Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Half & Half

This has to be the salt and vinegar chips of pipe tobacco. You either love it or hate it.

Me being a Va-VaPer and English smoker I don't have a soft spot for heavy casing. This stuff will gunk up your pipe like crazy after a bowl, even though it's not too heavily cased like lots of Aromatics (I'm looking at you molto dolce). Maybe the cube cut hides it. I'm also not a fan of burley tobacco.

Why do I have it in my rotation? Sometimes I crave different. Earthy smoke without Latakia/orientals and lack of fake sweetness. Pros: Full smoke, unique flavor and cheap price. I haven't tasted another blend like it.

Cons: Pipe raping topping Cigarette like tarry aftertaste like most burley blends

I'm mainly a Burley and Virginia lover, and I love thyem in whatever pecentage of mix. Now, where I live H&H it's not so easy to get, but 2 years ago I got some pouches and I started to smoke it fresh, but I also put 2 of them in a jar. I didn't like it so much when fresh, it was too bitey and kind of acrid to my mucoses. Now in these days I opened the jar and I'm smoking this old pipe weed... I can say it's better now. I don't find any anisette or staff here, nice tobacco taste, little Virginia and more of rude Burley, little sweetness too. It's still a little acrid but far less than before, and less bitey too now. Not bad really, but it's not in my ViBur mix Olimpo. I can say that its rudeness makes it a good Vir-Bur after dinner, where my best is usually a mix of 1792 and Park Lane 9, 50/50....

I think it smells great out of the pouch. Course cut, needs some dry time. Burns so so. Likes to go out with no warning. Not really an aromatic. Has a topping though. The topping is very mild and ambiguous. Doesn’t ‘bite’ me really, but it does have that prickly kinda mouth feel. One note. Kind of has a wet cardboard taste. Sounds bad, but it’s really not terrible. Nic hit is very mild. Builds good cake. Good blend to break in a new pipe. 1.5 stars.

The flavor of burley dominates the smoke with Half & Half; I find that I hardly notice the Virginia tobacco except for a little bit of grassiness under the anise topping. The topping is more mild than I expected, and frankly I wish it had a stronger flavor; it's comparable to the topping used in Sir Walter Raleigh but without SWR's molasses sweetness.

Half & Half is a little bit bitey if I try to smoke too fast, and it does burn rather hot and wet. The room note is just okay--I don't see a non-smoker caring much for it. There's just not a whole lot to recommend with Half & Half.

(STG version) Strange - I do like this blend. Thing is, I just don't desire to smoke it very often. And even when I do, it's usually just a bowl, and then I'm good for a while. I don't think this could ever be an all-day for me, but when I do crave it, nothing else will do. Half and Half has a somewhat unique topping, as far as OTC's go. I can't put my finger on it, other than the anise. You will have to like the topping to like this blend. I do think the STG version is much better than the goopy mess it was before. (That version I just trashed, way too heavy on the topping and/or PG). STG has rescued this classic from oblivion in my humble opinion. Thank you for that, STG. I will probably always have some around, even if it's not in my 'A list' rotation. 2.5 stars.

I had read a lot of reviews on this tobacco and decided to give it a try. I was not expecting much so at least I wasn't disappointed. The pouch smell is pretty unique. Cinnamon spice? I'm not quite sure. The first few draws scorched me quite badly. If you sip on this and I mean SIP, it can be very tame. Oddly enough I hardly detected any sweetness. Even with slow careful draws, it felt like warm steam. I was able to finish the bowl without further bite but I was unable to coax any flavor out of this good or bad. The room note reminds me of a rich dark cigarette. I can see how someone could enjoy this but I believe my mouth chemistry simply cannot tolerate something in this tobacco. 2 stars. Worth a try but this is not a weed that I will return to.

Not half bad 😉 I would go so far as to say the room note is a pleasant aromatic, but it could be much worse. The best part about this cheap otc is that it actually has some taste, unlike Carter Hall and Prince Albert. I would say the pouch smells like raisins or dates, like others have said, and that is what comes through as the predominant taste, as well.

However, saying it has a raisin or date aroma and taste is not really accurate. In truth, it is a rather indescribable aroma, and eveything about it that is different from raisins and dates is less enjoyable than raisins and dates. Furthermore, it is pretty loaded with the chemical. My nose is sensitive to the stuff, and this will dry it out pretty quickly.

This is the cheap otc I would buy in a pinch because Captain Black costs me $13, and that just seems wrong when I can get far superior tobacco for that price online.

YMMV

This blend is so similar to Carter Hall and Prince Albert. If you do not like this blend, then you are just not a fan of OTC burleys (or straight Burleys in general). That is pretty much what H&H is. The flavoring is so light, I find it interesting that it is classified as an aromatic. Saying that, I will admit there are much better Burley blends on the market - for that, check any of C&Ds blends. Otherwise, for an OTC blend, H&H is not shabby for its price point. Packs well, smoke w/o relighting, no tongue bite. Just know what you are buying and realize this is NOT really an aromatic.

Just where do I begin? Many people hate it. Some love it. I can't stop smoking it... I don't smoke it every day, but every once in a while I get the urge to buy a pouch of it and sit back and puff on it ceaselessly. A lot of pipe smokers berate Half & Half and make jokes about it. Are they wrong to do so? Doubtful, as I can understand what they mean and what they despise about it. Half & Half just seems to be my guilty pleasure.

The anise/licorice/whatever-else topping is perversely over-the-top, but it does fade about a quarter of the way into the bowl. It never fully goes away, but it becomes more a part of it; more of a melding and compliment to the burleys and Virginias (Mostly to the Burleys, I suppose). Half & Half, to me, is like a train wreck. You know, it's terrible, but you can't stop yourself from looking. Maybe that's not a good analogy, but it suits my purposes.

This tobacco is, in my opinion, worth trying. I can't give it more than two stars, because I can't recommend it without reservations. Although to me it's a solid three-star blend. Their tagline should be, "Half & Half: It's so bad it's good!"