Esoterica Tobacciana Stonehaven

Esotericas Stonehaven tobacco is a good English tobacco - no more and no less. The approach to its marketing has apparently created a "mystique" based demand founded on its 'unavailability'. People are well known to want more of (and pay more for) what they purportedly 'can't have'. I'm no different - I paid a ridiculous premium for my first, and only, sampling of Stonehaven. Why so 'unavailable'? Is the tobacco harvested from the dark side of the moon? or from some mysterious tropical island that only appears once a year in the remote Pacific? C'mon....clearly it's a ploy to create demand and price point where the quality of the actual product doesn't truly justify such. Good tobacco in a fine blend? Yes, but there are many as good or better. Pipes and Cigars.com has a better English blend in their Marquee Magnum Opus, in my opinion. Compton's of Galashiels blends are far more rich, luxurious in taste, and rewarding to smoke than any of the Esoterica blends that I've tried, including Stonehaven and the equally 'unavailable' Penzance. Try Esotericas Stonehaven if the opportunity arises and you are a fan of good English pipe tobacco. However, if you never get your hands on it, don't fret. You haven't missed out on anything spectacular. Certainly, don't pay more for it than your local tobacco shops own good English blend. In all honesty, I'm a bit put off by the way it's qualities and desirability have been falsely inflated by the manufacturing of a supposed perpetual 'unavailability'. That seems greasy to me....After all, it's only tobacco for goodness sake.

I ordered an 8 oz. bag of Esoterica Stonehaven back in January 2013 from a local tobacconist. One bag is all that the owner would allocate me. I received a phone call today to advise that the tobacco was in stock "IF I WAS INTERESTED!" Having never tried this highly touted tobacco, yes, I was interested. I traveled to the tobacco shop on my way to lunch, and the employee manning the register couldn't locate the bag. Bummer! After we both made a thorough search, and contacted the store owner by telephone, we located the Stonehaven in a bulk glass display jar on the shelf. No one had put my name on the bag, but the entire 8 oz. content was there, fresh, and only a few hours out of the bag. I was asked if I wanted the opened tobacco, to which I replied, "yes, I'll take all of it." The owner was embarrassed that this had not been set aside for me, so she volunteered to get me another, unopened bag, from a sister store in another city. She asked, "would you like one bag or two?" I said that I would take a couple bags if she had it available. She promised that she would have it available tomorrow. BTW, there was an unopened bag of Penzance in the store that was being held for me. I bought that as well. The Penzance costs $40, and they only charged me $33 for the opened quantity of Stonehaven. In short, today has been a very good pipe tobacco acquisition day for me.

Enough with the logistics, how does it smell, smoke and taste?

Smell? The other reviewers were not wrong on the smell. There is a pronounced, delicious smelling aroma of figs, plums, and chocolate. The flakes are quite beautiful, moist, and a rich dark color. There is no question that this is premium quality tobacco.

Lighting? Fully rubbed out, and fresh and moist out of the bag, one flake fit my jet black rusticated Ser Jacopo Dublin perfectly. It took a couple of false lights to get the tobacco going, and then the burn was perfect - even though the Stonehaven was moist.

Taste and smoke? Mild. Satisfying. Subtle. A very nuanced taste of aged straight burley and Virginia tobaccos. The taste is slightly sweet. The tobacco smokes VERY coolly. Plentiful bluish gray smoke. There is zero tongue bite. Nose exhale is excellent. The ash is salt and pepper colored.

This is not a tobacco that reaches out and grabs ones taste buds, say, like a full Balkan or strong English blend; however, it DOES provide a nice, relaxing, smoking experience. My strong coffee with cream and sugar, frankly, overpowers the taste. The nicotine level seems to be about medium strength. I rate this tobacco - three stars. I will amend my rating, if my opinion changes, but I think that is a fair evaluation.

Esoterica Stonehave (and Penzance) are worth having at the retail price, but I refuse to pay the eBay scalper's exorbitant usury prices. I don't think an 8 oz. bag is worth $100, at least not to me. Stonehaven is very comparable to FVF, Full Virginia Flake, which I find is easily obtainable here in North Carolina.

