Tobaccos Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) - Five Brothers

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3023)	2016-04-27		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

One dimensional straight shag burley: very toasty, nutty and earthy, lightly woody, sharp and rough with a slight sweetness and spice note. The flavor is consistent from start to finish. The strength, nic-hit and taste are in the middle of medium to strong. The bigger the bowl, the more potent it seems to be. Practically requires no relights, and leaves no moisture in the bowl. It’s not as rough as one might suppose, but I suggest not puffing like locomotive as it burns fast, and has nothing to smooth it out. Fast puffing might get you a little tongue nip. A little hydration is recommended as this is dryer than a judge’s sense of humor, and it will add some smoothness, and bring out a little more flavor. Has a dry, lingering, strong after taste. If you want to smoke a stout burley or use one as a mixer, this will do nicely. Certainly isn't an all day smoke.

-JimInks

56 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-09-10		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Looking for that "drugstore" blend? A blast from the past? A bit of nostalgia? Need an ass kicking? These boys will open a six pack of whoop ass like you haven't experienced in a good long while. Made up the road in Loovul, KY.

I remember the old geezers smoking this stuff when it came in a paper pouch. Just the smell put me on one knee. When I first smoked it, it put me on both knees. They had to rock my head back and forth to get my lips unstuck from the bathroom tiles. Crikey!

This is some serious stuff, especially if you're a twelve year old boy.

Forty years later and it still hasn't learned any manners. How you can tell if it's fresh or not escapes me.

"Mind if I smoke?"

"Not at all. Mind if I puke?"

Made when men were men, and sheep were terrified.

51 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fr_tom (393)	2013-11-18		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I got a pouch of this with a recent order. It was cheap, and it seemed like something I might like. This is a great burley smoke, and it has the reputation for deghosting a pipe. I found it a great smoke for the car on the commute. Don't buy this if you are looking for nuance or subtle. It is simple, straightforward burley with no apologies.

Edit 12/13/14 I will load a pipe with this and then breathe through the bowl to provide a little moisture. This slows down the burn rate and seems to bring out the flavor. I have been through maybe six pouches of this now.

46 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2008-10-29		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium	Strong

I'm definately overmatched in trying to offer the best review of this blend. BriarChef wins hands down (in fact, he may have posted the best review in the history of TRC).

So, I'll be brief... An ultra fast burning, high nicotine shag cut old time Burley that is in a league of its own. The taste is of plain old Burley with an ever so slight hint of natural sweetness upon first light (which may, in fact, be the last light you'll ever see), and a Joe Louis knockout punch by the time the last shred is consumed.

I loved this stuff so much that I may even smoke a second bowl when I regain consciousness.

44 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-08-12		Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

This is Burley and young Burley. I remember granddad smoking some of the first dried crop of Burley and you could hear his heart beating from the next room after a pipeful. Strong tobacco here. This is the "White lighting" of pipe tobaccos. Unaged, unrefined, just straight burley. It has the nutty Burley tatse, a bit of pepper and the nicotene whollop. Pipe beginers pass this up and try it later down the road. This tobacco should have a warning like some of those rides at the amusement park. I can't imagine this being someones all day smoke, but if you have a caffine/nicotene habit here's your blend.

I might add that Carter Hall and Prince Albert are not made from poor quality leaf. John Middleton Co. has been around a long time in this country and has their hands on some great tobacco sources, passed down from generation to generation.

25 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-02-01		Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong

This is a pretty strong tasting fine shag cut that comes very dry in the pouch. There's no real need to rehash what has already been written below but I found this rather bland to smoke on its own. However, it's a wonderful blender.

I got good results when blending this with aromatics such as Lane's 1-Q. The best results were 40% Five Brothers to 60% 1-Q and I ended up with a High Octane version. The Five Brothers soaked up some of the sauce (actually DRIED it up) and the result to me seemed more than the sum of two parts. It provided a still soft but stronger version.

I also used this to great effect as "tinder" for other blends by sprinkling the top 1/4 bowl of a large pipe. The best mix was 3/4 McClellands Navy Cavendish at the bottom to 1/4 FB. That experiment was so successful that I've gotta get more Dark Star! The FB will certainly help that stuff burn better. I intend to continue to experiment with this tobacco - it really does add character to blends.

22 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cobman (15)	2013-12-14		Overwhelming	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

My Father-in-Law smoked this stuff, so I think he was trying to get rid of me when he gave me a pouch to try. I usually smoke Prince Albert, and E.A. Carey's blends.

When I opened the pouch, the aroma took over the environment. My cat hissed and arched her back (they really can detect evil....). All the house plants died...even the plastic ones. The room note was classic peat bog.

As I took a deep breath and filled my pipe, it was squirming in my hand, trying to get away. I should've stopped right there. It lit easily, unfortunately. After my first puff, my whole life flashed in front of my eyes...it was very depressing.... Have you ever smelled the peat that nightcrawlers are in when you buy a carton of them at a bait store? That was what this tasted and smelled like, with a little burly thrown in for camouflage. I experienced major vertigo, so it was a good thing I was sitting down. After the second puff...just before I passed out, I had visions of guys in Environmental suits placing my pipe, and this tobacco in ziplock bags, and decontaminating the house.

Seriously, this is the absolute worst...whatever it is, I have ever tried to smoke. It really does taste like worm-dirt, with some cow-chips mixed in, and smells even worse. It is strong enough to floor a Water Buffalo. I really did have to throw the pipe away, carefully....I could never get the smell or taste out of my DIplomat, even after repeated cleanings with pipe sweetener.

I could only manage a few puffs of this before putting it out. I couldn't smoke it long enough to tell if it burned hot, or not.

You should have to have a license from the EPA to even sell this stuff. I would definitely advise anyone to avoid this 'blend' at all costs, unless you are on some kind of macho-trip, or really into self-mutilation. I smoke for pleasure, and I have nothing to prove.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: 1 day

Purchased From: My Father-In-Law

Similar Blends: Worm-Dirt.

21 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-12-14		Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Shortly after my initial addiction to Copenhagen snuff in 1967, I attempted a short lived excursion into the realm of what I thought to be pipe tobacco. I'm alluding to what was then and may be still now popular in drug store aromatics, brands and blends not worthy to be spoken in the presence of Five Brothers. Oh, I was happy enough standing in my vanilla or cherry cloud whilst fly fishing mountain streams in Montana, but I always found myself stuffing a pinch of Cope under my lip immediately after a vitamin N deficient smoke. Admittedly, the Copenhagen appeared to taste better after a slowly drawn bowl, but pipe smoking was not for me. It was too much bother whilst wading and fishing and it could not completely satisfy of itself, or so I thought.

Four years ago after a 38 year hiatus I returned to the briar. Yes, I retraced the old route of aromatics but shortly thereafter found through the Internet some delightful English blends, Virginia and Burley offerings. I say delightful in that they complemented my Copenhagen. No pipe tobacco could truly satisfy... or could it. I then dared to query the Internet to see if there were any high octane pipe tobaccos available and thus did I find Five Brothers Smoking Tobacco. Finally. This shag cut burley approached the vitamin N level of my beloved Cope. For my body chemistry it's strength was acceptable and satisfying. It packed easily into a featherweight, burned swift and clean, and yielded no bite whatsoever. There were no added flavorings and it's taste was mild and interesting, simply that of tobacco. And so I was properly reintroduced into the realm of pipe tobacco.

Five Brothers has become my all business tobacco. It's excellent for the short break. It's perfect for inclement weather. It's a vulgar tobacco for men, a shit-or-get-off-the-pot smoke. But now having said that, please do keep in mind that all of this is coming from a snuff dipper of about forty years.

Now whilst I say that its taste is mild and interesting, it is singular without complexity. Enter the parfait. May I challenge you to experimentation. Carter Hall at the bottom of the bowl, a midsection of G&H Dark Flake, topped off with Five Brothers as kindling and kick at the top. Or perhaps a thin layer of Boswell's Christmas Cookie at the bottom, Prince Albert in the skinny middle with old Five Brothers crowning the top. I trust you see the pattern. You must incorporate Five Brothers somewhere in the parfait for a satisfying smoke and layering lengthens the experience.

Yes, Five Brothers is my dearest buddy who is always available when I need a shot of vitamin N, but I've since found SG 1792, and G&H Dark Flake and Dark Birdseye that all have commendable strength and lend themselves to sipping as if a fine bourbon. I'll sing their accolades elsewhere, but I mention them here for the benefit of some few who may be interested in what else this old addict finds acceptable as an alternative to Copenhagen snuff.

For a no-nonsense, satisfying, and to-the-quick pipe smoke, I highly recommend Five Brothers.

21 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DeathMetal.org (231)	2015-09-17		Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

What is worse than a tobacco snob? A tobacco elitist. Our motto: life is too short to smoke anything but great tobaccos. However, those can be found across a wide range of brands and blends, including some drug store tobaccos. Five Brothers descends from the old line of codger Burley tobaccos and is an excellent, frequent smoke for me.

To be enjoyed, it must be smoked correctly. Push it down into the pipe and tamp in three layers. Then light it to char, tamp, and light again. Now, smoke slowly while walking so the initial blast of top smoke goes away. Keep that pipe in your teeth at an angle and draw slowly, gently for long puffs, then savor the flavor.

You will taste relatively unadulterated and unmodified Burley. It has a forest flavor, like the smell of the leaves on the floor in fall, and a richness that emerges as the smoke dissipates from your mouth. Keep sipping. This blend favors the pipe smoker who lets it smoulder, not the one who makes it burn. Over time, its internal texture reveals itself, an alternating mix of harvest flavors like hay and woodsy, darker tastes.

Like other strong natural blends, Five Brothers is not for everyone. It does not intend to be. It rewards the initiate who follows its ways. Like other codger tobaccos, it is meant to be smoked in the midst of some other activity, both as stimulant and straightforward taste sensation. The nicotine kick is a shade South of Old Joe Krantz or Royal Yacht, but nonetheless quite stimulating.

When I introduce this to friends, I describe it as 'American Semois.' Simple, clear, and with the type of flavor one gets from a raw ingredient. The lack of deception and wholesome taste clears the head as much as the substantial kick. Goes well with outdoors, activity and long walks when thinking out a difficult problem or inspiring new concept.

18 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2013-11-14		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable to Strong

Harsh. Irritated the back of my throat and I don't inhale (I do retrohale every puff). Had very little flavor, mostly just harsh smoke. I'm certainly not in favor of banning any tobacco, but if I were a member of Congress and legislation were introduced to make Five Brothers illegal I would have to seriously consider voting in favor. This is just bad. Very bad. How can they possibly market this @#$* as pipe tobacco???

16 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr_frankenstein (5)	2014-05-21		Very Strong	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I really love this stuff. Ive waited so long for something like this.. its perfect!

Very simple, straight forward and what i think is probably the closest thing to true plain tobacco.

Out of the Pouch this stuff was dry as a bone, and it reflected it during smoking. Hot and bitey... Not any good at all and quite terrible if you leave it this way. I drop a pounch coin in the jar for a few weeks and was rewarded with a very smooth and gentle tobacco with a whomp of nicotine. its really alot better then most are making it out to be, I just think it needs alitte love to bring it up to a proper status. Its my all day smoke, and for flavor i might add a pinch of Q1 or something to change the mood.

The aroma and flavor is nutty to me, but very light and whispy. Room note is approachable but strong to a non smoker. Cigarette Smokers seem to compliment me on the smell the most and are the most curious about this particular blend.

I find this stuff smokes well in almost anything. Cobs and glass seeming to be the best for a clean flavor. So tighter and taller bowls are what I feel she favors. Many have said this is the best "De-Ghoster" there is but I have to disagree, its too neutral and just blends in.

This is definitly "My" blend. And in the end, even with all the blends that are on the market, I find myself returning to a simpler more comforting tobacco that allows me to relax, taste the plant, and give me the nicotine I want. This is Smoke, for Smoking... And nuthing more.

Pipe Used: Stanwell Diablo, Sterling Hall, Cob, glass

Age When Smoked: new pouch.

Purchased From: Cigar International

15 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-12-07		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Extra Full	Extra Strong

The least expensive pipe tobacco i've come across, and now I can see why. Very fine cut left the tobacco almost cunchy in the pouch making it difficult to light ...but once the fuse is lit its a nicotine bomb. If you consider ''taste'' a frill...this might be for you.

15 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Eulenburg (193)	2002-09-07		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

The tobacco smoked in all those clay pipes in colonial times was strictly and exclusively Virginia tobacco, the only tobacco then known in the Western world.

Burley was introduced in the mid 19th Century, at about the same time that the British discovered "Oriental" tobaccos. When the Dutch found that burley admitted flavourings more easily than any other tobacco, they learnt to blend with it, and burley found a place in Continental Europe. But cased pipe tobacco was illegal in Great Britain until 1986, so there was never much call for it there and Burley never caught on in England, or throughout the British Empire and Zones of Influence. Thus, the shag that Sherlock Holmes is said to have smoked was certainly not Burley shag!

Most of the tobacco smoked thoughout the world before, or indeed after, World World I was certainly not burley, but Virginia.

FIVE BROTHERS is pure dark-cured burley, and thus quintessentially American. This type of burley is usually used to give body to certain blends. Smoked alone, it is potent. I like it. I never smoke it, because you can't find it in New York. In a corn cob it does not taste harsh, and since corn cobs are small...Try it with some Tennessee sipping whiskey why don't you. Boccato di cardinale!

15 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Troy_nov1965 (13)	2017-02-07		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

If you like gourmet tobacco flavored with such things as dandelions, butterscotch and candy canes then move on ,this is not a tobacco for you!

If you like John Wayne movies and eat rare steak with nothing but salt and pepper. If you like to drive cars (or even better trucks) with carburetors and no computers. If you think the only flavoring you should put in a cup of Joe is George Dickel. Then this might be up your alley. Straight up strong Burley that taste like tobacco (gasp!) Toasty,nutty and a nice pepper spice hit. Put on you big boy pants and wait to get hit with a glorious nicotine punch. I have smoked stronger though(Mammoth Cave Twist and D&R Picayune come to top of mind). I do like too hydrate it some to slow down the burning process so i can enjoy the goodness of the tobacco longer. I like to hand roll it as well when i need a quick smoke break and don't want to hassle with a pipe. Although i don't smoke this all day long i will certainly smoke 3 -5 bowls a day ,if i have it.

If you have ever wondered what your great grandfathers likely smoked then this is about as close as you are gonna get by today's tobacco's. Thankfully my local tobacco store started carrying 5 Brothers and i don't have to order it online. My only complaint is it does not come in a bigger pouch or a tub.

Pipe Used: Briars ,cobs and rock cob

Age When Smoked: Is moonshine aged? Then this aint as well.

Purchased From: P&C but now thankfully local store

Similar Blends: Wish i knew i would smoke it as well..

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-04-02		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Five Brothers, the pride of the string cut tobaccos, the stuff of legends. For smoking or chewing; that alone should be the first indication that this brand is not for the faiint of heart. Five Bros is another one of those brands that I rememeber from my years growing up in Philadelphia. It was sold in a brown paper cylinder with a clay pipe in red and black and the mark of the John Finzer Company. It is now sold in a foil pouch, but still as exciting.

This was, and is, a string cut, or shag, largely from bottom leaves. Also known as "bird's eye" because of the method of cutting keeps stems in with the tobacco. See the Sherlock Holmes stories for the descriptions of shag tobacco. If moist and fresh, it can almost be smokable; not fragrant and flavorful, but smokable. If dry, it is Satan's blow torch.

Assuming that the pouch you obtain is fresh, you will find that the tobacco leaves the pouch in long strands, packing easily with just that spring in the bowl. I prefer a smaller bowl, perhaps a cob or clay, a meerschaum will also work well. The first light or two is sufficient to bring large blue-gray clouds in the room. That's a tobacco aroma, bitter and full. Five Bros has a characteristic nicotine "kick" that appears about 1/4 into the bowl, discernible but not overwhelming. By the 1/2 of the bowl. you may develop a tightness in the chest which will pass, leaving you w/ hiccups. Sipping water or coffee while smoking alleviates this sensation. 3/4 bowl and the full effect comes into play. You are now fully aware that you have been smoking a real tobacco. The mouth may be dry, or drier than you've become used to, your clothes are now imbued with the tobacco aroma, and the bowl is left with fine white/gray ash. This is what smoking was really like before WWI, which is why so many of the early 20th century pipes had smaller bowls.

AS said, not for the frail or the weak- intentioned. I could never smoke more than two bowls a day of this tobacco, and certainly never consecutively. It is, however, great to rescue pipes that have had crummy aromatics smoked in them.

