Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) John Bull Royal English

I got this bc I have been checking out pouch blends.

Doesn't smell like much overall, maybe a light whiff of the lat in it. It's a pretty fine ribbon cut, and it packs well. It ease of use is probably its best feature. It's a tad dry off the get go, and smokes mindlessly once it gets going. Burns a bit warm for me, and it stays dry all the way through.

Overall, it's an ok blend. Don't expect much from it, it's not there. What is there is dependable easy smoking pouch tobacco. It's cheap enough, and is a decent diversion from heavier blends.

So far i have tried this and the Fragrant English. Both seem to be very mild for an english blends. As I sit on my patio, it is currently 102 degrees. I am really liking how mild this blend is on this hot summer day. Pairs very well with a glass of Iced tea. I don't think this will be a winter time blend for me.

Package note of chocolate, tart, and mild smoke. Tobacco is a dark brow ribbon cut with a little amount of black and an even smaller amount of tan. Tobacco is moist and doesn't need drying. Burns moderatly fast with few relights. The strength is very mild and nic is very mild. No flavoring detected, despite tin note. Taste is mild and consistent, with notes of sweet grass, tart lemon, mild nuts, dry earth, woody, slight smoky, very mild musty bitterness, and a smooth retro. Virginia is barely leading with cavendish and burley supporting. Latakia is waving from the background. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

An English blend that I found to be rather heavy on the Virginia, light on Latakia. If you like a Latakia-forward English blend, this won't be for you. The predominant flavor is a bright, tangy, almost citrus Virginia, followed by a decent body of Burley, a fairly faint whiff of Latakia, and a mild topping of Black Cavendish. A good, all-around, light-flavored smoke, excellent when paired with a medium-roast coffee. I prefer more Latakia, but it's still a solid blend. Recommended.

Well Easter weekend had come once again. As usual, my wife’s agenda involved the annual road trip to her sister’s house to celebrate the holiday. Our point for departure resided roughly a 3.5-hour drive to the next state over from the land of the Buckeyes. Per her instructions, I was ordered to make sure I had all my essentials packed for the two day stay. More specifically she was emphatic about it by stating “make sure you pack your pipe and plenty of tobacco, because there will not be any place around to get some”. Needless I did not need to be told that as those were on the first items entered on my written packing list; what else do I expect me to say?

Knowing that the forecast was for cooler weather and that I would be forced to smoke outside anyways, I scooped up a couple of my workhorse cob pipes, as they provide a nice basic short smoke that would fulfill my essential and immediate need. My choice of tobaccos included a sample English blend that I had secured as part of one of those e-retailer promotional package deals. A day without my beloved English is a day I hope to neither encounter nor live through.

The blend that I absconded with was John Bull Royal English. It had been sitting on my cellar shelf for quite a while. This pouch was earmarked as one of those miscellaneous samples that I had plan to get to in due time. Ah, the holiday voyeur presented itself as the appropriate occasion I quickly surmised! If it showed itself as a dud, well then, no real loss as my limited objective was to have something in the English vain to smoke period.

Getting straight to the point, my inaugural bowl tasting of Mr. Bull’s mix was an exercise in disappointment of king-sized proportion to say the least. Too light, no character, weak rather than majestic in presentation. With a strong note of rebuff, I poo-poo’ed the tobacco has unimpressive and not worth the smoking effort for even the realm’s resident oaf. Yet here I was stuck with Royal English as my only gratification for the weekend, so I made do.

Upon returning home, hindsight fell upon me and as they say it is always 20/20. In all fairness to this mixture and my own better judgement, my preliminary smoking excursions were not unlike that of Humphrey Bogart puffing a Lucky Strike on riding on a fast-moving freight-train. Namely, due to the inconvenience of the circumstance (i.e., standing by the garage in windy mid-40° temperatures), I found myself herfing the stuff, with overly zealous vigor of course, like a crazed tobacco junkie trying to get my fix in before I froze to death or experienced flash burns from the swirling cinders of ignited tobacco, not a pretty picture by any means.

