Peter Stokkebye Virginia (No.701)

The Virginias offer some grass, a light earth, some acidity and citrus, along with a little sugar and spice. The nic-hit just crosses the mild level. The strength is mild and the taste passes that mark by a step or two. Not complex by any means, and it may do better as a mixer. Burns a little fast and can bite a fast puffer, so I recommend a slow puffing cadence to avoid that as well as a harsh cigarette note or two. Doesn’t need many relights, and leaves just a little dampness in the bowl. The after taste is short lived. Lacks excitement and flavor depth. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

I bought a pound of this intending to use it to extend or "thin" blends that were a little heavy for my palate. It came very dry and I hydrated it before trying it to see just what I was going to be blending. I was pleasantly surprised to find a very mild, slightly sweet Virginia that worked fairly well for me on its own. There is a little citrus/hay in there, but not much.

Don't get this expecting anything but mild, and there is no complexity here. Is is light on the taste, and there is not much depth. What is there is good and does not challenge. I have also used it to extend/thin, and it has done an excellent job of that.

This one is easy for me to recommend, but know what you are buying.

Pretty much exactly what PS claims it is. A light, naturally sweet Va with citrus and hay notes. This tobacco is completely linear; as others have already noted, don't expect complexity or radical transition as the bowl progresses. What you get in the first puff will be very similar to what you get in the last.

This tobacco burns clean and without attention. I find it clean and refreshing and the acidity suits my mouth enough for it to be an all day 'beater' tobacco.

It is certainly not a 'best in class', but comes at a great price point and is such a user friendly tobacco I am giving it a full 4 stars.

Stokkebye’s 701 Virginia is comprised of brighter Virginias. The cut is thin and a little choppy. In the pipe it’s lightly sweet and not very complex. But it is tasty just the same. There is some grass and hay with a small amount of brown sugar that I assume comes from the darker tan pieces. I am going to “buck the trend” a bit and say that I think that there is a tiny amount of added sweet flavoring in this blend. It’s pretty mild in strength and doesn’t bite, but given the components, it will burn hot if pushed. (Something I tend to do). I can see this as a great, inexpensive baccy for straight Virginia smokers or a something to brighten a blend. It should cellar well too. I have been impressed with this recent batch of bulk Stokkebye blends for both their quality and price point.

This is my first tobacco review and also blend that constantly stays in my rotation. I like it as an all day and also for blending its flavor is mild and if smoked out of a pipe used for other more strongly flavored tobaccos the subtle bouquet of its flavors will simple not be present. But if smoked own it's own for a time there is some complexity. It begins with a slightly hay-like taste on the initial and true light fading to a slightly sweet smoke with the presence of hay diminishing. About mid-bowl the sweetness increases slightly and there is almost a hint of oranges present. As the tobacco dwindles to a close the flavors climax to something akin to sour oranges. Before fading to nothing.

What a wonderful virginia tobacco! I can't help it if I rate most of the blends I review so high. I just love tobacco and , truly, have rarely had any that I couldn't find some value to mention. 701 is an extraordinarily affordable pipe tobacco for the virginia lover that, as I've heard, doubles as an RYO. Being that I use tobacco in pretty much every form, I like this quality quite a bit. My B&M was out of my go-to virginia (Mac Barens #1) so I gave this a go. A nice sweet-n-light all day smoke with no bite. IMHO, you couldn't ask for much more if you like the less heavy virginias.

First of all, this is an exceptional value at about $1.75 an ounce (half pound price). The physical quality is nice, with only an occasional woody bit. The moisture level is perfect. There is a decent sweet virginia flavor. Very low N level, so you can smoke till the cows come home. So the company that sells 500 million cigars a year can really crank out value. And there's a need for that. But honestly, if you can spend a little more DO.

Beautiful colour and soothing unlit tobacco aroma, sweet hay-like with a hint of honey, very smooth! A little bland at the moment, I guess you have to give it a bit of time! Very good stuff indeed!

Summary: a good straight Virginia that needs age to reveal its depth but mixes well and is a fine smoke on its own.

It smells bready with a hint of vinegar in the bag, but when lit this Virginia reveals its vegetative flavor with an intense neutral sweetness behind it, like Agave. Burley broadens this into a good lightly-toasted white bread flavor, but this Virginia smokes well straight. It has the faintly rubbery flavor that a good oily Virginia gives; Burleys, which are lower in sugar and oil, burn faster, which is why they often smell like cigarettes. For those of us who love straight Virginia, the faintly acidic tang on this smoke could be an impediment, so it behooves us to cellar this for a couple years to let it mellow. As it stands, this blend offers a great smoke for a low price, and when mixed with just a bit of Burley and dark fired or Perique, will make a fantastic aged blend.

Peter Stokkebye - Virginia (No.701).

Although the pouch contains a few coarser pieces, the majority's finely cut. It's a mixture of medium and light browns, and has a good moistness.

The smoke: hmmm, not too good. To be fair, the initial quarter tastes nice enough, having the fresh, sharp, qualities of a good Virginia. But, as a bowl progresses 701 develops a 'dirty' taste, and the liveliness becomes muted. I find it to be a bit of a biter, and way too hot, as well.

Nicotine: mild. Room-note: pleasant tolerable.

I don't like it, and won't recommend it. One star:

Not recommended.