Old Edward G.

[cosmicfolklore]

Cool Jim, you should review components, like different burleys, etc... I could see guys interested in those.

 

[prairiedruid]

Cool Jim, you should review components, like different burleys, etc... I could see guys interested in those.

I would love a review on different burleys.....great idea Cosmic! It would be a great resource for those of us thinking about dipping a toe into the world of home blending.

 

[unclescot]

SHHHHH!!! Nix it!

 

[hawky454]

I add just a pinch more Latakia to it and let it sit for a month, it helped smooth out the blend for me and I swear at times, in mid bowl, it slightly reminds me of Revor Plug... Weird I know. I liked it so much I bought the large tub and it should last the rest of my days. I'm glad I don't have to worry about drying it out.

 

[sablebrush52]

I really like this blend. I've never known it to be goopy and don't really think of it as an aromatic, just a very flavorful blend.

 

[shutterbugg]

There's been a long standing theory that companies use inferior tobaccos for OTC's, and that simply isn't true.

Assuming that's factual, is it because these are legacy names purchased by their current manufacturers, and more economical for them to use the same leaf as goes into their good-quality blends than buy up small quantities of low-quality leaf as those blends originally contained? I'm trying to understand why these companies take the same quality leaf they use for their top-quality blends, then obliterate all the flavor nuances by saturating it with the plethora of horrid chemical flavoring agents needed to replicate the OTC blends? (Not speaking of EGR in particular here. With a pinch of Lat bomb, as someone else also noted, it's a rather flavorful blend. I often wonder if the Lat-content was toned down from Eddie's personal taste, to appeal more to the mass-market.)

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Same reason someone sold a guy named Willem de Kooning some quality oil paint, only to let him scribble like a four year old. ha ha. Someone sold the drummers for deathmetal bands ten thousand dollar drum setts to let them pound on them like monkeys. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Who is to say that the original had low quality tobacco? Any tobacco that is worth having the middle rib pulled out of each leaf by hand is worth investing a few pennies in, wouldn't you think? Even the tobacco in Carter Hall has had someone set and wrap each leaf around their wrist as they de-stemmed them. The labor to do that far exceeds the cost of the tobacco.

 

[JimInks]

I agree with Cosmic. As for Shutterbug's question, it's all a matter of personal taste. Every blend is somebody's favorite, and every blend is disliked by somebody. Same is true for food, music, art, etc. Some people like heavily charged aromatics, and if those toppings sublimate to the tobaccos, they don't care about the quality of the tobacco. They're happy with what they smoke, and it's hard to argue against anybody's personal taste as we all have a right to our own individuality. What seems cheap to you might not to somebody else, and vice-versa. And as the manufacturers are already using quality tobaccos, why change that? Why take a chance of making a customer unhappy? It's not worth the small difference in savings. The companies provide a product to customers to make money, and as aromatics are around 90% of the market, you just have to expect them to go where the money is. That's what companies is all industries do most of the time. Diversifying for small groups of smokers who prefer other genres is just extra money in the pot.
As there is a lot of variety in individual genres in the pipe tobacco world, it's up to us to decide what we like and why we like it. I don't look askance at what people smoke. As long as they are happy, nothing else really matters.
Btw, when a company buys the rights (or ownership) to a blend, most, but not all as we have seen several times, will try to replicate it as best they can in order not to lose the customer base they inherited. That's why they bought the blends in the first place. I can't blame any company for wanting to keep their customers happy. And continuing to use good tobacco helps insure that. That's just smart business sense.
In regard to EGR, I was told Sutliff uses the original formula which they purchased from the former owner, and I was also told they have not changed the blend at any time.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

As a side note on quality... I saw one of those food shows on the food channel talking about Spam. I had no idea that the folks from that company source the best pork shoulders to process into that meat jelly, ha ha. So, just because a company uses the best ingredients, doesn't mean they can't turn it into something that disgusts many of us. But someone has got to love that stuff, because the grocery store is constantly restocking it on their shelves.

 

[pappymac]

Shutterbug may be on to something. OTC blends really suck and that's why the are so hard to find and will never last in the pipe tobacco market. I mean, who really smokes Prince Albert, Carter Hall, Borkum Riff and Captain Black these days? They are all terrible OTCs.
I bought two tins of EGR about a year ago. Opened the first tin and threw the second tin into the bottom of my cellar. I enjoyed the first tin and found that I liked it more after it started drying out some. Decided to let the second tin rest for a year or so and haven't opened it yet.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

You forgot to use the sarcasm italics, ha ha.

But yeh, how much longer can Prince Albert

keep trying to sell us that swill? :: -- sarcastic pipe smoking emiticon

 

[aldecaker]

Shutterbugg may well be on something.

 

[pappymac]

@cosmic it's like the myth that brand named canned groceries are better than the store brands because the buy higher quality ingredients. The reality is that the name brand producers also sale to companies that put the store brand labels on the cans.

 

[shutterbugg]

Some people like heavily charged aromatics, and if those toppings sublimate to the tobaccos, they don't care about the quality of the tobacco.

I agree completely. Which is exactly why it surprises me they don't source cheap tobacco, given that in the corporate world those kinds of decisions are often made by suits who don't even use the product, basing those decisions on boosting the bottom-line even if it's only pennies. I mean, Mixture 79 would taste pretty much the same regardless of what combustible vegetation was used as the base.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Cheap tobaccos probably gets grabbed up by the makers of Kool and Vantage Green. ::

 

[tmb152]

JimInks, I just want to say that it is always a pleasure to read you on any topic. Your posts always have very solid content and great substance!

 

[JimInks]

Thank you, TMB152.