Peter Stokkebye Optimum (No.31)

Went into Just For Him looking for a rum flavored blend and they handed me this. It’s a pretty sad excuse for a rum blend (which it isn’t) and I certainly wouldn’t buy it again. Overall, it’s just another substandard aromatic for the newbie masses. No thanks, I’ll pass.

I purchased an ounce or two of this from the tobacconist after getting a whiff of the rum and/or vanilla others here have noted. Stokkebye's English Luxury is a standard for me, and I ventured to this light aromatic to keep up patronage.

Smoking with Johann, a cigar smoker who had recently picked up the pipe, I quickly realized the odor of the casing did not translate to taste. As mild an English as Luxury is, its taste is quite a bit more substantial, and, it being my daily, I was not prepared to step down in intensity of flavor.

Comparing Burley to Burley, were one to soak Prince Albert in his can with rum, afterward letting it dry, I can imagine it approximating Optimum. As much as I dislike the former, I think I would choose that route before again attempting Optimum. One might imagine Jonathan's response, he accustomed to the cigar; to him, it was like smoking nothing. We offered it to his girlfriend for potpourri, but, I hear, she discarded it.

I thought I might be in the mood for an aromatic - not a mood that strikes very often. Optimum smelled OK in the jar, but I wish I had stopped right there.

A typical bulk aromatic, it was over-cased and no matter how much I tried, it smoked wet. I really wanted to like it, as I would love to have something to smoke in less-than-smoker-friendly environments.

If you can get past the flat Black Cavendish flavor and the topping, you will have something that won't run innocent bystanders off.

Keep a very good supply of pipe cleaners on hand.

I was in the mood to like this but not to be. when I first heared about this blend it was supposed to be flavored with rum and vanilla. But when I checked the website it now says fruit and vanilla. That may be my problem. I noticed blends that have noted to be flavored with a similiar scheme don't appeal to me. The taste is odd and a little sickningly confectionary. Mostly a black cave base that tastes flat with a smidgen of lighter tobaccos.It may also be the vanilla flavoring which I don't like, perhaps a vanilla extract or vanillian that tastes a little unpleasantly "synthetic." Some real vanilla flavorings don't have such a character and in combo with that flat and lifeless black cav. tastes like a marshmellow, blahhhhhh.

Not recommended

As others describe, unlit, it does smell promising, but alas, a promise it does not keep. Very mild, decent for beginners. Nothing more can be said about this tobacco that has not been already mentioned. I am nearing the end of my bowl now, and once my 2 ounces if spent, it will unlikely be another purchase of mine.

Upon opening the bag, one can immediately smell the Jamaican rum casing. It's a mildly sweet,smooth and flavorful smoke but has the ability to bite if smoked too fast.

As with most cased blends, you may do well to smoke it in a Sav with a balsa filter.

This is a medium to loose coarse cut tobacco, IMO this way to mild for my tastes. The bottom line as person who loves an aromatic tobacco this one just does not make the grade with me. I found it to be very mild almost to the point of being flat.

I have tried this early in the morning, late in the evening, after dinner, in a Savinelli Estella, a Sasieni 5 Dot, a Nording Quail. The outcome was the same, the fulfillmennt was never there.

This was an impulse buy for me. I rarely smoke aromatics not so much out of snobbishness as opposed to the fact that even when I started, they rarely do anything for me. The tin it?s packaged in was a bonus, modeled to look like a tea tin. As with most aromatics I have smoked, it smells great once you break open the tin. What is different is that although VERY mild, it does taste like it smells when smoking. Relatively clean burning, it is not harsh, and overall not bad. I really cannot give a more fair review other than that, as these types of tobaccos are generally not my things. If you are a fan of aromatics, I suspect you would find this a decent blend, but certainly nothing to rock your world.

I found no "BUZZ" with this in anyway. Very little taste & not much else either.Infact I found it to be "Very Bland". Maybe if you have very sensitive taste buds & hate any tobacco with some strength,you might love this! Would be good for the newcomer to pipe smoking.It doe's smoke clean. In it's class-I'll give it 2 Out of 4 Star's.