Tasting Notes

Earlier I was bemoaning the absence of much Nicotine in Prince Albert, which is otherwise quite tasty if a little goopy/sweet. The solution was to drop in a half-pinch of Brown Irish X for one generous pinch and a half-pinch of Prince Albert. This smoked gently, with the more abundant tobacco swallowing up much of the flavor of the other, except for a faint caramel taste as it roasted the leaf.
This got me craving some Brown No. 4, which I have accidentally cellared by sealing a bunch of it away in a jar that then got pressed behind the others where it was invisible. Over time it has gotten sweeter and richer, with some of the topping and smokiness of the leaf fading away. My method for smoking this blend is to cut it into medium thin coins, then rub it out and go do something, one of those little life-tasks, for under a quarter hour. I come back and stuff it in the pipe, then give it a vigorous fire, then breath-smoke slightly more rapidly than usual for the first quarter of the bowl. This infuses the rest with moisture and then roasts it, giving it that caramel flavor that I love in all of the SG/GH saucy demon strength ropes.
Next up it will be time for one of my favorite mixes of late, which is a 3:1 dark:white Burley mixture rubbed out 50-50 with a tin of Former Straight Grain Flake. The result tastes like honey melted into new bread with a touch of lemon zest, and has enough Nicotine that I do not forget I am smoking. It will be a good night, if all goes well, and I wish the same to each of you.

Started off today with one of my favorite mixtures, a 60-40ish blend of Five Brothers and Prince Albert. It's almost impossible to estimate the percentages because the former is a shag, and the latter shreds, like a very thin rough cut, so the process of packing involves stretching out the shag, then dumping in the shreds, then double- or triple-wadding it and stuffing it in the pipe. It seemed rather sweet today, with the tangy Orientals rising from within the Virginias only late in the bowl.
Then on to a very similar blend, Virginia Gentleman. This has become a go-to favorite over the past few months because it is the same basic mix as Prince Albert -- Burley, Virginias, condimental Orientals -- without the cocoa, vanilla and rum-raisin (or whatever it is) topping. You can taste the Virginias melting and caramelizing into a flavor that really complements the Burley, bringing the best out in it, like a slice of fresh toasted homemade buttermilk bread. Really tasty stuff. I finally got around to reviewing it as well.
Thanks to one of the threads on here, I am rounding out the day with Brown Twist Sliced (sliced up version of Happy Brown Bogie) in more Five Brothers, made easy by the fact that it unravels in long ribbons that are easy to braid with the shag. I bet this power Virginia would be really tasty with Ohm Natural, which P&C just put on sale. Once this has a little time to dry it will be totally delicious and powerful enough that I make it through the rest of the workday. I feel fortunate to have all of this great leaf on hand.

Me too. I have started recently doing it, and since I really do not want another open document floating around here, I just drop them here and expect them to be mostly ignored since there's not really much to say about some dude bloviating about this week's favorites.

So, I mixed these two:
http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/4578/peter-stokkebye-amsterdam-no83

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/574/gawith-hoggarth-co-brown-twist-sliced
70-30 or thereabouts.
The tangy dark taste of the Amsterdam makes the Virginia power of Brown Twist Sliced come across as a sweetness with depth...
Highly recommended, would gladly repeat, and might consider converting some of my cellar to this mix. The worst of the BTS is reduced, and the best of the Amsterdam emerges.

Lately I have been smoking this:
4 parts Prince Albert

1 part Dark Burley

2 parts Brown Twist Sliced
This blend starts the burn with a cacao flavor, then melds into the sweetness of Virginias, with the Burley emerging finally as a powerhouse that carries on the flavors of the other ingredients. The Orientals add a sweet-sourness, sort of like everything from the Orient, which makes the mixture spicy in coordination with the Brown Twist Sliced, but the elemental sweetness emerges in a form that is not overwhelming like the "breakfast cereal" Va/Pers.
Quite an interesting mixture to contemplate upon. One of the older American tobaccos, joined with one of the older English ones, into a perfect fusion.

I wish I had done this a decade ago. Live and learn, I suppose.

Today I was experimenting with a mixture of Former's Straight Grain Flake and a 3:1 dark/light Burley. To this I added some Brown Twist Sliced, because who likes a wimpy tobacco and the sweetness is delicious, and then mixed in just a few bowls worth of Semois (La Brumeuse). The result is quite tasty: a blast of Burley power, then a rising sweetness turning toward, believe it or not, the sun-dried grain effect of the Semois. Then all melt together, and the end result tastes like fresh toast with butter and honey.

