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Ken Wilson
Member
Username: The_pirate
Post Number: 8
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 - 09:18 pm: | |
What characteristics classify a blend of tobacco? Obviously if the description states "3 burleys and a touch of perique", it will be a burley blend. But what if their is a mixture of different tobaccos in a blend? Is the dominant tobacco listed first in the description? What exactly does a VAPer blend have in it? Is that Virginias and perique?
Once the type of blend has been deterimed, what are the general taste characteristics? Which type of blends tend to have a little bite, and which tend to be smoother?
I am asking this so that when I read a tobacco review, I can get a general idea of the taste category of the blend. If something bites, I don't want to try it no matter who says it is great. I don't care for the taste of cigar tobacco, and have bought a couple blends that tasted that I thought were burley but tasted very much like crushed cigars (black cavendish causing this?). These were probably fine tobaccos for someone who likes that taste, but for me, it was just a waste of money. And I blame myself for this since I could not get a clue of the general taste from the description.
Currently I am enjoying Old Joe Krantz, which is a burley as stated on the C&D site. I also like C&D Easy Times( another burley). My other two favorites are Pease's Haddo's Delight (not a burley, but what is it?) and Fillmore.
I want to sample many tobaccos, but I also want at least a general Idea about it before I lay down my bucks. So far all af my searces to gain knowledge have ended in rather ambiguous descriptions
So if some of you experts can point me in the right direction that will help educate me, I would greatly appreciate it. Sorry for such a long post. Economy of words is not my strong point.
Ken |
Todd Bannard
Member
Username: Sasquatch
Post Number: 296
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, January 06, 2007 - 03:15 am: | |
Ken, for what it's worth (because tobacco tastes are totally subjective), I'll give you a breakdown of my own tastes, and others will do the same.
Burley tends to be kind of smooth and nutty, and I like how it smells. Kind of "classic pipe" in America.
Virginia's taste a bit more like "tobacco" in the cigarette or maybe cigar sort of vain. There are a million variants of colour and cure (air, sun, fire, flue...) which all have different tendencies. I'm not a huge Va fan in general - I got into pipes through vanilla tinged cavendish blends, and Virginias are a totally different smoke than that. That said, "cavendish" is another virginia, but pressed or cooked to bring out a sweetness and smoothness. (which is to say, cavendish is I think NOT responsible for cigar-ness). Black Cavendish is sweet and mild - almost chocolatey.
Latakia is real smooth and smokey, tends to burn pretty cool.
Perique mystifies me - described by many as sweet, I think it is also a bit piquant, but I'm not convinced about it in any direction. Possibly I need to smoke a real Perique heavy blend.
Va/Per is as you say a Virginia Perique offering, and I don't mind that (Elizabethan by Dunhill is one I smoke once in awhile). There are a million of these blends, and from what I understand, quite a variety of tastes within this field, depending on the type of Va and the amount and type of perique.
Lots of blends have very secret amount of very specific tobaccos, and for instance, Mac Baren Mixture is a blend of something like 30 different tobaccos.
All a guy can do is sort of get a bead on the general idea of any particular type of weed, and see what it blends with, in terms of personal preference.
English blends are usually Virginia based for sweetness with a Latakia and/or oriental mixer for smoothness and other flavors. Orientals can be anything from tea like to sweet, as far as I can tell.
On top of all this, a bunch of blends, roughly defined as aromatic, have some kind of topping added, so you'll find Navy blends with Rum and or Vanilla, for instance, and a million others.
I think all a guy can do is sample everything he can, and figure out the likes and dislikes, and then post about that, and the folks here can direct you to some real winners in whatever category you like. |
Ken Wilson
Member
Username: The_pirate
Post Number: 9
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, January 06, 2007 - 09:16 am: | |
Found a thread farther down the page that has a link that is answering many of my questions. Still interested in the thoughts of yu experts, however.
Ken |
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