Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Greve Hamilton Blandning

Update: I have been jumping back and forth with this one, trying to place why I like it. It tastes OTC, hardly a premium blend, but that actually works in it's favour. I think I will use this as a measure of standard, a pallette cleanser - it resets my senses and allows me to enjoy what makes a premium tobacco just that. It does remind me a bit (just a bit, mind you) of cigarettes. I used to smoke cigarettes years ago so to me it brings forth nostalgia as well. So, although it might seem strange I have simultaneously found what I like about it and why others might not. I am hereby demoting this to two stars, even though my personal opinion of it has not changed.

I expected this to be bad, on par with Borkum Riff, but it really isn't. A swedish classic, (alleged) favourite of legendary swedish singer Peps Persson among others, this one is actually quite good. Sure, it bites if one is not careful - but treated with respect it burns nicely and offers up a lot of flavour. Try it if you can, if nothing else just for the sake of sampling history.

Taste: What is this flavour I get from it? It is sweet and somehow artificial. I would say that there is a splash of alcohol added (cognac?), but I can not really say for sure. The individual components are balanced to the point where I can't tell them apart, but there sure seems to be more burley than virginia at play here. The casing reminds me of War horse by Standard Tobacco Company of Pennsylvania, actually they are quite similar and I really enjoy that. War horse is deeper though, and more flavourful. This one also reminds me of Half & Half or just OTC in general, but with some serious pepper to it. . It's not bad, just not what I want all the time. It's a matter of pairing I guess, this one goes great with coffee.

Mechanics: Ribbon cut, needs some drying but not much. Easily turns hot and at that point it will bite. Medium to strong nicotine.

I was fortunate enough to have a forum friend in Sweden send me a pouch of this with the explicit instructions to reach into my memory banks of tobaccos I have tried to pick something that is similar. I was not alone in this experiment as I was joined by some others, a few of which had much broader tasting experience than myself.

I was unsuccessful at matching it to anything that I have tasted and the most likely reason is that it really wasn't much to my liking. I found the first half of the smoke to be very cigarette like and a little on the sour side. At the halfway point there seemed to develop a bit of an earthy burley taste in the background and I started to enjoy it more.

Even as it grew on me a bit, I never really could say that I liked it. Nor did I ever fully enjoy it. I did find it to be tastier in wider bowled pipes and my favorite smoke came in an old Mastercraft pot. II also enjoyed it in a pipestone rockcob.

I will say that it is different and this can be good for a change up, but it is not one that I would reach for again.

This Swedish classic is nothing to write home about, but it's a decent smoke all the same. It has been the most popular pipe tobacco in Sweden for many decades, but I'd say that's mostly due to its availability (if the local kiosk or petrol station has any pipe tobacco at all, it's likely to be this) and the low price (though compared to most other nations any tobacco in Sweden will be expensive).

If you're in in the Swedish countryside/small town and can't get anything else except possibly Borkum Riff or Calmar Nyckel, this is your best shot. The taste is mild to medium, and the grassy, somewhat citrusy Virginias delivers most of it. It burns well, it won't give you tongue bite, but it can be a little on the cigarette side of things, especially if you puff too hard. But it's fairly forgiving and I think that's also a reason for its success.

The cut is very fine, the room note is pleasant. As it's a pouch tobacco, it will be a bit on the dry side. The nicotine level is medium.

This is an interesting blend, and not a bad one by OTC pipe tobacco standards. Beats Borkum Riff and Caravelle (other swedish OTCs) by a large margin. It's quite strong, but lacks body/feel and complexity in flavour. Packs a fair nicotine hit. Best description I can conjure up is like a cigarette with a little bit more pure citrusy virginia taste. Tin note is fantastic and natural, hay-like VA smell with no added sweetness. I sometimes let anti-tobacco fascists smell it telling them it's herbal tea, and the reaction is always "oh my god that smells fantastic". And then they get shocked when they find out it's tobacco. People who think that tobacco leaf smells like cigarette smoke should be brutally shot in the head as far as I'm concerned, that kind off stupidity should be banned from the earth. This tobacco makes it easy to determine who to execute.

I received this from a friend in Finland, he told me what others below have noted, that this blend is the OTC staple in Sweden and very popular in Finland as well. Now then, I found it to be rather sweet and citrusy. I got a taste that was similar to the taste left in your mouth after drinking a glass of Sunny Delight orange juice beverage. The Virginias are very dominant, with this sweet citrusy overtone, there is also a slight black pepper taste that comes and goes throughout the bowl. The addition of Dark Fired Burley gives it a little more heft than a straight Va.. I agree with Jiminks, that this is quite similar to Sail Yellow, but more tobacco forward and less topping.

This blend is what people often associate with pipe smoking in Sweden. Most pipesters there have probably tried it or heard about it at some point. The availability probably contributes to that: any establishment which sells tobacco, will be 99% guaranteed to keep some pouches of Greve Hamilton. The contents of one pouch is akin to what I would call a shag cut, resembling the roll-your-own tobacco I once bought when I first started out. Not too sure about what it smells like, but it is not unpleasant at all.

As for smoking, it was less pleasant. Easy to light for me, mostly due to the fine cut. But the cut also seem to make this burn a bit too fast for my liking. The taste is fine; mostly grassy (virginias).

Puff too fast, however, and you might suspect someone snatched your pipe out of your mouth and swiftly replaced it with a cigarette without you seeing it happen. I found it slightly hard to moderate pace without either pretending I was actually a steamboat going at full speed, or letting the pipe pretty much go out.

To be fair, though: if you, at any point in your life, find yourself limited to smoking one of the common Swedish OTC's, this one is the best bet. At least the taste is palatable, especially in comparison to some of the other options in that category...

Basic tobacco whit no extra flavoring, easy for beginners. Bit boring but easy to smoke. Wont buy again. Got it from taxfree shop cheaply and wanted to try.

can give a little tongue bite from time to time...

Update for being fair. I added an extra star. But anyway I don´t recommend this. (It´s just that I don´t find it correct to go ahead and give bad judgement on something I wouldn´t ever like, and also only tried once).

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This is not for me! Since I´m quite new to this thing with smoking pipe I couldn´t recommend it to beginners. I do prefer mild to extremely mild tobaccos/aromatics and this is certainly not one of thoose.