Blend categories
judandhispipe
Master
in Tobacco Talk
I thought it might be useful, for the benefit of the newer pipe smokers amongst us, to talk about blend categories. As a basis for the discussion, I went to Russ Oullette and his very useful Tobacco University.
Here's what Russ says on the subject.:
"There are many descriptive terms for pipe tobacco blends, and, it seems,
that just about every company has their own nomenclature. Below, I give
a list of what I consider to be the main categories of tobaccos.
Although some companies will differ from my terminology, it applies to
how we refer to our Hearth & Home tobaccos, and can be used for any.
English- The older use of the term “English blend”
just meant that the tobacco used was unflavored, since, under old laws,
processors in the UK were not allowed to add much of anything to their
tobaccos. Today, the description is a bit more specific. For my
purposes, an English blend is a tobacco which has a dominant note of
Latakia, and the secondary flavor comes from Virginia(s).
Balkan- Similar to an English, but after the Latakia,
the most prominent flavor will come from Turkish or Oriental tobaccos.
The name, of course, comes from the superb Balkan Sobranie (a blend
which used some of the most outstanding Orientals ever).
Scottish- An English blend with Cavendish added, usually. Dunhill 965 is one of the classic Scottish-type blends.
Virginia- Pretty self-explanatory; a blend which is
all, or overwhelmingly dominated by Virginia tobaccos. Sometimes a
little Burley or Oriental might be added for balance or to mitigate the
sharpness that Virginia can exhibit.
Va/Per- These blends are predominantly Virginia with
the addition of Perique. The sweet and spicy characteristics of Perique
work very well in combination with the sugary and somewhat acidic nature
of the Virginias.
Aromatic- These blends are usually made with lighter
flavored base tobaccos (Virginia, Burley, Carolina, Maryland) with
flavors, usually in the form of syrups, added. The main drawback to
these blends is that the tobacco rarely tastes the same as it smells.
Burley- Again, the reference is apparent. The blend
will be primarily Burley, and may have other tobaccos added in
condimental amounts, but will exhibit mainly the characteristics of
Burley, which is usually a nutty and somewhat sour flavor.
Oriental- The flavor will mostly come from Oriental or
Turkish tobaccos, with Virginias and/or Latakia and, possibly, other
tobaccos used for “spice”.
There are also a number of crossover blends, such as American/English
(English with Burley), English/Aromatic and others, but these
descriptions should at least help to make more sense of all this."
Hope this leads to a fruitful discussion.
Here's what Russ says on the subject.:
"There are many descriptive terms for pipe tobacco blends, and, it seems,
that just about every company has their own nomenclature. Below, I give
a list of what I consider to be the main categories of tobaccos.
Although some companies will differ from my terminology, it applies to
how we refer to our Hearth & Home tobaccos, and can be used for any.
English- The older use of the term “English blend”
just meant that the tobacco used was unflavored, since, under old laws,
processors in the UK were not allowed to add much of anything to their
tobaccos. Today, the description is a bit more specific. For my
purposes, an English blend is a tobacco which has a dominant note of
Latakia, and the secondary flavor comes from Virginia(s).
Balkan- Similar to an English, but after the Latakia,
the most prominent flavor will come from Turkish or Oriental tobaccos.
The name, of course, comes from the superb Balkan Sobranie (a blend
which used some of the most outstanding Orientals ever).
Scottish- An English blend with Cavendish added, usually. Dunhill 965 is one of the classic Scottish-type blends.
Virginia- Pretty self-explanatory; a blend which is
all, or overwhelmingly dominated by Virginia tobaccos. Sometimes a
little Burley or Oriental might be added for balance or to mitigate the
sharpness that Virginia can exhibit.
Va/Per- These blends are predominantly Virginia with
the addition of Perique. The sweet and spicy characteristics of Perique
work very well in combination with the sugary and somewhat acidic nature
of the Virginias.
Aromatic- These blends are usually made with lighter
flavored base tobaccos (Virginia, Burley, Carolina, Maryland) with
flavors, usually in the form of syrups, added. The main drawback to
these blends is that the tobacco rarely tastes the same as it smells.
Burley- Again, the reference is apparent. The blend
will be primarily Burley, and may have other tobaccos added in
condimental amounts, but will exhibit mainly the characteristics of
Burley, which is usually a nutty and somewhat sour flavor.
Oriental- The flavor will mostly come from Oriental or
Turkish tobaccos, with Virginias and/or Latakia and, possibly, other
tobaccos used for “spice”.
There are also a number of crossover blends, such as American/English
(English with Burley), English/Aromatic and others, but these
descriptions should at least help to make more sense of all this."
Hope this leads to a fruitful discussion.
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