Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Schippers Tabak Speciaal

My basic for all days tobacco. No tongue bites even without charcoal filters so it fits people with sensitive mouths (for those who cannot eat any kinds of chili and black peppers at all). Smoke has a cigars taste with a slight chocolate aroma but I do not get tired of smoking it. Burns fast and leaves the smell of cigarettes if smoked indoors. If I smoke it in the evening then I get an unpleasant taste in my mouth the next morning.

Strangely the last reviewer bought it in Benodet, Brittany, and I found it by chance also in Brittany, Lancieux. Local interest for the blend? Unfortunately I do not share the enthusiasm of previous reviews. The blend is rather flat without much interest unless you want to have a pipe in your mouth and not to take too much care about what is in it. I notice previous reviewers bought the blend years ago. Perhaps what was good then is not so good now.

its a very "tangy" blend due to the leafs used, smoke it slowwww like most baai-products, then it will diliver what said, smoky and a slight chocolate aroma i even detect some cigar-ish notes at the end of the bowl. smoke-able in big or small bowlsizes,i prefer midsize. eigter you love it or you hate it.

A traditional Dutch Baai shag tobacco, flavored with tonquin. Comes on the dry side in an unsealed pouch. I find this aromatic a good buy for the price and the taste it delivers. The tonquin topping is manageable and there is no bite even when smoked fast. I like to smoke those Dutch style tobaccos in a clay pipe which I think delivers the best results.

Virginia lover

Well, lucky chance it was that after completing my review, I faced an unexpected unlogging, and it eventually went lost. This allows me to reconsider my opinion, cut a star down and include this blend in my one star list, even I'm not happy with this whenever it happens. The fact is that my palate is still scorched after three hours from that “reviewing” bowl: I'm just scared to plan a further approach, indeed !

Let me point out that, during thirty'n'more years of pipe smoking, I met Schippers Tabak Speciaal say three times. I was induced this new attempt (the last one, I guess) after my recent tour into the Semois territory.

In my strictly personal opinion, a comparison is still possible between STS and Florina just because they share the tonquin thing. This seems the only common feature, even STS seems having a kind of mint-like faint aroma which I have not detected in Florina. On the other hand, getting deeper into the comparison:

- Florina (a Semois) is basically a mono-weed, Kentucky: STS is a complex blend of several tobaccos, not limited to VaBKy but including Java, Paraguay and possibly Maryland; this explains the opinion of the fellow reviewer Steden about a “Continental cigarish aroma” (I know what he means), which is partially mitigated by the tonquin/mint flavouring

- Florina (“coupe-pipe”) is a fine-ribbon, STS is a traditional Baai shag, OK… just a small difference; nevertheless they both come dry into unsealed bags; I'm informed that they both don't benefit from re-hydration, to be strictly avoided.

To me Florina wins 3:0 being really smoother and well-behaved, and having a more generous body.

STS and the traditional Dutch blends have their respected estimators, and surely have their own well deserved dignity, being well above some chemical concoctions coming from the Baltic we Italian pipsters are steadily supplied with. My issue is all about body-chemistry. The suggested slow drawing & large bore (a straight pot by Charatan being something of a group 5, which I usually keep safe from strange experiments) have not delivered any truly satisfactory smoke.

Sorry.

EDIT 2014.04.18:

After years I’ve given a new chance to Schippers. The main reason was that I found the blend packed in a aluminium bag and it appeared freshly received at my tobacconist.

Well, I have to say that my one-star review at the time was basically caused by the bad conservation of the tobacco in the non-sealed pouch. Next, I feel some little changes. First, the cut is still in the Baai style, but a bit larger. Second (yet my memory may fail…) there’s less flavouring.

The results: I’ve completely changed mind about it. It delivers a cool (and I mean really cool) and pleasant smoke, with a is one-of-a-kind flavor in the today’s market.

I’ve smoked it in medium and large bores. A couple of Castello with 24/25mm bowls have better rendered the qualities of this honest tobacco.

Schippers deserves your attention.

UPDATE 11-18-09: I want to start this update with a gracious note of thanks to Stefano (STEDAN) who sent me a pouch of Schipper's Tabak Speciaal all the way from Italy. It is greatly appreciated!

I liken my renewal with Schipper's to that of a meeting with a long lost friend. Everything I remember about this fine tobacco was in evidence; from the packaging, to the appearance of a very fine cut tobacco, its pouch aroma, and most importantly, with its smoke. After several bowls, I would say that this is the Schipper's I remember. Due to its fine cut, it appeared as dry in the pouch as I remember, but it was not without the proper smoking moisture. It packed and took to the match with ease. I am sure there is some Maryland in this mixture since it took so readily to lighting. A very fine smoke in the Dutch Baai tradition! Surprisingly, although it burns rather quickly, it did not smoke hot. I experienced none of the original discomfort on my tongue as I had experienced with it during my early pipe smoking years. As expected with any blend containing Kentucky, it was very full tasting with a good dose of nicotine and quite sweet tasting throughout. It produced a good amount of smoke and I was rewarded with that beautiful, old-world pipey aroma that I find so appealing with a good Dutch blend. I get the most enjoyment when smoked in a large chambered bowl. I will savor this pouch and stretch it as far as I can since the price is very prohibitive as it is no longer available in the USA. The best I found was a 5 pouch deal from the Netherlands for $42 and a whopping $52 shipping fee! That shipping fee stands even with the order of one pouch for any tobacco that can be purchased singly. Orlik has done a very nice job keeping true to what I remember of the original Van Rossem blend. I mentioned that with Troost, the Orlik concoction was different. After smoking the last of my original Troost (I had some stashed that was over 20 years old), I conclude the main difference with the new version of Troost was the lack of that initial soapy taste upon lighting; and I don't miss that at all!

