Tobaccos Imperial Tobacco Group, PLC - Saint Claude

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Raines (52)	2014-06-27		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

In France we call this blend type "braun tobacco". I don't know if there's a counterpart word in english. Whatever ! You must smoke this tobacco dryer that an aromatic tobacco or an english blend, so it can developp all his taste. Not too dry anyway, of course. I suggest you to smoke with something to drink if you don't want to have your mouth slurred because of the dryness of the tobacco. The taste is rather strong, but not the nicotine strength. So if you want a "heavy" tobacco without being dizzy, this tobacco is for you. Even if you're a young smoker. To me, this blend type ("braun" or natural) is my every day tobacco. And when I want more sophisticated taste, I turn to english mixtures. If I can smoke it every day, it's because I find it good. So I highly recommend it.

Similar Blends: Traditab - 1637, Joseph Martin - Semois Lux No. 3, Joseph Martin - Langue de Chien, Joseph Martin - Old Bohan, Vincent Manil - Réserve du Patron, Vincent Manil - La Brumeuse.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-08-25		Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Strong

Also brought by French buddies of mine, at the same time as the Caporal and Caporal Export.

This is a more refined and smoother version than the Caporal line, in accordance with some of the other reviewers.

Less acrid and harsh, but still strong, because based on the Scaferlati tobacco. But I managed to finish off the pouch.

I guess I could like it if I smoked it while getting drunk on Calvados: the strong liquor would smooth out the strong bakkie. But I didn't try it.

For those who have hair on their chest only.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kamerling (28)	2016-09-25		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Strong

My nightmare memento from France. If you're broke and you're looking for some cheap mix of Virginia with cigar leafs then... no, that's still no solution - absolutelly do not buy Saint Claude. Instead of this, get some 10 g pack of Samuel & Gawith's Black XX or Cigar Leaf.

I knew few pipe-smoking beggars who would never try again Saint Claude - that explains a lot about it's low quality.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TomJ (2)	2016-03-25		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Being in the quest to find the most similar flavor to Gitanes cigarettes but in a pipe tobacco form, came across this blend threw a friend in France.

The Grey Scaferlati being the sharpest strongest ( which by the way resembles the most to Gitanes until now without knowing the Scaferlati Superior, but if anyone points out a better, will be appreciated ) this blend falls in the Brun and Virginia blend category with a little flavorings added being honey I guess. Very similar to the Italia blend from Italy which has more Kentucky ( Fire cured Burley ) as the base. St.Claude has more Brun tobacco ( flue cured or air cured European Burley or Black tobacco) involved here. As someone stated, Drum tobacco at least smells similar but do not remember how they tasted.

Virginia and Brun are noted, sweet nutty and earthy with the honey-ish flavoring enhancing the earth note. Spice is moderate compared to Scaferlati Gris.

Pipe Used: St.Claude

Age When Smoked: 4 months

Purchased From: Local

Similar Blends: Italia, Comune, Scaferlati Export.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	L'Italiano (233)	2015-03-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Strong

Saint Claude is a quite good tobacco, really natural, in line with Caporal Export. Perhaps a little bit more subtle than Caporal Export but with the same character. In fact it is a typical French tobacco (brown tobacco) with Paraguay (cigar leaf) as fundamental element. Nevertheless I am not convinced about it: this blend is a national-popular mixture, good…..but so and so. In my personal system rating (from 1 to 10) my score is 7 and two stars.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	strongirish (249)	2013-11-28		Very Strong	Extremely Mild	Very Full	Tolerable

I bought a pack of this while in Nice France and I found it to be a very strong, heady blend but full of tobacco flavor and very little additives or flavoring. It is not for the weak of heart but for an experienced smoker like myself (47 years) I found it to be very enjoyable. I like a blend that can be strong yet be enjoyable to smoke and I smoked the pack of this in a very quick time. It does burn fast, but it is very easy to pack and light. I also found it left a strong tobacco aroma on my beard and clothes, not a bother to me but might be to nonsmokers around. The room note is very strong and heavy but still pleasing to me. I bought this in a rollup pack and containing a rough cut khaki brown tobacco with the perfect moisture content. The pouch aroma almost has a Lakeland like aroma but I could not taste this while smoking it. What I did taste was just a full flavored tobacco flavor with a head on it. It does not bite though and it burns quite easily all the way down in my pipe leaving very little moisture or dottle. This was an interesting blend that I wish I had bought more of as I have never seen it in the States. If you are a fan of strong tobaccos, I would highly recommend giving this a try. I enjoyed it very much.

