Details

Brand Van Erkoms
Blended By  
Manufactured By  
Blend Type Aromatic
Contents Virginia
Flavoring Caramel
Cut Ready Rubbed
Packaging 100 grams packet
Country South Africa
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Very Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.77 / 4
10

3

0

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 13 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 22, 2008 Medium to Strong Mild to Medium Medium to Full Pleasant
Again like Boxer, this review is entirely possible due to the kindness of Mo from South Africa.

First a bit of a story....

For many years members of my family were missionaries, in Papua and Africa mainly. I had an aunt who ran a school and medical mission just outside Bulawayu in what was then Rhodesia. She never married and the African children in her care were her life and she was utterly devoted to them. Sadly she was thrown out of the country when the regime changed, and the children lost the love and care of one of the most gentle Christian women I have ever known. However the point of this story is that she used to send home pipe tobacco to my father who really appreciated fine African grown blends...one of which was Jock. Named after the famous Jock of the bushveld, a dog who faithfully travelled with his master through southern Africa in the late 19th Century...this pipe tobacco was supposed to be a pipe smoker's friend along the same lines.

So...back to Mo's kind gift.

I love this tobacco; not just because of the story above, but because it really is one of the finest I have smoked.

It is a typical African grown blend. There are absolutely no common attributes to American grown blends as far as I can tell. On opening the plastic 100 gramme pouch you are greeted with a scent reminiscent of SG's FVF..but drier and more delicate...no Malawi tobacco here as far as I can tell. It does have a scent, unlike Boxer, but it's whispery...it teases your nose rather than surges at it.

It comes in a ready rubbed form of 3 colours I think and packs easily into the pipe. Not anywhere near as dry as Boxer, it still lights well with clouds of blue grey smoke. It burns gentle on the mouth, absolutely no roof of the mouth abrasion or tongue bite. There is complexity here, nowhere near as much as American virginia's, but you would not come to African tobacco's to find that anyway...maybe the climate is too hot for that to develop in the growing leaf; but I detect creaminess mixed with a vanilla like warmth. Its fleeting, but it is there.

Unlike Boxer, you can smoke it slowly..it will let you sip at it. That's one of this blend's many attributes...it's able to be contemplative and puffed through while you are out or working at some task. The room note is mild and pleasant enough and I've had no complaints at all.

As far as strength goes...I would imagine that our American cousins will find this pretty powerful stuff. I say that because American tobacco's all seem pretty mild to me and I can only imagine that as we Brits have been raised on African grown weed, we have got used to far more powerful varieties grown in the hot African sun than the USA Virginias. But to me, it's not strong at all.

To sum up...this is a superb tobacco. I would venture to say that it is better than almost ANY blend available in the UK today..some SG and G&H blends equal it (just about) but do not surpass it. Maybe it appeals to us UK smokers because it comes from the parts of Africa that historically supplied us with many fine tobacco's...but to the discerning pipester from the USA, it should give you the authentic, definitive experience of African tobacco at its very best.
13 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 11, 2012 Medium Medium Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Others have described this tobacco well: full taste, earthy and very tasty.

What fascinates me is the caramel. It's a dark caramel made from brown sugar and spice, and it's subtle, but it is there. This sweetness on top of the full, earthy taste is simply delicious. It comes through in the room note too. The room note is strong, yes, but there is a sweet presence - just a hint, to be sure - which gives this tobacco a strong yet appealing aroma.

One word: satisfying.
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
mo
Aug 20, 2008 Medium to Strong Mild Medium to Full Tolerable
I will give this blend 4 stars for what it is. Probably the best African blend. Like we as pipers get an English, a Balkan etc, African blends too have their own distictive flavour.

I find this blend very easy to smoke and this is probably the base tobacco of most of the house blends one finds in South African tobacconists. It is a very rich smoke and full of spice and flavour, it is a smoke that one needs to sit to enjoy as the layers of flavour and taste as the bowl progresses changes all the time.

It burns slowly and a bowlfull lasts a long time, esp if one is used to smoking straight VA blends that tend to nip.

I do not smoke many English/Balkan blends but i will award 4 stars when i come across a good one. This is a great African blend and deserves the same respect.