Others in this family of high nicotine string cuts were Honest, Ivanhoe, Cutty Pipe, and Penn's Best. I have smoked them all and I cannot recommend them to any but experienced smokers because of their burn and noxious qualities.

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	oldcodger (74)	2014-12-12		Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Five Brothers is not for the weak of heart and most definitely not for those sensitive to nicotine. It has a nicotine kick as strong as any pipe tobacco I have tried, and that is something over five hundred.

A fine shag cut burley, Five Brothers burns fast and very hot. Slow down your puffing cadence and it still burns fast and very hot.

The room note is not that bad, similar to a non filtered cigarette (which is quite different from the bitter smell of the tobacco in filtered brands).

Burley is virtually tasteless without some sort of flavoring, so I have given it a flavoring rating. My taste rating of mild to medium does not indicate a particular flavor, but takes cognizance of the fact that when you smoke this you know you are smoking.

Although a tobacco in the cheaper price range, this is not quite so thrifty as it first appears, for the pouch is only one and a quarter ounces.

Five Brothers is a tough go for me when smoked straight. It does have a use. This tobacco is a versatile mixer. If you find a latakia blend overly stout in that weed, or an aromatic that is overly flavored for your taste, mix it with this and it will be notably toned down while maintaining much the same flavor profile. If you find a particular tobacco that is hard to light and/or keep lit, a hearty dose of Five Brothers will solve the problem and the flavor will remain in the same ballpark as before. But this does not move Five Brothers to a "somewhat recommended" rating from me. Why? There are other burleys on the cheaper price scale that do this job even better, Prince Albert in particular.

As I smoked most of this pouch as a mixer, I used a multitude of different pipes, going from Dr. Grabows to Dunhills.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	bulletsnbriars (4)	2014-05-09		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

This is one of those love it or hate it blends. I love it, and I will tell you why.

First off, some people say this is just a RYO masquerading as a pipe baccy. This is not true. I roll my own and I've tried several RYO brands and rolled this as a cigarette. It is a league of its own. If you're trying to get off the coughin' nails this is the blend to put in your pipe.

Packing this blend takes some practice. Pack it harder than you normally would and once she's lit tamp her frequently. Other reviewers have used the analogy of lighting a fuse. I think this is right on, once she's lit, you'll have a hard time getting it to go out unless you don't tamp her good. Once the fuse is lit... Get ready! This is not for those who can't take much vitamin N because she slaps you hard and makes you like it!

Some people may not like the taste, but I love the rich nuttiness. It's full, real baccy taste. Like a saucy redheaded high school sweetheart, take this slow or she will bite hard! But if you sip it and give it the respect it deserves, you will be rewarded with a nice nic hit and a pleasant, nutty hay baccy for those of us who don't like aros.

This blend is not for everyone, and not liking it doesn't make you any less of a man. However, I think it's a good idea to keep a pouch of this around. It's a great mixer to give dull blends an extra punch, and it's nice for getting a nic hit when you want it but don't want to buy a pack. If you're curious about burley, I reccomend this. You will know right away if burley is for you.

Don't get me wrong, this stuff is a one trick pony. But it does it's trick so well. If you are looking for a strong flavored and heavy hitting baccy and don't feel like messing with ropes or twists, keep this in your rotation. It's so affordable, there's little reason not to.

Pipe Used: MM Cob

Age When Smoked: Two Weeks

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beaupipe (102)	2009-02-15		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

Five Brothers looks, smokes, smells, and tastes like a throwback to an earlier time. Men smoked?sometimes they smoked pipes, sometimes they rolled cigarettes. However they chose to smoke, the plain Burley which is Five Brothers was there for them. I rolled a whole lot of cigarettes during my post-secondary poverty years and these Brothers would have been right at home hanging out with my bandmates from back then--Drum, Bugler--and chatting up my Euro-trash girlfriend, Amsterdam Shag.

Trouble is, the fine shag cut of Five Brothers, the neutral flavor, the insanely fast burn?I doubt many recent converts to the pipe will find these things appealing. Frankly, I suspect many won?t even recognize this stuff as pipe tobacco now that the division of labor between pipe tobacco and RYO stuff is pretty much complete.

The praise this stuff gets is way out of whack with its quality, but I suppose we?ll be mired in a Burleyphilic, cheap-is-good-because-the-future-is-uncertain phase at least until housing prices rise. Heck, maybe it?ll drive down the prices for genuinely good Burleys like Solani?s Aged Burley Flake. Now that would be something to celebrate.

I?ll probably trot this stuff out once in a while to use as kindling for Barbary Coast and other unhappy burners. And if ever I come home to find all my pipes have disappeared?well, if there?s one thing I can easily borrow in my neighborhood, it?s a pack of rolling papers.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (632)	2014-05-06		Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Strong

This is definitely an unusual blend. I received this as my free sampler from Lane a while back. It comes extremely dry as has been mentioned in the many reviews, but burns fine, if not, too fast. There is some nice burley flavor in this one. I have used it on occasion for blending, but I prefer Carter Hall in this role over Five Brothers.

This blend is very similar to a tobacco that my buddy's FIL smokes called Thuoc Lao. It is uncanny how closely it resembles in cut, texture and strength. The flavor is not that different either, but I prefer Five Brothers to that one. The Vietnamese typically only smoke that tobacco with water pipes due to its strength.

I like this blend and think it pretty good for the price, but the only thing that really differentiates this from the other famous OTC's such as SWR and CH in a positive direction is the heavy nicotine hit. I, personally, would rather stock my cellar with some C & D burleys that would be comparable in strength and inexpensive in bulk.

As for taste, I prefer SWR and Carter Hall and many other burleys to this. Don't get me wrong, I found nothing repulsive in its taste. I just prefer the other two of its contemporaries. I also don't like how fast it burns, something the other two don't do. So I do somewhat recommend this blend, but can't go with three stars due to the above reasoning.

Similar Blends: Thuoc Lao.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	strongirish (249)	2009-01-20		Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Five Brothers. The one and only Five Brothers I have heard so much about. The ass kicker! The one that makes on pass out! The evil weed!

Well, I picked one of my old well caked Kaywoodies for the occation, sat out on the dock so I would not bother anybody, and filled my pipe and lit up. Expected a mule kick! Expected to double over and get dizzy! But..........damn, I like it! I mean a lot!!

So I sat there and smoked the whole bowl right down to the bottom getting ash in my mouth, and I really love it! No tongue bite, no "n" attack, no sore throat, nothing but pleasure. If this is an ass kicking, then I'll take another. In fact, I am going to smoke this for a few days and that case of it on SF classified might get taken. I mean, I was disappointed when I got to the bottom, I wanted more! I get a nice, rich, smooth smoke that stays lit and has a sweet note and aftertaste. Kind of like Granger on steriods! But I like Granger. I like this. Maybe I really am an old codger because I see why they liked it. I wonder why I never have seen it down here in S. Texas?

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr. G (15)	2014-11-18		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Strong

For a guy who needs to hammer a bowl of Granger with a half can of Cope in each cheek to properly elevate my serum nicotine level, I can tell you that this is a rip-your-head-off nickel buzz machine of the first order. Everything about this weed is STRONG. I'm wondering when these blinking lights are going to stop. Its what I imagine being trapped on a tilt-a-whirl for an hour would be like. Strap on your big boy pants before you fire this one up! Its burley on steroids - or maybe methamphetamine.

Pipe Used: MM cob

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: local tobacco shop

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Young Piper (304)	2014-02-21		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Extra Strong

Five brothers is great at one thing: making a weak blend have some oomph. Yes by itself it is harsh and kinda nasty. I smoke two packs a day of Malboro's with pipes in between and I can feel the nicotine content. Anyone that says they cant must have an EXTREME tolerance or is trying to impress... As a blender burley this fits the bill, otherwise I cannot see a use for it....

Pipe Used: Cob

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	The Hun (38)	2018-12-20		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

This is a very useful blend. It is not some flavor bomb to sit back and relax with while contemplating world peace, but it has an appeal of its own. It is plain, unadulterated burley with a nice complement of nicotine. It burns fast, but I use the method proposed by fr_tom (breathing out through the loaded pipe) to add some moisture, which does slow down the burn a bit. These attributes are useful when time is a factor.

Five Brothers excels as an addition to weak or overly-sauced blends. The shag cut that some reviewers have likened to a bird's nest makes it difficult to mix with other blends. I have found it better to cut the shag into shorter pieces, making it easier to mix.

Also valuable is the "parfait" technique suggested by another reviewer. Sutliff's Frosty Mint is a refreshing smoke in this neck of the woods in the summertime, but there is no nicotine in it. I'll pack a pipe with about 1/3 of the bottom of the bowl with Five Brothers and then fill it with Frosty Mint. Quite tasty and satisfying since the flavor of the Frosty Mint permeates the Five Brothers, so by the time you reach it, the taste is augmented by strength.

As I said, very useful stuff.

Recommended.

Pipe Used: various

Age When Smoked: unknown

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DenizBeck (323)	2018-10-16		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I was lucky that a UK-pipe friend did send me (both nicely aged) a bag (about 150g) as well as a 1,25oz pouch of this to me about 1 year ago. Since then I regularly came back to the Five Brothers blend!

This is plain and simple, yet honest and flavorful pipe tobacco - nothing more, but also nothing less! Great, natural and vegetative, almost horse-stable-ish pouch note, with only very mild sweetness underlying to the earthy, woodsy and nutty foundation.

In the smoke it's monochromatic, yet still enjoyable in every puff to me. Very toasty and earthy, richly nutty, and by times almost a bit bready, with a slight sharp edge which I like. The Shag burns great, even, albeit due to the nature of this cut a bit fast (yet never hot!). I love this in smaller bowls, or even a shag pipe! 10-20minutes of pure, unadulterated Burley goodness, and then proceed to the everyday-madness! ;-)

Honest, natural, delicious and stout... Burley-Lovers-Bliss!

|| Personal rating: 4-stars | Attempt of an 'obective rating' : 4-stars ||

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	hrhf (38)	2021-01-14		Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

This review is a work in progress... much like myself as a pipe smoker.

As I thumb type this, smoking my first full bowl of Five Brothers in the early morning hours, I find this a very agreeable, easy smoking tobacco.

I must be impervious to nicotine, judging from other reviews of this product. In my opinion, it’s almost strong enough.

Flavor-wise, it’s pleasant. Certainly more inviting than either of the other “drugstore blends” that I’ve sampled. It’s not overwhelming or complex. But it’s an approachable, appealing and most importantly (to me), satisfying.

I’ll be sure to update this as I get to know it a little better. But my first impression is that this is an ideal “bookend” smoke: a tobacco with which to both start and finish a day.

I don’t see it being my primary go-to blend, but it’s likely to be ONE of my go-to blends. While I’m more of a VaPer guy, this definitely has a substantial place in my present and future as a pipe smoker.

Edit: after an additional two weeks of having a couple bowls of five brothers every day, I simply find it a good staple of my smoking day. Think of every smoke-filled day as a meal. Five brothers is the side of potatoes. It’s not the star of the show, but it helps round out — and fill — the meal.

And, for me at least, that makes it just as important in its way.

I smoke a bowl of it near the beginning and at the end of each day. And along the way, I’m somewhat likely to mix it with something like superior navy flake to help beef that particular blend (and subsequently sweeten the five brothers a bit).

To my taste at least, Five Brothers is more aligned with the savory side of the pipe tobacco flavor spectrum. Now, it’s not as savory as, say, a Dark Kentucky or what have you. But it’s closer to that than it is the sugary sweet (to me) goodness of a SG Best Brown.

So, in that context, I consider Five Brothers one of my two main “savory” smokes (along with Kendal Dark), to help break the monotony of my sweet Virginia laden smoking days.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Do I have enough beard for this? (3)	2020-06-26		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This stuff is nothing to be afraid of. I just smoked 3 bowls of it for breakfast and I'm 90% sure I'm not going to vomit. Quit being a girl and try it!

Pipe Used: Cob

Age When Smoked: 1 month in a ball jar

Purchased From: Brick and mortar

Similar Blends: A much needed slap upside the head..

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2019-01-02		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium	Strong

If someone wants to bum a cigarette from you, always have one of these ready rolls handy. Better yet, have some Picayune ready rolls on hand. Not likely they'll come back for another but then again, they might want to tough it out if they have a comfortable chair to sit down in.

This is some strong, straight Burley & is good to stoke in a pipe or RYO. I rather like very strong tobaccos on occasion as well as a strong cigar since I don't inhale anything. I like to keep my lungs free of "asphalt." This doesn't have any flavor to offer other than just plain old Burley tobacco taste which is sufficient if you're just after a Vitamin N blast.

This is simply a no frills, straight up Kentucky Burley that only takes a few puffs to get you going but when you get there, you may not remember where you came from. Excellent blend for what it is with a good price tag. I liked it & sometimes use it to top off a wimpy blend. Warning: Smoke only on a full stomach if you're not used to strong stuff like Five Brothers or you might be headed to Barf City to toss your cookies.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Fresh Pouch

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

Similar Blends: Strong, Straight Burleys.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2076)	2017-05-26		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Very Strong

Scandinavian Tobacco - Five Brothers.

I've never seen a blend that has such a fine build, there's a couple of larger pieces in the blend, but the majority of the pouch contains diminutive pieces of shag.

The smoke: lots of nicotine, a very full burley flavour, little-to-no bite, and far more savoury than sweet. Because of the build it isn't too cool a smoke, and damn it burns fast; the quickest smoke I've ever had. With that said it might make a good choice if you want a blend for work so you can nip outside for a five minute nic'-fix!

I won't smoke this again, after this review I'm lobbing it in the bin.

Not recommended.

Pipe Used: Altinok Lee Van Cleef; Friday pipe

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-09-23		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

dI'm going against the usual two ounce sampling before you review mantra oft spoken of here, because this tobacco is an easy read. If you like burley, try it. If you need a nicotine rush on the cheap, try it. If you need a blending agent to toughen up a wimpy blend, try it. Just try it!

To be fair, I didn't like the first bowl. Now somewhere north of ten bowls, I can say I've changed my mind. Yeah, it's a bit harsh, but it's a shag-cut burley, unsauced...I wasn't expecting a leisurely contemplative smoke. Monochromatic...you betcha! Five Bros. is what it is...an American 'old school' 'baccy. Smoke it in a smaller bowl and enjoy. Smoke it in a large bowl, and...well, it depends on your tolerance. This 'baccy is an excellent '10 minute smoke break' blend. It burns fast and hits hard. Perfect for the workplace.

I should add-I'm also currently smoking SG's Black Rope, and I can say, for me, the 'Rope' is much more nic laden than Five Bros., FWIW.

Update 11 May, 2011...I still can't give this a forth star, but after finding a source locally have been smoking it daily. This has become a rotational blend for me. I often get subtle VA/Lake District notes from it...odd for a burley, I would normally think. I'm finding I enjoy this when nothing else will hit the mark, to. I've bought fifteen pouches in the last month... I think I've eight left. Even Irish Flake had taken a back seat lately. All said, I think my snobbish attitude just got put in check by a handful of pencil shavings. Interesting.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	O. D. Jones (25)	2021-06-03		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Absolutely have to do a review of the venerable Five Brothers. When I was a mere lad, this used to come in an interesting sort of cardboard tube, and it was made by the Finzer Brothers. Along with Granger ("A pointer on tobacco" with a picture of, you guessed it, a pointer hound, according to the old lithographed tin), Velvet, Prince Albert and Half and Half, Five Brothers was the epitome of old fart tobacco... and Five Brothers was considered "working class" compared to the other ones, since it came in a cardboard tube versus a fancy tin. I seem to remember the codgers mostly leaning towards Granger here in the South, which is basically a straight burley, as is Five Brothers, although Five Brothers uses a bird's eye cut. Granger is still a pretty decent smoke, the only negative there is the fact that's got quite a bit of humectant in it. Currently, Five Brothers is made by STG, but it really hasn't changed much. I've seen it described as American Semois, which is pretty apt. Five Brothers is a little more straightforward, and it's certainly has a higher nicotine kick than Semois. Being fairly mild in terms of flavor, it makes a good addition to a straight Cavendish aromatic, or whatever smoke you might feel needs a little more oomph. In fact, on the nicotine scale, this tobacco is right under the infamous Cotton Boll (another legendary tobacco from the South, which may or may not have been intended to be smoked, versus chewed, and is still available in finer rural convenience stores in the Deep South) and the Irish ropes like Brown Bogie. A pipe full of straight St James Perique will put you on your rump with Vitamin N too... the only time I ever had to put a pipe down is when I loaded a big Nording with some straight Perique...and Five Brothers is not for the faint hearted.

