Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Escudo Navy De Luxe

It's my first review, and this review is important to me. Since I started smoking pipe, was a pleasant experience taste many blends of tobacco. And Escudo is my favorite of my top list.

My pipe have a bowl with 4,5 cm height. With only two coins of Escudo allow me a pleasant 2 hours of smoke. Since the first spark to last ashed shard, taste and fragance of this excellent tobacco make present. The burning is very cool, slowly and constant, indicate Virginia and Perique qualities. Moisture is perfect into tin, the coins are carefully embaled with paper, like a expensive sweety candy. And that's it!

For everyone who wants taste a VaPer for first time, I suggest the Escudo. If you make a try, test the ever piper's choice! It is a hors concours.

This is a true classic. I do not understand why it only has 3 stars. If you are a VA/PER, I'm more than sure you will like this one. If you are not a VA/PER, don't review it.

Escudo.

The name alone evokes a sense of mystery. Like other one name celebrities... Madonna, Cher, Bono, Prince... Escudo.

Okay, enough of the drama. Down to the tobacco.

Escudo was one of the first Va/Pers I ever tried (the first being Orlik Golden Sliced, and there is a little controversy to whether that blend qualifies as a true "Va/Per"). I will be honest that at first, I didn't get it. I couldn't understand why everyone raved about this blend. Sure it was a good smoke, but nothing of the transcendent nature that was touted in reviews. It didn't have Artisan Blend's complexity or Nightcap's punch. I just didn't see anything remarkable about it.

Then I decided to try it again one night, and was busy doing other things in the garage that forced me to slow my puffing cadence way down. I was about a quarter of a bowl through when suddenly the light bulb went on and I finally got it. The only thing I can compare this experience to is when you finally get what Pinot Noir is all about even though you only drink Napa Cabernet.

See, I had really only smoked big Lat bombs like Nightcap, Artisan's Blend, etc. These are the Napa Cabernets. Big. Bold. In your face, and intense. Bigger the Better. So the first time you have a taste of a well-made Pinot Noir, the nuance and elegance is lost on you because you are looking for the Big and the Bold. But after a while, you start to understand why this softer wine is so raved about. Why it is so sought after. And once you get it, you get really get it.

That's what Escudo is. It is like a fine Burgundy Pinot Noir. Nuanced. Elegant. Complex. It doesn't hit you over the head with intensity, it forces you to coax the flavors out slowly and once you find them, you cannot lose them.

The coins are beautiful to look at in their spiral configuration in the tin and the tin aroma is intoxicating. Somewhere between sweet horse feed and a freshly opened box of Fruit Rollups. The preparation is very easy. Either fold and stuff, or rub them out which they do very easily into fine ribbons.

Escudo takes to a light very easily and requires maybe one or two relights as I progress down the bowl.

The flavors range from sweet hay, dried fruits, spicy pepper and baked goods, but the flavors are pervasive and intense once you know what to look for. This is a blend that I could smoke all day, but it is equally nice in the evening.

The nicotine is around a Medium/Low to Medium depending on time of day, when I've eaten and how aggressive I puff. Not too bad.

I never could get Escudo to bite, but it loses a lot of flavor and can lean towards harsh if pushed too hard. It is definitely better to sip and savor.

With age, the blend only gets better. The flavors concentrate and smoke becomes creamier and more full.

Last note, some people compare Escudo to PS Luxury Bullseye Flake, and while LBF is a good blend in its own right, it is nowhere near a substitute for Escudo. While the component tobaccos are similar, the final product is very different. It is like the difference between drinking a glass of chocolate milk and eating a slice of chocolate cake. They're both chocolate, but one is much more rich and intense than the other. That being said, I enjoy LBF and smoke it frequently. But it has to have some age on it in order for me to really enjoy it.

Va/Pers have a special place in my cellar in this babe is in the top 3.A really expceptional blend!once the tin cracks a wonderfull smell comes out!plums,figs,grass and citruses are combined so well that makes you forget all the negatives that might passed you throught the day!the coins are very manageable either to rub or fold in the right moisture.the only difference is that by folding the lighting becomes harder and the burning is slower.while smoking the complexity of the blend amazed me.the virginias combine perfect with the perique from the beggining till the end offering just pleasure.the virginias are citrusy,grassy and sour(reminded me of Dunhill virginias).perique offers plum,figs and some discreet vinegar notes.rarelly some dark fruits popped out making the taste even better.burns slow and medium hot without chance of tongue bite.the nicotime level is medium without making it unsuitable for an all day smoke.the room note is plesant to others.i also noticed a nice aftertaste wich is difficult to find for me.definitelly an all day smoke!

Despite its unassuming appearance, Escudo is, in fact, something of a minor miracle. Its effortless smoking mechanics are a revelation. If you have struggled at all with tongue bite in the past, this is a tobacco you need to try immediately. I have to believe that no matter what you do, Escudo will not bite you. If, perhaps, you have had trouble keeping a pipe lit properly without puffing too hard, you need to try this tobacco. The ease with which it lights and burns almost unfailingly down to a fine, light-grey ash is uncanny. These unique features allow one to essentially forget the mechanics of smoking the pipe and to focus entirely on the flavor in a way I had never before experienced. And it is a flavor you will want to contemplate: at once bright, fresh, and clean with darker undercurrents of dried fruits, cinnamon and black pepper. Nicotine content is seemingly just enough to stimulate, yet not so much as to agitate.

Although Perique wasn't produced commercially until 1824, Escudo has a certain "Colonial" character, such that one might imagine the founding fathers having smoked something similar. For a (previously) dedicated English smoker, it is a revelation indeed.

