The Most Different Tobacco Experience Yet!!! Butera's Dark Stoved.

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shawn622

Lifer
Jul 22, 2012
1,081
2
Mount Sterling, Ohio
This morning I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and could not sleep. I read a lot in the forums and got my kids off to school at 6:40. I came home feeling adventurous. Having been gifted 14 tins of tobacco yesterday, I had a whole new world of tobacco to choose from so I looked the tins over and saw this one: Butera's Royal Vintage Dark Stoved. Never heard of the brand. Upon further investigation I discovered it to be made by The McClelland Tobacco Company. It sounded interesting. The can reads:
For the connoisseur who appreciates and enjoys the tangy, fragant aromas, and sweet, rich tastes of well-seasoned, dark stoved tobaccos. A single zesty Lemon Virginia leaf, picked at its peak, aged to perfection, carefully slow-stoved under pressure until the cakes turn to beautiful Chocolate Brown. Cut to flake form, Dark Stoved offers a maze of diverse tastes, with a mysterious flavor curve ranging from tart and spicy, through smooth and mellow... The perfect after-dinner, evening smoke... Cool and slow burning from top to bottom.
Pickled tobacco??? This I had to try, so I cracked the tin to find It full of 1x2", slightly broken slices of dark reddish black flake. The smell was that of Perique on steroids. Way more of a vinegary, Ketchup smell, yet appealing. I pulled 2 of the slices out and prepared them in the cube cut method and loaded my Savinell Long John. It took 3 char lights to get it ready for the true light and you could very much taste the ketchup flavor come through but it was smokey and nice.
True light: Very much the same as the char light only very heavy with a tangy, almost Perique note as the main component. There was also a slight sweetness that came through. Maybe a hint of leather too. As I got into the heart of the bowl the sweetness came out more and more but was far from sweet like the typical Virginia. The tangy flavor still took center stage and continued to take center stage throughout the whole bowl.. I wish I could be more descriptive but it is certainly its own flavor. I can't think of anything to compare it to other than A really strong Perique but a lot more sour and tangy and less spicy. You could tell you were smoking a Virginia, but it was way in the background. You could also tell it was a Virginia in a subtle way by the way the smoke felt on your tongue. It was making my mouth water excessively. I had to stop smoking several times to wipe my stem.lol
The end of the bowl took on a little different flavor. The components all kind of ran together. It was more mild on the tang and you could tell you were smoking a Virginia even more except it was still not very sweet. It calmed down and finished a lot like most other Virginias I have smoked. I was surprised that it smoked really cool and dry. I am going to cellar the remainder of the tin till I get a more refined taste. It was enjoyable, but in the same way an amusement park is enjoyable. Its great to go to every once in awhile, but not an every day thing. I would recommend it as something to at least try.
I know this has been a bit of a confusing review, but its a very complex smoke and I'm a very new smoker. I'm no Baronsamedi when it comes to reviews, but they broke the mold when he was made :worship: Happy smoking!!

 

jcsoldit

Lifer
Mar 27, 2010
1,138
245
Wisconsin
I’ve got to disagree with you… because I think you wrote a fine review. I’m a big fan of McClelland's VA's and that tang you described.
Well done... Shawn!

 

spartan

Lifer
Aug 14, 2011
2,963
7
I'd go to the amusement park every day lol. I tried the Sweet Cavendish. Which is another flavor all on it's own. I couldn't describe it to you if I had two lifetimes. I just keep thinking a great tasting liquid wax/plastic. Which doesn't make any sense,i know, but it tastes amazing.
Good review. Although if you said "you know you were smoking a virginia" one more time I was going to reach through my screen and try to inflict harm to your avatar LOL.
I'm puttin this mofo on the Christmas list lol.
Thanks Shawn.

 

shawn622

Lifer
Jul 22, 2012
1,081
2
Mount Sterling, Ohio
I know Spartan. I would go to Cedar Point a lot more if I could. I love me a good roller coaster. I had to keep saying that because it was what I was thinking as I smoked. I actually took notes through out the bowl so I wrote this from an outline. I reread the review and it is kind of annoying now that you pointed it out. It was just so different I had a hard time getting word combinations to describe the experience. I did the best I could...

