The Magic of Layering Tobacco

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jmatt

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 25, 2014
770
74
Maybe everyone else does this, but I just stumbled on it myself. Rather than mix two or more tobaccos together, I put one tobacco in first, with the other on top. In the past for example, I've mixed some BCA with another tobacco, like a dark fired kentucky blend, or a virginia, etc. This time rather than blend, I put a very very small pinch of BCA into the bottom of the bowl first, then put what I really wanted to smoke on top of it. My theory was that the fire above would steam the flavor from the BCA below. Why would I do this? Because suddenly blends my wife turned her nose at became "that's a nice one!" I'm guessing I added no more than 5% BCA to the total amount of tobacco in my pipe. And yes, of course this changed the overall smoking experience for me too. But I was able to change the experience for me a very little, while changing my wife's reaction a ton.
Happy wife - happy life. :puffpipe:

 

deathandtaxes

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 29, 2014
218
1
Indianapolis IN
Jmatt, apologies for my ignorance for acronyms, as I work for the government you would think they would be second nature to me. What is BCA? I would love for my wife to say "that's a nice one" while I am enjoying some Orlik Golden Sliced! :puffpipe:

 

jacks6

Lifer
May 9, 2016
1,005
3
It's Lane's BCA - It's a straight Black Cavendish blend with a light vanilla topping
https://www.smokingpipes.com/tobacco/by-maker/lane/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=177736

 

jacks6

Lifer
May 9, 2016
1,005
3
I really enjoy Autumn Evening too. I would choose that to layer instead of BCA - I like the idea though

 

jmatt

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 25, 2014
770
74
Sorry - but yes Black Cavandish Aromatic. I'm not an aro smoker at all, although I've got a couple of them in my cellar. To me vanilla is/was the least offensive flavor to add to the straight tobacco flavors I prefer. Thus my pick of BCA. I can't emphasize how little I had to add to the bowl that changed the room note enough for her to like it rather than say ugh.

 

beastinview

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 5, 2016
504
3
A little probably goes a long way with the room note. Really, most non-aros don't smell "worse" than aromatics in a sense--plenty of aros are based on Virginia and/or Burley leaf, so a plain VA or Burley shouldn't smell worse than an aromatic--it just won't smell as good, if that makes sense. Of course, if you had latakia in the mix, it might take more aromatic to tame it!
Interestingly enough my wife has three comments when it comes to pipe tobacco:

-"Smells good" (aromatics)

-"It just smells like smoke" (most other blends)

-"Smells like a cigar" (latakia--I know that isn't really like a cigar, but whatever)

-"It smells like cigarettes" (this is her worst insult)
Most blends fall into the first two categories for her.

Thanks! I'm so ignorant when it comes to aromatics! Autumn Evening is as close as I've come to liking one.
I began with nothing but aromatics, and Autumn Evening (even though it seems to please non-aro smokers) is actually one of the more heavily topped aromatics I know of, at least as far as translating to room note. You'd think you had a plate of pancakes in front of you while smoking!

 

jmatt

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 25, 2014
770
74
I hear you there. My wife's normal reactions a predictable:
Aro = smells nice

Va/VaBur/VaPer = ehh - it's ok

Latakia = that's nasty!!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Some people layer two or three different blends or single leaf tobaccos, not for the room note, but or the changing flavor. Some call that a parfait.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Latakia smoke has that scent of being previously digested, if you know what I mean. Everything else smells like slightly more exotic cigarettes. That is the feedback I get.

 
A pipe parfait!

I've found that the way the pipe burns, like a cigar, down the center first, with surrounding tobaccos giving off the flavor of the smoke, that if you can roll a flake with a filler down the center, you get an even more interesting layering. Parfait, with the fire burning down the center, the layers get muddled pretty quickly, once the cherry has reached down to the other layer. But, if you roll a flake, like a Solani Mango Flake with an Escudo filler, or a PS LTF with a LNF filler, you get an extremely unusual smoke. The Mangscudo Twist and the Cosmic LTNF Twist, is easily done by stacking, rolling, and then gently twisting the layered flakes into the pipe bowl. The Cosmic Twist is my usual work smoke. But, it works best with flakes. Shag and ribbon, I haven't figured out how to it yet.

Oh yeh, Firedance Flake with Newminsters Blackberry Brandy is pretty tasty as well done this way. And, Solani Aged Burley Flakes twisted with Astleys 44 is pretty stay also.
I also want to try my hand at making bouchons from my homegrown raw leaf. This is a cigar-like roll, that is merely cut and shoved into the pipe, like a ready made twist. I just want to do it using Virginias and Dark Fired.

bouchon.jpg


 

ahmadothman

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 26, 2016
751
7
Egypt
Well, I tried mixing my tobacco blends together to get the best of both, Started with CB Royal - a sister of BCA - and Borkum Riff Cherry.. They balanced each other moisture, and had a flavour of milkshake (Vanilla & Cherry).. I can try layering as well, and see how it fares. A moist tobacco at the bottom and a dry one at the top may be interesting

 

captaincalabash

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 25, 2016
135
283
Texas
+1 on the Autumn Evening! I've tried mixing (blend is to sophisticated a term for my meager skills) a little BCA with some Virginia Gold and had good results, but I love the layering idea. Cosmic - are there any directions available on how to make bouchons? I would love to try my hand at that.

 

alexnc

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 25, 2015
953
804
Southeast US
I'm lucky on the home front. I've never had a negative comment about my English or Balkans. I even bought a Peterson's Founder's aero for her benefit - to no compliment, so to the cellar it went. I layer occasionally based on what I have left from drying & prepping. Recently layered Beacon Extra over Sillem's Commandor Flake. Nice smoke.

 

perdurabo

Lifer
Jun 3, 2015
3,305
1,575
I like to separate a chunky blend, say like, White Knight, and layer the separated tobaccos. It seems to piss of others while I do this. Moaning and bitching about the blender didn't intend his tobacco to be separated. Fuck off Jeffery, Just Fuck off. I paid the man for his tin of rubbish, now lay off.

 

sladeburns

Might Stick Around
Apr 2, 2013
82
0
LOL! You honestly made me laugh/spit coffee on my monitor with that comment. Well played sir.

 

beefeater33

Lifer
Apr 14, 2014
4,063
6,118
Central Ohio
I still do this quite a bit.......... I don't tell anyone though. Here's a post I started on the subject a while back, man, I'm such a sinner......... :lol:

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/anyone-ever-layer-different-types-of-tobaccos-in-pipe

 

danhester

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 17, 2016
249
1
I've been getting some complaints lately. It's GH&C Dark Flake Unscented of all things, not a Latakia blend. May give this a try. A little vanilla should be nice, and there's plenty of nicotine in dark flake to spare.

 
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