Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation 1855

The gold Virginia provides a lot of grass and tart and tangy citrus, light honey, wood, spice, earth, and acidic notes, and a touch of the floral. I think the discreet topping is honey, and it seems to smooth out the tobacco a mite. It's fairly smooth smoking, though I wouldn't puff it very fast as it does have a few rough edges. The strength is a couple of step past the mild mark, while the taste is in the center of mild to medium. Has a mild nic-hit. Won't bite, but it does burn a little warm. Burns at a slow to moderate pace with a very consistent flavor. Doesn't leave much moisture at all in the bowl. It requires a few relights, but that's why they make matches and lighters. Has a pleasant, short lived after taste and room note. An uncomplicated all day smoke. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

I am not getting a Mac Baren Virginia #1 taste when I smoke 1855 as some of the other reviewers have. Similar certainly in appearance and very little strength, but I get a more natural Virginia taste from this one and do not really detect casing. Too mild for me but I can see where the natural Lemon/hay flavor of quality Virginia will light up the life of lovers of this style of tobacco.

Pipestud

Gents, and Ladies if you're out there,

This is my first tobacco review anywhere, ever.

First a bit of history:

I am a relatively new smoker. I began to smoke only in 2013, at the age of 62. I took to it, now work in a pipe shop and own about 15 pipes, which is a lot for a guy who doesn't collect pipes.

When I began smoking I thought I was smoking mostly Latakia blends sold in bulk by my local tobacconist. What I was actually doing, I think, was trying to learn how to keep the pipe lit without getting it too hot.

After a year or so I met a guy name Tom who seemed to know a lot about tinned tobaccos. So I thought I'd give them a try. By this time I had read some of the reviews on this website and was, very simply, amazed at the perception of the reviewers and the complexity of the flavors that they could detect and comment on. I decided to start with Virginias, exclusively for a year or so, because believed that I needed to learn the basics first and Virginia Tobacco seems about as basic as you're going to get it the world of tobacco.

I have been smoking Pure Virginias, VaP blends and Virginia Burley Blends for about four months now. I continue to avoid Aromatic Blends, although I do like to sit in a room where someone else is smoking one of them.

My Review:

Upon opening the generously sized tin the scent is that of a clean barn with a lot of hay in it. You can smell the whole barn: the hay, the wood of which the barn is made and maybe your little sister eating an orange in the tack room. (I live in California where barns are almost always made of Redwood, which has a distinctive scent.)

Texture, Appearance and Burn: The tobacco is ready rubbed and has a pleasing rustic look that is in keeping with the above mentioned scents the colors, an array of golds and browns, that are literally beautiful. It is packed into a rather firm cake, perhaps to ensure a decent life once the lid is cracked or to make sure that you get plenty or tobacco for your money. In either case, the tobacco separates readily under the hand and packs perfectly every time. I have found that I can pack it quite tightly yet still enjoy an easy draw through the whole pipe. It burns uniformly to the bottom of the bowl leaving a dry white ash throughout with no dottle, by which I mean smoked tobacco goo.

Flavor: Quite sweet. the flavor is consistent throughout the bowl. Predominantly Hay, Lighter on the Citrus than some other straight Virginias, a quality which I find pleasing - ("If I wanted a lemon I'd eat a D---ed lemon." 😉 There is also a quality that suggests to me some aging of at least some of the constituent tobaccos, a fulness of body not always present in a straight Virginia. This accentuates the complexity of this flavorful blend of Virginias. While not overpowering in any sense of the word, 1855 is no lightweight and will reward and, in my own case, educate the attentive smoker.

Conclusion: This is my favorite tobacco. I always keep a tin in my house or on my person. I love opening the tin, smelling it, packing it, lighting it and smoking it. In fact, writing this review has made me hungry for some and I am going to go smoke a bowl right now.

Best regards my friends.

This was a gift from a friend. I had perhaps 50 g total, and it was a little dry. I hydrated it before smoking. It is a mostly rubbed out flake in appearance. It packed and burned well. I found it easy to sip.