Even though there are many tobaccos available here in the USA, and with so many imported from abroad, I fear that with the world-wide anti-smoking policies gaining momentum everywhere, our pipe smoking future looks bleak. Anyone who happens to come by Schipper's will not be disappointed.

Again, thank you Stefano.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: This tobacco hasn't been available in the U.S. for over 20 years! I used to purchase it from a shop in Washington D.C. called Earthworks. A great place that had a huge selection of pipe tobaccos, all detailed in a lovely print catalog. Unfortunately, this shop has been out of business since the mid 90's I believe, but I still have many of their print catalogs. I remember when the shop owner told me that Schippers was no longer obtainable in the U.S., so I bought out his remaining stock - 20 or so pouches and a 200 gram tin. I am looking at the tin as I write this and the tobacco was produced by the Van Rossem Co., which was the original blender. Now it is produced by Orlick. Perhaps that is why after having read the only other review of this brand before mine, I feel that the blend I remember best is not the one described in the previous review. Same thing happened with Troost Special Cavendish, another favorite of mine. Troost is very good and one of my top 5 favorites, but it is no where near as good as when it was produced by Van Rossem. I get a kick out of the pouch boasting "the original Van Rossem recipe." That's like saying I'll use the same ingredients that my grandmother used for her meatballs and sauce and mine will taste exactly the same. Well, that never happened for me. No one could ever rival my grandmother's cooking! I believe the same holds true for pipe tobacco.

What I remember of Schippers Tabak was a delicious tobacco taste of Virginia, Burley, and Kentucky. A beautiful, full tobacco taste without any noticeable top dressing, all done in the traditional Dutch Cavendish style, and with that wonderful, "pipey" room note. One had to sip at this since it tended to burn quite hot, but the extra care was well worth it in my opinion. I do miss it. The new version of Troost Special Cavendish comes close, but alas, no cigar. An internet search has shown Schippers (original packaging depicted) available from Amsterdam-cigars.com. I may purchase some (in spite of it being blended by Orlick) for nostalgia's sake and see how it goes. My rating of 3 stars is for the original Van Rossem Schippers. I'll let you know how I fare if I connect with Amsterdam.

Update 09-30-2009: I feel the need to clarify some aspects of my original review because that has generated unexpected reactions. Firstly I have not made any allusion ironically talking about “aroma of cigar”, on the contrary, my intention this was a compliment to the naturalness of this tobacco. It seems very strange that we discuss only this aspect because, as I pointed out, this tobacco some special characteristics such as the fact that is no vacuum, this type of packaging was used in the past but now is unusual, tobacco also has a cut (cut loose) very thin, so the tobacco is dry! Another very interesting point is to understand the composition of this tobacco, the producer (Orlik) speaks of VA + Bu + Ky, but some retailers speak of Orientals or VA + Bu + Maryland etcetera .... There is a great deal! About the "notes of cigar", which has shocked some people, you must pay attention to what I wrote: "... a certain vein of continental taste ...." Well, obviously the continent is Europe since STS is a European production, in Europe there are a few cigars and cigarillos very similar to this tobacco for example, in the vast (and good) production Villiger, I'm sure I smoked some of these products 5 or 6 years ago, if someone prefer I can say that are these cigars similar to STS but what changes? Adding up all of the above, I confirm what I said in the original review: this tobacco is good and cigarish, but a bit dry and difficult to manage. The only point on which I need to correct is the Flavoring: indeed there is a bit of Tonka bean.



Original rereview: This is a Dutch tobacco product in Denmark, the instructions are written on the pouch in French (!!!!). After this European tour, you can open a NOT vacuum pouch! The tobacco is fairly dry and the smell is very natural, pretty cigar. The cut is similar to some roll tobacco for cigarettes, as well as color. The instructions on the pouch advised to use a large pipe. The taste and flavor are consistent to the aroma: very natural and certainly cigars (it's easily found a certain vein of taste "Continental"), smoke it very slowly, it produces much smoke with more body that nicotine. You can try to rehydrate, but it seems a little reluctant: the taste and the flavor becomes flat. For the implicit difficulty of managing it is not recommended for beginners, for the same reason could be an intriguing challenge for smokers with a lot of experience, for all others (like me) smoke it may be a curious event.