Eh, Jim, it's more like a notebook recipe. You add to it over time to keep track of the changes in your perceptions. These are very useful not just for newer smokers, but for those who revisit blends every few months. I agree that one can sit down, smoke a blend, and write based on that, but often the notebook is more like research than a crutch.
Anyway... on to today's topic.
I have been looking for a replacement for the soon-to-be-departed Royal Yacht. It pains me to see it go, mainly because there are relatively few other tobaccos which are perfect for my work cycle. I have found something very close to it, although it tastes different at first, but eventually achieves the effect of flavor and strength that I have always loved from the 'Yacht.
This mixture is 40% Dark Burley, and 30% each Former Straight Grain Flake (rubbed out thoroughly) and Gawith, Hoggarth & Co Ltd Brown Twist Sliced (also thoroughly rubbed out). Mix thoroughly and rub together -- you may have to tear up the longer strings of the brown twist -- then let sit a couple days to meld flavors. The first light catches the Burley, a broad and warm flavor, but then the Virginia and Perique surges with an almost lemony grain flavor, and then the Virginias caramelize. At this point, the flavor becomes a sweetness infused into the roasted grain taste of the Burley, with the Perique taking a minor role in making the sweetness slightly piquant, giving this mixture quite a bit of depth. For now, this is as close as I have to come to duplicating "the Yacht effect" which requires some pressed tobaccos for its intensity.

I have divided my TAD pursuits into a few areas where some blends stand out above and beyond the rest.
Smoking
1. Royal Yacht

2. Old Joe Krantz

3. Irish Flake

4. Irish Oak

5. Brown Irish X

6. Brown Twist Sliced

7. Conniston Cut Plug

8. Lakeland Dark

9. My Mixture 965

10. Nightcap / Engine 99

11. Kendal Dark

12. Prince Albert

13. Brown No. 4
Mixing
1. BL/WB

2. 5100

3. Five Brothers

4. Cotton Boll Twist

5. Burley Flake #1

6. Hal O' The Wynd
Blending
1. Bright Virginia

2. Dark Burley

3. White Burley

4. Red Virginia

5. Dark Fired Kentucky Burley

6. Cigar Leaf

7. Long-cut Perique
I make note of this here to see how it changes over time.
As far as smoke today, I have been consuming large amounts of Coniston Cut Plug, which despite smelling like shampoo due to its Lakeland Essence, is the one successful aromatic-style tobacco I have encountered in that its room note smells like floral incense and not smoke at all. It smokes with a tangy sweet balance after six months of aging and burns evenly, with less nicotine than I remembered, and if breath-smoked, lasts well over an hour for a regular-size cob.

Last night I blended up a nearly full tin of Burley Flake #1, which is sort of a grandfather to Old Joe Krantz which is itself a grandfather to Haunted Bookshop, with over an ounce of Brown Twist Sliced and a half-ounce of Former Straight Grain Flake, which is perhaps one of my favorite blends to sweeten a mixture. Next time, I will throw in a little more of the Brown Twist Sliced to make it a true 60-40 or 50-50 mix, and then cap it off with just another flake or two of the Straight Grain Flake or another Virginia or Va/Per flake, maybe Dunhill Flake or some rubbed out Doblones d'Oro. This mixture as it is proves to be quite pleasing. The Burley roars into life with its buff, broad and dry flavor, followed by the sweetness and strength of the Brown Twist Sliced, with the Straight Grain Flake adding a warm but piquant curve like apricot or honey-vinegar. Together they make a strong but easy-going smoke that find excellent for the desk or yard. Further refinements might improve it, but the basics are wonderful as it is.

Today, for kicks, I mixed Old Joe Krantz and Brown Twist Sliced. It's fairly cosmic, once the Cavendish burns off and the Virginias caramelize. I would love to see a version of Old Joe Krantz that replaced the Cavendish with Bright Virginia and Cigar Leaf.

Thanks for reading, fellas.
I experimented again tonight:
(1) 2oz tin of Burley Flake #1

(1) 1.75oz tin of Royal Yacht

(1) 0.75oz approx. of Brown Twist Sliced
I rubbed out the Brown Twist Sliced and tore it up into something approximating a ribbon cut, then fully rubbed out the Burley Flake #1, and finally added the Royal Yacht and rubbed these together, thoroughly mixing them, before putting the mixture in the jar.
This gives me about a 60-40 ratio of Virginia-based tobaccos to Burley-based blends. The result is sweet, powerful and rich. Further experimentation is warranted.