Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Half & Half

Wow, not in a good way. This is the worst stuff I have ever had the displeasure of paying for.

It looks nice, packs nice. It is a tad moist out the pouch but man oh man the smell is horrible. Talk about bad flavor science. That aniseed smell, neh the fake chemy aniseed smell almost made me gag I’m not exaggerating there. I once bout mixture 79 (the one hugh Hefner smoked) and it ghosted my falcon... the metal body. Swore I’d never go near that aniseed stuff again. Well unbeknownst to lil old me this stuff has it as well. Man these American otc/drugstore blends are a real mine field. I should have gotten velvet or Borkum riff or captain black but I didn’t want to pay the xtra 4 dollars.

I emptied the pouch out the car window not more than a block from where I got it. It was that bad.

I hate when blends don’t write what the hell is inthem on the tin. Oh well lesson learned and some of you well seasoned smokers who enjoy this atrocity should have your pipes confiscated by a government body much like DCFS will take your kids away for abusing them

I have only been reaching for half and half lately. A solid not too strong not too mild smoke with notes of spices that I like. My first foray was the pinkerton iteration which I think tasted more mysterious than STG however it bit (which I kind of liked). STG has more of a cherry flavor than the 10yr old pinkerton which had mysterious spicy topping. It was also darker. Maybe this is a product of age. Nevertheless I am enjoying the tin that I recently popped. Almost no humectant flavor compared to other OTCs that I have tried that leave a PG film in the mouth. This blend is smooth, sweet, fragrant and lends to inhaling if you are so inclined. Not for everyone and that's why I like it. Strong 'recommended'.

Haven’t had any of this in a while. Rooting around in the cupboard and I came across the jar, aged about three years. Cracked it open, put some in the pipe; it lit and stayed lit.

Surprisingly, not much of a nic hit, and I’m not crazy about nicotine. Generally I steer clear of Burley tobacco’s for that reason. Bought this one for the sake of nostalgia, because it’s what the old man used to smoke in his pipe.

Now onto the taste. There is definitely sweetness in it, whether it’s the Virginia or the topping I cannot tell. I don’t recall having that experience the first time I opened it. And of course there is some spiciness. But the best surprise of all was that the coco definitely comes through. I would suggest that if you buy a new pouch of this That you let it age and get a little drier. It’s a very smooth, flavorful aromatic pipe tobacco. Apparently the old man did know something about pipe tobacco that I didn’t. Thanks, Pappy!

All I can say is NO. This blend is not only bland but simply incorrigible. It most definitely has this nasty, soapy taste that isnt pleasant at all.

Not a true ribbon cut, but something a lot shorter, probably some kind of granulated or crimp cut. The tobacco is mostly mid to light browns. The pouch note is something fruity, my guess would be strawberry, but previous reviewers suggestions of cherry, cranberry, plum etc would not be out of the question. I don't get any of the spice or licorice/anisette notes in the product description or other reviewers opinions.

Descriptions of this tobacco are all over the place in the reviews. It is a mystery to me why this is so. Perhaps the brand has changed over time, or perhaps the Danish and US iterations vary. Perhaps even some reviews are of the now defunct Half & Half Light American. (There are dozens of reviews that [incredibly] mark this as having no flavouring. And dozens more marking it as having mild flavouring.) I say a mystery because there is nothing complicated about this tobacco at all. It is a pleasant medium strength aromatic. The taste and smell of course is a matter of opinion as to whether one finds it pleasant.

This is almost literally a one light tobacco. It will burn right down leaving very little dottle. It doesn't bite as such, but be careful as to your cadence, it will burn hot if you puff too hard. I found it left a coating in my mouth afterwards; this might be a deal breaker for some pipesters.

The top dressing fades as the bowl progresses, either that or I get sensory fatigue and just can't pick up on it after 15 or 20 minutes. The tobacco aromas and tastes are never really in evidence. Congrats to those who picked up Va and Burley aromas- clearly you are super smellers.

It is what it is. Cheap tobacco with a pretty fragrance that is a dream to take care of in the pipe. I am not surprised it has been a codger mainstay for generations. I quite like it. In truth somewhere between a 2 and a 3, I am aware that any recommendation for this tobacco will have to have some caveats. But I have rounded up because it does exactly what a codger tobacco should, and without pretense.

Upon opening the pack I was met with a nice earthy tobacco fragrance with Anisette. The tobacco seemed very moist so I sat it out for an hour and a half and squeezed it between my fingers and the tobacco sprung out like it should although it still seemed moist to me and proceeded to load the Meerschaum and I noticed how small the pieces were. It filled easy enough but I drew and it plugged the pipe enough to make it draw hard, so no big deal. Re-filled and this time it did the same thing. Third time is a charm as they say and we were ready to go, or so I thought. By this time it has been two hours this tobacco has been sitting out under a ceiling fan drying.