Five Brothers is minimally cased, fairly dry, and finely cut in the cellophane wrapped package. Definitely requires a solid packing, and I've never found that it would bite, but it really is a tobacco to be respected, freight train puffing is liable to put you DOWN, coughing and wheezing a bit. It gives me a feeling of late summer agriculture, drying hay, soil, a hot dirt road right after the rain, very straightforward flavor. Does not have the complexity of Semois, but it stays absolutely consistent throughout the bowl, and like Semois, will burn straight down to fine white ash. Room note is probably just slightly on the other side of a cigarette, although I don't really get a cigarette flavor in the pipe. It's supposed to make a pretty good hand roll too.

This is a tobacco that I always have around because I use it to break in pipes... I don't think there's a better tobacco out there for building up good carbonaceous cake, and is generally $4 a pack so you can burn as much as you like... or can take. Note the package clearly states "Pipe Tobacco!", that exclamation point at the end is there for a reason.

Pipe Used: every pipe I've ever owned I think

Age When Smoked: fresh!!!!

Purchased From: available a lot of places

Similar Blends: Semois... that's really about it..

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WolfmanSam (37)	2018-06-26		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Five Brothers is a straight up, no-frills burley. It’s a very dry shag cut. It lights easily and burns fast. I recommend adding moisture or a very tight pack.

When smoking, I taste mostly nuts, with some wood. At times, it’s spicy. There’s also, a very mild sweetness. This is a full bodied tobacco, with a hearty amount of nicotine. Smoke slowly and make sure your stomach has something in it.

The burley enthusiast will appreciate this blend. It’s an inexpensive, quality burley. I would not recommend this to newcomers.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Old German puffer (106)	2015-08-06		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Five brothers is a great pouch tobacco. It is a low cost pouch and for a dollar can you really complain. There us nothing here but burley tobacco. I pull out 2 pouches every month and toss them in a jar. After a short wait I smoke it in a Cobb and relax. Burns well and builds up a great cake.

Pipe Used: MM Cobb

Age When Smoked: pouch

Purchased From: JR'S Cigar Outlet

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	brashboy (84)	2015-07-09		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Strong

So this is what nicotine tastes like. Not a lot of flavor, but not bad, either. This is pretty unrefined stuff and occasionally harsh (smoke it too fast and see what happens), fine cut in a cigarette shag, almost hairlike, no flavoring that I can detect. As one reviewer noted, this is like smoking dried Burley right out of the tobacco barn. To really like this tobacco and want it on a regular basis, you probably eschew frilly aromatics and tobaccos that offer lots of flavor, such as Perique, Latakia and Turkish, because this one is not for flavor addicts or those seeking complex flavors that evolve as the bowl is smoked.

FB is not, in my opinion, nearly as strong as some would lead you to believe, but that perception is in great measure dependent on your nicotine tolerance and experience. There are stronger tobaccos but you won't run into them everyday, and I do not doubt that the pulse quickens when smoking this; mind did. It's hard to imagine why anyone without a serious nicotine Jones would add Five Brothers into the rotation, when there are so many great tobaccos calling.

OK, enough about me. Pack this one somewhat tightly because it's a fast burner and then pace yourself. A bowlful of this can get pretty hot if you are a bellows smoker. Smoke it down to a white ash and reflect: was it worth it? I don't throw tobacco away, so I have half a pouch left. I think I'll mix it down with some Lane Burley Mild, maybe some Uhle's Blend 44.

Age When Smoked: 90 days

Similar Blends: Semois, Caporal.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dixcreek (182)	2015-04-20		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Has been a while since I have smoked this, years to be more specific. With that being said this is some fine down to earth no frills tobacco. Reminds me of the home cured stuff we smoked many years ago. Has a good full bodied flavor, but not harsh. The nicotine may be too much for some but I found it be be ample and not overwhelming. Call it a codger smoke if you care too but this ole codger likes it. If you really want to know what real burley taste like give this one a shot

Pipe Used: Grabow golden duke; MM Diplomat

Age When Smoked: new from pouch

Purchased From: pipes and cigars

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cobacco (52)	2015-01-01		Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Had to try it, so here goes... Pouch note: well done waffle. Nice thick plastic pouch; very easy to use. Yes, it is shag and it's quite dry. Best to pack pretty tight; definitely tight enough to substantially restrict the draw. I get better flavor and a less hurried smoke this way. Flavor is sweet burley with a bit of an artifical quality due to the very obvious sugary topping. The flavor reminds me of HH Dark Burley Flake. Is this stuff sprayed with nicotine? Strength is respectable, but not as enjoyable as a high quality strong tobacco with fewer additives (such as Cornell & Diehl Big & Burley). Quality is not that good; plenty of finely chopped woody bits are mixed into the shag. I don't consider the price much of a bargain as this stuff burns like gunpowder. I think $3 is an honest price. Hot burning tobacco, but you can enjoy it as long as you really slow down after the halfway point. Although this stuff is dry, it still leaves the pipe a bit messy, due to all the burning sugar. If you dislike burley or sweets, stay away from this stuff.

Pipe Used: MM DIPLOMAT COB

Age When Smoked: fresh pouch

Purchased From: smokingpipes

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Philo Beddoe (221)	2012-10-06		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Strong

I don't know how to describe my dislike of this tobacco firmly enough, but I will try. It smells like a horse stall in the pouch, it has the appearance of shredded wheat and the taste of a crushed cigarette mixed with a certain barnyard product. Oh, lets not forget the best part, the nicotine hits you like a brick to the head.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-02-07		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

This is my favorite Burley Tobacco , of course I'm pretty much a straight Burley man. I love this tobacco,its in my top 3 with that being said its probably a bit strong for most people!unless you are fond of str8 Burleys, Dk's review would fit the bill for alot of people,it is a very good blender tobacco. This tobacco comes very dry,I suggest you rehydrate it just a bit as it does mellow it quiet a bit and slows the forest fire lol.All in All a great tobacco .

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beaupipe (102)	2009-02-14		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

Five Brothers looks, smokes, smells, and tastes like a throwback to an earlier time. Men smoked?sometimes they smoked pipes, sometimes they rolled cigarettes. However they chose to smoke, the plain Burley which is Five Brothers was there for them. I rolled a whole lot of cigarettes during my post-secondary poverty years and these Brothers would have been right at home hanging out with my bandmates from back then--Drum and Bugler--and my Euro-trash girlfriend, Amsterdam Shag.

Trouble is, the fine shag cut of Five Brothers, the neutral flavor, the insanely fast burn?I doubt many current pipe smokers would find these things appealing. Frankly, I suspect many won?t even recognize this stuff as pipe tobacco now that the division of labor between pipe baccy and RYO stuff is pretty much complete.

The praise this stuff gets is way out of whack with its quality, but I suppose we?ll be mired in a Burleyphilic, cheap-is-good-because-the-future-is-uncertain phase at least until housing prices rise. Heck, maybe it?ll drive down the prices for genuinely good Burleys like Solani?s Aged Burley Flake. Now that would be something to celebrate.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sasha (228)	2006-12-12		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Pure Burley isn't my usual cup of tea, but I just had to give this "legend" a try. The shag cut scared me at the beginning, together with the low moisture found (as expected) into the nice pouch. But here came the first surprise: it burns remarkably cool and slow, the taste is nutty and the overall impression is that of a very satisfying evening smoke. You can't expect complexity or subtleties here, just raw power; you should try it at least once in your life!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Noorrmm (192)	2002-01-27		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Strong

Appearance: Really odd cut, very fine with random "birds eyes". Seems to be cut straight across the leaf, including the rib. I have never seen a finer cut. Color is mostly dark brown.

Aroma: Thae aroma is straight burley, almost a hay smell with some richer, but unidentifiable component.

Packing: The tobacco packs easily in small pipes. I have not tried it in larger pipes, and probably will not.

Lighting: Lights almost too easily because of the fine cut.

Initial flavor: Strong and sharp flavor, almost like a cheap stogie.

Mid-bowl: Not much changes in the middle third. Still strong and tends to leave my mouth quite dry.

Finish: Even stronger, but the pipe stays dry. This is probably because it's drying up my saliva as I smoke it.

Tried in the following pipes: Several cobs, several bowls on a Falcon.

Summary: Possibly OK when a short smoke is needed, but generally not recommended for daily consumption. If this is what pipe smoking was like before WWII, it's surprising that the habit survived.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimPM (143)	2021-08-21		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

The midnight train is whining low and do take heed of it’s coming because it’s about to run you over my friend, yikes! Boarding call: If you’re looking for a simple Burley based blend that will bring an uncomplicated but poignant smoking experience, then climb abroad. The travel advisory of note: Do not be misled by the humdrum conservative packaging nor the homey kith and kin branding, Five Brothers will stand you up right now, making sure you take notice of its shaggy machismo.

Coming at you with full head of steam is a one-dimensional recipe of 100% raw, scraggly, potent Kentucky Burley. Five Brothers’ blend is a forceful experience that will be most definitely remembered by the stout-hearted rail-riders or painfully forgotten by the walking wounded. Going back to the late 1800’s the five Finzer brothers of Louisville introduced this all-powerful iron horse to the world of pipe smoking, perhaps originating the well-known fact that down in Kentucky they don’t mess around when the subject is Burley. So, jumping yet another OTC ride, the observations of my initial raggedy hobo passage have finally rolled safely into the station.

Although originating in Louisville, like most blends under the sun this pouched product is now owned and manufactured by STG in Denmark using the original Finzer recipe. Whether the strain of burley present is the actual crop that Finzer formally used is debatable. If nothing else the tobacco tendered must be of Kentucky seed at least. Five Brothers’ unassailable character is remarkably consistent with the ornery temperament one encounters with the Bluegrass native crusty Old Joe Krantz.

Rolling away from the station, as I released the seal of the pouch, a dark wooly ZZ Top beard of tobacco lunged forth like an enraged Kentucky wildcat. A gust fragranced by deep spicy, earthy hardwood sharply rolled past my nostrils leaving a shadowing trail of chocolaty floral aroma. I think the correct reference in today’s cultural slang is this stuff is “diesel”; pungent and strong.

Grabbing an initial pinch from this defiant heap, I found that the cuts of tobacco are so densely packed and sliced into ultra-fine shag that the awakened clumps of brown moss engulfed my fingers in protest to the disturbance. One must skillfully pull these gnarly bales of Burley apart in preparation for the bowl, which is somewhat of a challenge given the springiness of these tenacious matted patches. Straight from the pouch the moisture is so dry the packing encompasses a methodical process of disentanglement, stuffing, re-stuffing, and finally topping loosely for the impending burn.

Moving down the line with the boiler stoked and wheels a-hummin, I withdrew my Bic to ignite this bad boy. Instantly a decisive hit of flavorful smoke came rolling forth, moving fast, and punching a full, strong, toasty, and rash wallop. A ruddy twist of ancient earthy wood bounced densely, being charged with an impactful thrust of robust spice to be precise. Whoa! There must be Dark Fired in the strain’s DNA as a primal smoky zest reeked havoc on the back of my throat and sinus cavity. The latter was soon followed by a monstrous and rocking smack of vitamin N madness.

On the initial legs of this journey my pipe was tightly clenched as I constantly wrestled with a rough and harsh texture of the sooty smoke. Eventually, with a few more miles and bowls into the trek, things seemed to ease up as this rocking train and myself re-centered successfully on the scorching rails. Namely, the rush of this experience gradually mellowed. A softer sweetened offering of delightful Burley flavor came forward, accented by native traces of dark sugar, cocoa, and tart-sour pungency. Moreover, a charming undertone of roasted nuttiness shined through splendidly.

With a much slower smoking tempo, I discovered that Five Brothers finds tranquility as the blend continued to become progressively docile. Prolonged and exaggerated sips pacified the stark raciness that was jostling my preliminary ride. In its replacement, the finishing tone morphed into a gentle floral note that was almost minty/evergreen, making the experience pleasant and interesting to say the least.

Respectfully acknowledging how to properly experience Five Brothers, I kicked back in my seat to thoroughly enjoy the remainder of this ride. A first-class ticket reminding me of the need to properly adjust the smoking approach based upon what the tobacco is delivering, which can be dynamic at times. This strong full-flavored mixture, however, is very monochromatic, down-to-earth, and consistent in nature.

Some final technical notes, Five Brothers burns unusually fast yet is cool and dry, promoting no bite. Nonetheless as I stated, too strong of a cadence will poke the bear of roughness given the heightened meaty spice and virility of the blend. Additionally, the room note is not to be missed. The immediate and soon thereafter, the entirety of the smoking area fills with a very strong essence of heavy smoky soured wood; it’s a true Burley. A heavenly perfume by my accounting but the wife did not share in my zeal for this brawny “stench”.

Summarizing this affair, the Five Brother locomotive can be a coarse and jolting smoke of a ride. As you see it took a Burley enthusiast like me a series of bowls to adapt to the optimum smoking method. I do not rate this mixture as a standard all-day option unless you possess special pipe smoking superpowers.

Furthermore, I would not recommend this mixture to the inexperienced piper based upon the aforenoted adventure. However, it does mix well with Smoker’s Pride Black Cavendish as an alternative pass. The matrix of flavor really softens the overt candied sweetness of the Cavendish while enhancing a smoother presentation of the Burley. There is also a nice licorice like accent that seems to emerge in their fusion, so there you go neophytes.

Recommendation: Give this one a try with the knowledge of my OTC trial observations, especially if you have a passion for tasty simple Burley. It really turned out to be a pleasing passage despite the initial thrashing I withstood when the train rolled over me as it chugged forward towards its ultimate destination, the land of notable OTC Burleys.

Pipe Used: Comer's Briar

Age When Smoked: Fresh

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	enyapynnod (1)	2020-10-06		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

This stuff is dry, but I like my tobacco on the dry side. Smells like burley. Looks and reminds me of Le Petit Robin on the pouch note, but doesn't taste like it. Definitely has strength on the flavor and nicotine department.

Pipe Used: Morgan Bones billiard

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Le Petit Robin.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Old Shoe (25)	2020-06-20		Very Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild	Tolerable

All the scary reviews on this weed are really needless if you take it for what it REALLY is. Straight, nicely cut Burley that should be smoked for two reasons: A piper who enjoys straight Burley, or otherwise to cut other blends to give them some oomph. Think of it this way, why would anyone smoke straight Perique? Get the idea? I will admit the reviews on this one are certainly the funniest and most entertaining! The dying plastic flowers in the house comment by another reviewer was uproarious!

Pipe Used: 1960’s Charatan

Age When Smoked: Gifted recently

Similar Blends: Quality blending Burley..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BingCrosby (161)	2020-03-24		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

If you want something mellow and simple but with a nice nic kick.. this is it! Very light but pleasant pure burley flavor.. it is strong.. it is cheap.. it performs well.. and what a great mixing tobacco.. I like to mix it with lighter Virginia based blends with a similar cut.. it turns Germain's royal Jersey with perique, for example, into a satisfying 4 star blend.. also great for breaking in pipes.. take it slow and sip it.. an old blend that deserves more respect..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pappy1975 (13)	2020-02-12		Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Now, from the start, you need to know I’m a burley lover through and through. It's a dry shag quite suitable to hand-rolling if you do that sort of thing, but is a fine pipe tobacco. It's definitely dry. I don’t feel the need to hydrate it, but I prefer my tobacco a little on the drier side, so your mileage may vary there. Nutty. Woody. The aroma is nice. A well-appreciated dose of vitamin N when I’m looking for it. My 5 bros have never even hinted about biting. This isn't boutique tobacco. It isn't my favorite by a long shot. I think it's a little pricy for what it is, but you can catch it on sale. My favorite application of this is to blend it with an aro to moderate its flavor strength and add some punch. Wait, no, my actual favorite application of this stuff is to get an equal amount of D&R Three Sails shag VA, and blend the two 50/50, then pack it tight in a cob. It's worth trying. I think it's worth having around.