Let me clarify one very more important about my methodology. Typically, whenever I try new blends, they are partaken in specific pipes under much more conventional and controlled circumstances. In the case of an English/Scottish/Balkan blends my test pipe 100% of the time is my favorite Savinelli Baronet Bruyere briar. Call me quirky but this is how I attempt to be objective and consistent in my comparative analysis. Same pipe equals no noise attributable to pipe construction variance that can or may skew a clean overall evaluation, a tad bit obsessive, but hey that is what I do.

Resuming normalcy, I thought to give Mr. Bull another shot. I smoked 4, 5, …6 bowls of the preparation by way of a sampling arrangement using my trusty Savinelli briar. With each successive bowl the true character of the blend began to morph justifiably. Bottom-line there was a world of difference compared the disastrous cob experience. Lesson for the day, consistency in the review process is tantamount and righteous to the cause be default.

John Bull’s Royal English is a course ribbon-cut medley encompassing an array of assorted tobaccos. By its general make-up, it is categorically a complex concoction. The blend offers a recipe matrixed by the presence of Latakia, assorted Burley, Virginia and pressed Cavendish types. From appearance one sees an interesting pile of predominantly brown cluster hues with maybe 10%-15% occupancy of the black Latakia/Cavendish strains, not a lot respectfully. Texturally the pillow is very springing and a little wayward in the loading of the pipe. As this is a pouched blend there is a level of considerable moistness.

The pouch note is somewhat concealed as I had to really take voluminous and repeated sniffs to form a proper registration. Once the aroma hit, I gathered the standing vinegary, smoky, campfire essence being expelled from the Latakia. There were some notable yet reasonably sour-woody pings emitting from the noted Burleys and a distant pungent grassy wisp offered by the Virginia. Nothing too presumptuous, but overall, very mild if not modest in character.

As I alluded with the repetitive briar-based smoking sessions, Royal English gradually displayed the jewels of its crown, unpretentious in the revealing. The flavor produced is consistently very mild yet balanced, I guess one could say. Its rather smooth mellow character comes to life about halfway down the bowl. Nothing really pops as the distinct monarchial lead figure, although there is some entertaining interplay between the soft Latakia and Burley on the bottom.

Frankly, each and every component is experienced to a degree, but the overall presentation is on an even, gentle keel. Again, nothing really grabbed me as the alpha lord here. Meaning, the flash hints of native nuisance of each varietal are somewhat distinguishable, which not necessarily a bad thing, yet it is a very unassuming, non-opinionated taste saying it somewhat differently. Royal English is characteristically moderate and non-committed in the overall flavor cast.

The effects of the base Latakia, being openly generous in one respect, marginally register with a subtle smoky cedar leather flair. There are trace notes of dark molasses and sour woodiness stemming from the competing Burley and a little grassy tang offered by the influence of Virginia. The pressed Cavendish adds a pleasant, little sweet accent note to finish the drawl’s persona. In summary, not quite the celebration of fullness that one might expect especially in reference to the blend’s constitution.

As to the fragrance, very English in countenance but exceptionally light in density and girth. Royal English imparts a pleasing smoky, woody perfume that is highly tolerable and permissible to even the most averse non-aficionados. This mixture burns cool and evenly as the smoke’s texture is genuinely creamy and smooth. No harshness although I did feel a little tingling on the tongue.

Honestly, the John Bull blend would be is a nice little introduction into the genre of English tobaccos. Its mild flavoring and mellow experience do offer a neo-smoker a neutral base for experiencing the flair of the standard elements that embody traditional English blends, (less Orientals) without too much emphasis on one specific ingredient. Otherwise, I can see the experienced enthusiast opting to pull out Royal English as a comfortable all day casual selection to drop and burn at leisure. It will not knock your socks nor is it full and robust. It is a relatively simple yet enjoyable fair, nonetheless. Just make sure you are comfortably set for the adventure ahead of time; trust me.