Stonehaven Revisited

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woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
13,013
22,134
SE PA USA
Although I lack the facilities to prove it, I suspect that some of the magic inherent in the Esoterica blends comes from a bacterial fermentation. I sense a similarity between Stonehaven, Penzance and Kingsbridge: An aroma and flavor that to my nose is the byproduct of fermentation. I base this on nothing scientific, but my experience making beer, bread and cheese, and working in a micro lab. Margate, Pembroke, And So To Bed, and Tillbury all have the same element, but to a much lesser degree, as if, perhaps, only part of the bill of those blends is fermented. Whether this is an induced or wild fermentation, I do not know.
Of course, I could be entirely wrong. It has happen to me previously.
I have to find a microbiologist who also finds this intriguing!

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
37
DVyQrdA.jpg

I like Stonehaven fresh, and it's one of the few flakes that I prefer to smoke quite moist, it smolders to perfection and seems to have a greater intensity of flavor.
Woodsroad,

I agree, Germain's definitely has a "house signature", the climate in Jersey may be a factor, and they have great tobacco buyers it seems as it's always very high quality leaf.
To my nose their sig is an odd combo of port wine, olive brine, and moldy cheese!

But somehow it works lovely.
A great write up here:

http://www.legacy.library.ucsf.edu/action/document/page?tid=bjp09b00&page=63
:puffy:
YukkAkSm.jpg


 

escioe

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 31, 2013
702
4
Stonehaven is a wily one, for sure. My preferred technique is to dry it out for a few hours, then rub out fully. I find that otherwise, the black treacle is overpowering.
I agree with hiplainsdrifter that there is a backlash against blends that are hard to get. Stonehaven was well-regarded all the way back into the 90s. Penzance and Stonehaven have always been considered the top of the Esoterica line, though in the past you saw lots more people advocating stuff like Margate, Kingsbridge, and Blackpool as being just as good or better.

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
37
Bad batch?
This,

is what irritates me the most - the last couple of bags I've gotten have been lackluster, being brown and not coal black as it should, and greatly lacking the black treacle syrup. One bag was so un-Stoney that I thought it was Peacehaven that was mistakenly mislabeled, the other bag was better, but still not up to the ideal of Stonehaven proper --- there's no way that I'd gamble money on it and the max I'll go is $35.
I hope they get the quality issue straightened out and make it right as it should be.
That was written 10 months ago.
For those of you who've opened recent bags of Stoney,

is it the proper stuff,

or are consistency of quality issues still occurring?
:?:

 

jmatt

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 25, 2014
770
75
The bag I'm smoking my way through now was purchased 11/15/14 and I opened it on 7/18/15. It is spectacular and looks, tastes, and smells exactly as it should.

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
37
Thanks!
That's good to know.
Perhaps one of my favorite olfactory experiences is opening a bag of Stonehaven and taking that wonderful aroma all in,

deep inhalation!

:!:

 

brass

Lifer
Jun 4, 2014
1,840
11
United States
I purchased a bag several months ago and wasn't disappointed in the least. I also have some RDF and have concluded that the two blends while similar, are in fact different products. It is possible the recipe is basically the same and was tweaked to get the second product.

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
37
I purchased a bag several months ago and wasn't disappointed in the least. I also have some RDF and have concluded that the two blends while similar, are in fact different products. It is possible the recipe is basically the same and was tweaked to get the second product.
Thanks!
I agree with your assessment of RDF,

it is much more Va. forward with only a very small percentage of burley,

at least that was the case with the sample I smoked,

my experience is only with one batch and I haven't sought it out any further.

:puffy:

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
35
In a way, I'm relieved, as it's a lemming target, and if it was really amazing I'd be irritated at the difficulty of obtaining it.
Lemmings... haven't heard that term in a long time. But it's a good point.

 
P

pipebuddy

Guest
[/quote]I purchased a bag several months ago and wasn't disappointed in the least. I also have some RDF and have concluded that the two blends while similar, are in fact different products. It is possible the recipe is basically the same and was tweaked to get the second product.
Brass, I've always said, after trying both, that they were not the same tobaccos. They are similar, but RDF is not Stonehaven under a different name. RDF is Virginia forward as Stonehaven is Burley forward. Funnily, while I was looking for some infos, I tripped on that article by Arno (Dutch Pipe Smoker). He has made an interesting comparative study of both on his Blog:
https://dutchpipesmoker.wordpress.com/2014/11/30/germain-rich-dark-flake-vs-esoterica-stonehaven/
 
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