Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation 1931

The 4th Generation line release has a variety of blends. I received the 1931 Eric Peter's Blend, some of the others seemed more appealing to me, but a gift is a gift. This also lets me see what's new out the gates. Well they are perfect cut flake, with a marbling of tans cross in waves. I cut it into small cubes to get a tin note, as it came in a plastic sample bag. The aromatic stood out, other than some hay from the burley the Virginia was absent. A dry flake it just needed a few minutes to be ready for the bowl.

Char lite let go some aromatic fruitiness maybe even some honey it's hard to tell as the Cavendish quickly burned. The true lite had the VA stands up right away, the burley providing a bit of hay back ground. This burns hot so sipping is a must. By the half bowl the burley had taken over and it stays there. It smokes slowly and you get a hint of sweetness appear every once in a while from a basic good tasting classic burly. The bowl remained consistent through to the end with no relights to a salt and pepper ash.

This tobacco looks and smells great in the tin but the taste is mostly of fermented burly, it is pungent like perique, no Virginia sweetness or tang.

Update:

The smell of this tobacco in the tin is identical to Mac Baren navy flake, the taste and the quality of the smoke however, is much better.

One of my personal favorites. This flake reminds me Beorn's Woodland Hall. This must surely be the blend that Gandalf smoked within this pillared hall and blew such lovely colorful magic smoke rings with. The Southern Star burley leads the way with a nutty woodsy taste and the Longbottom Virginia providing mellow notes of grassy meadows. The ever present Old Toby Cavendish ties the two together perfectly like cream and honey. These wonderful tobaccoes are pressed into flakes that are caused in honey made by Beorn's fantastic bees whose nectar comes from the magical bee gardens that surround his woodland hall. A must try for anyone who enjoys the hobbit's leaf. Another plus is the price. You want need any dragon golf to purchase this magical blend. Happy Puffing

In the small tin of 1931 I bought were 2 rows of moist, perfectly made, striated flakes ranging from blonde to medium and dark brown. Tin note is refined dates, citrus, honey, and flowers melded with the slightly bready VA and Burley tobaccos. I fold, spindle and loosely stuff most of one flake into a suitable group 5 pipe, straight from the tin. It’s worth noting, I think, that 1931 expands considerably when it’s lit. The tobacco lights OK and it burns quite slowly and well, yielding huge, thick clouds of smoke. In fact, 1931 is exceptional in this regard. Initial aromas and tastes echo the tin notes, then the tobacco flavors increase gradually and substantially. Burley predominates. It’s deep, rich, earthy, nutty, buttery, and fairly tannic, and I would not be surprised if there’s some DFK. There seems to be a range of robust, complimentary VA varietals and cures, from grassy lemons to sweet, rich, air-cured browns, to earthy, stoved reds. The Cav is hardly needed for body, but it may well contribute to all the smoke, and it binds the blend with the toppings. Like Solani’s 660 Silver Flake, 1931 increases significantly in intensity over the long course of a bowl, and I prefer to moderate my cadence rather than brook some roughness that occurs if I let it get hot. Taken slowly, 1931 is a long, leisurely, and satisfying smoke. Strength builds slowly to just over medium. Tastes deepen to past medium. Room note is tolerable. Aftertaste is best-of-the-smoke, and it lingers long.

IMO, 4th Generation 1931 is a top quality blend that works best with a measure of attention. A few years ago I would have given it 4 stars, but now there is stiff competition in this genre. 3 + stars.

Of all the Navy flakes I have smoked, this one hits the spot.

High quality tobacco, no bite, lots of flavor, it's a deep and rich yet mild-mannered and friendly flake that, unlike other flakes in this style (MB for example), I never get sick of smoking.

Of all the Navy flakes I have smoked, this one hits the spot.

High quality tobacco, no bite, lots of flavor, it's a deep and rich yet mild-mannered and friendly flake that, unlike other flakes in this style (MB for example), I never get sick of smoking.

All day, any day, gimme that 1931.... puff puff...

Another run of the mill virginia without any redeeming features.

It's not quite a Eurotobak. It's not that bad.

And my review must be a minimum of 25 words. Even though there's nothing more to write.

But you don't always want top of the range. Sometimes you want something that does the job.

So I'm going off now to order a kilo of the stuff.

A l’ouverture du sachet c’est un bel arôme d’herbes fraîches que je reçois.
Les bruns sont clairs , plus de Burley que de V.A. Par contre le BC est quasi absent.
Dès les premières volutes je retrouve l’herbe fraîche en bouche.
D’entré le tabac est bien présent ainsi que la fumée qui est très généreuse.
Je perçois une légère note d’agrumes.
En retro-olfaction c’est tantôt herbes fraîches, tantôt herbes sèches.
Malgré que la fumée soit bien présente elle a un coté doux très agréable; probablement apporté par l’ajout de miel et la très légère pointe de BC qui au final est suffisante.
Au deuxième tiers j’ai toujours cette note d’agrumes avec une pointe acidulé. Rien de désagréable, au contraire.
En retro-olfaction je ne perçois plus que le coté herbes sèches. Cela me va bien car la fumée continue d’être généreuse même si la petite note de douceur commence à disparaître.
A la fin du deuxième tiers c’est la note acétique qui prend le dessus sur l’agrume.
La combustion est toujours aussi bonne.
Au troisième tiers je perds complètement la petite douceur des deux premiers car les tabacs se mettent en mode charge de cavalerie ce qui a pour effet de remettre le V.A au premier plan avec une belle note citronné et acidulé.
Au final c’est un mélange qui m’a bien plus pour son coté non linéaire d’une part, son contraste entre la fumée bien présente mais avec une pointe de douceur et sa combustion très bonne.
Un mélange qui peut ravir aussi bien ceux et celles qui veulent une fumée bien présente et généreuse mais aussi ceux et celles qui préfère la discrétion car la combustion étant très bonne , elle est facile a gérer.

The ribbon cut after rubbing looks distinctively virginian leaf with a sort of red ginger brown colour. Smells wonderful, grass hay smell. Placed in sealed jar. Smoke is very virginian in taste, bread, woody and smokes slowly and consistently, this is probably due to the burely that gives some depth. There is sometimes a nutty sweetness. This is not a fast burning tobacco, and the blend is constantly satisfying in taste that is quite typical of navy flake. A wonderful smoke without any complications.

Some reviewers suggest that a possible sweet topping has been included, but IMHO I think it's just the pressed cavendish.

Just right for a Sunday afternoon with a mug of English tea.