Pipe Used: Briars and Falcons

Age When Smoked: Right off the shelf

Purchased From: Tobacco shop in Nice France

Similar Blends: Five Brothers and Dark Birdseye..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2009-08-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

St. Claude tastes very similar to Five Brothers. The Virginia presence here though, brings out a bit more tang. I really liked my pouch and would not turn down more. Straight forward, in your face tobacco taste. Ribbon cut and dry in the pouch, it burned quickly and easily from top to bottom. Good stuff!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	poupehan (23)	2004-11-25		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is the tobacco that a relative of my wife smokes all day, everyday. Along with 3 hour meals, fine wines, alcool de prune (and a chateau in the south of France) I took it that St Claude was part of that French art of living. So the next time I was in France (honeymoon in Paris) of course I picked up a pouch of this! So it is a rather blonde ribon cut. Pouch has indeed a sweetish/honeyish smell, but when smoked, IMHO this is straight tobacco. I feel the urge to compare it to caporal, or st. bruno ready rubbed or even semois, but it is way less robust and strong than those. In fact it is well behaved, no bite, pure tobacco room note ? but not arcid in any way. Ok, it burns fast. But sometimes it is nice to be able to finish a bowl in 30 minutes. So why don?t I smoke this more often? Does the retsina taste as good at home as on holliday in Greece?

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	NDNM (3)	2021-08-06		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Strong

This cigar leaf-based tobacco is rather strong-tasting and pretty pungent, requiring a little humidifying and curing outside of the bag, but is otherwise an easy and predictable smoke. Other than its name (referring to the famous pipe-making French village), that's probably the reason it is (or was?) the "official" tobacco of the Pipe-Club de France.

Although its nicotine levels are not the highest out there, it certainly has a bit of a kick and its taste is rather full and round, with comparatively little bite. The cigar tobacco is well at the forefront of its aromatic profile, with a very slight sweetness provided by the small proportion of Virginia added to the mix. Will definitely be appreciated by amateurs of lower-end cigars and cigarillos.

As a standalone tobacco, it's pretty mediocre in my opinion. However, I have found it to be one of, if not the best neutral tobacco with which strongly aromatic tobaccos can be mixed (hence the 3-star rating). My personal favorite is a 50-50 mix with the MacBaren Vanilla Loose Cut (called MacBaren Classic in France) or a 40-60 mix with the Chacom n°3 (a heavily black cavendish-based vanilla flavored tobacco). Thoroughly blend the two in a mason jar, humidify lightly and let sit for a couple days – the result is a wonderfully full and extremely easy to light/maintain smoke that I personally use as my everyday morning bowl.

Pipe Used: Chacom The French Pipe n°7, Dr. Plumb Extra

Age When Smoked: A few days after humidification and mixing

Purchased From: Tabac Le Steir, La Civette

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pmriviere (1)	2020-03-27		Very Strong	Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

A fast burning, aggressive tobacco. Could be smoked in rolled cigarettes. It gets bitters in the third tier, before that is pretty flat and really strong (I inhale my smoke). I find the burn hard to control, needs to be watched all along as it gets real hot quickly, but it is hard to keep lit. Probably made for cigarette smokers seeking N hit.

Pipe Used: Chacom

Age When Smoked: 3 months

Purchased From: Local store in France

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	stressmoker (11)	2018-09-04		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

I bought a pack of this three four years ago. At first when I smoked it I thought it wasn't bad, with a bit of roundness, but not much interest. It was a bit sour, and also, this tobacco still has the strongest nicotine hit I've ever had. Even stronger than bell's three nuns, for example. So, on the upside, it will still your nerves rapidly, if that's what you're looking for. My conclusion was that it was better than most pipe tobaccos you can buy at an average french news and tobacco place, but that it wasn't really interesting either. It wasn't bitter, it wasn't bad, it just didn't have much taste to it (and didn't resemble cigars at all).

Note, this tobacco smells pretty dank.

Then I cellared it for two years. Took it out. It was pretty much the same. Maybe the sour taste was a bit more present. In any case, I recellared it for two years.