Pipe Used: Many, this stuff loves a cob

Age When Smoked: New to a year or two old

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

Similar Blends: This is similar to several of the D&R burley offerings that come in shag cut..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Seabhac (5)	2020-02-07		Strong	Strong	Medium to Full	Strong

Go for TASTE not smoke! Sit down and, unless you're accustomed to strong tobacco, don't smoke this while you work etc. Slow that cadence down. Employ light quick draws and expect some re-lights. This tobacco can be quite a refreshing departure from your typical topped/ cased burley. The smell upon opening the pouch should be familiar to anyone who has ever opened a pack of cigarettes. The taste on the light is slight nutty burley. As it burns the savory earth becomes very apparent. It washes across the pallete leaving a soft, salty, nutty flavor on the surface of the tongue. If taken slowly and gently, the earth yields to a satisfying tingle- much like experienced with a perique blend. This, of course, could be very uncomfortable if puffed hard. Retrohale yields a tingling cigarette top with a nutty burley. The nicotine is moderate if smoked slowly and gently. Having something sweet to drink in hand could help with any nic experienced. The flavor is consistent through to the bottom of the Bowl. Not a bad smoke if smoked with care. Bonus: it can usually be purchased locally.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Legend

Age When Smoked: Just purchased

Purchased From: Local

Similar Blends: Haunted Bookshop but a lot punchier and more earth/ cigarette on the pallete..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ATW (110)	2019-12-31		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is actually.some good quality stuff. When I first opened the pouch it, WB Cut dip came to mind with the very stringy shag cut. It does had a casing like molasses or something with a dark sweetness but it's not obvious. The flavor is slightly sweet, very spicy and at times, bitter. The nicotine is strong enough to keep me satisfied but not over powering. Burns cool and clean.

I think this is only has one type of burley and that is dark burley. Dark burley is cured and fermented like cigar leaf which helps give it its bold spicy profile. This is a bit more smooth then C & D's blending dark burley but the same flavor profile.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RonR (85)	2018-10-16		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Strong

3rdguy

Straight up burly. Up front and unapologetic. Your fancy Virginia blends sit down to pee when this is added to your rotation. I get a kick out of people reviewing this blend like it surprised them and proceed to rate it low. How unrefined it is. If I smoke it fast I spill my caramel latte. You can't smoke it all day. An unrefined burley caught me off guard with it's strength. Nicotine was so strong I passed out on my cat while watching The View. Rubbish! Beautiful shag cut. Pack it tight and you are set.

I will now go review 3 Cherry flavored aromatics and complain about the cherry taste.

Pipe Used: Cobs and briars.

Age When Smoked: New

Similar Blends: Semois blends..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lower Alabama Piper (15)	2018-08-25		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Very Strong

Five brothers pipe tobacco This is the first time I've ever smoked this tobacco. Upon opening the pouch I was expecting some really harsh smells but to my surprise for me it smells pretty good absolutely no topping smell just fresh straight up tobacco. This is as easy to light as firing up a cigarette. The strands of this tobacco or very long very easy to pack in a pipe. My first Bowl I packed a little loose and it did smoke a little harsh. The second bowl I packed a little tight got a lot more pleasant smoking enjoyment because it's smoked a little slower and less hot. This particular brand is definitely not for the beginner. The nicotine hit for me was not that bad as I was expecting a kick me in the ass nicotine hit but it never happened. If you like straight up Burley flavor tobacco unadulterated this would probably be right up your alley. I can definitely see where this can easily be blended with other tobacco's to enhance other flavors. This is a very full flavored tobacco don't expect any toppings if there is any I can't taste it or smell it. This really pairs well with a strong cup of black coffee. the nuttiness of the burley did not come through for me until about halfway through the bowl after that all you can taste was the nuttiness of the Burley. This tobacco Burns a little on the warm side too hot outside. This is definitely a sipping tobacco that is not to be smoked like a freight train at all. It is more mellow than I thought it would be for a full flavor tobacco that is as strong as it is. even when you're sipping this tobacco it will smoke like a coal-fired freight train of the cowboy days. I cannot compare this to any other tobacco because I don't know of anything this even remotely comes close to tasting like this one. I'm definitely going to put some back and let it age just out of curiosity to see what happens. It will come in the pouch bone dry not crispy dry. In my humble opinion this type of tobacco is for the experienced tobacco smoker. I will be purchasing more of this in the future.

Pipe Used: Missouri meerschaum Country Gentleman/Legend

Age When Smoked: New pouch

Purchased From: Pipesandcigars.com

Similar Blends: Cannot compare it to anything this tobacco stands alone..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Theosprey247 (73)	2016-03-29		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

If you like your burley straight up or your craving nicotine then 5 brothers is for you. Lights easily and stays lit with minimal relights. It can get harsh if you huff n puff like a big bad wolf, but is otherwise smooth. Is great for add a little oomph to aromatic blends, but is good by itself.

Pipe Used: Cobs

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Pipesandcigars.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Amsteracqua (24)	2015-12-29		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This tobacco is a truly honest and cheap. but I think who is necessary demystify about you nicotine strength: Cause When I was a beginner always heard about this tobacco (and some others), i heard about be so strong, well, for me your strength is medium. I will buy other times because is pure burley and I like a lot of the your rusticity. Today we have not any other tobacco like this... Are there better? Is certain! But your cost benefit is almost incomparable.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	natibo (169)	2015-10-08		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Mild	Tolerable

I rarely smoke this by itself, but it's not that bad alone. Has some burley nuttiness to it. I prefer to use this as a mixing blend for aromatics. it has very little flavor on its won, so it is perfect for giving aromatics a nic hit. I put the package in a food processor and then sprinkle and mix as needed.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Clinthulhu (8)	2015-09-15		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Extra Full	Very Strong

Okay this review will be two-fold because anyone who can smoke Five Brothers straight out of the pouch is the most bad a$$ person you have ever met. This stuff is just straight BAD by itself. Smoking this stuff by itself is like getting punched in the throat. So as a stand alone tobacco I would be the first to say this is just horrible.

But.......

After having picked up a pouch at the tobacco shop I tried two or three bowls and was about to throw it away when I came up with the idea to mix it with something I enjoyed. The big selling point for Five Brothers is the nicotine. As a cigarette smoker I find that many times after a pipe I still want a cigarette. So the best way to solve this problem is to use FB to kick up the nic in another blend. I generally smoke Half and Half all the time so I got to thinking that maybe mixing in a little bit of this would help crank up the nicotine in Half and Half. Boy was I right!

I put almost a full bag of Five Brothers in a mason jar and then filled the rest of it with half and half, about a 40/60 mix... Dumped it into a bowl, tossed it around a bit and then put it back in the jar to "season" for a few days... About a week later the moisture content of the two had blended together pretty well and I tried a bowl.

This "mix" has become my typical Morning Mix with a cup of strong coffee on the ride to work. So as a stand alone tobacco Five Brothers is horrific but mixed with something that gives it a little flavor and mellows it out a bit seems to be the secret to making this stuff work.

Pipe Used: Mastercraft Briar

Age When Smoked: Various

Purchased From: Cheap Tobacco

Similar Blends: Nothing else on earth....

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	guitar2mw (92)	2015-05-09		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

This isn't your regular "drug store" blend. It isn't fancy. It isn't heavily cased, and it isn't going to have you tasting things that may or may not be there. It isn't complex in the slightest. It doesn't come in a fancy tin or claim to be the world's greatest tobacco.

What it IS: straight up dark burley with a massive nicotine hit. Seriously, my nicotine tolerance is HIGH (smoked 2 packs a day for years) and this stuff had my head spinning. Upon opening the pouch, I was a bit skeptical. I mean, this stuff is a fine shag cut blend that reminded me of Drum rolling tobacco in texture. It was dry as a bone as others have noted, but that was quickly remedied with a pouch button. I have smoked this stuff in meers, briar, and cobs, and I must say that I enjoy it the most in a meer. It really tastes good to me! I was afraid it would taste like a cigarette, but instead I was greeted with a hearty burley flavor with a hint of nuttiness. It was strong and flavorful: just like straight burley should be. I'll be stocking up on it since it is cheap.

Word of warning: make sure to add some moisture to keep it from biting like a junkyard dog. Also note that it burns super fast, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your time management skills. If you are sensitive to nicotine, I would recommend trying something a little more subtle.

Pipe Used: Meer, cobs, various briars

Age When Smoked: Fresh from the pack

Purchased From: CJ's Liquor and Tobacco Shop, Beckley, WV

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darth 69 (117)	2015-02-19		Strong	None Detected	Very Mild	Tolerable

An air cured type, cigarette shag cut with some birdseye stems. I didn't find this as strong as others but it is a more robust nicotine smoke in general. Actually, I found the pouch aroma and taste somewhat flat and almost neutral. It has a slight straw or blonde hay aroma both in the pouch and smoked and that's about it. For this type of leaf blend I consider this rather smooth which leads me to think the leaf may be toasted that mellows it's character. Contrast this with Cornell & Diehls rather crude straight burleys which are strong in nicotine and harsh in character. Other than the higher nicotine this is a rather boring smoke. If one is after potent shag pipe tobacco then Gawith and Hoggarth's dark-fired shags have much more character and perhaps a bit more nicotine.

Pipe Used: Corncob

Age When Smoked: New

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Knightsmoker (216)	2015-02-17		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a simple straightforward air cured burley. I get the usual nuttiness found in burley and some basic earthy/dirt notes nothing more. I do however, clearly pick up on a sweetness that burley just cannot give so a mild casing has been used to sweeten it up just a little. This is a rougher smoke then many others like G &H's Kendal KY for example. I find the nic. to be about at that level. Not nearly as high as many indicate here. Every rope and plug that I have smoked has more nic. in it to me. It will bite if you push it but there is no need to do that as what you taste on the first puff will be all you get out of this blend. A nice cheap burley that is a set it and forget it type of smoke. However, for me I think there is no need to revisit it as many other straight burley's are just better suited to my palate.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pete (3)	2014-11-24		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable

Five Brothers is a straightforward, no-nonsense, burley pipe tobacco. It's a bit too strong in the pipe by itself for me, but it does make an excellent blending tobacco. I blend Black Cavendish, Virginia, and just a touch, of Latakia and I have a great smoke. That being said, if you're an occasional RYO smoker, this tobacco is perfect for that. It's dry, shag-cut, and burns evenly. Five Brothers is a very unique tobacco.

Pipe Used: Savinelli briar

Age When Smoked: brand new

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

Similar Blends: Half and Half, Carter-Hall, and Prince Albert.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (395)	2014-10-26		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Extra Full	Unnoticeable

Full tobacco taste, mostly burley, use it to break in estate pipes I have bought and sterilized. Reminds me of cigarette tobacco. Strong nicotine content.

Pipe Used: Corn Cob, Estate

Age When Smoked: Unknown

Purchased From: CI

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Hybrid12 (26)	2014-09-29		Very Strong	Medium	Full	Tolerable

This is not a tobacco that you buy for the flavor, because frankly it doesn't taste that great. This however is a tobacco that has been around a long time and the reason is it is cheap and it gives you a major dose of Vitamin N. I keep it handy when I need a good nic fix.

Pipe Used: corn cob

Age When Smoked: out of the pouch dry as a bone

Purchased From: pipes and cigars

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Der Pfeifenraucher (71)	2014-05-23		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable

I smoked a bowl of Five Brothers last night, and a bowl of Five Brothers smoked me. Crispy dry in the pouch, super fine shag cut. Easy to pack and light but burns out so quickly that you have to drag like hell on it to keep the cherry lit. It either burns hot or goes out, no slow and steady with this one. By the end of the bowl my face was but a charred remains of it's glorious self. The heat radiating from the bowl lit my beard on fire, quite unusual. The nicotine bomb reduced my faculties to stumbling, drooling, and babbling. In short; super stuff, not so much on it's own, but for mixing with all those sappy sweet aromatics. In a 50% by volume blend FB really adds burley nut to the flavor of your favorite aromatic and increases the nic appeal dramatically. Right now I have some FB steeping in a tin of CAO black. The mixture looks ridiculous but smokes like a dream.

Update: Downgraded to 2 star. By itself there is no pleasure in smoking this weed. Mixed with an aro it's OK but why not just get a better aro? Can't place it on the same level as other 3 star tobaccos such as Skandinavik, Erinmore, some Dunhills, etc. Probably should downgrade further but I like the way it spices up a weak aromatic.

Pipe Used: Grabow royal duke

Age When Smoked: 30 days

Purchased From: smoke shop

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HCraven (11)	2014-05-16		Strong	None Detected	Mild	Strong

Alright, I"m the first to admit that this is not a fair review, as I've only ever smoked (or should I say choked down) a few bowls of this, so take it for what it's worth. I'll also say it's possible that I got a bad pouch, because everyone else describes this as a shag cut, which it was, but mine had a large proportion of what appeared to be sliced stems, small medallions of something that didn't look like anything I'd smoked before. If this is what it's supposed to look like, I can understand why the package says, "Pipe Tobacco!": it's probably the somewhat irritated response to the frequently asked question, "what the heck is this crap?!"

Anyway, it was dry as a bone, as universally noted, burns fast and a little hot, and offers little more than a quick but solid hit of nicotine for the bother.

Again, I may have got a bad pouch, but to me this is the dregs of the pipe tobacco (!) world. If you like it, that's fine, but if you aren't sure, I don't recommend spending a lot of time trying to figure out why others do, just move on.

Pipe Used: MM Washington cob

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	oldorder (22)	2014-04-08		Strong	Mild	Mild	Tolerable

Just came back to pipe smoking after 45 years. Looking for some stronger stuff to help me get to sleep. Really enjoy Five Brothers, along with Night Cap, Dark Bird's Eye, etc. Wanted something that was strong yet flavor enjoyable. I found Five Brothers easy to pack. Just roll up a plug or tube and pack it tight. Burns to the bottom with hardly a relite. The aroma is ok and I can smoke two or three bowls to relax and hit the sack. Have added it to a few others, but enjoy straight the most.

Pipe Used: Unfiltered Patriot and various briars.

Age When Smoked: fresth

Purchased From: 4noggins

Similar Blends: Other quick burning shags. Cheaper than most, but less flavor, though not bad..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kraft1994 (54)	2014-03-05		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

The first thing that threw me off about Five Brothers was the shag cut. In the pouch it looks like high quality cigarette rolling tobacco. And... it pretty much is. As a pipe tobacco its a little odd. It has a good burly flavor to it but the room note reminds me of cigarette smoke. However it dose have a nice flavor to it.

I decided to roll up a cigarette with it and its an pretty good OTC pipe tobacco but a great cigarette tobacco. However this is a pipe forum so I'll leave it at that.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SecretAgentMan (27)	2013-12-03		Very Strong	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

Harsh, papery-tasting, bitter, strong. You could smoke this if you tried mixing it with something. But why ruin a good pipe tobacco? Did I mention it left an extremely bitter aftertaste?

Pipe Used: MM Washington

Age When Smoked: 1 week from purchase

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Archer_Guy (2)	2013-03-22		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

Early on in my pipe smoking adventure, I was looking for a good tobacco with some strength. I was used to smoking cigars, including double Ligero strength. The aromatics I had been trying were not cutting it as far as my satisfaction with pipe smoking. Just making everyone else happy.

I owe Byron Oost of The Liquor Store in Kentucky with getting me started in a good way with this potential volcano of a tobacco. I had contacted him via a review of Five Brothers I had read, and he took the time to discuss with me this and other tobaccos he carried. I am so glad he did.

This is one of my favorite pipe tobacco's.

How to extend the burn time and enjoyment of this toby I enjoy it straight in a good sized cob. The ritual that Byron taught me is to take a pipe full amount of tobacco, and hold it in the cup of your hand. Then get you mouth close to the tobacco and breath lightly on it. Kind of like an 'aaahh'. The same as you would breathe on your eyeglasses to create a fog so you could wipe them clean. Once or twice will do it. It will absord just the right amount of moisture. Then pack it into your pipe. tight. really press it down. I pack this twice as tight as any other tobacco. Don't worry. It will burn just fine! right down to a fine ash that just pours out of you pipe. This usually doubles my burn time.

If I want a quicker smoke, I just pack it tight straight from the pouch. Love it! Pack it like you normally would with a fancy tin, and this will burn like a forest fire. This is just a great 'old codger' burley with no bite at all that I had seen on my great-grandfathers porch.

To me this is not overwhelmingly strong, but has a good body. YOu know you have had a smoke. Where it also shines is as a blending toby. add it to whatever to stoke it up a bit, or burn better. I like to fold and stuff a flake of Petersens Irish Flake, and then sprinkle a little Five Brothers on top of it as kindling to get the furnace going!

(Have not tried the STG product just yet, still working through my stash that I acquired before the acquisition from Pinkerton.)

Also, if you have a pipe with a bit of ghosting, or from a goopy aromatic, just burn a bowl or two of Five Brothers will usually clean the pipe right up.

