Rules? What Rules?
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Kevin Godbee - Aug 7, 2014
- 5 min read
Russ Ouellette
In my early twenties I was fortunate to become friends with Mel Feldman, who owned The Smoker in Albany, NY. Mel was kind enough to spend hours talking to me about blending tobacco, which led to some admittedly amateurish attempts at creating my own mixtures. With a little perseverance my work became good enough that we offered a few of my blends at The Pipe Den, also in Albany. They did reasonably well. Well enough, in fact, that some of them were used by other stores in the chain. As I did more blending, I tried to codify things so I had firm guidelines to follow.
In the ensuing years, I read a number of books by people who had a lot more experience than I did, and spoke to a number of blenders to glean as much information as I could with the goal of creating a set of rules to make my efforts as successful as possible. I discovered that opinions differed greatly, even among well-respected blenders and shop owners, but there had to be hard-and-fast rules, right?
From the books I had read, it seemed that most of the authors wrote that a blend shouldn’t contain more than 10 or 20% Perique, and Latakia should be kept at no more than 30%. Something didn’t ring true, as I was fairly sure that Balkan Sobranie Original Smoking Mixture contained more than 30% Latakia. Lane’s bulk blend BS-005 definitely had more than that. As far as Perique went, I couldn’t be sure, but I swore that I had smoked blends that had in excess of 20% of the deeply fermented leaf.
Some of the books said that Orientals and Turkish tobaccos shouldn’t constitute more than 20% of a mixture. But not all Orientals are that assertive, so there must certainly have been some blends with a healthier share than that. The picture didn’t seem any clearer from my reading and discussions. What muddied the waters even further was the lack of consistency in terminology.
Cavendish generally referred to leaf that has been sugared or flavored and pressed for a period of time, then it was sliced and tumbled out. But some black Cavendishes are made of cut leaf that’s toasted and/or steamed without the use of pressure. In fact, I learned as time passed that some "Cavendishes" were just tobaccos that had a top-dressing and were never pressed at all, except during cutting.
Let’s not even get into the English vs. Balkan confusion. When I first started in the business, the term "Balkan" was never used except as a part of a brand name. Back then, "English" tobaccos were ones that were largely unadulterated, so most of today’s "English" blends would fall into this category, but so would a Virginia/Perique blend without any top flavor. This came from the fact that, in the past, the British government had strict guidelines regarding what could be done to tobacco, and the use of flavorings and additives was greatly restricted.
Flakes are pressed whole leaf that is sliced after being removed from the mold, so imagine my surprise when I ordered some Virginia flake and got yellow leaf that had been cut into pieces about ¼" square. Apparently flake-cut tobacco meant something different in the US than in the UK. How could I put together a set of rules or guidelines when there was so much confusion in usage and terminology?
Fast-forwarding to the beginning of Hearth & Home, I found myself fighting against the walls that had been erected by the experts who wrote those old tomes. I felt that I was really taking a chance with one of my earliest blends. Larry’s Blend contained 67% Latakia by weight, and had about 25% Turkish, so I was breaking two of the "rules" with this concoction. Larry Loerzel, for whom the blend is named, really liked it, and I did too. But I was concerned about selling it because it was so unconventional by the standards I had read about. I needn’t have worried as Larry’s Blend has been hugely successful, being one of our best-selling tobaccos for almost nine years.
The success of that blend helped me to come to a conclusion– there are no rules, other than the ones that a blender has to comply with legally. Since then, I have used 25% Perique in a blend that also has toasted black Cavendish in it (Obsidian). A number of my later blends are very Orientals-heavy (Sweet & Savory, Magnum Opus, WhiteKnight), and yet they’ve done well. I’ve done a blend with 30% Latakia and a Bourbon top-dressing (Missouri Meerschaum American Patriot) that’s been well-received. When I was challenged to make a bacon-flavored tobacco, I mixed dark-fired Kentucky, with a hickory smoke aroma, with a maple-flavored base. I did it because of the challenge, but it’s turned out to be pretty popular.
My conclusion is that rules apply when there are universal truths, and those don’t exist when it comes to flavor. Many people would shudder at the thought of chili peppers being combined with chocolate, but it’s been done for centuries with Mexican molé, and now you can find dark chocolate bars with chilis added.
Not only do different people have different tastes, but some people can’t even taste certain things, or, at least they can’t taste them well. I’ve tweaked an experimental blend because I wasn’t happy with it and found that the new version to be satisfying, but some of the people I had sampled it to couldn’t detect any changes. That alone is an indication that rules don’t apply to matters of flavor.
