This is not a formal tobacco review and there has been so much general commentary, particularly around ‘Stonehaven’, that I thought this topic might best be posted here. Apologies for the delay in reporting these impressions but I had two pages of notes that needed condensing. For clarity, I will again present this comparison in the form of an ‘experimental protocol’.
BACKGROUND: Made in Jersey by J.F.Germain&Son for Esoterica, Stonehaven is not available in the UK and even in the US it seems very difficult to source. As a result it seems to have become a ‘cult’ pipe tobacco. When I tasted the samples sent to me by Pat and Troy I understood why it is so popular. I have been smoking flakes for 12 years, having cut my teeth on FVF, BBF, Irish Slices and Bulwark. IMO Stonehaven is an exquisite flake; the rubbed-out aroma has a rum/brandy/port note but also a ‘chocolatey’ element and a slightly minty component which is reminiscent of the smell of an ‘After Eight’ chocolate mint; on smoking the flavours are very rich and deep, still with the hint of chocolate and mint essence; it burns reliably, with NO tongue bite. I won’t go into the history of Germain’s but suffice it to say that it is an ancient tobacco company in Britain’s Channel Isles which still blends tobacco in the traditional way, as it has for at least the last two centuries. It has a small and ‘rate-limited’ production and as a result their ‘flagship’ blend is snapped up and seems to be ‘hoarded’ by afficionados as soon as each shipment arrives, such that the ‘average’ pipe smoker finds it almost impossible to source, thus amplifying its cult status.
Germain’s Rich Dark Flake (RDF) is sold in the UK and seems reasonably easy to source, in my case on-line from “mysmokingshop”. Of potential significance to my comparison RDF is the ONLY Germain’s tobacco sold solely in bulk rather than in their archetypal tins and it is NOT sold in the US, unlike their tins (which can be bought at GLP’s etc). The other significant point relates to comments that have already been made about the remarkable similarities between RDF and Stonehaven, ranging from “very similar to the popular Stonehaven” on mysmokingshop.co.uk to reviews of RDF on “tobaccoreviews.com” including one from a certain “jiminks” who asserts “you won’t get anything closer to Stonehaven”. So, are they just similar or are they actually the same tobacco in different guises?
HYPOTHESIS: Stonehaven and RDF are in reality the same tobacco blend.
MATERIALS and METHODS:
2 flakes each of Stonehaven from Pat’s stash and RDF from my own.
2 new high grade ‘neutral’ clay pipes for the ‘high notes’ (see my previous experiments)
2 Chris Askwith ‘neutral’ Mortas (for the ‘base notes’ – wider bowls)
The tobaccos were compared in two flights, one in the evening with the clays and the other the next morning with the Mortas. In each flight I smoked the relevant pipes side-by-side, swapping over to the other after each third of the smoke.
RESULTS:
1. The flakes seemed identical in appearance. They were both quite thin and dry with the same rectangular dimensions. The ‘patterns’ of the pressed tobaccos, whilst not constituting a ‘finger print’, were indistinguishable; there were dark patches of hard-pressed Burley with longer threads of light Va interspersed in a fashion which seemed characteristic of these tobaccos rather than my other flakes.
2. The aromas after rubbing out the two flakes were IMO identical; there was an intoxicating smell of brandy/rum/port and that slight minty note on top of the plummy, chocolatey background.
3. Even smoking in in the clays there was an immediate deep plummy, but also chocolatey, taste which persisted through all three stages. At each changeover I felt I didn’t want to put down the pipe and at no stage was there even a hint of tongue burn (something I have not previously experienced with any other tobacco through the ‘pinhole’ bore of the clays’ bit). At all stages the tobaccos tasted identical.
4. The same was also true on day 2 with the Mortas; at no stage did the tobaccos taste different and at each stage the pipe felt ITPD (impossible to put down!) and I did not wish to interrupt the smoking to make the changeover. Again I could taste no difference between the RDF and Stonehaven.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on their appearance and their smoking qualities in clay and Morta pipes, the samples of RDF and Stonehaven flakes I compared were identical. Of course these are my subjective ‘non-blinded’ observations but I was trying to be as analytical and objective as possible, something I have been trained to do in my ‘day job’.
SPECULATIONS: It is possible that Germain’s blenders (God bless them!!) make minor alterations/additions to RDF and Stonehaven for the respective UK and US markets, possibly to comply with contractual agreements with Esoterica, but in these samples I could not detect them. It may also be telling that RDF is the only Germain’s tobacco sold in bulk in the UK, the rest are tinned.
FUTURE WORK: A senior colleague in our Chemistry department has already agreed to perform state-of-the-art mass spectroscopy on these samples to give me a ‘chemical fingerprint’ of each. However this type of analysis is so sensitive that it may be influenced by minor chemical changes associated with batching/ageing so as a ‘control’ I would be grateful if Pat, Roth, Peck or anyone else who is familiar with Stonehaven could suggest a VaBur flake which is as similar as possible, ideally available in the UK.
ADDENDUM: Since the above comparison I have purchased two further 500g packets of RDF. Before jarring, the flakes in the latest example were moist, ‘looser’ in appearance and the aroma was definitely ‘fruitier’ and with more brandy/port notes than the earlier drier examples. So even with a single named blend there may be batch differences, perhaps not surprising in a relatively small output organisation like Germain.