My favorite blend with this that I keep on my desk is one part (by volume) Five Brothers to one part Carter Hall with 1/2 part Perique. Great smoke. Good Vitamin N, flavor of real tobacco that burns with no attention required to a fine ash. This is an outdoor mix though, my adult daughter stated that this mix smelled like a "Shreveport Casino". oh well, sure is enjoyable and keeps the mosquitoes away!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kilmarnock Piper (250)	2013-02-23		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable

Got some of this in a free sample promotion. As pipe tobacco, it is a very plain, basic, no-frills burley, and I did not think it was as strong as its reputation suggests-try Cotton Boll. I also RYO sometimes, and this makes a very plain, basic, no-frills cigarette! I can't think of any particular strong or weak points, but for versatility will give it three stars. I think my main use for it will be as a blender in my own RYO blends, which I sometimes soak in a sweet liqueur such as Drambuie or Frangelico (not too much). This would be good with some Thai shag and a nice Turkish, drizzled in Frangelico and allowed to meld. As mentioned, fine in a pipe or rolled by itself, and free of the goop that often plagues OTC pouch tobaccos.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PeterD (91)	2013-01-06		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

...I do not find this shag tobacco as strong as many others and while not complex..it does deliver a fine smoke. Actually, its cut, appearance, and texture is dead-on to Bali Shag...it fact, the taste is exactly what I get with Bali.

It does have high level "N"...and while I prefer a strong Virginia shag...I like the occasional trip down "Burley Lane". Pinkerton Tobacco use to manufacture this and they may still...however, my most recent purchase says it is imported by STG who owns Lane, Pinkerton,...etc.

As with all my shag cut tobaccos, I keep shag moist and smoke it in group 5 and larger size pipe. All-in-all, a very nice smoke!

...a pipe is to be savored...

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	brogreggblues (45)	2012-08-10		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

My pouch of 5 Brothers arrived drier than any other blend I've tried. Dry and crunchy as autumn leaves.

Not much taste, but oh, the nicotine! As a blender: the only thing I'll blend it with, is the egg shells and coffee grounds in the trash basket.

Not recommended as a pipe tobacco, but maybe it will work in the compost heap.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2011-08-12		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Five Brothers is a shag cut old school Burley. It arrives in a pouch and is a very straightforward Burley with no complexity. I find it ready to smoke out of the pouch. Yes, it is strong and for me that's ok. It simply is boring and there are far better Burley's on the market. The reason why I rated it as "somewhat recommended" is because FB makes for a great addition to any blend in which a pipe man wants to add strength without altering the flavor too much. I always keep some FB on hand for this reason. I too, like Raffles below, add it to Prince Albert with great results as the two blends seem made for each other.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Funn (16)	2010-02-09		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I was scared to try this at first hearing reports of dizzyness,weakness in the kness, etc. But I finally ordered a pouch. It didn't effect me the way many others have said. I tried it in a Legend Cob, which I recommend for first timers. This is pure unflavored burley at it's best.Real unadulterated tobacco taste. I can exhale through the nose after the charring light,would not suggest this after you get the pipe going though. I find it to be palate,mind and body clearing. It is strong so sip it accordingly. I've mixed this w/PA and I could feel the nicotene content raised considerably. This is a mild tasting tobacco to me if one takes their time. Pack it tightly or it will burn like toilet paper. It comes in a shag cut reminding me of Holmes' Persian slipper. First part of the bowl is mild but it gains intensity as the bowl progresses. It burns & tastes at times like a Va. without the bite. Will keep this as a palate cleanser and a change from my usual Burley, Va. English and Aromatic tobaccos. Reminds me of an old country store and Mark Twain. Recommended for experienced pipe smokers and experimenting novices. Don't toss it! Wait for your tastes to mature.Smoke it in a pipe with a small bowl!!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JLong (36)	2009-12-12		Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable

This is one of my favorite tobaccos amongst all tobaccos and the best drug store blend I have ever smoked. I love everything about it. The taste is excellent and the nicotene buzz is awesome.

It could use some hydrating I suppose but for on the go stuff and light smoking, the dryness level is perfect.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BigWhiteWilly (10)	2009-07-30		Overwhelming	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

OMG! This stuff kicks your buck. I've been smoking a pipe for almost 40 years and it still buckled my knees. I've smoked 5 or 6 bowls in a corncob(reserved for burley blends) and the nicotine high was great each time. The best use of this stuff is for mixing into other blends to kick them up a notch or 2, or 6! I recently tried some C&D Haunted Bookshop and liked it well enough, but when I added about 20% of Five Brothers, it really turned it on. I couldn't smoke this everyday, but it's a great mixer and it's great when you need a quick tobacco "fix". Use caution even when it's mixed. All Hail Mistress Nicotine.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WillardFan (90)	2009-07-24		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

OK, I went to a lot of trouble to find this stuff, where I live in Indiana, and I have to tell you that it wasn't what I was expecting. My tobacconist told me that this isn't pipe tobacco. It's a RYO blend, like Tops and Bugler. Before my wonderous appreciation for the pipe, I was a twenty year smoker of cigarettes, and this tobacco is definitely in that category. I didn't care for the taste, rather bland actually. Burned OK, only required one light, and no icky dottle. Now this stuff is pretty strong - nicotine wise - it really left my head swimming, and I didn't inhale either. Unless your into self-flogging, or some other form of self abuse, I would skip this one. Now where is that pouch of Sir Walter?

I'm giving this one a single star because believe it or not, I've smoked worse stuff than this, but that was by accident...

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	AcworthAl (38)	2009-06-12		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable

I thought Five Brothers was a Hip-Hop band, boy was I wrong. I purchased a carton of this early this week. My first impression is this is cigarette tobacco, but what the heck. I loaded it into a Corn Cobb, for some reason that seemed like the best pipe to smoke this stuff. Boy was I pleasantly surprised. This is a real nice smoke. It did not bite and has a good deal of nicotine. It has one short coming, it smokes very fast. This is a great early morning smoke with your first cup of coffee. It smokes cool and somewhat sweet, burns to an ash and has a better than expected room note. On top of all of that it is very inexpensive. This would be a wonderful tobacco for a person wanting to stop smoking cigarettes. However, I doubt a first time pipe smoker could handle this stuff, as it is strong and if one were to take too big a slip, it could be tragic. 2-3 update. Great smoke

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Redd (117)	2008-04-09		Very Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Update Nov 15th 2012 This is still a good clean smoke

Don't be scared of this Blend. This blend is an Old American blend. You can roll it in paper you can pack it. this blend reminds me of Three Castles blend. Which today is only used for Rolling Cigaerttes. It was not unsual for geanral stores to carry lose shag cut tobacco for rolling and packing in a pipe. Smokes well and dry. It may not be in a fancy package but this blend isn't about that. It just about smoking. It can have a little nutty flavor which will come and go. It is an all day smoke. this blend is not for the armchair Snob pipe smokers reading Dickens. This one is for the Hard working guys who smoke while they work. And need some nicotine to get their sails up to finsh a days work. Smokes great in all pipes from Corn Cob to my 1954 Dunhil pipe. I would say that out of all the old drugstore blends other then Granger or Sir Walter Raliegh, 5 Bros is fun stuff. Although I never saw this in a drugstore. get it while you can. I am sure it won't be around for long. Also great for breaking in a new pipe.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-02-10		Very Strong	Very Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong

After repeated steers from Gnossos and Morleysson on this one, I finally broke down and procured four pouches from Mars Cigar and decided to see what all the fuss was about.

The comparison to OJK is probably approriate. Like OJK this one is right on the edge of harsh but never quite gets there. OJK is a bit more complex though as Five Brothers is straight up, in your face, uber strong burley. Three things will immediately attract your attention about Five Brothers. First is the very unusual cut (a combination of shag and birdseye). It packs well and burns a little on the quick side but not hot or bitey. The second thing is the absolutely amazing nicotine wollop. Shaking hands, hiccups and the ability to hear my beard grow seem to be common side effects. Pair this one up with a good cup of coffee first thing in the morning and you're good to go all day long. Finally, and perhaps most remarkably this blend has an extremely smooth and smokeable quality about it. Given the nicotine wollop I almost instinctively braced for a harsh or overly bitter taste. It never came. This is good straight up old school burley with enough nicotine to put a horse on its backside.

Not for the faint of heart, the beginner or the non-burleyphile but a stalwart addition to my rotation. I will undoubtedly keep this one on hand.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	OSR (78)	2006-01-02		Overwhelming	None Detected	Overwhelming	Strong

This tobacco is a throwback to years gone by. Shag cut, strong burley tobacco for smoking, chewing or other medicinal purposes.

Those tall, small diameter bowls (stacks) are the best for this sort of cut. If the bowl is wider than your pinky finger then it's probably too wide.

Other reviewers have described the smoking experience very well. This is strong tobacco with no frills.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-08-31		Overwhelming	None Detected	Overwhelming	Extra Strong

The appearance of this tobacco is that of a cigarette cut with birdseye flecks of the leaf stem. I have rolled this into a cigarette, and it makes for a very tasty smoke. It is not overpowering in this form due to the smaller surface area of a cigarette as compared to a pipe.

In a pipe, this is a very powerful and strong tobacco. The taste and room aroma are very cigar like. It is definitely one of the strongest tobaccos that I have ever tried. In the pipe, it is a pure nicotine hit. If you are trying to cut down or quit cigarettes, this will help. It is not necessary to inhale to get a full dose of nicotine. In fact, it is too strong to inhale unless you want to knock yourself out. If you smoke cigarettes, there will be no need to reach for a cigarette after smoking this. There is nothing esoteric to this blend. It is a pure cigar like nicotine loaded power bar. If you make it to the bottom of the bowl, you will find nothing but a dark gray ash. It is inexpensive and may be worth sampling to see how powerful, and strong a tobacco can be.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MatB (5)	2022-09-06		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This is an interesting tobacco. I’m not sure that it’s my favorite codger blend, but I never see myself not having some on hand.

There isn’t much room for error with this blend. Packed well and smoked with care, it’s actually a mellow, pleasant tasting burley with a satisfying vitamin-n boost. Puffed quickly or packed sub-optimally, it burns hot and turns acrid. It took me awhile to figure out the best way to load my pipe, but once I did, I found Five Brothers to be quite rewarding with nutty, earthy notes and a subtle, sweet spice. This, and its interesting history and low price, keep me coming back.

It’s a surprisingly versatile tobacco, as well. Historically, Five Brothers was advertised as making a good chew. Out of curiosity, I tried it—I guess it works, but that’s not something I would normally do. Likewise, out of curiosity, I rolled a few 5Bros cigarettes to puff on without inhaling, and found that to be a delightful and convenient way to smoke it—I don’t inhale smoke and would rather load a small pipe, but I’ll keep this option in mind, as it was far more interesting and flavorful than some of the little cigars I’ve had. Five Brothers also makes a good blending addition to enhance nicotine strength without changing flavor too much. And, once again, its low price is quite conducive to experimenting.

All told, I was really surprised by Five Brothers. I love aged single malts, craft beer, fancy coffee, and exotic pipe tobaccos as much as the next person, but sometimes I crave the unrefined, blue-collar qualities that can only be found in cheap bourbon, beer that won its blue ribbons in the 1800’s, gas station coffee, and Five Brothers shag.

Pipe Used: Cobs

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2019-12-29		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Straight, unadulterated shag cut burley. Tinder dry in the pouch. Smells of good tobacco, a little earthy and nutty. Pack your pipe full and tight, smoke it slowly and you're rewarded with a pleasant, good old fashioned straight tobacco flavor. Nutty and woody with some natural hints of cocoa. Burns down fast, even when smoking it slowly due to the squirrel-hair fine shag cut. Room note is nutty, slightly sweet but sharp like a cigarette. Nicotine is similar to smoking an unfiltered hand rolled cigarette, on the higher end of medium to strong. The bowl tends to finish with a hot, ashy flavor. Overall this is good for what it is, I'd rather smoke this than most OTC blends. Can be a mixer to add body and strength to other blends. Solid 3 stars for a very inexpensive, uncomplicated but good quality straight tobacco.

Age When Smoked: Fresh from the pouch

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2019-04-22		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

If someone wants to bum a cigarette from you, always have one of these ready rolls handy. Better yet, have some Picayune ready rolls on hand. Not likely they'll come back for another but then again, they might want to tough it out if they have a comfortable chair to sit down in.

This is some strong, straight Burley & is good to stoke in a pipe or RYO. I rather like very strong tobaccos on occasion as well as a strong cigar since I don't inhale anything. I like to keep my lungs free of "asphalt." This doesn't have any flavor to offer other than just plain old Burley tobacco taste which is sufficient if you're just after a Vitamin N blast.

This is simply a no frills, straight up Kentucky Burley that only takes a few puffs to get you going but when you get there, you may not remember where you came from. Excellent blend for what it is with a good price tag. I liked it & sometimes use it to top off a wimpy blend. Warning: Smoke only on a full stomach if you're not used to strong stuff like Five Brothers or you might be headed to Barf City to toss your cookies.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Fresh Pouch

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

Similar Blends: Strong, Straight Burleys...

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2019-03-03		Very Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

If someone wants to bum a cigarette from you, always have one of these ready rolls handy. Better yet, have some Picayune ready rolls on hand. Not likely they'll come back for another but then again, they might want to tough it out if they have a comfortable chair to sit down in. This is some strong, straight Burley & is good to stoke in a pipe or RYO. I rather like very strong tobaccos on occasion as well as a strong cigar since I don't inhale anything. I like to keep my lungs free of "asphalt." This doesn't have any flavor to offer other than just plain old Burley tobacco taste which is sufficient if you're just after a Vitamin N blast.

This is simply a no frills, straight up Kentucky Burley that only takes a few puffs to get you going but when you get there, you may not remember where you came from. Excellent blend for what it is with a good price tag. I liked it & sometimes use it to top off a wimpy blend. Warning: Smoke only on a full stomach if you're not used to strong stuff like Five Brothers or you might be headed to Barf City to toss your cookies.

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: Fresh Pouch

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mosessupposes (11)	2017-08-24		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

Very good on its own if you're in the mood for an unadulterated smoke. Really shines when used to cut a more expensive aromatic. It's barely noticeable in taste, depending on how much you use, and helps keep it lit.

Pipe Used: Cobs mostly

Age When Smoked: Just purchased

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

Similar Blends: Nothing I've smoked, not being a heavy burley smoker..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	whitebriar (31)	2017-08-11		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable to Strong

this really isn't a 'review'--five brothers has been reviewed enough here--just an observation or two-- it is Burley--no thing but burley--it's strongish, full flavored and you don't need to analyze it-- if you like burley and/or burley blends you may want to give it a try-- i had smoked this several years ago--seeing this review page i decided to re-visit five brothers--after almost six years in a jar, it was still the same---i liked it--i wouldn't choose it as my only or favorite tobacco--(that honor goes to Old Joe)--a couple of bowls a month will do me-- i smoked it in an old, but lightly used cob--only loaded up half a bowl--moisturized it by breathing into the bowl before the light--i got about 20 minutes out of half a bowl--i sip very lightly with very little fire--for my tastes this provides more flavor, no matter what the tobacco-- slightly above moderately high strength and full flavored--nic level wasn't all that high, but then again it is about six years under glass-- i think i may get a sleeve of it from P&C and use it to amp up some blends that leave me wanting a bit (or a lot) more

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: six years

Purchased From: can't remember

Similar Blends: nothing comes to mind.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	gahdzila (61)	2017-03-20		Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Thin short shag, with a peppering of chunks of birdseye. 5 Brothers always seems to have a random piece or two stem of stem in the pouch that somehow escaped through the machining unscathed (ordinarily, one would take points away for something like that....but I think it adds character with this blend). Fairly dry in the pouch, but the new STG has a bit more moisture than the old Pinkerton.

Five Brothers burns fast, burns down to nothing but ash, and tastes like nothing but dry, clean, straight nutty burley. Not much else to report there.

It's the perfect quick smoke to get the vitamin N levels up. However, the real value of this tobacco is as a blender - mix it with a wet aro, and it improves the burn and adds body and nicotine without making a big change to the flavor. Mix it with an OTC like PA or SWR to kick it up a notch.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jevverrett (104)	2016-07-30		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

I'm on a pouch/ drugstore blend kick now, and trying to find a good daily smoke to change up with Prince Albert. I got this and some John Bull to give it a try. There is definitely a reason it's called pipe tobacco!, the exclamation point is justified haha.

It's smells good in the pouch. Nutty and a bit spicy. It's a very fine shag cut, almost like a tangle of hair. It takes some work to pack it evenly, as it comes out in clumps. If you get it right it takes fire very well, burning to white ash quickly on top. The flavor is delicious, bit spicy and nutty burley flavor. It burns fast and hot if you're not careful. No Dottie, no moisture left in the bowl. I've got to say I'm enjoying this one more than I would've thought.