 

sparroa

Lifer
Dec 8, 2010
1,466
4
Butera has been intriguing to me because the most acclaimed blends are by Germain in the Channel Islands and they are exceedingly rare as a result just like Penzance or Stonehaven - that's Pelican and Kingfisher...
Meanwhile, the other Butera blends just SOUND like an extension of the McClelland brand as they are indeed made by the same blender from presumably the same stock...
It seems like a very confused business strategy! I think that is why the Butera blends don't get much of a chance from the average consumer because they don't know what to think...
It's almost like "Why buy Butera when it is just a McClelland in disguise? I'm going to get a real McClelland instead"
Meanwhile, think about GLP and C&D - almost nobody mistakes one for the other - they maintain different identities and are quite successful at marketing them as distinct product lines...

 

sparroa

Lifer
Dec 8, 2010
1,466
4
Thanks for the review by the way, Shawn. It sounds interesting.
I've also been wondering about the Golden Cake since I saw a thread up last week or so...
They seem like unsung blends that might be worth a second look. The problem is that I've got a list a mile long and there is too much competition!

 

shawn622

Lifer
Jul 22, 2012
1,081
2
Mount Sterling, Ohio
Yea. I have to buy Christmas for the little knuckleheads so I won't be buying any tobacco for a bit. That large from Mrenglis came in perfect time. It was equal to my entire cellar. I think I will like the golden cake better. I am really into the Dark Fired Blends such as Jack Knife Plug and Old Dark Fired right now though. I love the taste of dark fired leaf. I have a half pound of Dark fired leaf from Tennessee that's smashing mixed in very small percentages. My last Tobacco purchase, that hasn't made it here yet, Is a pound of Bright leaf Virgina sweet. Its raw leaf. I am having much luck with casing my own tobacco. I did a steam press of Dark Fired leaf with some Lemon Virginia that came out great. Its no MacBaren Old Dark Fired, But It is 17 a pound, and better than at least half the stuff in my cellar. I would encourage anyone to give casing and experimenting with raw leaf a shot. Its very fun.

 

shawn622

Lifer
Jul 22, 2012
1,081
2
Mount Sterling, Ohio
It is all Virginia. But the pickling process make it taste like Perique I think. Perique is fermented so I'm guessing that the pickling process has some fermentation going on too. You are right. That's why I kept making references to Virginia taste coming through in my review. I didn't want the reader to think I was saying there was Perique in the mix. I kept saying "like" Perique. It was the only thing I could thin of to compare it to to give the reader an idea of the what to expect flavor wize. It is a very unique tobacco. I did the best I could to describe what I tasted.

 

gnatjulio

Lifer
Mar 22, 2012
1,945
937
56
New York
Great review, Shawn. I wish I could give a review as well as you. Too bad I didn't read this thirty minutes ago, it would've made my last order.

 

sjpipesmoker

Lifer
Apr 17, 2011
1,071
2
I smoked some of this a few days ago and you hit it spot on shawn...it's tangy until the bottom of the bowl then, to me at least, it becomes a regular tobacco smoke with not much more to offer.
I bought this to hopefully get me away form the nails. I have to try something more of a ribbon (if there is such a tobacco).
I'm no expert or have a refined palate, I smoke what I like and enjoy it, what ever kind of tobacco it is

 

shawn622

Lifer
Jul 22, 2012
1,081
2
Mount Sterling, Ohio
SJ, I know that Macbaren Old Dark Fired and Jack Knife plug Will be great to Try to get off the nails. C&D Night Train too. Tey are all heave hitters on the vitamin n.

 

mrenglish

Lifer
Dec 25, 2010
2,220
72
Columbus, Ohio
Sporra, I think Butera had his blends from McClelland before he had Germain make Kingfisher and I think it was Stokkebye who made the Pelican. I don't see them as extensions of McClelland blends as Butera's are pretty different than their line up.
Shawn, great review! Now that you have opened up the Dark Stoved, that ketchup/vinegar smell will dissapte.

 

sparroa

Lifer
Dec 8, 2010
1,466
4
Mrenglish,

As you can see I don't know the history behind it I was just speaking from the standpoint of an average consumer. It is pretty hard to make sense of their lineup. The brands aren't positioned very well and they certainly don't stand out from the crowd. They may be world class but it seems like they are way under the radar...

 
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