Another Frankenblend
pwkarch
Master
in Tobacco Talk
Yesterday I worked many hours, and about 1500 or so i thought with beautiful weather I would head out on our open deck and grab a smoke. I mixed two tobaccos that I love; 50% Nording Hunter Labrador Blend and 50% Sutliff Vanilla Custard. I love both blends so why not experiment. I used my Savinelli Solaria, and boy what a pleasure that little operation was. I am happy to report that I was able to secure about 10 cans of the Nording before McClelland shut down, and I already had pounds of Vanilla Custard in my cellar (which ironically is in my cellar for the most part, with my regular daily/ weekly small jars in my office closet)....meaning that I can do this blend until I run out or get tired of it (unlikely).
The two tobaccos together tasted fantastic. I think the Nording was the dominant player with the semi spicy hazelnut really showing it self. The Vanilla Custard did however provide the mellow component to the mix. And I can say that with great accuracy because the day or so before I smoke the Nording blend by itself. In fact, the only reason that combo raised its' delightful head was because the Mason jar of the Nording was still sitting on my desk.
The thing I really love about this "hobby or addiction" (depending on who is describing it) is that we can, after years of tasting and remembering what we have and how they smoked, we can mix and match until our hearts are content. I will try this combo again in the next day or so using a slightly less amount of the Nording so as to let the Vanilla Custard step up in character......just fine tuning. I don't use a scale, I just measure the components out by the pinch into my tobacco bowl.
So happy smoking everyone. We have at least 4 weeks or so as I see it for outside smoking before we have to dress like Eskimos. At least that is the case in South Jersey.
The two tobaccos together tasted fantastic. I think the Nording was the dominant player with the semi spicy hazelnut really showing it self. The Vanilla Custard did however provide the mellow component to the mix. And I can say that with great accuracy because the day or so before I smoke the Nording blend by itself. In fact, the only reason that combo raised its' delightful head was because the Mason jar of the Nording was still sitting on my desk.
The thing I really love about this "hobby or addiction" (depending on who is describing it) is that we can, after years of tasting and remembering what we have and how they smoked, we can mix and match until our hearts are content. I will try this combo again in the next day or so using a slightly less amount of the Nording so as to let the Vanilla Custard step up in character......just fine tuning. I don't use a scale, I just measure the components out by the pinch into my tobacco bowl.
So happy smoking everyone. We have at least 4 weeks or so as I see it for outside smoking before we have to dress like Eskimos. At least that is the case in South Jersey.
Comments
Once again, for newcomers, and for any aromatic smoker who hasn't tried it....
Our own @Ghostsofpompeii is always coming up with a new combination of tobacco blends. He's even into "stacking" (packing layers of different blends/flavors in one bowl).
In my humble opinion, this is his finest creation: Mrs. Hudson's 221B Bakery Street Blend
Sherlock Holmes probably smoked a strong English blend. Naming a sweet aromatic after him would be inappropriate and ungentlemanly. The name "Mrs. Hudson’s" is a reference to Sherlock Holmes' landlady.
Mrs. Hudson’s is made from Sutliff bulk tobaccos, sold by the ounce, and blended together as follows:
Three parts (or 3 oz.) Sutliff Vanilla Custard
Two parts (or 2 oz.) Sutliff Chocolate Mousse
One part (or 1 oz.) Sutliff Crème Brulee
Some folks prefer to substitute one part (or 1 oz.) Sutliff Private Stock Molto Dolce (tin) for the very similar Creme Brûlée.
Historical note: The original recipe called for “….a pinch or two of Sutliff Irish Creme.” @Ghostsofpompeii says it could be omitted without harming the blend.
Mrs. Hudson's 221B Bakery Street Blend — easy to light and keep lit, great taste, smell, and room note; no bite, no goop, and no negative ghosting.
<<Sherlock Holmes does seem to have settled on the cheapest and strongest tobacco he could find, for everyday smoking at least. And Watson, in the early stages of their acquaintance, did the same, for in _A Study in Scarlet_ Holmes asks if Watson has any objections to strong tobacco, and Watson replies that he always smokes 'ship's' himself. 'Ship's' is corded plug, formed by placing the leaves of an inexpensive tobacco – in Watson's day, quite probably the inferior "Nicotiana rustica", rather than the now universal "N. tabacum" – on top of one another in a long row, then rolling them up and compressing them, originally with a thin cord, though machinery was used on a commercial scale later. When the resulting roll was a very thin one, the tobacco was called 'pig-tail,' and this form was widely smoked, or, in the days of wooden hulls, when burning tobacco would have been a fire hazard, chewed, by sailors.
'Ship's' can still be found at specialist tobacconists, but is not recommended for those of a weak constitution. The mere act of lighting the pipe produces a concentrated blast of tar and nicotine at the back of the throat, which makes breathing extremely difficult. There is no taste as such, only a harsh, rasping sensation, and the fumes and smell are 'acrid', just as Watson describes them in _The Hound of the Baskervilles_. A marvellous line by the underrated Nigel Bruce, in one of his films with Rathbone, sums it up very well: 'Fresh in here. Smells like a pub after closing time.'
If Holmes' before breakfast pipe consisted, as Watson says in "The Engineer's Thumb", of plugs and dottles from yesterday's smokes, and if he had been smoking 'ship's' yesterday, then it is not surprising that he sometimes left his breakfast – and other meals – untouched.