That being said, this manly stuff here. Even still, not for beginners or those sensitive to nicotine. It made my head spin, which is saying something. I tried it in a slightly larger than medium pipe and had to let it go out the first few bowls. It's better off in a smaller pipe I think. Also, it is good for stepping up a weaker blend a bit.

Pipe Used: Chacom turbo pot

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Pipes and cigars

Similar Blends: Nothing.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	GabrielCRT (115)	2016-05-05		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Five Brothers has no complexity, smokes hot, and is a little harsh but its also a four star tobacco for me. It doesn't pretend to be a smooth and flavorful blend of 5 different Burley tobaccos. It's simply Burley in a shag cut. It has some serious strength just as promised. It comes dry (not as dry as Semois). It has a pleasant aroma of unadulterated tobacco in the pouch. The taste is nutty and maybe some unsweetened chocolate if you read far into it. I'm sure there is a casing but I sure can't detect it. Add the fact that it's really cheap and you have yourself a highly recommended tobacco.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	lesliesrussell (7)	2016-01-18		Overwhelming	None Detected	Overwhelming	Strong

When asked to give advice to up and coming actors, John Wayne said, "Talk low and slow, and don't say much." When I smoke Five Brothers, often while breaking in a new pipe, I feel that something similar could be said. Something along the lines of smoke slow, and careful and don't inhale. A big bowl just doesn't seem to work, so I try and treat it like a flake. This is one of those, I-wish-I-could-quit-you tobaccos for some people, but for me it is more a utilitarian sort.

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TwelveAMnTX (28)	2015-09-18		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

What can I say about Five Brothers that hasn't been said already? Well .... it's a dual purpose tobacco that will grab you by the short hairs if you're not careful. It's a straight up old school shag cut burley tobacco, no ifs, ands or buts about it ... well cigarette butts if ya stuff it in a tube, which is how I like to smoke it. I tried this straight away when I got it in a Gambler Full Flavor Tube & it makes an awesome cigarette! I mean it's better than any store bought smoke I've ever had, EVER! I got a flavorful nutty burley nicotine experience I've never found anywhere on a store shelf.

I smoked a bowl in my straight MM Legend 5th Avenue cob. It was really good, it's just an awesome unadulterated burley flavor. You will have a hard time keeping up with the tobacco's burn rate, it burns fast & will try to finish before you do. If you can keep up going with a steady slow sip it's great, but if you puff too fast you'll be sorry, especially if your tolerance for nicotine is low.

I have also tried this as a mixer 50/50 with Carter Hall in my Sav Series III unfinished bent pot, which has a big bowl. I think 75CH/25FB would have been better, I couldn't smoke it all at once. I took my time smoking a little at a time, so it took me a few hours to finish it. I really enjoyed the flavor, but the nicotine of the 2 together was a bit much. It's like a good whiskey, you got to know your limits or you'll regret the consequences.

All in all, I have to say I really like Five Brothers, it's a no frills, kick in the pants burley, that's not for the faint of heart. If that's what your looking for, you found it! If you're looking for something mellow, you took a wrong turn somewhere, reset your GPS.

Pipe Used: MM cob, Sav Series III & Gambler FF tubes

Age When Smoked: fresh to couple weeks

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CTS (138)	2015-07-17		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Yes you know it is straight pure tobacco without any intention to take you off that path. A somewhat nutty flavor in the front of the mouth, a bit ash-like at the back of the throat. Sharpness on the retrohale. I'm not a nicophile, per se, so I purposely chose a slow cadence to try and get the most out of the overall smoke. Very different, to me, than Semois (Manil), which has a different depth and flavor nuances through the smoke. Through the bowl flavor from FB got a bit more rounded out, without some of the initial sharpness. Seems like it would be a good one to blend down and add an edge to some higher-flavored aros. A little could likely go a long way. Interesting experience, it delivers a straight tobacco experience, with no BS. 3+ for being real.

Pipe Used: Italian Basket 35+ years old.

Age When Smoked: Unknown. Purchased this month.

Purchased From: p and c

Similar Blends: Unique to my experience (not similar to Granger, Carter Hall, Semois).

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pkloop (53)	2014-12-28		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Different than the past..

I last smoked this in the early 00's and recently picked up another pouch. While it was never a regular in the rotation I smoked quite a bit of it and can offer a few observations between the old & new.

Appearance: In the pouch this appears as a light brown/tan, shag cut "birds eye" very reminiscent of cigarette rolling tobacco. It can work as well for those purposes if one chooses to smoke it that way. Quite dry with no noticeable pouch aroma, just natural tobacco..but more on that below.

Packing: Simple 3 step will do as this packs easily due to its cut. I would pack this a bit on the tight side. If you pack it too loose it will burn fast & hot.

Smoking: Five Brothers takes to flame very easily no doubt due to its low moisture and cut. You will most likely clear a bowl without any relights needed in fact. Straight burley taste here with no surprises except as follows. The version I smoked in the past was produced by Pinkerton and their version had no hint of a topping. It was very pure tasting and quite cigarette like. This new version most certainly has some type of sweet topping on it. Not overdone, it's very very slight not goopy like a typical aromatic. It's barely noticeable but it's there. After noticing this I smoked the rest in a brand new cob to ensure I wasn't picking up ghosts. Nope. It was definitely there. At any rate it smokes the same as before, mostly bite free if you don't over puff and can develop an ashy taste as it nears the finish. The nicotine doesn't seem as strong as in the past but these days I'm immune.

Conclusion: I'm left with the same impression of this as I was back then. It's a good but not great blend that I wouldn't stock in a cellar but may occasionally buy a pouch and I certainly wouldn't turn down a bowl if offered. The STG version of this is no better, or worse, then the Pinkerton era..just different..if ever so slightly.

It would be interesting to track down of Finzer Bros era pouch to compare the differences between the three..

Pipe Used: Briars and a new cob

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Pinkerton era Five Brothers and various roll your own cigarette tobaccos...

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lyle (32)	2014-12-27		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

As advertised, this is a strong blend when it comes to nicotine. However, smoked slowly in a small bowl, it is entirely manageable.

I very much enjoy the lack of fussiness in this blend. The shag cut and dry nature of it make an effortless smoke. The flavor is not complex, but that doesn't present a problem if you like the simple flavor presented.

I find this to be a very satisfying, after lunch, weekday smoke when there isn't much time to sit and ponder a bowl of VA or English tobacco. It is also a favorite of mine for breaking in new pipes when I want to pay attention to the flavors of the briar itself.

Pipe Used: Two small French pipes dedicated to Burley

Age When Smoked: A little over a year old, not that it matters here

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2014-03-18		Very Strong	None Detected	Overwhelming	Extra Strong

Give me a break. This isn't pipe tobacco in my opinion. Maybe this works for people switching over from cigarettes, but for some of us pipe smoking isn't all about the nicotine. Burns hot and fast, tastes horrible. What else do you want to know? We've all got a finite number of minutes on this earth and I'm not wasting another one reviewing this garbage.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Phonomet (44)	2013-07-24		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

As mentioned, this tobacco is very dry, it has a simple burley flavor, and it packs a punch. If this sounds unappealing, this is not for you. But for me, I'm saved the chore of drying it, I get a straightforward burley flavor, and I can face the non-smoking world a little longer because of the strength. :)

This is not nearly as strong as say, a 1792 flake, or even some of the stronger C&D blends out there. I'd take the advice of other reviewers and pack this one more tightly than you'd pack any other tobacco. Also, it does blend well with lighter fare.

This is not my favorite burley, but I like it for what it is, and it is more natural than any OTC smoke I've tried.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-04-13		Extremely Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild	Tolerable

Ok, all I can say is if you're planning on inhaling this stuff...seriously...sit down first. I learned that my first round with this stuff! In the taste and aroma department it leaves much to be desired but if you're wanting a real kick in the pants then go for it, just remember my aforementioned advice!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	7formy1911 (37)	2013-02-24		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable

Like many others on here I have received a free sample of this from Lane. This is now made in Denmark and since it's now made there I believe the Danes have imparted their own spin in this blend. I'm sure in the past this would have been much more potent and without any topping whatsoever but the spirit of the blend remains.

Upon opening the pouch I notice a very faint hint of raisins and I believe this may be some sort of topping. Nothing intrusive and it only comes out in the smoke in the slightest bit and only accentuates the pure tobacco flavor. This is a very thin string cut with birdseyes present and is acceptable for RYO although much better in my pipe.

Loading is easy directly from the pouch with no drying needed at all. Lighting poses no issues and from the start there is a toasty burley flavor with pure tobacco being upfront. Hints of the aforementioned raisin flavor pops in if smoked slowly but certainly a tasty addition to the pure tobacco flavor. There's no frills or complexity to this smoke and I truly enjoy that. Nicotine is manageable and not anything like Petersons Irish Flake which has been the only tobacco to make me uncomfortable. I certainly recommend this for burley lovers but others may be a bit apprehensive about it. I'd say give it a try anyway, you may be surprised!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Buster Bluth (56)	2013-02-22		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Looks like Drum RYO. Very dry. Like this stuff periodically in a little cob. Mild tasting, the mouth feel and room aroma is very cigarette. Burns quick. A few draws is all that is needed to get a good Nicotine fix. Great one to take fishing or camping. Great for quick breaks with small pipes. Can't say any more that hasn't been said.

I believe this is not everyone's cup of tea by itself. However, it is great to experiment with to see if it has a condimental effect or enhances the burning qualities of the other tobaccos you smoke. I like this periodically mixed with Other OTC Burleys as it seems to draw up some of the excess moisture in wetter pouch blends. 3 stars.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-11-27		Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

First review and first time trying a non-aromatic. Here we go!

As mentioned above, my experience thus far with pipe tobaccos has been with aromatics. However, I do enjoy cigars (maduro fanatic here) so this isn't my first-first experience with straight up tobacco. I was actually pleasantly surprised. I picked up the 1.5 oz pouch at my local liquor store for a reasonable price. So "reasonable" that I was preparing for a disappointment, but my budget was tight this week due to vehicular repairs. So I will offer a categorical review of this tobacco -

Pouch Aroma & Appearance: The smell was, I have to say, delicious - yes, delicious. Ive smelled enough pouches of aromatics in my time as a pipe smoker but I wasn't expecting this surprise from what is otherwise nothing more than air-cured shag burley. Warm apple juice and raisins! As for appearance, dark golden-brown hay and scraggly as is to be expected with shag-cut tobaccos.

The Smoke: Tobacco, tobacco, tobacco. With a hint of black pepper. Sort of like wetting your finger with a basic blackening spice and tasting it. If you enjoy a mild spiciness and a pure tobacco taste, it is for you. In a good briar pipe it tastes pretty fantastic, honestly. The package isn't lying, either, when it says "potent". After a smoke I feel the same buzz I feel about half-way into one of my stronger cigars, this is a pull-up-a-chair tobacco only for me! As for the room note, you aren't going to receive any praise from your non-smoking friends. It is tolerable, but on the strong side.

The Burn: Fast! A fair-packed bowl of the stuff lasts me a consistent 15 minutes. But for such a fast-burning tobacco it burns quite cool. I smoked two successive bowls before my pipe even changed temperature (although my pipe is fairly thick-walled, so mileage may vary).

Final Thoughts: For the price this is an exceptional steal. Good flavor for a good price. Some may not like the simple flavor it offers but it packs a punch and what flavor it does have is nostalgic and I imagine it is what you'd expect American pioneers and woodsmen to smoke. So, in that respect this is more of a "baccy" than anything - but that's a good thing! My only complaint is that it is a quick smoke, a very quick smoke and you'll power through a 1.5 ounce (35g) pouch fairly quickly if you like it. However, for a break from your more expensive stuff or just looking for an inexpensive hit of the ol' Vitamin N without breaking the bank, I recommend it.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blue Bayou (60)	2012-10-01		Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Ok if you like smoking cigarettes...dry, grassy. Rolls up well. I didn't find it nearly as strong as my XX Rope.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-08-07		Very Strong	Very Strong	Very Full	Strong

Finally sampled some 5Bs.

Great blend; apart from burning faster than a fire cracker, it exceeds expectations in every respect. Great taste, good strong kick, and an amazing after taste. It has a certain resemblance to Old Joe Kranz (harsh, bitter taste, powerful hit), but it is less complex.

I can now understand what some of the posters here mean when they write about codger burleys, and what pipe tobacco used to be like.

Not an all day blend, but certainly one to ignite the spirit for the day or flatten it out prior to sleep.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	zulujerk (146)	2011-08-04		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

This straight Burley in shag formation has received a hefty endorsement from reviewers, which prompted my purchase. The tobacco arrived in an attractive though simple pouch, exceedingly dry and densely packed. My first smoke nearly killed me and I had to put the pipe down. It was then that I swore never again, and promptly set the pouch in my little graveyard box reserved for those tobaccos I have no intention of smoking unless the horrible day should come in which pipe tobacco were banned and they are all I have left.

I recently had a change of heart, and this happens often with these blends, thinking I might have missed something. That box is strangely alluring, and I keep thinking a genie might pop out of it granting all my wishes, but usually I end up throwing the thing back in its place, overwhelmed by disappointment and wasted effort.

This time around I fired up a bowl, in a small pipe (the small pipes are a recent addition to my already crummy selection of overly large and very cheap pipes). They are surprisingly useful, these small pipes, and had I realized their utility early on, I might have avoided several nicotine induced panic attacks over the years. Immediately I could taste the Burley and it reminded me of the cigarettes I smoked before exclusively moving to the pipe. Not bad, but certainly not a flavor I want to encounter on a daily basis, particularly in my zeal for avoiding a return to cigarettes.

And in this mindset, I can see the popularity here for those switching over, who may be desperate for a nicotine fix and a similar flavor profile. Yes, the strength is enough to quell most any appetite and 5 Brothers works well as a pathway to more complex blends. Adherents have also put 5 Brothers forward as a blending component for bolstering those weak blends you may have on hand. It's relatively flavorless enough that I can understand the mentality here, but I will warn you that the shag cut does not mix well with many of the ribbons out there and you may screw up the burn rate, as this tobacco fires like kindling.

With that, my experiment had ended. I have little doubt that 5 Brothers has a place, but not in my smoking cabinet. Back in the box you go!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-03-03		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Marketing hype has made too much of the supposed strength of this tobacco IMO. If you're used to 1Q, and then jump to this, I dare say it would be a shock. And while it's certainly no weakling, there are stronger tobaccos - GH Kendal Kentucky, for example, which has some similarities. FB lacks refinement, it can be harsh and peppery, but in its Wild West livery it is still a little special.

Carter Hall and Prince Albert are coarse tobaccos manufactured from low-grade leaf, but seem to have an affinity with FB. Adding about 30% FB produces an intoxicating mix with cigar-like notes.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-06-24		Very Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Unnoticeable

Marvelous! I'm still new at this whole tobacco desciption thing. The whole reason i wanted to try a shag was a memory from a couple of years ago when i first started smoking and was fresh out of tobacco. My roommate at the time had some RYO tobacco (i believe it was called late harvest) and i had a clay pipe (broken months later) so i gave it a try. Not much on taste but i liked the draw and the thickness of the smoke.

As for trying five brothers i liked alot of the reviews i read and thought i would giver a whirl. Glad i did!

The pouch aroma was about what i expected. Just tobacco. Kinda reminded me of the smell of my Dad's Red Man when i used to open up a pouch when i was younger. Extremely dry but im not so sure i mind that so much.

Honestly, i like a good nic buzz and this gave me an amazing one. Tightness in chest and throat as well as alertness and mind clarity were definately there. Strongest baccy i've ever smoked.

The taste varied depending on wether i exhaled through the nose or mouth. Through the mouth was just no frills full flavored burly. The usual bit of nuttiness and tobaccoey taste. Through the nose i actually caught a hint of cocoa. Way more than i expected.

I smoked it in one of my legend cobs and believe it or not it didn't get overly hot. Warm, certainly but not the inferno i expected. The smoke wasn't near as hot upon puffing as i thought it would be either.

Being as i smoke it outside i have nothing to say as far as roomnote goes. I would imagine it too be tolerable at least.

My only real complaint is that it was gone in about ten minutes. This stuff burns fast. It did force me to take my time puffing and thats something i really struggle with. I'm gonna have to go against the advice of most reviewers and try it in a larger bowl and just hope that it doesn't kill me.