SIGNIFICANCE: IMO pipers in the UK need no longer be concerned about sourcing US ‘Stonehaven’. Similarly NA pipe smokers, desperate for a ‘taste’ of Stonehaven, could source it as ‘RDF’ from the UK, but at a price!
BACKGROUND: Made in Jersey by J.F.Germain&Son for Esoterica, Stonehaven is not available in the UK and even in the US it seems very difficult to source. As a result it seems to have become a ‘cult’ pipe tobacco. When I tasted the samples sent to me by Pat and Troy I understood why it is so popular. I have been smoking flakes for 12 years, having cut my teeth on FVF, BBF, Irish Slices and Bulwark. IMO Stonehaven is an exquisite flake; the rubbed-out aroma has a rum/brandy/port note but also a ‘chocolatey’ element and a slightly minty component which is reminiscent of the smell of an ‘After Eight’ chocolate mint; on smoking the flavours are very rich and deep, still with the hint of chocolate and mint essence; it burns reliably, with NO tongue bite. I won’t go into the history of Germain’s but suffice it to say that it is an ancient tobacco company in Britain’s Channel Isles which still blends tobacco in the traditional way, as it has for at least the last two centuries. It has a small and ‘rate-limited’ production and as a result their ‘flagship’ blend is snapped up and seems to be ‘hoarded’ by afficionados as soon as each shipment arrives, such that the ‘average’ pipe smoker finds it almost impossible to source, thus amplifying its cult status.
Germain’s Rich Dark Flake (RDF) is sold in the UK and seems reasonably easy to source, in my case on-line from “mysmokingshop”. Of potential significance to my comparison RDF is the ONLY Germain’s tobacco sold solely in bulk rather than in their archetypal tins and it is NOT sold in the US, unlike their tins (which can be bought at GLP’s etc). The other significant point relates to comments that have already been made about the remarkable similarities between RDF and Stonehaven, ranging from “very similar to the popular Stonehaven” on mysmokingshop.co.uk to reviews of RDF on “tobaccoreviews.com” including one from a certain “jiminks” who asserts “you won’t get anything closer to Stonehaven”. So, are they just similar or are they actually the same tobacco in different guises?
HYPOTHESIS: Stonehaven and RDF are in reality the same tobacco blend.
MATERIALS and METHODS:
2 flakes each of Stonehaven from Pat’s stash and RDF from my own.
2 new high grade ‘neutral’ clay pipes for the ‘high notes’ (see my previous experiments)
2 Chris Askwith ‘neutral’ Mortas (for the ‘base notes’ – wider bowls)
The tobaccos were compared in two flights, one in the evening with the clays and the other the next morning with the Mortas. In each flight I smoked the relevant pipes side-by-side, swapping over to the other after each third of the smoke.
RESULTS:
1. The flakes seemed identical in appearance. They were both quite thin and dry with the same rectangular dimensions. The ‘patterns’ of the pressed tobaccos, whilst not constituting a ‘finger print’, were indistinguishable; there were dark patches of hard-pressed Burley with longer threads of light Va interspersed in a fashion which seemed characteristic of these tobaccos rather than my other flakes.
2. The aromas after rubbing out the two flakes were IMO identical; there was an intoxicating smell of brandy/rum/port and that slight minty note on top of the plummy, chocolatey background.
3. Even smoking in in the clays there was an immediate deep plummy, but also chocolatey, taste which persisted through all three stages. At each changeover I felt I didn’t want to put down the pipe and at no stage was there even a hint of tongue burn (something I have not previously experienced with any other tobacco through the ‘pinhole’ bore of the clays’ bit). At all stages the tobaccos tasted identical.
4. The same was also true on day 2 with the Mortas; at no stage did the tobaccos taste different and at each stage the pipe felt ITPD (impossible to put down!) and I did not wish to interrupt the smoking to make the changeover. Again I could taste no difference between the RDF and Stonehaven.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on their appearance and their smoking qualities in clay and Morta pipes, the samples of RDF and Stonehaven flakes I compared were identical. Of course these are my subjective ‘non-blinded’ observations but I was trying to be as analytical and objective as possible, something I have been trained to do in my ‘day job’.
SPECULATIONS: It is possible that Germain’s blenders (God bless them!!) make minor alterations/additions to RDF and Stonehaven for the respective UK and US markets, possibly to comply with contractual agreements with Esoterica, but in these samples I could not detect them. It may also be telling that RDF is the only Germain’s tobacco sold in bulk in the UK, the rest are tinned.
FUTURE WORK: A senior colleague in our Chemistry department has already agreed to perform state-of-the-art mass spectroscopy on these samples to give me a ‘chemical fingerprint’ of each. However this type of analysis is so sensitive that it may be influenced by minor chemical changes associated with batching/ageing so as a ‘control’ I would be grateful if Pat, Roth, Peck or anyone else who is familiar with Stonehaven could suggest a VaBur flake which is as similar as possible, ideally available in the UK.
ADDENDUM: Since the above comparison I have purchased two further 500g packets of RDF. Before jarring, the flakes in the latest example were moist, ‘looser’ in appearance and the aroma was definitely ‘fruitier’ and with more brandy/port notes than the earlier drier examples. So even with a single named blend there may be batch differences, perhaps not surprising in a relatively small output organisation like Germain.
SIGNIFICANCE: IMO pipers in the UK need no longer be concerned about sourcing US ‘Stonehaven’. Similarly NA pipe smokers, desperate for a ‘taste’ of Stonehaven, could source it as ‘RDF’ from the UK, but at a price!
