Do I need to kiln WLT?

[piping_presbyter]

I'm sure this has been covered to death, so please accept my apologies. I purchased whole leaves from WLT. I'm wondering, will they arrive in immediately smokeable condition, or will I first need to first kiln them for a month (or age them for a year) before they bear real resemblance to commercial blends?

 

[deluxestogie]

The WLT tobacco that you receive--straight out of the bag--will be better than any commercial blend on the market. You do not need to kiln or further age it.

Bob

 

[piping_presbyter]

Why is that? I mean, don’t they use high quality leaf and processes? That’s what the labels tell me.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Why is that? I mean, don’t they use high quality leaf and processes? That’s what the labels tell me.

Pardon? Please explain your confusion.

 

[deluxestogie]

Why is that? I mean, don’t they use high quality leaf and processes? That’s what the labels tell me.

For starters, every commercial blend that I'm aware of today adds propylene glycol to the tobacco. Many add flavorants. No need to trust me. Compare for yourself.

My impression is that most of the family-owned, smaller pipe blending houses used to use the best tobacco they could find, and for English-style blends never added any humectants or flavorants. Alas, over the past couple of decades, those have either gone out of business entirely, or been purchased by larger enterprises. English and Scottish companies have moved their production to Denmark, for manufacture by the big boys. I can no longer smoke blends that I used to love. What the marketeers say is marketing.

You get to be the judge.

Bob

 

[piping_presbyter]

Okay, unboxed my leaves. I have to say, it was very exciting just to look at them. Thus far, I only opened the red leaf, stacked Basma, and Latakia.

I cut a little of each into ribbon and blended them thusly:

60% red
35% basma
5% Latakia

All of it was mixed and went right into the pipe. It was not difficult to light, though required more relights than I’m used to. The reds were immediately noticeable and quite sweet. The oriental tobacco was of a higher proportion than perhaps any blend I’ve ever had, yet was interesting and enjoyable.

I would describe the overall flavor as not particularly deep or complex, but pleasant. The smoke was a little bit sharp, not localized to any one place in my mouth but kind of all over. Mind you, I didn’t case it at all.

Without realizing it, I burned down to such an ash that virtually nothing was left over but it never became acrid. I suppose that might be related to having no humectants?

Straight out of the bag, I would say this random mixture tasted better than probably half of the 80 some odd commercial blends I’ve had.

I’m a believer now.

 

[piping_presbyter]

Why is that? I mean, don’t they use high quality leaf and processes? That’s what the labels tell me.

I meant that I wondered why @deluxestogie said the WLT would be better than any commercial blends, since (in theory) commercial blends use high-quality leaves and arcane processes. Or at least, they claim to. But having now tried the leaf as it came, I can see the potential.

 

[burge]

It's premium tobacco. Mind you with the Canadian I open a bag when I first get it then leave it. Tastes better and better as you let it age. Black Friday is the big sale so order up and have a bunch of tobacco then most of the times I don't open it for a year or 2 and had a bag that was 6 years old it was all good

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I meant that I wondered why @deluxestogie said the WLT would be better than any commercial blends, since (in theory) commercial blends use high-quality leaves and arcane processes. Or at least, they claim to. But having now tried the leaf as it came, I can see the potential.

This makes me really happy to hear.

 

[Hayden]

I meant that I wondered why @deluxestogie said the WLT would be better than any commercial blends, since (in theory) commercial blends use high-quality leaves and arcane processes. Or at least, they claim to. But having now tried the leaf as it came, I can see the potential.

I sadly can´t order the leaf from wlt because german and european laws forbid to import tobacco for the privat smoker but i have grown leaf this year on my own and after growing its quiet funny to see how worse and tasteless many of the commercial blends are. With my harvest i can quiet easily reproduce something like skiff mixture from samuel gawith and even wild mixtures like you said are better than most of bought commercials.
My first homegrown and kilned burley for example was much better than commercial burley blends.

 

[deluxestogie]

I’m a believer now.

I wyll neuer bye the pyg in the poke
Thers many a foule pyg in a feyre cloke
[John Heywood]

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

I meant that I wondered why @deluxestogie said the WLT would be better than any commercial blends, since (in theory) commercial blends use high-quality leaves and arcane processes. Or at least, they claim to. But having now tried the leaf as it came, I can see the potential.

Welcome to the wonderful world of WLT!! Everything they sell is excellent and very reasonably priced! The only issue I have run into is now I have all this commercial tobacco that I don’t want anything to do with!!

 

[Bot]

So then, I'm not the only person with a pile of commercial tobacco, that I no longer want to smoke.

The WLT tobacco is head and shoulders above any commercial pipe tobacco I've tried.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

So then, I'm not the only person with a pile of commercial tobacco, that I no longer want to smoke.

The WLT tobacco is head and shoulders above any commercial pipe tobacco I've tried.

I imagine it is a common “problem” among new WLT customers. I’ve actually been trying to come up with ways to use it but I’m reluctant to even mix it with WLT Stuff…I guess there are worse problems to have!
I have just been holding onto it thinking “if there is some kind of apocalyptic end of world event and I can no longer purchase from WLT OR grow my own…I will smoke this”.

 

[Tobaccofieldsforever]

Okay, unboxed my leaves. I have to say, it was very exciting just to look at them. Thus far, I only opened the red leaf, stacked Basma, and Latakia.

I cut a little of each into ribbon and blended them thusly:

60% red
35% basma
5% Latakia

All of it was mixed and went right into the pipe. It was not difficult to light, though required more relights than I’m used to. The reds were immediately noticeable and quite sweet. The oriental tobacco was of a higher proportion than perhaps any blend I’ve ever had, yet was interesting and enjoyable.

I would describe the overall flavor as not particularly deep or complex, but pleasant. The smoke was a little bit sharp, not localized to any one place in my mouth but kind of all over. Mind you, I didn’t case it at all.

Without realizing it, I burned down to such an ash that virtually nothing was left over but it never became acrid. I suppose that might be related to having no humectants?

Straight out of the bag, I would say this random mixture tasted better than probably half of the 80 some odd commercial blends I’ve had.

I’m a believer now.

Just a suggestion, but before you try casing, try smoking different ratios of what you have and, in the future, what you may get. I had casing in mind when I first purchased from WLT but after experimenting with different blend ratios realized most if not all tongue bite or harshness can be eliminated by balancing PH through blending pure tobaccos from WLT. Not to mention the endless “flavors” that can be achieved with the tobacco alone.

 

[burge]

So then, I'm not the only person with a pile of commercial tobacco, that I no longer want to smoke.

The WLT tobacco is head and shoulders above any commercial pipe tobacco I've tried.

What do you have?

 

[Bot]

What do you have?

I had been on a mission to find strong tobacco: someome Royal Yacht and clones, 1/2 pound of captain Earl's, several pounds of different types of shag tobaccos from Gawith & Hogarth, some flake and rope from Gawith Hogarth. I've gotten rid of the Macbaren stuff and the five brothers.

 

[burge]

Gawith Hogarth MacBaren are premium tobacco's