Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation 1931

The presentation is nice, has the Mac Baren-style gold foil paper. The sticker on the back of the tin with the tin date also makes me think Mac Baren produces this blend, rather than STG. The flakes are uniform and golden with flecks of brown. The tin note is grassy, oaty, and floral honey.

I smoked this rubbed out as well as folded and twisted. I preferred the taste of the smoke when rubbed out, but not fully, then bunched up, and stuffed into the pipe.

The smoke can sometimes starts out sharp, sour, and bitey, to some extent. You have to be careful lighting it. There are grassy notes, and some floral honey notes, which is very much like Mac Baren Navy Flake. Further down the bowl lots of wood and cocoa notes come up, and some bready sweetness makes occasional appearances. Some cereal and marshmallow-like notes come up. About halfway through the bowl, the smoke gets more dense. It becomes a little cigar-like. More cocoa and wood notes, some nutty notes. However, if this is rubbed out you may lose the sweetness towards the end of the bowl.

The flakes burn well, but can sometimes burn hot, depending on how you choose to pack the pipe. Burned to white ash. I advise just letting it go out rather than trying to keep this lit. It gets hot easily.

I did not try this in a pot shape or any pipe with a relatively wide bowl, but it worked well for me in pipes with narrow diameters and straight sides in the chamber.

The nicotine level is medium, to me. I notice it but it doesn't overwhelm. I would say the same for the taste as well.

The downside of this blend is that it can be bitey. It's just bright Virginias in the blend, so you get lots of sharp but lemon sweetness. You can reduce the acidity by letting it sit out before packing your pipe. It's not as good as Mac Baren's Navy Flake, to which it is often compared. Navy Flake, to me, is a better blend, because there are some additional notes I get. This does age well, because of the Virginia content. My first tin of this blend had over two years of age on it. It still burned warmer than I'd like, but there wasn't much sharpness and acidity to the smoke. The Virginias really calm down with age.

I do like the flavor of this blend. I would recommend this to the navy flake fan, or the Virginia Burley fan. I don't think it has a wow factor, but has comfortable flavors. It's a nice and sweet navy flake with some woody notes. For me it's an all-day smoke. Somewhat recommended, depending on whether you want to be careful, do a little work, and be patient with this blend.