I made most of mine with one variety at a time and each came out quite differently. Basma went very much in the fruity direction, whereas Shirey (dark VA) had more of a barnyard vibe with a bit of background fruitiness. KY15 took on a sort of musty quality (in a good way) but the change was much more subtle, I think because that leaf was quite low case going in (just enough to not break when folded; stems probably would've snapped if they weren't frog-legged.)
All except my first, hand-bound attempt came out very dense like a tree branch or something and, because of the way the layers wrinkle up and fold into one another as its pressed, it holds together better than plug, I think. On the downside, they're actually quite a pain to chop up with a knife. I think you'd need some sort of guillotine to get a decent coin cut without too much blood, sweat and tears. I ended up using a pair of tin snips to cut of an inch or so a time, then use a spray bottle to moisten the outside enough to tease off a few layers at a time, then chop those up and dry them down.
One tip I could've done with is make sure your leaf is good and clean before you start 'cause anything that gets squished in there ain't coming out again. My Basma accumulated a lot of dead gnats and stuff. They snap, crackle and pop like a bowl of rice krispies
. Likewise, it might be worth ironing your canvas or something to prevent lots of fibres getting stuck to the carotte's surface.