Obtaining? How does one get it at the "regular" price, you may ask? Patronize and support your local tobacconist, put in an order request, and WAIT patiently. You will be rewarded for your loyalty. Esoterica releases this tobacco, and Penzance, twice yearly, about every six months. I placed my order in January of 2013, and I took delivery today, which is spot on for retail deliveries.

I plan on smoking the jarred 8 oz. flakes of Stonehaven in my regular rotation, and I will cellar the other two bags, if my tobacconist comes through on their promise. At one flake per bowl, it should last a long time....

After almost a year of searching for Stonehaven as I am sure many of you have found it is always listed as "Out of Stock" at online tobacconists, I managed to find and purchase four ounces of a very elegant looking flake tobacco.

The flakes were not wet or sticky at all, but very, very supple and springy - the consistency of a Twizzler. They were also the thinnest cut flake tobacco I have ever experienced, each flake measuring 5 inches in length and a good 3/4 inch in width. They were not black as some others have described, but a beautiful, deep brown with some golden flecks (I'm assuming the Virginia) peppered within. The pouch aroma was very sweet smelling and agreeable - unlike anything else I have ever encountered in a blend. I can concur with the reviewer who likened it to a champagne. After inserting a folded flake into a 30 year old plus free-hand, Danish-styled Ben Wade chimney, I sucked on the stem. The taste I experienced was that of the peanut-shaped candies that are of the hard marshmallow variety - deliciously sweet. Considering how fresh the flakes were, they were not wet or damp to the touch (this, however, varies from batch to batch, some batches very damp to the touch). It took a bit to get it lit, however, and needed a frequency of re-lights along the way. Dark gray ash was present at its finish along with some crunchy residue - not goopy dottle, just tobacco that was hard to re-light. The tobacco taste starts off deliciously sweet, quickly yielding to the stoutness of the Burley. The Virginia was present, but definitely took a back seat to the Burley. If smoked fresh, it has the tendency to smoke hot and nibble at the tongue a bit. In too large a bowl pipe, it tends to lose its flavor. The nicotine effect was very evident and can creep up on you if you start puffing too fast, giving me a full feeling in the throat. The room note produced is very nice and sweet smelling. It is certainly "Burley forward" and its strength develops by mid-bowl and continues throughout. I have found its overall Burley taste and initial sweetness similar to Solani's Aged Burley Flake, but not as stout as ABF. It is also similar to Erinmore Flake with regard to its depth of flavor due to stoving. Stonehaven does have one of the best room notes I have ever enjoyed in a blend, pleasantly "pipey." A great DGT when re-entering a room where it is being smoked. However, the flavoring and sweetness is milder than I would prefer, resulting in puffing faster to get more flavor. This has a negative effect in negating any flavor whatsoever, but does not produce any bite. This one needs to be puffed slowly to retain its flavor profile and I can't smoke it in too large a bowl as it tends to lose its flavor. Therefore, smaller, narrow gauged bowls seem to work best. For me, it goes best in a 20 year old medium gage Barling. Really dry it out for the best smoking experience.

Overall, I did enjoy Stonehaven. While perhaps not the holy grail of Burley/Virginia flakes, it is a very well put together flake and I particularly enjoy the thinness of its cut, lending itself easily to a variety of packing methods (fold and stuff, rubbing out, or stripping). It has been very difficult to come by, not to mention pricey, and I am afraid this will remain so. I read on an online forum that the machinery used in the production of Stonehaven broke down a while ago, and as of the time reported (Fall '09), has remained in a state of non-repair. Not a 4 star for me and therefore not worth the high prices you see on ebay for the offering. Good for when the mood strikes, but not daily.

UPDATE 7-17-10: I recently read a post on an online forum where the poster contacted JF Germain and asked what, if any, flavoring was used on Stonehaven. The answer he received was treacle.

Here is what I found out about treacle: Treacle is the generic name for any syrup made during the refining of sugar cane and is defined as "uncrystallized syrup produced in refining sugar". Treacle is used chiefly in cooking as a form of sweetener or condiment.

The most common forms of treacle are the pale syrup that is also known as golden syrup and the darker syrup that is usually referred to as dark treacle or black treacle. Dark treacle has a distinctively strong flavor, slightly bitter, and a richer color than golden syrup, yet not as dark as molasses.

