Stanwell Melange

It's been about 10 years since I last smoked an aromatic. I don't know why this particular weekend I felt the need to crack open one of the many samples I've procured through various pipe tobacco forums. In any case it sat in a little Mason jar for a good 4 or 5 months at the back of my cellar just waiting for the right moment. Since spring is, mostly, here I figured something light and sweet would be the ticket. The only thing that fit was this aromatic so I loaded up a cob and off I went.

At first match I noticed something was certainly missing. Bite. I can recall how badly I would get bitten from aromatics in the past and that's one of the reasons I gladly passed them up even if free. More pipe smoking experience didn't hurt either since I've learned to tame blends that have bitten me in the past. Age and wisdom can be a wonderful thing. After a couple of charring lights I got the blend going and it was actually quite pleasant. A nice caramel taste that was backed up by a sharpness of apricot flavor. When I say sharpness I don't mean bite, I mean it was a pleasant sharpness much like you get from sharp cheddar. Maybe "tang" would be a better descriptor. I smoked about half of the bowl and set down my pipe. The half of the bowl I smoked was quite enjoyable and had some tobacco flavor along with the aro components. It all worked together quite well and I was very impressed. This gave me new found hope for quality aros out there. I still prefer English or burleys but for a change of pace this will most assuredly fit the bill.

Now I mentioned that I set my half smoked pipe down. I left it in the garage over night just for an experiment. I came back the next day to see if the there was any changes a good DGT would do to the blend. I lit up and the caramel note was gone and I could taste decent quality Virginias along with that faint note of apricot. It had changed but was still quite good and I can tell that the tobacco used was of a good quality. The blend notes mentioned a little bit of Oriental in the mixture and the DGT brought out a faint note of them. Possibly Basma since it was a very faint sweetness similar to FMOTT but my taste buds may be mistaken.

All in all I enjoyed this aro even though I haven't smoked them for quite some time. I'm glad I stepped outside of my tobacco comfort zone because I plan on acquiring a couple of tins just for a change of pace.

This is that kind of tobacco that shows quality and good taste all over, no doubts, but I don't like the peachy taste, don't take me wrong, it is a great blend but not for my taste. If you love Apricots, Peaches, etc. this your blend, look no further, I do prefer berries than peaches. There is not bite at all and the quality of this blend jumps at the end of the bowl, excellent for a mellow blend.

I liked this one but i found it a little sweet on its own. When blended with a bit of burley its quie nice and i think ill keep some on hnd just for that reason.Very flavourful

I like this blend. Opening the tin sort of makes you want to take a bite of it! Very delicious aroma. A strong burly blend it ain't! But it is everything as advertized. A wonderful after dinner smoke, I found it easy to light and keep lit.I recommend this for what it is, a quality,aromatic blend.

Perhaps Stanwell's ability to produce quality, affordable pipes influences my opinion of this, to me, 'solid' aromatic. It's a nice change of pace from stronger tobaccos, and the fruit flavoring is a neat after dinner treat.

UPDATE: Though, after smoking my more favorite (of the aromatics) Lane aromatics I'd have to say this casing is heavier, leaving little natural tobacco flavor.

I got the pouch version of this, but I would assume the tin is a slight step up in quality. This blend smells like an apricot pastry, which is somewhat reminiscent of Briarwork's Peach Cobbler. Those dessert flavours are apparent in the smoke. The toasted Burley gives a wonderful baked nut flavour and the Black Cavendish gives a hefty dose of sweetness. The Orientals and Virginias give a tartness that compliments the apricot flavour. The smoke is delicious and this is not a goopy aromatic, you can still taste tobacco flavours amongst the fruit. This blend loses a point for burning quite hot, so be warned that this needs to be smoked slowly. The apricot flavours persist past the halfway mark of the bowl, unlike the Briarwork's blend that loses the fruit note around that mark. I would opt for Briarworks over the pouch version of Melange, on the account of cooler smoke, but I would be open to trying the tin to see if it smokes better. Overall this gets a 3/4 because it's one of the better tasting aromatics I've tried.

Smell: Delicious, sweet with a full body, a bit fruity, nutty and yes, it reminds me (dried) apricots. I find the smell natural.

Taste: It tastes good, nothing to complain about. Enjoyable and pleasant smoke. Some sweet nuttiness prevails over the other flavors in the bouquet. Fruity notes are not detectable by me. Maybe some caramel is there. Not easy for me to detect other nuances of the topping (if any). Overall a very good danish mixture. A smoking experience to repeat with pleasure.

Ratio Smell/Taste: You won't be disappointed if you hope to find something of the smell from the tin in your mouth while smoking.

Moisture: It requires some drying time.

Filter: With.

Ghosting: Strong.

This is a very tasty aromatic, leaves a pleasant room note. However, it burns a little too fast for my taste. All in all, 3 out of 4