Mo, South Africa
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mac
Dec 29, 2013 Medium Medium Mild to Medium Tolerable
I was gifted a sample of this blend and i love it. Not available here in Australia so if any members from SA would like a trade let me know. If i could get this all the time it would be in my top three tobaccos to smoke.
Pipe Used: Falcon
PurchasedFrom: Sample from a fellow Pipe forum member
Age When Smoked: unknown
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 17, 2011 Medium Medium to Strong Full Tolerable to Strong
This is my staple tobacco for daily use. Not too dry, not too wet straight out of the new packet. It does become a little better with a few minutes of drying before smoking. As I am a constant pipe smoker that has given up cigarettes, I regularly take a deep drag or three and put the pipe down to go out. This tobacco relights easily so that I may enjoy those frequent short smokes. Good taste, not too strong. The room note maight be a bit strong for the liking of some. Very well priced. My favourite! I inhale my pipe and this inhales fine!
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 09, 2011 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Strong
Crickey! What can I say? I read the two reviews, and as soon as I could went down to my local tobacconist and purchased a 100g pouch. Got home and prepared for a good 'ponder'. Cracking the pack the first thought was of really heavy sweet loam or mulch, a very earthy and pleasant aroma. Filled the bowl and lit up. This is NOT going to win you any friends in the 'room note' stakes. It reminded me of a cigar, not the cheap OTC variety but a big fat Cuban. The taste was at first very much that of a cigar then as I puffed away sweetness came through, a musky sweet marshmallowy taste. The billowing smoke around my head added a rich loamy earth like background note. It is rather difficult to describe. The other description I suppose would be of the smell you would get from a good campfire built on rich damp earth. I like this a lot. Unless your partner has no sense of smell at all do not expect to be able to get away with this indoors. They will not appreciate it. Instead kick back on your stoep (in South Africa) or veranda (everywhere else) light up and enjoy. About half way through my mouth started to dry out so I poured myself a BIG glass of Cabernet and alternatively sipped and puffed. From my point the perfect combination as opposed to more usual glass of whiskey or brandy. I will be getting this tobacco again and it will be fixture on my shopping list. One liner Review? " Big, bold, manly, fantastic stuff. Not for the chardonnay sipping fraternity."
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 28, 2015 Medium to Strong Extremely Mild Medium to Full Pleasant
OK, up till now, I was very unpatriotic and harsh about our South African blends and the general availability of imported tobacco. I started a YT series on South African tobaccos (or as mo put it, the African blends) - with this I do not mean the SA tobacconist houseblends like Wesleys or JJ Cale, but the inexpensive 'unaldultered' tobaccos from Van Eerkoms - Jock, Assegai, Fox etc.

I was pleasantly surprised with this blend although I would not yet give it a 4 star. Lets start describing typical African blends - less sweet, spicy and earthy, probably more on the stronger side of the spectrum.

Tin: surprising, fresh smell of tobacco with notes of vanilla & caramel. First Light: at first light, something of a caramelish taste comes to the fore, but the earthy (like the smell of a fresh winters morning in the bushveld), is more prominent. As you puff away, every now and then, a slight spiciness calls your attention. A real surprise as this tobacco awakens your senses throughout the bowl.

Overall. Every time I lit my pipe, I got that immediate earthy tones which was very pleasing. As you smoke it, the spiciness (cloves ?) became more evident. The aroma around your head is a very pleasant earthy mouldy aroma. The caramel is less evident as you continue throughout the bowl, but this tobacco is never boring. Inexpensie, yet good. R65 for 100g ($5 for 4 oz).
Pipe Used: Savinelli, Peterson
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 04, 2016 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Tolerable
If you look past the cheap packaging and you're looking for nothing but a pure, well-rounded tobacco, then Jock is your man (or dog).

I can see why this has been a firm favourite in South Africa for generations.

It has an earthy taste, like pure bushveld. One cannot but want a campfire whilst smoking Jock.

As has been said in the other reviews, this ia not a tobacco to be smoked indoors.

Like the Fox, this leaves a very pleasant aftertaste and can be smoked regularly throughout the day without having a 'raw' tongue or tiring of it.

If you can get your hands on it, make sure you always have a supply on hand.

If there are any international pipe-brethren who are interested in a tobacco exchange program, mail me at [email protected].
Pipe Used: Lorenzo Spitfire; Adsorba 218
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 09, 2020 Very Strong Mild to Medium Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
My very first tobacco I ever bought. This is an iconic "drug store" blend, nearly as iconic as the great Jock himself.

Make no mistake, this tobacco is cheap and cheaply packaged, yet the taste and room note is excellent. Caramel notes to sugar cane are quite prevalent. It is in no way sweet, containing more subtle spicy notes. This blend smokes really cool, always come dry as a bone (recommend smoking dry if not) and typical of Southern African tobaccos, very high in nicotine.

This blend is for those out in the veld all day under the copper African sun or for those trying to recreate the above mentioned experience. A humble tobacco cherished by all.

The pouch note is very inconspicuous, resembling only a hay smell. It is very finely cut, a shaggy cut with long individual strands. Goes well with biltong and brandy.
Pipe Used: Peterson 312
Age When Smoked: New
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 15, 2017 Medium to Strong Very Mild Full Tolerable
Was the first tobacco I smoked when I started smoking pipe 8 months ago. First smoked in my not so expensive Gandolf pipe and was pleasant from the first smoke. After that I smoked it in various other pipes and in all it smoked well. Took a short break from it to try various other tobaccos but purchased it again today and smoked it for the first time in my vintage Stanwell. Tasted even better now that I've become a more experienced pipe smoker. Great tasting, all round, everyday smoke. Flavoring is not overwhelming and is more of a natural tasting tobacco. I recommend it to anyone who wants to start smoking pipe and to those older pipe smokers.
Pipe Used: Lorenzo Missouri meerschaum Stanwell de Luxe 854
PurchasedFrom: Various
Age When Smoked: New
2 people found this review helpful.
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