I took it out after four years of cellaring. The smell is still pretty dank but... it actually got very nice! And I mean very nice! Nice enough, that I am thinking about buying 2-3 packs and stocking them for four years. It is rich, flavorful, gives off a thick mesmerizing smoke, and, depending on what you want, still packs a strong nicotine punch. I really like it... after four years.

Of course this result gives me mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's a "not bad, but nothing special" tobacco when you buy it. At first, I had put 2 stars for that. On the other hand, it is a really, really nice tobacco after 4 years. But, it takes 4 years to get good! And that just makes me want to cellar it again and see what happens! Ahhh... 3 stars.

Purchased From: Au chiquitto (Pompey, France)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Virginia lover (218)	2013-08-01		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

A lighter scaferlati that could be smoked all day. Brown tobacco still dominates with that roasted, earthy, cigar like taste. A no fuss, inexpensive pouch tobacco that could be bought in Tabac stores in France at around 7 euros. It's good to know that Europe still has some affordable pipe tobacco. The same cannot be said about those tinned ones whose price has doubled because of new taxes.

Virginia lover

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-07-25		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I agree with Mr Zorg, this is worth trying.

Also it is easy to pack, light and smoke. It delivers earthy, woodsy flavors like "Gris" does but has a somewhat broader cut to it.

I obtained some St-Claude, Gris, Caporal Export as well as Belgian Semois and am a big fan of these tobaccos.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-06-30		Strong	Mild	Very Full	Strong

I smoked Saint-Claude for years. It will give you a nice nicotine kick, if you like that.

It is a typical French blend, a little more elaborated than Scaferlattis and Caporals though.

In that range of tobaccos, I would also advise the different Semois from Belgium.

Every once in a while, I get back to it. It is not a sophisticated blend at all, but it will not make your pipe stinks either.

One of the tobaccos that are easy to find in France, and that is worth trying, in my opinion.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-10-07		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

My first French blend I've tried so far, I've picked it up in Paris just recently during my honeymoon. The tobacco looks like something between roll-yer-own cigarette tobacco and a classic ribbon cut. The tobacco in the pouch was just right after opening (for somebody might be a little dry-ish). Burns evenly however it needs a bit of an attention as it has a tendency to burn fast (and hot and bitter) but if you watch it it's a treat. All-in-all it's an easy natural, rather rustic tobacco of a cigaretty/cigary/earthy flavour.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sasha (228)	2005-07-29		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

This is a better version of the Caporal export, if you look for a refined and complex smoke. This contains a part of Virginia and a part of Semois leaf, so it returns more subtleties during the smoke than his Caporal cousin. It is sweeter, firstly, and a lot less hot, but pay the same attention in smoking it slow because it can easily turn bitter.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jakob Kiilerich (120)	2004-11-10		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

Cheap french drugstore Caporal blend The same leaf as in Gaulloises cigarettes but more rough-cut. It burns damn fast, and is impossible to inhale without getting serious breathing problems. And no, I'm not a neophyte - I smoke Royal Yacht and love it.

If you like Caporal style blends, this might ring your bell - I'll just steer clear.......

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Beer (345)	2004-09-10		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

One of the classic French national offerings, made for about 92.5% of tobacco and the rest of additives (which certainly contribute to the strong sweetish/honeyish smell of the mixture) as the pouch states. It comes quite dry, in a ribbon cut which is more suitable for pipe smoking than the shag cut of many similar Italian offerings. The taste is, anyway, similar to that of the Italian traditional tobaccos (after all, Italy and France are quite near...): half way between Comune and Forte, if you have tried them. The taste offers a rustic taste which shows some sweetness from the virginias and some woody bitterness (especially at the end of the bowl) typical of burley or kentucky. It is also reminiscent of some versions of Half&Half that have appeared in these last years. Not a completely bad tobacco, but not one that I would gladly smoke every day... It burns fast and even. Beware because it dries VERY fast, and when it does it becomes unbearably bitter like a bad cigar! Well, it does so even when at the right moisture... but only at the end of the bowl!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rural_Walker (1)	2023-05-04		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

The Saint-Claude is a typical French tobacco, a brown blend in the old way, it takes the formula of the Caporal, a legendary tobacco, known for having been for a long time the pipe tobacco distributed to the French troops in the army, notably during the first world war. It had lost a lot of quality over the years, associated with the elderly, but I still remember with nostalgia its characteristic smell at my grandfather's house.

