Peter Stokkebye Virginia (No.701)

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.

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!

I bought a pound of this a few years ago, intending to use it as a blending tobacco. I put it up in a large glass jar and promptly forgot about it. Recently, while inventorying my tobacco, I came across it and started smoking it, first in a few Stanwell briars and then in an old Barling African meerschaum.

Somewhat to my surprise, it turned out to be a really good Virginia. I am partial to Virginias and so tend to judge them rigorously. I expected PS Virginia 701 to be a monochromatic tobacco. I was wrong. Instead, I discovered that, while mild, it has a lot of character. On lighting up, the taste is sweet and spicy, almost as if it were a VaPer. By mid-bowl, the sugars intensify and it transitions to a raisiny tasting tobacco when smoked in a briar and a citrusy tasting tobacco when smoked in an African meerschaum. Toward the end of the bowl, smoked in a briar, it becomes toasty, while smoked in an African meerschaum it takes on a floral taste. While the PS description says it has no flavoring, I detect a rum casing.

While I've rated it only three stars because of how mild it is, given the price (~$25.00 per pound), this could easily become a regular smoke. If you are partial to pure Virginias, I would recommend you purchase a few ounces and give it a try.

When I first received this it was too fresh. Bland and not very good. Two stars. After aging in the celler for 14 months I tried again. Hay, tangy citrus, bread and pleasantly sweet. I'll be blending this with turkish latakai and some perique. 50/20/20/10. Adjust from there. 3.5 stars