" I laughed. Finally, I was sitting on a bench smoking this and a guy walked over to me and said he could smell it from a block away and wanted to follow it. OK, that was weird and a bit creepy, but who can blame him? It does smell good!

Now, it does remind me of Orlik's Mellow Mixture. They both have that similar scent in the tin, but Mellow Mixture lacks the Orientals and the sour and nuttiness that this one also brings to the pipe.

Not much nicotine to speak of in this one, but it is by far one of my favorite aromatics out there, if not my number one. It's tantalizing.

My only negative with it is that I find myself having to relight it more often than normal. Probably just me. I will also say that it benefits from being fluffed out and aired out in a pint jar for a few days. When you open the tin, the ribbons are tightly packed. Air it out and the smoke is smoother and fuller.

Get out and try it.

Enjoy!

Some pipe smokers, when reviewing aromatics, complain about not being able to taste tobacco under the casing. I think differently: if I want to taste Virginia, then I smoke Capstan , if I want to taste Latakia, then I smoke Commonwealth, but if I smoke aromatics then I want to taste fruit, vanilla, chocolate. Stanwell Melange is all this: an amazing tin smell, which fully translates to the smoking taste, overall an excellent aromatic. It’s a shame that it isn’t available here in Italy.