Ive only been piping a few years and have many more to try but i think this is gonna be one of my regulars for sure. I gotta try to find a local store that carries it. I would hate to keep buying a pouches offline that cost $3 and some change if i could get it somewhere local.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-06-09		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

My first review must be for, this, my go-to everyday tobacco. I like English/oriental and Balkan blends, virginias and vapers, burleys and "Americanized Englishes". However, nothing could replace (for me) this very basic old-timey, shag-cut burley.

It lights and burns easily in any circumstance, delivers a satisfying, slightly nutty and grassy flavor, and is definately fulfilling as to nicotine. However, it isn't, by far, the strongest tobacoo I've had nicotine-wise. The G&H ropes/plugs and the likes of Kendal Dark and Fairmorn's Dark Fired Shag are more potent.

I've a couple of sources for this in a fifty mile radius of where I live. I buy it by the carton (12 pouches) for a little under thirty dollars. The few places still selling it online are generally charging six USD or more per single pouch. My wife and I take semi-regular rides that include stops at the stores that still place special orders for it. I buy a carton to cellar and now I've quite a stockpile. It will soon be totally unavailable, I highly suspect. I think Pinkerton may be forced to discontinue, as a result of the new liberty-usurping laws.

I can't fully recommend it because it is certainly not for all -- too strong for some, too plain for others. Though it is great for what it is/its purpose and my favorite, I will only give it 3 (and a half) stars. I will be reserved with the stars and only give 4 to "masterpieces". We will see if I can give 4 to any others. I've a couple in mind. But again, we will have to wait and see.

I would miss many other tobaccos, but if I could only have just one.............

Note to Tee-Dub: The dryness still works ok for me somehow. I'm smoking some now that has been stored for several years. It's pretty much the same as it was when I first purchased it. Sometimes I will rehydrate it a little by filling an empty 50 gram tin (Gawith, etc.) with Five Brothers and placing a paper towel, that's dampened with distilled water, over the top. I put the lid on top of that and leave it that way for at least overnight. That even brings forth a fresh-like nutty burley flavor. I wouldn't do this with anything else.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-05-11		Very Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

EVIL, WICKED, MEAN AND NASTY! I just received a pouch of Five Brothers to see what the fuss was about WOW! It's a shag cut which means in my opinion more smoke per puff, More tobacco ignites at one time. Out of the pouch it felt dry to the touch but since it's a shag cut it's going to feel dry, however not crispy. Very easy to fill the bowl. I would recommed a small bowl though not a litle one as it is a very satisfying smoke. A nicotine hit that lives up to all the reviews, POW! This one is not for the weak stomach nor an empty one either. My first bowl was a bit dizzying, no complaints here though. Smoked slowly the burley that it is justly rewards a burley person for sure. It's definitely not a contemplative smoke but you can do it that way and not have a problem with it. When you need/want a 'fix' this is one I'll go to.

First thing in the morning with a strong coffee and yer off to the races! I'm gonna give this one FOUR stars. It is as I've stated evil, wicked ,mean and nasty. I will be ordering more. At this point I only have a couple of bowls of the stuff left and after only a week I've had some very satisfying smokes , great for the short quick fix as it burns rather quickly. Nice job Pinkerton!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Clarkus (36)	2010-02-24		Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Well, this was certainly a different sort of pipe tobacco experience. The shag is pretty fine and my pouch was properly sealed but the tobacco was pretty darn dry. I'm hydrating it now. The tobacco burns quickly, the flavor is good and it is great to have for when you just got to have a quick nicotine boost. I also think it is good kindling to use to get a heavy flake going. I expect it would make a decent cigarette tobacco, especially considering its very low price. I had to order twelve pouches to get that good price and I'll smoke it all over time I suppose but probably won't buy it again.

The nicotine makes its presence known but it isn't killer. The tobacco is not harsh in the least and there is a decent sweetness to it I may mix it in with some underpowered but flavorful tobacco I have; I don't think it will harm the flavor of other blends.

The room note is cigarette but not in a bad way. You may want until you find it in a store so you can get a single pouch to try.

My guess is that this is what Huck Finn smoked.

20 Aug. 2010

After a few months, I think I will update my review. I had a dozen packs of this tobacco and my initial impression was so-so. I sent two packs to Steden and had one open leaving me with nine more to contend with.

Hydrating didn't improve the tobacco; it made it worse so I think it was meant to smoke rather dry. I didn't have much success blending it either so I started smoking my way through the rest. By the end of the second packet, I had begun to actually enjoy it. I found it a good tobacco for a quick smoke. It burns too quickly for sitting back and relaxing but it gives you a complete tobacco experience quickly. By the end of the last pack I was ready to order more. It isn't the kind of fine tobacco we enjoy but it is a tobacco I will want to have around. Steden occasionally furnishes me with two "common" Italian tobaccos that are rather strong and moderately quick burning. These are my favorite tobaccos to have around for a quick smoke but the price and availability of Five Brothers suffices to fill that need. I am giving it an additional star.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-02-15		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Ah, the legendary Five Brothers. A nicotine bomb that makes grown men weep and ladies swoon. This tobacco's reputation definitely preceded itself. It is a rather unusual fine shag cut with some birdseye and loads readily into the pipe. A medium tamp and I'm ready to venture into nicotine nirvana.

I did most of my Five Brothers smoking in a MM Country Gentleman cob as it just seemed to fit the tobacco: not too big a capacity and the cob structure perhaps absorbing a little of the kick. This is not a tobacco to smoke on an empty stomach. The taste was a little harsh to me but my sample had dried out quite a bit. Perhaps I will moisten it a bit and try it again and report back.

5 Brothers burns very readily and is easy to keep lit. It also burns very quickly and a medium sized bowl will be done in 20 m minutes.

It's not the easiest tobacco to locate, I got mine from Mars Cigars and I understand 4 Noggins also carries it.

Scores for 5 Brothers: taste- 14 of 20; lighting and burn- 9 of 10; value- 7 of 10. 30 points equals a good * rating for this powerhouse.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tripjoker (65)	2009-11-22		Very Strong	Extremely Mild	Overwhelming	Very Strong

Another example of how the hype of a blend has led me astray. I found this easily enough at one of my regular internet suppliers, and ordered a single package (thank god). The presentation is a shag cut with the odd birdseye-like shave here and there. The pouch aroma should said what I needed to hear, but I soldiered on.

This burns like a forest fire and is truly the most disgusting weed I have ever put in a pipe. There is really nothing positive I can say about this tobacco. I am a fan of strong blends, but the flavor and harshness of this tobacco just wouldn't allow me to even enjoy the nicotine level.

I rarely if ever dispose of tobacco in any other way but to smoke it, but this made a trip to the trash can after several unsuccessful attempts to get to know it. I even tried rolling it into a cigarette. That was equally disgusting. Life is too short to smoke anything like this. If I was stuck on a desert Island with this, I would quit smoking and use it to start fires.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-11-08		Very Strong	Very Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong

After hearing about this I just had to try some. Very interesting stuff. Certainly nothing fancy. Just strong unadulterated straight tobacco. Comes out of the pouch it came in, very, very dry. Looks and feels like dried grass. Smoked some right out of the pouch. Extremely strong. Burned at light speed. One light. No real favor though. After reading some of the other reviews,I took their suggestions and hydrated it over night. What a difference. After hydration it burned slower and stays lit and had a nice nutty flavor to it. Thats the way to go. Hydrate it over night and you will be very pleased. This is a poor mans version of Dark Birdseye, though DBE is far superior.The price of 5 Brothers is right however compared to DBE. This goes great with coffee in the morning and gives you that jump start to get you going.

A short side note: I had a hard time finding a place that had this in stock, so alot of people must be smoking it.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	bent-1 (39)	2009-08-16		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

It's funny, I'm not a big fan of straight burley tobak's, but it's a regular for me. At times it approaches a rough edge, but somehow backs down to a satisfying smoke. Actually, this is the only blend I like hydrated or smoked in humid surroundings, the additional moisture brings out the nutty flavor. Have a Kaywoodie 13b Author that seems a perfect match. If this is a straight burley, sign me up.

Pipe Used: Kaywoodie 13b author shape

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr.sadik (120)	2009-01-21		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

my oh my its a burly blend (and it should be considered as such, so no big hopes should be anticipated). the blend is dark in color and the tobacco is some what dry, yet as the description claim it delivers nic like no other burly blend does! taste is slightly different and it reminds me of dark birds eye blend although the latter is viginia! it comes in shag cut which makes up for easy pack and low maintenance fast smoke. the bowl is dry and very fine ash is the result by the end of the smoking session. as expected the smell is not friendly any time soon but the price is right! goes well with black coffe as it have a proper punch to start the morning with.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-01-06		Extremely Mild	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant

After smoking this girly blend, I am convinced that no self respecting male pipe smoker would buy this garbage. Upon opening the bag, it smelled like roses. The long stemmed type that you buy for your wife after being out all night drinking with prostitutes.

This is such a pansy tobacco, you'll find yourself wanting to eat ice cream,watch Drew Barrymore films and cuddle after sex.

Save yourself the agony of smoking this and go fetch yourself a man's smoke like Prince Albert.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	½ bowl (103)	2008-09-15		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Very Pleasant

The bottom line first: neutral Burley taste and aroma in a non-aromatic blend.

The details: I opened the pouch and found a tangled nest of dry, ultra-fine shag. I fired it up cautiously because it looked like it could flare-up and singe my nose hairs and eyebrows; but it lit up OK and stayed lit right to the bottom of the bowl. It produces good smoke volume and is smooth despite its strength in both taste and nicotine. It burns about twice as rapidly as most other tobaccos.

4 stars if you need a quick tobacco fix, say, on a work break, etc.

3 stars if you're sampling Burleys: old-timey but unique.

2 stars if you're a Burley-phile seeking the best.

1 star for beginners and persons in search of complexity, nuance and sophistication.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-08-03		Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

First of all, please read BriarChef's review below. That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time. So I hate to follow that, but I'm excited about finally getting ahold of some of this legendary pipe tobacco. It's really fantastic if you like Burleys, a little more peppery in flavor (not that it bites) and deceptively smooth. I believe the strength is related to the high surface area of the ultra fine shag cut. In my opinion, it's composed of high quality tobacco, and the nicotine feel and taste are very clean.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-04-09		Very Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Makes the eyes water, I catch myself moving my head to dodge the smoke. Puts fear into you. Dries out the mouth. Burns with the rapidity of a forest fire. Delicious! Cigarette smokers who want to remain physically active, take note--you can cease cigarettes with this brand--this tobacco will keep you from reaching for a stick afterwards. Taste is subdued nut. Clean burning. Although cut fine and is fairly dry in pouch, this does not bite. Room note will not make you friends, but is no worse than any cigarette. This is one of the only tobaccos that have made me sit up and take notice. I get bored with any weed whose strength is rated "Medium" or lower on these boards--if you find yourself in this boat, try this upfront tobacco. I don't get the sweats from this particular smoke, but many, many people could. A 1.25oz pouch of this treat (with taxation) from my local grocer is $3 even. (Cleveland, Ohio) So it's not expensive by any means, and you get a lot of kick with this product. Final word: real burley, good price, satisfies. Not for those avoiding Lady Nicotine.

---Oops! Meant to give it 3 stars!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pacific Captain (17)	2023-01-08		Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Strong

What can be written about five brothers that hasn’t been said already? It’s crispy crunchy dry (on purpose), it is strong as hell, it is one taste and that taste is nicotine. Ex cig smoker so I like the wallop it gives when smoked in a tiny cob but I almost never go that route. Instead I do love it for amping up nicotine free blends. Like an earlier review said, mix it about 40% 5B with 60% 1-Q (no that’s not algebra) and it’s a high powered aromatic with tons of flavor still. Helps the burn rate too. If you want nuance and circumstance, stay away, if you want a punch in the face smoke it straight, but in my opinion it really shines as an additive.

Pipe Used: Cobs

Age When Smoked: Older than time itself

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jorge Soler (202)	2022-07-06		Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

This is a very fine shag and I found the contents a bit dry as I opened the bag. The casing is not overtly present and it seems to dissipate quick enough. The leaf is of good quality and has nice chocolatey and burley notes which seem to develop against a nice citrusy or lemony background. Because of the casing, the room note is mellow and sweet as expected, but not particularly my cup of tea. What I am enjoying the most is the fine cut. It releases plenty of flavour and does not consume as fast if you pack it tightly. Shame they do not sell this by the pound. I am tempted to give it 4 stars, but the added flavouring means I have my hands tied.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cakeanddottle (105)	2022-03-07		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The STG version is not as good as the Pinkerton USA made version from not so long ago.

The current STG version is similar to the old blend. I find it slightly less dry, less sweet, less flavorful overall. Also the STG version has quite a lot of stems in it, big ones, which is a pain because they should be removed, which I do.

Like before, Five Brothers is an unadulterated, stout, pure Burley. It's one dimensional, and the current version is not as compelling to me as the old. Most pipe smokers need not bother. Burley lovers may enjoy it, but the GH shags are a much better option vs. this current iteration.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JKOD (30)	2021-04-25		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This is a decent smoke in my book. It’s very straightforward, you know what you’re getting each time you load it up and it tastes just fine.

I do enjoy burley on its own, so unless you like straight burley it may not be for you. The nutty and toasty flavors connect somewhat well to my experience with cigars. No, I’m not saying this tastes like a cigar, but there are parallels. The cut is interesting, like pulling apart a bird’s nest, but lends itself to a very low maintenance smoking experience if you pack the bowl right.

For the cost, you can’t beat it. It’s great for adding nic to weaker blends and also add some body and/or nutty character. So, I’d say go for it - you’ve got nothing to lose. Also, if you find this somewhat appealing, it’s a great entry to trying other, and far tastier, burley blends.

I enjoy a straight bowl of this the most first thing in the morning with a good cup of coffee. Great way to start the day. So, I will always have some 5 brothers laying around somewhere - maybe order a pouch when needed. Not something I’d stock up on.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Muleskidder (1)	2017-06-27		Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Good short smoke. I enjoy the simple plain flavor and the copious amount of nicotine. I don't find Five Brothers overly harsh or "bitey" but it's not smooth by any means. Five Brothers burns and smokes nice enough for me out of a cob. I enjoy it regularly and find a pouch in my possession more often than not. I wouldn't recommend Five Brothers to everyone but the few guys I know well enough that I have recommended or given a little to the majority like it.

Pipe Used: MM

Age When Smoked: 1 week

Purchased From: pipes and cigars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ruffinogold (112)	2017-03-11		Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is a ribbon Burely . It's probably a good dose of Red Kentucky Burley , if I were to guess [ ? ] . It's richly flavored and lights and burns brainlessly . It's earthy and a bit nutty . It's damn good but it makes the absolute best cigarette you've ever smoked .. as a pipe blend .. 3 stars ... cigarette 4 stars . It shouldnt be overly dry from a fresh pouch . If so , it isnt a fresh pouch and either hydrate it or bring it back .. but I'd just hydrate it . It's kinda like a hybrid of teh Old Amphora Brown and Drum tobacco . It's one every pipe smoker should try , no doubt

Pipe Used: a bunch

Age When Smoked: fresh

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	filman48 (1)	2017-02-23		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is my second pouch of the FB burkey. First time I tried it didn't really like. But after reading some of the reviews decided to try again. This time I packed it tightly in my pipe and smoked slowly! Was a enjoyable smoke. The nutty taste of the burley came through and wasn't as harsh as the first time I tried it. No relight required and burned down to a white ash. I also add this to some other tobaccos for a little extra kick. I really enjoy this with my morning coffee! Keep in ny rotation now!

Pipe Used: Dr Grabow Starfire

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Old at heart (9)	2016-04-30		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Strength ????? aye right ! I suppose if you arnt used to burly then perhaps. Maybe i got a dud pouch.

Hay like , burns quick and has a sweet almost peanut taste at times.

Very simple blend it must be said , no complexity at all. Easy enough to review.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	manxman (82)	2016-01-18		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Holy $hit ! Is this stuff legal for sale ? I must say the other reviews for this stuff are the funniest I have read for any blend. Everything I can say has already been said. I can only see using this for blending. Recommended for someone trying to kick cigarettes.

Pipe Used: MM cob

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

Similar Blends: Bugler, Top.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	noquarter (23)	2015-09-25		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Pleasant

My monsoon weather tobacco. I live in the tropics and somewhat tastes better on humid air. Found it smokes best on my conical. It does require a few relights which really doesn't bother me. A good tobacco to remove stubborn ghosts and goopy bowls.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrT999 (317)	2015-04-28		Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Fast burning, sometimes harsh, dry, slightly bitey, and of course more than a little on the strong side. It makes an interesting change of pace, but if I were going for something along these lines in the future, I'd more likely rebuy some of the GH ropes.

