Peter Stokkebye Natural (No.1)

I am amused that most of the reviews of this blend talk about it being mild, but then state that it is a tongue burner. I find it to be the opposite. I think it would be a great all day blend as it does not tongue bite, it does not over whelm the senses, it has a very good VA flavor with some fullness added to it by the burley the farther one smokes it down the bowl. I ordered some of this hoping it would be similiar to Amphora Brown, of which I smoked for the best part of 20 years before it stopped being available in the US. It is is that genre, very Danish, and I find it lights up well, stays lit, and burns down to a nice fine grey ash with just a little dottle in the bottom of the pipe. It has a very nice room note. It comes as a ribbon cut in a uniform brown color, the pouch aroma is very sweet and to me the topping on it suggests honey. Pack it loose and it is gentle as a lamb, I can smoke several bowls in succession, but pack it tight and it can get a little bitey, but that is because one then tends to over puff to make it stay lit. But sips properly, it is similiar to smoking a light VA blend, and a nice one at that. For the price of this blend, it is a real bargain and it does make a nice mixer with other blends. I feel this blend is one of the underappreciated ones out there as it is not a true VA smoke yet it is not an aromatic either, kind of a crossover. I say try it and smoke it properly and find out for yourself how enjoyable this blend is. I recommend it and am flying through a 4 oz bag of this in record time. I will buy more of this blend for those days I want something VA sweet but not complicated.

At our recent NASPC show I was persuaded to buy a big and chock full box of various sized bags of bulk pipe blends. Most were over the hill. One that wasn't was a two ounce ziplock labled "Mac's Delight". The former owner of a local pipe shop said that they sold it and it was, in fact, Peter Stokkebye No.1. It presented, primarily, as a uniform medium brown mix with some varying strands of darker color. It had the aroma of a typical Virginia and Burley mixture with the slight hint of a sugary additive. I accepted it as a milder form of a Danish blend that, while not writing home type material, was adequate. The smoke was mostly mild with little hints of Burley strength and it seemed to like taller and narrower bowls. Then I read our reviews and was taken aback at their overall negativity. I didn't see No.1 as an aromatic, at all, and it didn't seem as mild as many have stated they found. Now, as an English smoker, I'm not going to be stashing this one away; however, it seems perfectly okay to me as a change of pace smoke and an all day one for some - three stars.

I enjoy this tobacco. It has a "tea" note to it, and is very dry. It is finicky and tends to go out easily, but notwithstanding, should be smoked slowly (+-once per minute) to truly experience the subtlety. Not an every-day or all day smoke, but a pleasant change of pace. Not really like anything else I've smoked.

On it's own, this is a tongue biter and really not much flavor other than it's grassy smoke. It's quite inexpensive, however, so I use it for blending... always good to start with something already halfway there!

Blend 1 part Stokkebye Natural, 1 part McClelland Caramel and 3 parts Lane 1Q and you'll find a special synergistic explosion that could well become your mainstay! It has just a hint of Caramel, a tiny grassy smokey taste and the sweet choc/vanilla of the 1Q, but is very satisfying and tasty!

Recommended in the blend described, but not on it's own.

From Utopia, TX... hava goodun!