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Blending Your Own
Do y'all ever blend your own tobacco?
I've recently found that blending Dunhill's Flake with their Ye Olde Signe, about 50/50, is my jam!
I don't care for either tobacco by itself. The Flake is a bit too mono-flavored, and the Ye Olde Signe is missing something.
But with their powers combined!...
Bliss.
What do y'all blend together for a heavenly experience?
Comments
Think of it as another casualty of the FDA Deeming Regulations. Even if Sutliff were to actually start blending Mrs. Hudson's it wouldn't make the 2007 Grandfather clause. But never fear ... good news is on the way.
The combination blend with these two was not the "wow factor" I was expecting. Anyone who has read any of my posts will note that I love my SVC by its' lonesome, or with many different other blends. The blends are limited only by ones' imagination, and the SVC seems to love to be married to a lot of partners.
Having said that ,today's little experiment was not as favorable as past forays. I knew from much research that the McDC did not get great reviews, but I don't always acquire tobacco based on reviews alone, I like to form my own opinion. Ironically however as I said above I just today ordered Sutliff Chocolate Mousse, which had some outstanding reviews. I just wanted to try a chocolate blend, then got the idea to blend these two at the last minute.
The bowl provided an interesting taste, although not what I expected. I was able to detect the vanilla, but no chocolate, at least in the first half of the bowl. I was expecting or hoping for a taste with both notes, or a subtle chocolate, or a chocolaty vanilla. Instead I got a very different taste and aroma, not bad at all, but just blah. It became a hot smoke, and I am a slow cadence puffer. The second half of the bowl was bitey to say the least, and there was a good deal of dottle left in my CC bowl. I almost every time finish a bowl with 1 light......this took at least a half dozen or so.
So, although I know the SVC is a favorite of mine that performs great whether smoked alone or blended, I do not want to dismiss the McClelland out of hand. I will try a bowl of the McClelland by itself here soon just to see what I think of it alone. It could very well be that this combination of flavors just does not taste well together. And I will admit that I cannot imagine my SVC is to blame (like a favorite kid I suppose) but I need to be subjective if I am to be fair. I also think the experience could be improved if I let the McClelland out for more than the hour or so that I did today.
When I get my Sutliff Chocolate Mousse, one of my first trials will be that and Lane Dark Red (or Cult Blood Red Moon?) together, that just sounds great. I will report.
By the time I loaded my pipe both components were dry tot he touch. The aroma from the bowl was excellent but not identifiable as Chocolate Cherry as the Chocolate was the prominent aroma. As I almost always do, I chose a MM Cob (Twain straight stem) which is one of my favorite pipes. As I headed out the back door the "dry puff" were very much like smelling and tasting a chocolate covered cherry which had me excited. I sat out on an open deck beneath an umbrella enjoying what was turning out to be one of the real autumn weather days.
The lighting was applied and the mixture provided a very dense smoke, almost to the point of being able to chew it. Being outside I could not accurately detect the 'room note". The first impression was a sweet taste very much dominated by the chocolate. There did not seem to be any cherry flavor until almost the second half of the bowl. The cherry flavor did however provide a much sweeter tone to the chocolate, much sweeter than the chocolate did smoked alone.
The second half mark or so allowed the cherry flavor to come in to its' own. The chocolate seemed to mellow almost to a cocoa or maybe a milk chocolate taste as the cherry started to ramp up. As the tobaccos burned together toward the bottom there was a slight suggestion of the chocolate covered cherry flavor I was looking for. This was a muted flavor, almost a suggested flavor but very enjoyable. I suppose it was for the best because I do not necessarily like an overpowering sweet taste. I did enjoy the combination and as I will often do, I will try it again another time tuning down the chocolate and tuning up the cherry. I also think I will try the chocolate with a different cherry topped tobacco, several of which I do not like by themselves, but their unmistakable cherry taste might be what is needed.
So another experimental 'home blending" is completed at the base level of 50/50, and as said before these ideas are only limited by our imaginations.
I don't see anything wrong with "taking a couple of open tins and mixing them together".
Pappy I think one of the best parts of our hobby / lifestyle is the availability of us to mix / match / blend all of our choices experimenting trying to come up with our "nirvana" tobacco. I thoroughly enjoy the experimentation that is able to use with the myriad of blends and manufacturers out there. Having said that, i keep a spreadsheet list of my experiments with notes and comments. I know that sounds like work but I love doing it. And I think anyone who has been a pipe smoker as long as you have certainly has the qualifications and I would enjoy and respect your comments.
Just to let you know, I just put together a small batch (2 bowls or so) of Ghosts' "Mrs. Hudsons' 221B Bakery Blend". Although I had to add a pinch of C&D Nutty Irishman because I had no Sutliff irish Creme. It sits in my tobacco bowl this evening drying so I can take it for a test drive tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to a tasty adventure. I will provide an after action report. Good night all.....
It sure worked for me, even without the pinch of Irish Creme and subbing Molto Dolce for the Creme Brulée
The first half had a slight bite to it at first which I am going to assume was from the liquor based Nutty Irishman but that settled down quite quickly. Once it did, I was getting some very sweet taste notes that were quite nice but not yet "cookie' notes per se, but rather enjoyable. The second half or so of the bowl is where the fresh baked cookie notes began to develop. The taste was very nice, and the "deck note" escaped me being outside on such a beautiful day with a nice gentle breeze. But I did enjoy it to the max.
The blend smokes quite nice after the first third or so, and the taste reminded me of my Mom baking Christmas Cookies back in the day. I still have maybe a bowl or so in reserve here, and when I smoke that I am going to try the blend again without the "pinch" of the "Nutty Irishman" I added trying to stay somewhat on point with Ghosts' recipe. Perhaps the Frangelica was imparting a note that ramped the flavor down as I would think the Irish Mist component of the NI would be very close to the Sutliff Irish Cream?
The remnants of the bowl were almost all pure white ash, and there was no dottle remaining. The entire smoke was very dry with no moisture or gurgling throughout.
But it was a very enjoyable smoke that I will certainly smoke again. Thumbs up Ghost.........very appreciated suggestion.
50% Lane BCA
It's a delightful aro blend and the room note gets more compliments than either of them alone.
Made a .32oz demo bag yesterday that’s .22oz LNF and .10oz of the CB/Dr. Charlie. I’m vibing with it. It’s got my goat right now.