makhorkasmoker
Member
Hi all! I'm a pipe smoker from Central Florida.
I'm interesting in whole leaf/home grown tobacco because I just do not like most commercial pipe blends. After years of experimenting in the different genres, I have found that the only commercial blend I really like is not so much a blend as a "blender": C&D Dark Burley. I will sometimes mix a little C&D white burley with it, but usually I just smoke the dark burley straight.
To my surprise, I have found that C&D Dark Burley is one of the few--perhaps the only--strong straight burleys offered by the major pipe tobacco producers. It is possible that Tabac de la semois is another, but I have not tried those tobaccos. I don't even care for 5 Brothers much, in part because I am not crazy about shag cuts, but mainly because I notice a topping that I don't like. As for the other commercial pipe burleys I have tried, I dislike them because they are cased, or topped, or toasted until they no longer have any kick, or because they have too much virginia, or cavendish, or something else. I don't want any perique or Latakia in my burley either.
This has led me to conclude that either my tastes are very narrow, or that the commercial pipe tobacco companies just don't offer the blends I would like. I'm hoping it's the latter. That's why I am here.
I will be placing an order with whole leaf tobacco soon. What I'm hoping is that I will find that I like a range of strong air cured tobaccos--from the Kentucky burley, to dark air cured, to maybe a cigar tobacco. The "warning" on the burley page makes me think maybe I should order a little ripe red virginia, if only to adjust the pH if necessary, though generally I don't like virginia in my burley.
This is what I know about the dark burley I usually smoke: the leaves are harvested from the mid to upper part of the plant. They are air cured, and they are piled some--a little like cigar leaf. I have read elsewhere--I believe it may have been Russ Ouellette's old blog--that the dark burley I smoke is a major component in those Italian style dry cigars--toscano, etc. If C&D Dark Burley has any topping, I can't taste it. I much prefer it to C&D's White Burley, which comes from the mid to lower leaves of the plant, and which is not piled like the dark, but I do enjoy sometimes the slight rough or wild note the white burley can give when blended with the dark.
My goal is not to find a replacement for the C&D Dark Burley, but as it is the one pipe tobacco I really like, I'm using it as a point of reference as I enter the world of whole leaf tobacco. Eventually, if all goes well, I'd like to try growing some tobacco too.
I am reading many threads here on Burleys, dark air cured, various types of cigar leaf, and learning lots. If any of you have an advice or pointers, it would be appreciated.
Thanks to you all
Bill
I'm interesting in whole leaf/home grown tobacco because I just do not like most commercial pipe blends. After years of experimenting in the different genres, I have found that the only commercial blend I really like is not so much a blend as a "blender": C&D Dark Burley. I will sometimes mix a little C&D white burley with it, but usually I just smoke the dark burley straight.
To my surprise, I have found that C&D Dark Burley is one of the few--perhaps the only--strong straight burleys offered by the major pipe tobacco producers. It is possible that Tabac de la semois is another, but I have not tried those tobaccos. I don't even care for 5 Brothers much, in part because I am not crazy about shag cuts, but mainly because I notice a topping that I don't like. As for the other commercial pipe burleys I have tried, I dislike them because they are cased, or topped, or toasted until they no longer have any kick, or because they have too much virginia, or cavendish, or something else. I don't want any perique or Latakia in my burley either.
This has led me to conclude that either my tastes are very narrow, or that the commercial pipe tobacco companies just don't offer the blends I would like. I'm hoping it's the latter. That's why I am here.
I will be placing an order with whole leaf tobacco soon. What I'm hoping is that I will find that I like a range of strong air cured tobaccos--from the Kentucky burley, to dark air cured, to maybe a cigar tobacco. The "warning" on the burley page makes me think maybe I should order a little ripe red virginia, if only to adjust the pH if necessary, though generally I don't like virginia in my burley.
This is what I know about the dark burley I usually smoke: the leaves are harvested from the mid to upper part of the plant. They are air cured, and they are piled some--a little like cigar leaf. I have read elsewhere--I believe it may have been Russ Ouellette's old blog--that the dark burley I smoke is a major component in those Italian style dry cigars--toscano, etc. If C&D Dark Burley has any topping, I can't taste it. I much prefer it to C&D's White Burley, which comes from the mid to lower leaves of the plant, and which is not piled like the dark, but I do enjoy sometimes the slight rough or wild note the white burley can give when blended with the dark.
My goal is not to find a replacement for the C&D Dark Burley, but as it is the one pipe tobacco I really like, I'm using it as a point of reference as I enter the world of whole leaf tobacco. Eventually, if all goes well, I'd like to try growing some tobacco too.
I am reading many threads here on Burleys, dark air cured, various types of cigar leaf, and learning lots. If any of you have an advice or pointers, it would be appreciated.
Thanks to you all
Bill
