Butera Dark Stoved

This morning I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and could not sleep. I read a lot in the forums and got my kids off to school at 6:40. I came home feeling adventurous. Having been gifted 14 tins of tobacco yesterday, I had a whole new world of tobacco to choose from so I looked the tins over and saw this one: Butera's Royal Vintage Dark Stoved. Never heard of the brand. Upon further investigation I discovered it to be made by The McClelland Tobacco Company. It sounded interesting.

Pickled tobacco??? This I had to try, so I cracked the tin to find It full of 1x2", slightly broken slices of dark reddish black flake. The smell was that of Perique on steroids. Way more of a vinegary, Ketchup smell, yet appealing. I pulled 2 of the slices out and prepared them in the cube cut method and loaded my Savinell Long John. It took 3 char lights to get it ready for the true light and you could very much taste the ketchup flavor come through but it was smokey and nice.

True light: Very much the same as the char light only very heavy with a tangy, almost Perique note as the main component. There was also a slight sweetness that came through. Maybe a hint of leather too. As I got into the heart of the bowl the sweetness came out more and more but was far from sweet like the typical Virginia. The tangy flavor still took center stage and continued to take center stage throughout the whole bowl.. I wish I could be more descriptive but it is certainly its own flavor. I can't think of anything to compare it to other than A really strong Perique but a lot more sour and tangy and less spicy. You could tell you were smoking a Virginia, but it was way in the background. You could also tell it was a Virginia in a subtle way by the way the smoke felt on your tongue. It was making my mouth water excessively. I had to stop smoking several times to wipe my stem.lol

The end of the bowl took on a little different flavor. The components all kind of ran together. It was more mild on the tang and you could tell you were smoking a Virginia even more except it was still not very sweet. It calmed down and finished a lot like most other Virginias I have smoked. I was surprised that it smoked really cool and dry. I am going to cellar the remainder of the tin till I get a more refined taste. It was enjoyable, but in the same way an amusement park is enjoyable. Its great to go to every once in awhile, but not an every day thing. I would recommend it as something to at least try.

I know this has been a bit of a confusing review, but its a very complex smoke and I'm a very new smoker. Happy smoking!!

A solid Virginia flake similar to Dark Star. The flavor is deep and complex. I will be smoking more of this for sure.

The tin scent of Dark Stoved is typical of McClelland made Virginia blends. It takes forever to dry to the consistency that I prefer to smoke their Virginias. In the pipe, my preferred way to smoke this is with fairly large pieces (not quite fold and stuff) and a little fully rubbed out at top of the bowl. I also made sure to not pack it too tightly to get the most out of it. I have noticed that there are a lot of comparisons to Dark Star, so here’s my two cents. It isn’t Dark Star any more than Deluxe Navy Rolls is Escudo although the appearance to Dark Star is very similar. This is tangy, but for my taste buds, (for what it’s worth) I find Dark Star tangier. I find this to offer a little more complex flavor than Dark Star too. It is sugary and smooth. There are a fair number of high notes, and no dull spots, although it seems to burn a little less sweet with differing cadences. There is a lot of fruitiness to this blend too. It never burns hot, even when pushed and in mainly mild in strength only jumping toward medium in the late stages of the bowl. I didn’t experience some of the issues that others have mentioned concerning relights, but I dried it, like I do with many McClelland flakes, to the point of almost brittle (barely pliable). Red & Black has become my new standard by which I now compare all McClelland Virginia’s and this won’t replace that, but as straight stoved Virginia’s go, this is a very good choice.

I am not the biggest fan of Dark Stoved Virginia's but I do enjoy a bowl here or there such as Dark Star, the preparation, difficulty in rubbing out and drying time usually outweighs the delicious flavor for me (YMMV) and I usually prefer the brightness of orange, red and lemon leaf. Very mild in nicotine and as usual with Butera and McClelland, wonderful leaf is used. I am giving it 3 stars as I believe Stoved VIrginia lovers will enjoy DS immensely and I do recommend it but for me it's really a 2 and a half star blend just as a personal preference. Va's stoved this much can be a hot air and tasteless experience but DS does at times have a tasty sweet and sour tangy flavor that when in the zone can be very enjoyable.

Jet black broken flakes with an aroma of dried citrus peel and something musty. Mushroom perhaps, damp earth...something in that spectrum. The flakes are quite moist, a little greasy almost, and tough.

This is not an easy tobacco. It lights well enough but then burns at a smoulder, always on the brink of extinction. At times it gets a full burn with lovely plumes of smoke, but this is a false hope, and the tobacco soon returns to its minimal burn.

At first light the virginia origins are clear as a bell, with vibrant lemon scents. This never abates. But five or ten minute into the smoke there is a dramatic shift and smoky, mushroom notes emerge.

This tobacco is both sweet and sour. There is some pepper on the tongue. It burns just on the acceptable side of hot and produces some wetness.

This is not a tobacco for tyros and I believe to get the best of this baccy one will need to be really on one's game. One of the few tobaccos I have had that did better in briar than clay.

This is a nice stoved Virginia. A little nicer than 5105 but not perfect. It is good enough that I keep a tin of it around all the time. It is nice outside in the winter. It has a nice sweetness to it. And an unusual dryness to it as well.

Butera?s Royal Vintage Dark Stoved tobacco is the product of a collaboration between pipe carver Michael Butera and the McClelland Tobacco Company.

The initial tin aroma has an acidic characteristic that is a good indication that this blend was indeed produced by McClelland. The aroma in itself is dark and tangy with a spicy background. This blend is simply a deeply stoved lemon Virginia leaf. The basic color of this tobacco is dark with lighter shades distributed randomly throughout. The tobacco contains a fairly large amount of sugar crystals.

The cut of Dark Stoved is a rather ragged medium-thick flake cut. Dark Stoved tends to rub out easier than its flake counterparts such as Dark Star. No real tearing is needed. The initial moisture is medium-high and removal of some of this moisture improves the qualities of the smoke.

If dried properly, Royal Vintage Dark Stoved lights fairly well and has a slow, consistent, and mostly complete burn. The burn spreads quite well. The room note is similar in many respects to the average dark stoved Virginia blend in that it is strong but pleasant.

The taste of Dark Stoved is dark, tangy, and slightly spicy. This flavor becomes less tart, sweeter, and creamier as the smoke progresses. The bite can be considerable but if the flakes are brought to the correct moisture level, and the blend is smoked slow and smoothly, than the bite can be minimized a good deal. The smoke given off is smooth and medium thick.

Butera?s Royal Vintage Dark Stoved is very similar to McClelland?s Dark Star although it seems slightly less refined and not as complex in flavor. Dark Stoved is of a high quality tobacco and is a pleasant rendition of a stoved Virginia blend.

This so far the best of dark stoved type tobaccos. It's easier to work than McClellands Dark Star and a creamier flavor. I really like this tobaccos tart/sweet flavor interplay. Dark Stoved lights and burns well down to a whit ash. Not a real heavy smoke but satisfying to me. But don't listen to me try it for yourself.