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pipesmokingtom

pipesmokingtom

Lifer
May 4, 2015
3,210
16
So I've got this tin of Dark Star I've been delaying opening, but now it's just staring at me and it's begging to be smoked. I've seen all manner of voodoo suggested to get the best or at least most manageable smoke out of it, but what is everyone's process here, I'm wondering? Cube cut and gravity fill? Microwave for 10 seconds? Food processor? Let the dog chew it up first?

 
grouchydog

grouchydog

Can't Leave
Oct 16, 2013
413
1
Air it out for 2-3 weeks and it becomes GRAND!!
Click to expand...
At the risk of being obtuse, could you expand on "air it out"? Leave it on a plate, leave in the open tin, something else?
Dark Star was my first flake as a newb (bad mistake) and I found it impossible and flushed most of the tin in anger; I really need to give it another shot...

 
mawnansmiff

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,426
7,369
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
I find Dark Star (and Blackwoods for that matter) to be hugely lacking in the flavour department. Granted my tins are recent but I did peel back the metal lid and replaced the plastic one but after four weeks I feel I'm just smoking warm air :roll:
Regards,
Jay.

 
beefeater33

beefeater33

Lifer
Apr 14, 2014
4,090
6,196
Central Ohio
Dark Star can be a pain to deal with, hard to light and keep lit. I struggled with it too at first. I think it was cobguy who posted on here about letting it breathe. By "air it out" I meant to open the tin, then put the plastic lid back on, open it up every few days......... Something about the exposure to fresh air seems to transform it into greatness. Don't worry about it drying out........ ain't gonna happen soon. After a few months in the open tin it becomes more manageable, easier to light and stays lit.
See this post: http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/mcclelland-dark-star-up-for-the-challenge-a-review

 
mso489

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
I have an unopened tin, so I am glad to encounter this post. Dark Star has been discussed in the past, with some of these suggestions, but without quite as much discussion. I feel I should make notes and tape a little cheat sheet to the bottom or back of the tin. 'Sounds like it is a total zero without proper handling. The airing out sounds like one key. I find cube cutting makes for an airy smoke that goes out a lot, but I may try it for starters anyway. I'm convinced I have to give this one more time before opening. After the suspense, I want to have it unfold for me, not the warm-air version.

 
pipesmokingtom

pipesmokingtom

Lifer
May 4, 2015
3,210
16
I've never met a McClelland Virginia I didn't like, so I'm interested to see how I find this one. I'll open the tin tonight and then set a reminder to try it two weeks from now.
It seems like a lot of fuss for a decent smoke, but hey, sometimes it's a load-and-go Carter Hall day, sometimes it's a open-the-tin-let-it-air-out-for-two-weeks-then-cube-cut-it-dry-out-out-carefully-gravity-fill-and-relight-a-few-times day. :puffy:

 
fitzy

fitzy

Lifer
Nov 13, 2012
2,937
27
NY
I'm curious if anyone sees any difference between Dark Star and their bulk Dark Navy Flake. For me I can't tell the difference by either taste, look or smell.
Also oddly enough the first time I smoked dark navy flake was from a sample a member here sent me and I found it amazingly sweet. I bought some and I don't find the sweetness. I hear Dark Star is supposed to be even sweeter but I also don't find the sweetness there.
I got a tin in last week and opened it so I'm wondering if I'm missing the sweetness because of the lack of aging.
I have a small coffee grinder that I used to break up those kinds of flakes with. A couple pulses and it's perfectly sized chunks. I put a bowls worth on a plate and left it to dry for several hours. It was a little crispy but not too dry. It lit relatively easily but required a bunch of relights.
I find a lot more sweetness in a tin of 1983 McCranies Red Flake that I popped open recently. So maybe DS and DNF are just missing aging.

 
pipesmokingtom

pipesmokingtom

Lifer
May 4, 2015
3,210
16
As a long time lover of Dark Star I have always just rubbed it out by hand and then smoked it.
Click to expand...
Everything else I've seen states that this is an impossibility due to the moisture content. Is yours dried out at all first?

 
jefff

jefff

Lifer
May 28, 2015
1,915
6
Chicago
Maybe for an hour.... but I never let it get all crispy.
I have personally never understood all the trouble so many people seem to have.
Maybe I am just gifted!

 
pipesmokingtom

pipesmokingtom

Lifer
May 4, 2015
3,210
16
Maybe I am just gifted!
Click to expand...
I'm sure that has something to do with it!
I'm going to pop it open tonight. Take some out and dry for an hour, then rub out. Then I'll try some microwaved for 10 seconds. Then I'll try the grinder. Then I'll try it in two weeks cube cut.
One of those ways will work - I'm SURE of it!

 
hawky454

hawky454

Lifer
Feb 11, 2016
5,338
10,221
Austin, TX
Maybe for an hour.... but I never let it get all crispy.
I have personally never understood all the trouble so many people seem to have.
Maybe I am just gifted!
Click to expand...
I agree with you. People make this out to be a terribly hard blend to handle but in my opinion it's no harder to handle than most any of the other McClellan "flake" tobaccos.

 
pipesmokingtom

pipesmokingtom

Lifer
May 4, 2015
3,210
16
Popped the tin tonight. It's much less "shoe leathery" than I've heard it described. I wonder if that's all hyperbole, or if they're maybe tinning it in a different condition than previous? It's also much more broken than I was expecting, but that's neither here nor there.
After allowing the usual vinegar to air off for a few minutes, the tobacco in the tin smells absolutely marvelous. Full on sweet, fruity Virginia. Whatever end of the spectrum fresh grassy Virginias like OGS live on, Dark Star is on the polar opposite. I made plum jam once, and this tobacco smells like my kitchen did that day.
Condition in the tin actually doesn't SEEM too daunting. I'm confident I could rub this out without too much fuss and be smoking it without too much trouble within a half hour, most likely.

 
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