Age When Smoked: 1 month

Purchased From: Mars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	codyp (65)	2014-03-06		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

As good as the Burely flavor was, I was always getting a pepper kind of taste along with a lot of nicotine. Which I didn't mind.

I was not a fan of the shag cut, thought it was hard to light, and if it did light, burned a bit hot. Not bad, not good. Two stars.

Pipe Used: H.I.S Egg, Cob

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-05-21		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I bought this to expedite breaking in a new pipe well,try blowing up a large air mattress and you will get the same light headed feeling you get after smoking a bowl of this stuff.This works great with a strong cup of coffee in the morning gets everything moving.Not my idea of an ideal relaxing smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-01-12		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I just received a couple of pouches of this today with an order of other tobaccos from 4noggins...I'd read the reviews of this and, while it didn't seem like it would be my cup of tea, I wanted badly to try it, so I've smoked a couple of bowls now (in an old cob I've had laying around for maybe 15 years) and have to say I'm pretty pleasantly surprised. It's decently strong (I love a really strong tobacco), has a nice flavor, and zero tongue bite. It does burn quite a bit faster, of course, because of the cut and the low moisture content, but it's a really great smoke in my opinion, and one I'll be keeping handy from now on. I can understand the dislike some have for it, especially if they're used to milder, heavier cut, wetter, and more aromatic tobaccos, but for those (especially in the south) who remember their grandfather's pipe tobaccos, you probably remember something very similar to this....a plain American tobacco, tossed in a pouch and sold nearly everywhere you could shop, that could be rolled or smoked in a pipe either one.

My only real problem with it was that I couldn't pack enough in my pipe to last more than 10 minutes or so.

P.S. I rolled up a cigarette from this, and while it isn't bad, I prefer Bugler or Drum if I"m going to go Mexican. This stuff is best in a pipe, no question.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-11-11		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

If this is the good old fasionhed Burley, then I like it. Faint fig pouch aroma; the tobacco is on the dry side and the cut, well, it's like Drum RYO tobacco.

To be smoked gently to keep tongue biting at a minimum level, this tobacco, surprisingly, smokes rather slowly (maybe because I pack it really tight in one of my corn cobs?)

No complex flavours, which is to be expected from an all BU blend, but again, I like it.

Good nicotine level too. I hope I will be able to drop cigarettes once and for all with this one.

If you are a fast, heavy puffer, stay away from Five Brothers.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-05-23		Very Strong	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

Five Brothers is an excellent smoke. Use a small bowl. Burns very quickly and delivers a great nicotine hit. Not much in the way of taste and extremely dry. That said, if you're after a quick, easy to smoke and eminently satisfying heart starter, Five Brothers is the way to go. I'm really impressed for what it is. I use a small bowl churchwarden and the smoke lasts two minutes. That's really more than enough. Recommended for those tight times when you need something that'll do the job. And Five Brothers will.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-05-03		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

I found it to be nice little smoke when stressed out our if I'm just a little tired. I'm still a little jittery from my smoke last night. It burns a little to fast for my taste and if ones not careful you could get tongue bite but it will give you a great kick start if you need one. I get mine from gumbys cigarettes and beer world for $3. If you prefer a strong tobacco try it if you don't try it and mix it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Earl Grey (34)	2012-04-13		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Overwhelming	Extra Strong

Five Brothers is very strong. I tried smoking it in a cob on its own to see what all the hype was about. Wow! This stuff is no joke. It's a nicotine bomb! It was a fine shag cut in the pouch. It was very dry when I got it. I used it to spice up a couple of bland blends that I had, and it was good for that. I ended up giving the remaining 2/3 of the pouch I had to a friend. He rolled cigarettes with it and said he really enjoyed it. I'm on the fence about giving it another try.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Fresh out of pouch.

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	The Persian Slipper (30)	2011-11-13		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Strong

This one does appear to be a solid burley blend. Though the taste isn't to my liking. The strength is okay. One could do better in strength by purchasing an oriental or latakia blend. I love the cut. Shag is an excellent way to pack a pipe, light it, and keep it lit easily. The price can't be beat, either. Shag is traditionally a cheap tobacco and it still holds true today. If one is looking for a nicotine hit, then this is it. I usually smoke it when I have coffee or tea in the morning. All-in-all, it's a decent blend but I'm sure that there are better shag blends available.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	doc'spipe (241)	2011-10-01		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I recently won a pouch of Five Bros from ebay. It arrived very crinkly in its package and upon opening, was desert dry. Surprisingly, it was smokeable. Was it worth the $9.99 plus shipping? Sad to say, no. It did have a taste unlike any other Burley I have ever smoked, but not enough to win me over and it was quite boring. Retrospectively, it wasn't worth the effort in hunting it down. I suspect it would serve its purpose as a blender, but as for a solo smoke, there are far better. When all is said and done, happy I finally tried it and only "somewhat recommended" for the experience alone.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Danno (106)	2010-06-16		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

A nicotine-infused trip to yesteryear. I acquired a few bouches of the Good Brothers in a trade, and I'm glad I did. No mincing about here: simple, dry, air-cured Burley shag. Pretty one-dimensional in terms of taste, but this stuff will speed up your heart rate in seconds flat. I advise not puffing too fast, as the tobacco will turn bitter, and you will turn green. Fun, fun.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tee-dub (48)	2010-06-08		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

How does one tell is Five Brothers is fresh or not? It's drier than hell, and looks like it might be used to line the bottom of a hamster cage.

It's strong and it burns really fast. But you knew that.

If you're looking for a nicotine delivery system, here it is. If you're looking for snobby subtlety and nuance, you probably wouldn't have bought this in the first place.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-04-05		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

In the pouch, the scent of this fine, shag-cut leaf reveals nothing more than a most basic burley grassiness.

The flavor is of very unaffected light and brown burleys unameliorated by condiments, sweeteners or toppings. It is remarkably well-selected tobacco which is notably devoid of lightness, exuberance and variance.

Five Brothers is a rustic and versatile component tobacco which is as well-adapted for blending as it is for chewing as well as for making roll-ups. As a straight pipe tobacco, it will likely appeal only to those seeking the most austere and stolid of smokes. This went best in narrow to medium gauge chambers.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Steden (100)	2010-03-31		Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild	Tolerable

Another tobacco gifted by Clarkus that I thank, I can endorse his review: I expected a stronger tobacco, the contents of nicotine is certainly in high dosage (too much for my preferences) but not bombastic and contributes to coolness of the smoke despite the type of cut and dryness make this tobacco highly flammable. What is surprising is the delicacy of taste, not bad but rather neutral and (IMHO) natural, placed on the top of the bowl (just a pinch) can be used as a trigger for blends too wet or too weak.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-12-13		Overwhelming	Very Mild	Full	Extra Strong

Roll this in paper or blend with actual pipe tobacco if one absolutely must...otherwise it is only for those wishing to prove some point or be known as a tough "real" smoker who needs and can handle nicotene.

Kinda like Knob Creek as being the whiskey that John Wayne would drink in the Old West, I expect that this is the tobacco some would think the Duke would smoke after walking thru the bat-wings.

I would vote avoid if possible. "There ain't no money in it."

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-07-26		Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A pipe smoking mate sent me a sample of this one - so my 'review' is based on just two smokes in a Falcon pipe. The 'harmless' floral pouch aroma sort of lulls one into a false sense of security. How could something that smells like potpourri have such a notorious reputation? Being a shag cut it lights easily and stays lit. The smoke is really quite pleasant, cool and bite free. I don't know how to describe the taste apart from saying it's a Burley with a nice background sweetness. Then, just as you're leaning back with your feet up, the nicotine kicks the door down, stomps in and smacks you. I actually FELT my heart rate go up. I couldn't imagine smoking this every day, but it sure was fun to try.

A little old lady with a hammer in her handbag.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-02-20		Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is burley in the nude. As such, it does what burley should do. It smokes cool when packed well and tastes rather neutral,with some mild cigar notes and earthy overtones. Since the cut is so fine and the condition of the tobacco is dry, 5Bro will burn fast, so careful packing and gentle puffing are in order. This makes a nice, satisfying, quick smoke for when you don't have the time or concentration to spend on contemplation of a bowl of something more complex and you are not in the mood for something flavored, like PA or Carter. This is also good for cooling down hot mixtures. I blended 5Bro with some overly-mature Dunhill 965 that was harshly hot and the sting went right out of the mixture. When I have a bit of tobacco left at the end of a tin that isn't quite enough for a bowl, 5Bro is the perfect blending partner. I'd pay a lot more for this, but I'm glad I don't have too (at least until the SCHIP bill passes). I recently found a link to a book entitled "The City of Louisville and a Glimpse of Kentucky" by Young Ewing Allison, published in 1887. This brand, mentioned by name, was already a big seller for Finzer Brothers way back then. Five Brothers truly is a blast from the past.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-10-11		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This stuff is great. If you don't want to try a pouch tobacco, try Old Joe Krantz by C&D. I find it to be very similar taste-wise, but more complex and rich. However, I love me some Five Brothers!

The strength does not bother me. It's just nice. The flavor is smooth. Probably the most flavorful and complex non-aromatic OTC blend I've come across. Hopefully it's not goin' anywhere...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-07-07		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Strong

Update: I was astonished to see this tobacco in a large grocery chain in my area. I immediately bought another package. I am upgrading to three stars from my initial review. This tobacco really is growing on me. Hiccups and tightness aside, this stuff is tasty burley. I think a cob is best for this tobacco. I think I'll try smoking this tobacco while playing golf with antique hickory shafted clubs. (I'm not ready for knickers yet.)

I saw this tobacco in a little newstand while visiting. The clerk told me that one of her customers buys 3 packages a week. I was so astonished I asked if the customer was still alive. She told me he was at least in his seventies. So much for smoking is bad for the health. My grandfather smoked and chewed Five Brothers and Cutty Pipe, and he lived to 83.5 years old.

Anyhow, this is what men smoked in the early twentieth century. I filled a smaller cob lightly, and lit up. As others have said, not for the faint of heart. A harsh, bitter flavor initially, but faimtly, I could taste the nutty, mellow burley in the background. Although I tried to sip as slowly as I could, I immediately got hiccups, and later, my chest became tight. The nicotine content must be extremely high. I only get hiccups if I puff too fast on any other tobacco.

A pouch should last me a long time. Will smoke a pipe of this once in a great while. Well, in a nutshell, Five Brothers tobacco is a trip into the past, from a world long gone. When men were men, and women were glad of it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-06-28		Medium	Medium	Full	Unnoticeable

I received a couple bowls worth from an acquaintance and was immediately taken aback with the cut. I have tried shags before but this was cut much finer. Reminded me of wheat-germ. I have read that this is uber-strong in nicotine content but I did not find it to be overpowering. I enjoyed it immensely. It does burn very fast so don't use it in a smoking contest. No relights, no bite, no gurgle. Just pure tobacco. Enjoy!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	rsvp2rip (27)	2006-12-19		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

Well I didn't think this was bad, but I got a pack-a-day habit anyways so the nicotine kick wasn't bad at all for me. I opened the pouch, saw what looked like a cat fight crime scene and left the pouch sit for 2 weeks till I got curious. I used a MM pony and just crammed in a bowl sized pinch and lit. I thought it might catch the house on fire! The shag cut and the tinder dry moisture content made it flare up like a burning bar. It took all of 5 minutes to finish the smoke. Cigarish discribes the first quarter then it just got strong tasting, not bitter, not hay or grass like just pure burley cranked up to ten. I'm not gonna put this in my rotation, but I think I will revisit it once in a while.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Spike (296)	2006-10-11		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I bought some to see what all the fuss is about. My recommendation....Buy some rolling papers and make it into cigarette. Don't inhale! Not bad. I don't advise trying in a pipe unless you have a really small bowl. In a pipe it burns much too fast and becomes harsh. I probably won't buy any more unless I take up R.Y.O. cigarettes. Not likely.

P.S. How on earth are you supposed to chew this stuff?

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-10-05		Medium	Mild	Mild	Tolerable

When I saw the legendary 5Bros at the drugstore I couldn't resist. This turned out to be a fine cut (US term) dark fired tobacco - something that goes back to the colonial era (barely) and was very typical until say WWI. I was suprised that the blend wasn't hot though it burned quick. In a straight pipe I found no strength to speak of, only in a large bent do I feel it, sometimes having to lay down. If you really want something strong try Cotton Bol. Its ALOT stronger. The dark fired a friend sent me made the cotton bol seem like candy. There is a certain thrill in smoking a truely strong tobacco, one that actually makes you feel that tobacco could be a drug. 5Bros isn't it. Still its a very historic blend, and should be the first choice of reenactors. It is lightly flavored and slightly smoothed but a crude, rude vapor eminates from the bowl. This is not a refined tobacco. The taste is fairly mild but with repeated smokes the 'tang' builds in the pipe. This is characteristic of dark tobacco, and air-cured Green River shares this quality. It has its charms, and is worth trying. I'm not sure I'll get it again. When I want something like this I want much, much more strength, and a cut that can be blended with other tobaccos. String cuts are real hard to work with.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Quiggifur (89)	2023-02-24		Extremely Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

20230328 edit: I have to bump this up to 4 stars. My driving jar finally ran out, and I found I really missed it, ended up ordering a box of pouches. It's not especially nuanced, it probably won't win awards, but it really ticks all the boxes for me.

20230311 edit: smoking this exclusively during a few hours drive including lunch, it's not that bad. Plain unflavored burley taste, nutty, maybe a little bit of molasses. Maybe it's like drinking cheap liquor, after the first couple shots the perception improves; definitely better without anything to compare it to. Made for a very relaxing drive, it definitely has its place. Something you can smoke and not think about, while getting a significant nicotine hit. Prince Albert or even Haunted Bookshop would have been more pleasant, but without anywhere the nicotine content. In the end, I was sad to see that final bowl reduced to ash.

Tin note: Very mild, almost smells like my memory of my grandmother's unfiltered Pall-Malls. The smoke is mild in taste, nutty, but easily stings the tongue and back of the throat. The second hand smoke is very acrid. I believe I'd only smoke this again if I were looking for a quick nicotine hit; there's nothing here that I would call especially pleasant, aside from the nostalgia of the tin note.

Almost think I detected a note of cat urine somewhere in the void where taste would usually be. Seriously, this is not great. I hear it has use in de-ghosting pipes; I don't think I could smoke enough of it to perform that function, wouldn't do that to myself. Trying to find any reason not to give this a 1 star rating, but nothing is coming to mind. Maybe I'll give it 2 for the nicotine content alone; halfway through my tiny bowl and I'm already feeling a little loopy. Keep some rolling papers on you, and when asked for a cigarette, you could roll one which would satisfy the strongest nicotine craving.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	b7q (51)	2022-07-13		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Some people like to use pepper in their food, some people like to use sugar, there is no right or wrong, there is no absolute strength standard, it depends on what kind of pipe you are good with.

In my hometown, people in the countryside directly cut the green leaves into silk during the harvest season, and then put them in the wide open space for the sun until they turn golden, take them home and leave them for a few days, without any need to add anything, directly use them.

Five Brothers is like that, it's a Stone Age hominid, I have a curved brandy, it also has a reverse gourd design, for me, it's light and easy to hold in the teeth, the strong mixture is done here (Tabac Manil, 1792 Flake, Brown No. 4, Irish Flake), everything is fine, no big deal, good stuff!

Pipe Used: Briar

Age When Smoked: new

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-12-16		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

not sure this is realy pipe tobacco more like dutch shag cig tobacco maybe drum or samson. i didnt find it that strong , an ok quick smoke burns away very quick. but great for breaking in a new pipe . if you want a good strong tobacco try braken flake or gawiths 1792 . but this is only my opinion. give it a try.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-03-24		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Ah, Five Brothers...lots of good memories here. In the early 1960s I worked summers in the steel mills of northern Ohio. I was just a college kid and new to pipe smoking. Many of the old hands smoked Five Brothers and I began to enjoy it over all other brands of that era. Tastes change and now I smoke the more refined full English blends but still crave a pipe of this from time to time and always keep a little on hand. Good stuff, hope it remains available but doubt it will.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-04-29		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

Curiosity made me purchase a couple of pouches and try this tobacco. Shag cut burley tobacco a bit dry in the pouch with larger bits of stem mixed in. Easy to fill a pipe and light. Somewhat mild bitter and nutty taste, not at all unpleasant. Burned easily down to the bottom of the bowl with just one extra light. Not the nicotine strength that I expected from reviews, but nonetheless a very strong tobacco in that regard. I enjoy five brothers as a change. Reminds me of what my grandfather would roll and smoke. For me that alone made it worth while.

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