I LOVE Stonehaven. What Else Might I Like?

[misterlowercase]

Here's my oddball selection...
...I believe Stonehaven to belong to the St. Bruno tradition,

a classic British dark flake.
I have long considered Robert McConnell Latakia Flake to be the "poor mans" St. Bruno,

it's cheaper for Americans, yet it is very close in flavor profile,

and best of all, it's a full bodied N hitter,

disregard the latakia description, it doesn't really even taste of that leaf,

it's kind of sweet and sort of fruity, and definitely very very dark.
Otherwise,

I think Menuhin is spot on.

Perhaps also Black Treacle?

http://www.amazon.com/Tate-Lyle-Black-Treacle-454g/dp/B000BTEHRC#customerReviews

That black treacle stuff is the key to the flavor profile of Stonehaven,

the burley makes it better than RDF in my book because it has more body,

RDF is more Va. forward,

but the actual taste is extremely close.
::

 

[loborx]

I'm going to recommend an oddball here but you might want to give Dunhill Royal Yacht a try. Easy to get, rich dark Virginias and a unique figgy/chocolate/molasses note. Nic level is pretty high so beware. The other one that comes to mind is Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky.

 

[jmatt]

Thanks again everyone.
Cigrmaster - I've got Stonehaven and Mac Baren Old Dark Fired cellared. I've had both Peterson Perfect Plug and Irish Flake and liked them both. I didn't find them the all that similar to Stonehaven, but based on your reminder, I'm going to add some tins of both.
I didn't realize Orlik made a "dark strong Kentucky." I love their Golden Sliced, so I'll give that a go as well. I'll research a number of the other ideas in this thread and try some here and there before deciding which to order in bulk. Thanks for everyone's suggestions. Turned this into a great thread for me at least. Hopefully it'll help others as well.

 

[cigrmaster]

jmatt, if you put some Orlik Dark Kentucky away for ten plus years, I think you will be amazed at what it tastes like. It is a sublime smoke with a decade plus and when you take into account the the price point, it is a special smoke.

 

[jmatt]

That's exactly what I'll do cigrmaster. According to tobaccocellar, I'm just about ten years deep right now. And I haven't bought any new tobacco for a year. I'm getting ready to stock up again and will probably spend $1,000 in the next 90 days adding depth to my Va and VaPer stock as well as adding bredth with some VaBurs and similar ideas from threads like this. My goal is to eventually be smoking nothing but 10 year or older aged tobaccos.

 

[cigrmaster]

jmatt, I don't know if you have triec it or not, but one of my favorite Va/Kentucky blends is Solani Silver flake. It comes in 100 gram tins only and it does not come vacuum sealed so you have to jar it upon arrival. It is very different than vaburs like ODF, Irish Flake, Perfect Plug and Stonehaven.

 

[jmatt]

jmatt, I don't know if you have triec it or not, but one of my favorite Va/Kentucky blends is Solani Silver flake. It comes in 100 gram tins only and it does not come vacuum sealed so you have to jar it upon arrival. It is very different than vaburs like ODF, Irish Flake, Perfect Plug and Stonehaven.

I haven't yet, but it is now on the top of my list based on this thread. Thanks for the recommendations!

 

[saltedplug]

Sillem's Commodore Flake. Perhaps 2 levels up in nicotine, and the latakia dominates, but I believe it has treacle topping.

 

[andystewart]

Germain's Rich Dark Flake=Stonehaven=Germain's Rich Dark Flake. Wonderful smoke!
Andy

 

[brass]

Got my order of RDF. It is a wonderful smoke redolent of dried fruits and prunes, molasses and maybe a liquor case? It is very similar to Stonehaven but I can't say it is exactly the same. But then, in my experience, no two tins ordered at different times from different suppliers tastes exactly the same.
Can it substitute for Stonehaven? Absolutely. I've been looking for a Stonehaven alternative for six months and this is the first time I've been able to make this statement.
Being in the U.S., it is more pricey than Stonehaven because of European taxes, custom duty, etc but still, I'm very glad to have made it's acquaintance.