Did the char and then lit it and was greeted by a nice flavor of light grass, light wood, anisette, liquor, touch of molasses and .... is that .. a very slight taste of cloves.... and a light, light touch of cherry? not bad I think. The smoke was average and the room note nice.

Then the fun began. Had to re-light after the first sip which is no big deal unless you have to relight after each sip. Obviously still to wet but I soldiered on liking the tastes that played well together leaving a pleasant and sweet aftertaste. Then we hit the halfway mark of the bowl three hours after getting the tobacco out and I noticed the taste fading and then a relight that was... well.. bleh... relight again and I got bit and the bleh taste again.... not a hard bite but enough to bring this to a halt.

I emptied the bowl and let the rest of the tobacco I took earlier out sit until it had been out for 7 hours. This time I grabbed my BBK Hunter and squeezed the tobacco and it felt perfect and reacted perfectly. I charred and then re-lit and the same nice taste and then the same not wanting to stay lit past one sip. So I turned up the heat drawing a bit harder and it finally limped along to past half the bowl and a repeat performance of the flavors fading rapidly and disappearing. A repeat of the bleh taste upon relighting followed by another bite while not severe was not a great deal of fun with that taste in my mouth. That was enough for me. The rest of the bowl was dumped out and just like in the meerschaum there was a good bit of moisture.

Half and Half has a pleasant taste which I enjoyed for half the bowl and after that bleh, and believe me that is the nicest word I could think of for what I tasted. The tobacco burned very inconsistently. It didnt want to light and when pushed it did light but then burned hot and eventually bit. The aftertaste for the first half of the bowl was pleasant. I enjoyed the flavors. The second half of the bowl I did not explore very deep for the taste was, shall we say way less than desirable.

How does one rate a Jekyll and Hyde experience like this? The taste of the top half of the bowl is a 3.5 and I enjoyed it immensely, the bottom half a 1.0. with a taste that I hope to never experience again. I like the cut of Half and Half it made filling the bowl a real pleasure a 3.5. I liked the room note a 3.5. I liked the smell and looks of the tobacco 3.0. The lack of burning then burning hot when finally lit was an interesting experience 2.0. I like to sip, not puff and do not like biting. I dont mind relighting for I am a slow smoker but, well, I can usually get a few sips in before relighting... But, the tipper on the scale is the last half of the bowl taste... a 1.0

I can see why those who love this tobacco do for it can be pleasant and I enjoyed it for the first half of the bowl. I can see why some ppl do not like this tobacco also from my experience with the bleh taste, the biting and the inconsistent burning which was not pleasant. I do not consider this a bad blend as some claim, I just think I should let it dry for a week before lighting the next time....maybe two weeks or perhaps three....May do a follow up review on this after more extensive drying of the tobacco to see if changes my review for I do want to really like this tobacco and I do not want to give up easily.

-updated to a 1 star rating. Tried numerous times to like but nothing changed. Gave the rest to someone who does like it.

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Half & Half is OK. The tobacco in the pouch smells like a box of raisins. It doesn't really have a flavor. It has an earthy, tobacco taste. Half & Half would probably be a good choice for a former light cigarette smoker making the move to pipes. There are better OTCs available.

It is claimed this was Shelby Foote's favorite tobacco which appears to not be true. He did use it for a time to make a custom mix:

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/drgrabows/shelby-foote-s-tobacco-t7942.html http://uurrff.blogspot.com/2011/01/shelby-footes-pipe.html

I was never really a fan of this one, but when STG sent me coupons for my birthday I decided to use one and try this again (mainly because STG makes it now). It doesn't say on the pouch, but as the description on this site says...cardamom, coriander and maze (corn). Maze, not mace which is the outer shell of nutmeg. This description is on point. This STG version is so much better than any other older versions. Very easy pack and burn, couldn't bite if you wanted it to and a nice flavor. Makes for a good working in the yard smoke, really shines in a corncob. If you have had this in the past and didn't care for it like me, give it a try again. Now that STG makes it, it's actually smokeable. In this age where we get almost nothing but bad news about pipe tobacco, STG has given us some hope. What they are doing for the pipesmoker has been wonderful, with this and many other blends that they have taken control of, and now they will even bring back Dunhill blends.

Going back through some OTC blends for a change of pace and I have been pretty excited to try H&H. I knew it would be sweet, so I wasn’t turned off by the topping/flavoring. For me this blend sits inbetween Carter Hall (almost no flavoring?) and Captian Black (all flavoring?). That is, I can actually taste the VaBur tobacco (under the flavoring) and its very enjoyable. Having said that, the flavoring is VERY present. Thus, in the end, for a bit of nostalgia smoke, and as the only thing close to an aromatic in my cellar, I like it.