Complexity

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nukesimi

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 25, 2016
135
48
Hey everyone, long time lurker, first time poster. I often read about the complexity of certain tobaccos. I was wondering, what would be your definition of complexity, and which blends do you think are a good showcase for complexity.

 

jackswilling

Lifer
Feb 15, 2015
1,777
24
My opinion of complex blend would typically include a few different tobacco varieties that work well together but do not drown-out one another, thus allowing for all the components to have their say.

A complex but mellow blend

HH Latakia Flake

 

lonefrog615

Might Stick Around
Nov 19, 2015
73
0
For me complexity is when I keep finding new "flavors" in the smoke.

Good example for me is Full Virginia Flake

 

thomasw

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 5, 2016
862
24
Arguably we might find complexity in most every type of blend. I find discerning the complexity of the nuttiness, citrus & grass, and woodiness of a subtle burley blend to be delicious. Yet it is with the english family of tobacco blends (i include here all oriental/balkan variations as being stems of this family) that is typically experienced the most subtly complex blends. Of course, how we experience the interplay of the various tobaccos in a blend is analogous to how we experience the interplay of instruments from an orchestra; this is what makes pipe-smoking so interesting and relaxing and challenging (insofar as we are dealing with basic training of the palate).

 

mackeson

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 29, 2016
758
2
Yup, most blends can show complexity to someone's tastes since we're all different when it comes to picking up flavors. I find some blends pretty straight forward and monochromatic, and others keep revealing different flavors. Of course there's "Good" & "Bad" complexity. Sometimes, a blend has too many things going on and it never seems to gel for me, other times all the flavors working together make a whole better than the the sum of the parts.

I find the most complex blends are some of the VAPers or VA/Bur/Pers like McC's Tudor Castle and recently H&H Viprati and some Latakia blends like GLP's Gaslight. I'm always pleasantly surprised and have had some of the best smokes in my life when I get it from a Straight VA like Blakwoods Flake.

I didn't pick up many subtle flavors until I'd been smoking a pipe for a couple years, but everyone's different ---and I was smoking OTC cherry blends and RYO cigarette tobaccos out of a pipe for a couple years so YMMV.
Welcome to the forums!

 

rigmedic1

Lifer
May 29, 2011
3,896
75
Do not underestimate the value of the pipe being used when teasing out the complexities of a blend. Using a wide, shallow chamber on a blend like McClellands 221b Arcadia brings out many subtle flavors for me that I was unable to distinguish with smaller chambers. But then again, nothing brings out the depth of flavor in a good Virginia like a tall, thin bowled stack.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Complexity in pipe tobacco occurs several ways. There are blends that have five or six, and sometimes more, different tobaccos. These don't always work well, but when they do, you get a kind of orchestrated flavor when different flavors come forward in sequence and in combination. This usually only works with non-aromatics, since non-tobacco flavorings block some tobacco flavors. Complexity can also occur with two or three different kinds of leaf, or for that matter in single-leaf tobacco if it is of high quality. In general, the more kinds of leaf in a blend, the better it is to have a broad bowl pipe to allow the various tobaccos to burn at once. With single leaf, I find a medium diameter bowl with more depth works well. Complexity isn't always required. Some excellent blends have a simple, mellow taste that is extremely satisfying.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
"Do not underestimate the value of the pipe being used when teasing out the complexities of a blend."
Rigmedic is spot on with that statement. I can smoke say Full Virginia Flake in six different pipes and experience six discrete smokes...no two quite alike.
I haven't quite fathomed the strengths and weaknesses of all of my pipes but one in particular, an Italian made Polo 'Dinghy' 8575 which happens to be a pretty ugly pipe smokes most blends to perfection, allowing me to taste flavours that other pipes in my collection do not. Why this is so I really haven't got a clue but I am glad it is so.
Regards,
Jay.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Crash, I shall indeed post pics of my ugly Polo Dinghy...but on the morrow as my main pc is switched off for the night.
BTW, an 'Ugly Pipe Club' sounds rather fun :puffy:
Regards,
Jay.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
I was wondering, what would be your definition of complexity, and which blends do you think are a good showcase for complexity.
When something that appears simple has depth and nuance instead of surface variety. Hal O' The Wynd comes to mind.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Well chaps, here's my 'ugly' Polo Dinghy pipe. I have to be honest, its looks are slowly growing on me....but ever so slowly. Its smoking qualities however make up for anything lacking in the aesthetics department :puffy:
I did initially post these pictures many moons ago when I thought I had some kind of Peterson's hybrid pipe due to the stylized 'P' on the stem.
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2110-600x399.jpg

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511-600x399.jpg

Regards,
Jay.

 

thomasw

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 5, 2016
862
24
I was wondering, what would be your definition of complexity, and which blends do you think are a good showcase for complexity.

When something that appears simple has depth and nuance instead of surface variety. Hal O' The Wynd comes to mind.
Interesting and accurate explanation; for me the simplicity of a burley blend like Solani's ABF comes to mind -- there's such nuance to that simple blend of three burleys.

 
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