Being French and having made my education with tobacco especially English or Balkan, I love the Saint Claude because it is very different from all foreign tobacco and has a strong identity, the virginia is quite discreet to leave room for the Kentucky and a light aroma of Tonqua. The tobaccos are of much better quality than the Corporal while retaining this identity so marked. It is a rustic tobacco in the good sense of the word and quite charged in nicotine.

I strongly recommend it if you are a foreigner and want to learn about French or Belgian tobacco like Semois, because it will not resemble anything you have already tasted.

Pipe Used: Jeantet and MM Washington

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	billinrio (5)	2022-07-16		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Back in Paris after a long pause due to the pandemic and out of pipe tobacco I visited a shop that's known to carry some decent tinned tobaccos - À la Civette du Palais Royal. This shop is currently almost entirely devoted to cigars, with a relatively small offering of pipe tobaccos. Tobacco taxes are outrageously high in France. At this shop, a tin of the Dunhill (now Peterson) Early Morning Pipe costs 32 euros. I purchased a pouch of this stuff for 15 euros. The helpful young salesperson informed me that this blend contains cigar leaf. This may be so, and another review here claims that it contains cigar leaf from Paraguay. Manufactured by MacBaren, and available ( I subsequently discovered) at most "tabac" shops in France, that company's web page describes the tobacco thus: "A fair amount of Dark Fired Kentucky is balanced by the natural bright Virginia tobaccos. The special air-cured tobacco adds the French touch and magic in quite a unique way". Whatever that "French touch" is supposed to mean, the pouch odor is very light, slightly flowery. The taste is bland but not unpleasant. The ribbon cut burns easily. Apparently a good example of the French "braun" tobaccos, it will have to tide me over until my C.A.R.E. package arrives from the U.S. Until then I'll use it for blending.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Regimental (321)

Purchased From: À la Civette du Palais Royal

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BaconAndEggs (4)	2015-04-18		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

If you've smoked really cheap cigars of the kind that come in a little tin and constantly leave little crumbs of baccy on your tongue; then you already know the taste of Saint Claude. Not too bad is the best that can be said.

My packet was very dry (as many other reviewers have said) so I don't think it was old, it's just that's how it comes.

Pipe Used: Blakemar

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Tabac, Rue Paul Bert, Cheny France

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-06-26		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I use it to cut aromatics with and get a dryer mixture as an everyday smoke. Other than that I don't really use that stuff by itself, it is strong and harsh with a potent roasted smell. This is not for sissies. Some of the reviews evoke some kind of honey casing...well, I can't find any of that, even when I open a fresh pouch, only what a gypsy caravan would probably smell like... Fairly available all over France.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-11-09		Medium	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Picked some of this up while traveling in France. This is a good basic tobacco. Nothing too interesting, but the Kentucky does add a nice smoky flair to this basic, light smoking blend. It's mostly just a light smoke, with the flavor from the Kentucky, and a mild sweetness from the Virginia. I don't really get much of the typical nutty Burley flavor, but maybe a little bit of chocolate.

Kind of bland, good to smoke when you want one that doesn't get in the way.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-12-26		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Apparently this tobacco is now very hard to get...

If you can try it, then do. It is another typical scaferlati tobacco, cased with honey and of a broader cut than Scaferlati Caporal and Caporal export.

Nice smoky, spicy and sweet taste. Burns well without a bite if there is a minimal moisture in it.

I enjoyed it!

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2004-10-01		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It has got a havana like taste at firstbut turns into kentucky futher down the bowl. Samson and Drum are about the same exept for the cut

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Paddy (127)	2004-09-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

The St. Claude I am smoking I have had for quite a while and it is thoroughly dried out. It is a medium brown ribbon, a bit tangly but not too difficult to pack. The smoke is mild with no bite. It has a distinctive nut-like flavor which could be entirely due to the Kentucky burly or it could be a flavor enhancer because it is not a drugstore burly. I have picked up this flavor in a couple of Germain tobaccos. There is plenty of tobacco flavor which I like. The only drawbacks are that it burns far too fast and it is difficult to get. I doubt that I will go to the trouble of searching out a regular source for this tobacco, but if I could get it easily I would keep it on hand. Well recommended

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