This is a very good yellow/gold Virginia with a light topping. I got mild citrus/sweet with a little hay when smoked. There is a very mild top note that may be honey with a little spice. It is a great combination and falls in the same camp as Virginia No. 1 and Capstan Yellow for me. I might have to smoke them side by side to identify differences. My sense is that the topping is similar to Virginia No. 1 but there is less of it.

If you want to try a lighter Virginia with (almost) no topping, this would be an excellent choice. It is easy to recommend.

The man who gave this a 1 star review is a paradox. He raves about Mac Baren's VA no.1 and claims that this blend is almost identical, then gives it 1 star. Yes, it is nearly identical to VA no. 1, but it is NOT the same blend. To me, this 1855 is like a higher grade version of VA#1. It's not as prone to biting your tongue (though all VA's should be sipped slowly). It is slightly creamier, yet has that same delicious hay-like honeyed sweetness. I LOVE THIS STUFF. If I had to pick one tobacco to smoke the rest of my life, this just might be it- right up there with Dunhill Flake and Orlik. Highly recommended for patient experienced VA smokers. Some complain about the price, but keep in mind these tins are double the size of your standard tin. Buy some!

Erik Stokkebye - 4th Generation 1855.

If you like a flake fully rubbed, you'll find a small proportion of 1855 in need of a little more attention. Although the tin's seal was totally intact (hissed as I prized off the lid), the blend's a little on the dry side.

As expected, it lights easily. But, unless the chunkier flake pieces are used to fill with, it burns hot and fast. The flavour's quite nice: just sweet enough, but doesn't seem exactly cased, lots of zesty lemon and sharp grass: quite a sprightly smoke for the mornings? Although it burns too warm, it doesn't bite.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: pleasant.

I think 1855 justly deserves two stars:

Somewhat recommended.

This one confuses the heck out of me. It's advertised as pure matured VAs with no flavoring. But there's a huge, fruity aroma when you pop the tin, and the room note is like an aro. P&C is convinced it has some kind of topping as well and said the factory classifies it as an aro. So, I emailed 4th Generation to ask, and none other than Erik Stokkebye himself emailed me back and said it's just matured VAs with no topping. Totally confused.

Topping or not, this stuff is fabulous. It's got a ton of golden VA sweetness in every puff, medium body and a gorgeous room note that even my wife can appreciate. It is a bit wet from the tin, but with some drying, it is one heck of a smoke. It's definitely worth trying, and should age very, very well with that high sugar content. Try it!

My first foray in the the ES tobaccos.

Tin note is ridiculously sweet, like, jelly beans, grape Kool-aid. But there are lots of neat subtle hints of something darker in there too. Straight virginia? They say the same of Mellow Mallard (Dan) and it offers some similar fruity notes.

Big lumps of golden flake and rubbed flake. A bit sticky. In the pipe it takes fire just fine and stayed lit for me right to the bottom, I was able to relight a few times but basically the pipe was smoked out.

Very sweet virginia, really pleasant. No nicotine at all, which suits me. Not sharp or zesty, you could smoke this with a ferocious pace and not get tongue bite. Very friendly tobacco, probably a good intro to virginias for those looking for a gateway Va! Looking forward to the rest of this tobacco series.

As of the time of this review, I haven’t tried Mac Baren Virginia #1 so I don’t have a bases for comparison. This is also only based on a two bowl sample that was offered a pipe club meeting. As with 1931, I find that a light pack, with the flake broken into smaller pieces gave me my best results verses packing it firmer as I did with my first bowl. The sweet topping is tasty, but for me, it detracts a little too much from the tobacco flavor as I find it harder to get a sense of the Virginias although there are a lot of high notes. I really enjoyed the flavor of this blend, but I experienced some bite. Not a lot, but it was there and it was similar to the bite that I experience from some Mac Baren blends. Made by them, maybe? Overall, not a bad smoke, but not a blend that I would spend the money to cellar.

I was surprised by this bend. For price compared to other things that were available where I bought this, 1855 is a damned good bargain.

The tin note is of stewed tomatoes and sweet/sour citrus. Similar to a 'McClelland ketchup' and fresh Dunhill Flake if they were combined.

Flavor is pretty much the same as tin note, the only difference being more unified than in the tin. Sweet lemongrass with a little savory and tartness.

This blend will likely find a permanent home in my cellar! I can only imagine how well this would age.