Blend Name: Esoterica Tobacciana Stonehaven

Description on Tin: "A marriage of air-cured leaf and Burley with selected dark Virginia. Hard pressed and aged to produce brown flakes with dark undertones. A traditional English flake favored by experienced pipe smokers."

Leaf: Virginia, Burley

Tin Aroma: Fresh baked cookies

Taste: Good virginia flavor with burleys there, and molasses in the background

Smokability: I rubbed this out. It does take a few relights at times. Burns to a white ash. Can smoke all the way to the bottom of the bowl with no change in flavor

Room Note: Pleasant

Thoughts: This tobacco is one of the few that I think live up to the hype. It is very delightful to smoke

Recommend to: People that prefer a darker virginia or kentucky flavor, molasses flavored. Very stout.

Summary: I very much enjoyed smoking this. No tongue bite. It does have a nicotine kick so I could only smoke half bowls. Great tobacco to sip on and still get that great flavor.

My Background: Been smoking pipes for about 1 1/2 years. Started out on aromatics, then moving on to Virginia and English. Not a big fan of Latakia, but I really like Perique and Kentucky Dark Fired.

It's good - much of the flavor complexity can be missed if the baccy isn't slowly sipped, to pull out the flavors. Has a medium nic hit, which is plenty for me. I really like the way the burley in this balances out the VAs for flavor delivery. Complexity develops the further you go in the bowl. Very pleasant. 3+*.

The black beauty of pipe tobacco. Burley, stoved virginia, pressing, and some essence perhaps. It smells wine like in the pack, and leaves a very "thick" room aroma.

Dark, delightful, cool, a sweet charcoal taste, good body, no bite, and almost meal-like.

Smoother than Dark Star and Dark Stoved, far less potent that Gawith 's 1792, and the burley content makes it less perilous than other dark flakes (Marlin Flake, etc.). So if you want to take a bold move to dark virginia flakes, here's a place to aim for.

Not the easiest to pack and keep lite, still it can be tamed most of the time. The burley content may be a bit much for those sensitive to it.

Woof!

This blend might be the most difficult to get on earth, and the price on eBay is ridiculously off the charts. My review is based on 2 full bowls with 3 years of aging. Sugar crystals can be seen on the dark, solid and neat flake. It reminds me a lot of Mac Baren HH ODF with less sweetness and deeper note. The flavor is clean, consistent and burns slow and even. But I certainly won't spend excessive money to get a tin unless it's been aged for decades.

Finally scored some of this rarest of rare stuff. I've never seen it available before in my 20 plus years of pipe smoking despite smoking other members in this brand line going back almost that far. I found it in bulk at a Tobacconist. They had Penzance too. This flake is exceptionally mild and smooth despite it's nicotine strength. It's not immediately perceptible but a third of a bowl in, my head started to feel it and was starting to break out in a light sweat so, I had to stop. It's too rich for me. It's a thin sliced, moist and pliable dark stoved flake with a lessor fig fruity bouquet than most other dark stoved virginias. There is also something along the lines of a brandy flavor which someone else has alluded to. Knowing the Germain guys, they use a fair amount of flavoring. The burley doesn't come through in a usual way with air cured and darker notes but, is melded with the virginia which dominates contributing to the bite-less mildness on the palate despite adding larger nicotine strength and impact. If they could only come out with a version with far lesser strength.

I agree with previous reviews I think this blend is a little over hyped ,I used to smoke this daily tell I found suitable others , I hadn't smoked this in years I stumbled across a jar I had put away 6 Yrs ago and figured I would give it a shot even after 6yrs the flake was still pretty moist and required some air drying time after drying, 2 chars and it stayed lit one of thing I like about this blend is it produces a fair amount of smoke but right away I noticed some bitter under tones that stayed tell about mid bowl , the burley came thru in a harsh bitter fashion which I liked but this blend will bite even after 6yrs age if you get aggressive I would say this is a decent english burley but there far better burleys for less on the market Solini aged burley has this beat hands down in al departments in my opinion as far as nicotine it was a little on the light side for me but satisfactory the availability seems to be thin on this blend but my guess is after people try it from the hype 1 time and don't reorder there will be plenty not putting it down I kinda liked it in a ruff way.