All you've heard is true. Very clean flavor, good Virginia taste with mild spice from the Perique. Burns well, Very satisfying smoke. I smoke several blends, Escudo will always have a place in my rotation

Ah, Escudo. This one doesn’t fly under the radar. You’ve probably heard of it, and if you don’t limit yourself to aromatics or a singular genre of tobacco, you’ve likely sampled it. This isn’t my first smoke of it... but it is my first review.

So then. Neat presentation, a ring of little discs circled in the tin. Dark brown and black, mottled with a little tawny gold. Similar in appearance to Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake, without the black cavendish center. Tin note is, in this well-aged sample, a toothsome fig and sweet breadiness— pretty much a dead ringer for Fig Newtons, with the slightest hint of tang. Prelight draw (with fold and stuff into a brand new Robert Vacher poker) is also almost precisely the flavor of Fig Newtons. Lighting is a one-match job, if you’ve taken the time to properly dry your flakes.

Taste, at the beginning, is deceptively simple. A little hay, a tangy, persistent undertone as of cranberry juice, and a little burnt popcorn. Beautiful natural sweetness, as of white grapes. As you sip— this is not a tobacco to be puffed at— a slight brown sugar or jaggery sweetness suggests itself— Virginia. The perique manifests here as tanginess, without being very spicy. Lots of hearty, jaw-filling smoke, for a vaper blend. I don’t taste much on the retrohale, but the spice from the perique kicks in then. So, I don’t retrohale this one very much.

I like this one as a summer smoke, and so it is. 84 degrees at a few minutes before 8 in the evening here. A glass of gin on a single ice cube matches nicely. Not a lawnmower smoke, as there is some complexity, but not so much that I can’t put my feet up and enjoy the night.

Burnt popcorn note intensifies as I move down the bowl, bringing back memories of the public pool we frequented when I was a kid. The staff used to bring out wicker bowls of free popcorn that we ate by the pound on muggy summer nights just like this one.

The few relights this needs are because of the leisurely pace I’m smoking at. The tobacco itself is consistent, burning well, and quite, quite tasty. No harsh or rough spots.

There are flashier Virginia/perique blends. Ones with a little something extra, a little burley or flavoring added to present a deeper, more complex experience. But this one is the classic Va/per for me. It’s the Beatles of tobacco: you might like other bands or blends better. But if you want to get a working knowledge of what music, or the pipesmoking hobby, is all about, you can’t skip over this one. Classic.

Not being a huge Virginian fan, I wanted to give this a shot due to the reviews and folks stating it’s strength. I can do a Va/per for some reason, but believe it’s the perique that makes it more smokable for me.

This blend tends to burn a bit hot for me, and even when slowing down I seem to have issues with staying lit, so I either relight or puff a little too hard. I guess the trick is finding the sweet spot on smoking. As far as the strength goes, I certainly don’t agree that this is a “strong” blend. It’s medium at it’s best.

I do like the blend on occasion, but can’t say I’ll reach for this more than occasionally, primarily because I guess I’m just bad at smoking these blends! When I do find a nice pace the blend tastes really good. It’s a bit grassy but also sweet with a bit of tingly spice. It is pretty smooth, so it does have that going for it.

I will probably get 3-4 tins of this as people say it gets better with age. By the time I get to the last tin - it should be quite old as I don’t see smoking a tin of this a year. Although I did burn through the first one in a couple months. I’ve been smoking two discs when I have it - but, perhaps I’ll reduce to one and use this as a blend to break in my new pipes. Should last a while that way. Who knows.

Doesn’t seem like a good blend for a new smoker at all. I’m going to stick with some of the other burley and Latakia blends a bit more I believe. But, to be fair this is an alright blend. It’s just the effort required to get the most out of it is more than I care to try most of the time - pipes are for relaxing and the extra effort takes from the overall enjoyment, IMO. 2.5 stars.

Ahhhh, Escudo. My tin is a little over 4 years old, so I'm looking forward to this.

Escudo is presented as beautiful round coins, maybe about the diameter of a silver dollar, and maybe half as thick. I'm surprised they stay so intact in the tin, because they seem to fall apart easily when I handle them. It doesn't need much prep or drying time. The coins sort of fall apart into concentric circles and arced ribbons - imagine a slice of onion falling apart into rings and strips. I broke them apart a little with my fingers, loaded the longer strings and chunks in loosely, gradually packing tighter with smaller pieces nearer the top, then sprinkled a few loose crumbs on top for kindling. I chose my Savinelli Capri, a large pipe, and it required three coins.

Two paper matches to get 'er lit, and off we go. Ya know, when someone says VaPer, I think Escudo. This is exactly what a middle-of-the-road VaPer is supposed to taste like in my book, and will forever be the measuring stick of VaPers for me. Medium-full Virginias dominate, with perique just there on the edge. The flavor reminds me of a sweet cereal with a little fruitiness...think raisin bran or something similar - that's good Virginias right there Smile Perique pepper is virtually absent when lightly sipping. Puff a little harder, and I notice a bit of pepperiness. Snork a mouthful of smoke through my nose - hello, perique! Nice peppery burn, just right. Escudo is the very definition of balance. Flavors intensify as I pass the halfway mark. The smoke has a very light and fluffy mouthfeel.

Straw-hay-sweet cereal-dark dried fruit-hint of pepper flavors continue their symphony and it just keeps getting better as I near the bottom of the bowl. A man who checks the time while he smokes a pipe is doing it wrong, but I think this bowl has lasted a bit over an hour - and not one single relight, just a few tamps here and there to stoke the flame.

Beautiful cut, perfect moisture in the tin, extremely well balanced, complex flavor, perfectly behaved. Highly recommended.