Peter Stokkebye Vanilla Crème (No. 9)

Good and tastes exactly as advertised: vanilla. Burns dry unlike many American-made vanilla aros. It is also very cheap. Must be sipped slowly though for me or I get just a touch of tongue bite. I have enjoy a few bowls straight but prefer to use it for home blending.

A bulk vanilla aromatic, with the usual problems. It burns your tongue, smokes fairly hot (burns well mind you), and tends to generate goup. I never got it too hot to get that greasy taste, so that's a point in its favor.

The flavor is pretty good, sometimes it switches to 'psuedo-soapy', but that's not a good description because it's really not that bad. It's not like your mother shoving a bar of soap into your mouth, it just changes flavor a bit, which you could love or hate. I didn't mind it, but I thought I'd point it out since the French Vanilla guys noted something similar.

The leaf is of higher quality than those lane blends, and as a refreshing change in the aromatics world, it actually looks like tobacco. Doesn't go sour or change into burnt maple syrup like the lane 1Q does, and is probably loaded with less crap.

It's a good replacement for the 1Q/Captain Black, but it's not perfect. My search for the perfect vanilla aromatic continues, but until then, this will be my choice.

Quality Virginia, lights easily, seems to be flavoured naturally, and it burns clean. Other than that, it was one dimensional. Nothing wrong with it. Not going to win a prize at the fair.

This is my third venture into a Stokkebye Vanilla Aromatic, with the previous two being either OK or poor.

The open bag had a boring, hint of Vanilla topping, much like their numerically similar 9-F French Vanilla, though with some added earthy Virginia 'hay'. Had a good, dry, non-sticky ribbon for good packing and easy sparking. The flavor wasn't terribly sweet, but mixed well enough with the Virginia to produce a simple easy smoke.

This was not an intense Aromatic by any measure, so don't bring your sweet tooth, but works as an all day smoker. One could consider enhancing it by mixing in some sweeter blends.

I started smoking pipes about a month ago (cigar smoker for over 20 years) and the first tobacco I picked up were Stokkebye blends – 2oz. of Cherry, Nougat, and Vanilla Crème. Got my first pipe earlier that Friday (a Missouri Meerschaum Patriot) and then planned to have an enjoyable weekend with these three blends while awaiting my first smokingpipes.com order that included several other well-reviewed blends and two new pipes. I left a review of the Cherry already (Boo! Hiss!), so I’ll only focus on the Nougat and Vanilla Crème here.

Both the Nougat and Vanilla Crème had very pleasant aromas from the bags – about what I would expect from a flavored tobacco. Definite and clear aromas of vanilla, cream, and generally buttery goodness. I had a really hard time making much of a distinction between the two, although the Nougat may have had a slightly more pronounced toffee flavor. Maybe a tad. It was different from the Vanilla Crème, but not in an obvious way.

Both tobaccos were fairly damp, so I set some of each aside to air out a bit for later in the evening. By the time I got around to each, they were easy to pack, although neither took the charring light right away. But once they were lit they stayed lit and I was able to enjoy a bowl of each over the course of the evening.

I was completely unable to tell the difference between either once they were lit. They both tasted exactly the same: a general sweetness that was rather flat. They didn’t taste terrible… but they also didn’t really wow me at all. The room notes for each were also identical – very mild, but mostly pleasant. There was nothing regrettable about these two, but they were also completely uninspiring.

Part of my smokingpipes.com order included Lane’s RLP-6 and 1-Q. The RLP-6 is a godsend and the 1-Q is close behind. Both of those Lane offerings put the Stokkebye Nougat and Vanilla Crème to shame. After having now sampled a few “real” aromatics, I decided to stuff the Stokkebye Nougat, Vanilla Crème, and Cherry into a single pint jar for an extended stint in the cellar. I’ll try them again in a year or so to see if anything has improved, but I just think there’s a huge difference between the Stokkebye aromatics and the likes of Lane Ltd. RLP-6 and 1-Q, or C&D Monster Mix. After having smoked several bowls of each of those far better aromatics, I really can’t imagine why I’d every go back to the Stokkebye blends.

This tobacco is beautiful to look at and smell...you can smell the sweet vanilla through the bag. It's worthy to note that it smells natural and not like chemicals like other vanilla aros I have had the displeasure of smoking. This tobacco burns cool and creamy and is sweet to the taste. You can detect the vanilla slightly on the tongue, but can definitely smell it. There is a tobacco flavor and smell as well and is nicely balanced with the topping. It is an enjoyable smoke that I could see several smokers enjoy this throughout the day. For me, it was good, but a bit flat...but that is just my taste. I think P.S. did a great job with this aromatic.