I’ve said a number of times that when my work day is over and I have to clean off my work area, I could take the leavings from the top of the bench, put them in a bag and somewhere, someone would smoke those scraps and declare them to be the greatest blend they’ve ever tried. The upshot is that I’ve decided to not worry about rules anymore and just trust the old taste buds.
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Russ Ouellette is the blender/creator of the Hearth & Home series of tobaccos for Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe and www.pipesandcigars.com in Bethlehem, PA. He has been a pipe smoker and blender for over 30 years, and enjoys feedback from the pipe smoking public. You can reach Russ at russo@pipesandcigars.com or by calling 1-800-494-9144 on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 am to 5 pm and Friday from 1 pm to 5 pm. |
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Warren Ertle. Warren is an extremely accomplished musician with a PhD in music. He started early as a percussionist in sixth grade. Later his grandmother got him a cheap Casio keyboard which he taught himself to play. He started playing in blues bands in high school, and has been a pianist with jazz big bands for years. Even though he was already a professional musician, he took his first real piano lesson when he enrolled in college with his studies in classical music. He is of course a pipe smoker. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Soon now, supposedly, our neighborhoods will shift from grinning pumpkins, skeletons in various assortments, and zombies dashing about to pretty reindeer, angels, and flashing lights illuminating homes with sparkling stars and laughing, scurrying Santas. But, lest we forget, there is the turkey season, fancy pie aromas wafting from kitchens, and a national pardon of a big Tom Turkey. Remember, now, that only one of these holiday personalities is a pipe smoker. And that is the hefty, bearded fellow in a bright red suit sitting in a sleigh with a herd of deer hitched up and ready to streak across the globe, bringing tidings of joy and many presents. Ok, the scene is set for the next couple of months, right? So, before we get too far off the beaten path, let’s just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. That’s better, isn’t it? What’s got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. 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A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
Well there’s nothing like a touch of the plague to usher in the changing season. Leaving the airport just when the first advertisements for all things pumpkin spice began to appear—lattes, muffins, shampoos, trash bags, and myriad other concoctions—so, too, my ability to breathe freely disappeared. The unfortunate side effect of losing one’s sense of taste and smell for weeks is the utter inability to enjoy tobacco. Not that I consider myself an expert on anything but my own tastes, but be forewarned that this review was made with mildly impugned sensory equipment. Just when a comforting pipe was most needed, its comfort was denied. Be that as it may, the road to recovery found me limping along on one lung this past month, trying to wrest the particulars of two blends on offer from Sutliff: the latest 175th Anniversary blend, Silver Quarter, as well as their spooky seasonal Maple Shadows II. Silver Quarter is a new style on offer from Sutliff, their first coin-cut blend. 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Garret: I’ve been carving since 2021, and I’m guessing your next question is probably how’d you get started carving? James: Yes. Garret: In 2021 I took a break from my full time job – that included machining and assembly work and I thought maybe it was time I made something that I would like and I started looking at youtube and Instagram and putting together my shop. I did struggle on the stems to start and there was a lot of failure at the beginning. James: How many pipes have you made so far? Garret: I number my pipes, so I just finished up 186. James: What is your favorite shape you’ve been making? Garret: I really dig Canadians and pipes with longer shanks and lovat Canadian blends. I like to play with different shapes of stems on the longer shanked pipes. The billiard would be my go-to shape but I want to learn more techniques on freehanded shapes. I like to put brass and copper adornments on my pipes with my machining background it helps. James: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen at this show? Garret: The first thing that comes to mind is the table over there with C-Pipes with the shapes and the size and petiteness and the intricate details they did. You can check out what Garret is working on by going to his Instagram. Stefan Cashwell James: how long have you been carving? Stefan: about 3 years. James: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at the show? Stefan: The Adam Davidson pipe with the clear shape and the bamboo—I don’t know if it’s 3D printed or what, but it’s amazing. James: What’s your favorite shape to do? Stefan: That’s a tough question. I think they’re all the same shape, but what’s fascinating is that Dublin, volcano, and blowfish are all the same depending on how you turn them. Playing with that, with all its variations, is a lot of fun. My favorite accent to use is also horn; it’s finicky, but it’s a great accent on pipes. You can check out Stefan’s work on his Instagram. Science: Meet Pipes I chatted with Chris from the San Diego Pipe Club; he started off doing stem replacements for estate pipes but also improved the airflow. James: How are you doing 3d printing? What is the thought process? Chris: It’s a 3D-printed pipe with a briar insert. The design is a calabash meets a Peterson system meets a metal Falcon/Kirsten radiator style. It is a bottom draft smoking bowl like a radiator like those metal pipes. The inside chamber is a calabash. The stummel and accent rings in the stems are all 3d printed. The insert is briar, olive wood, or I have the potential to use meerschaum as well. This idea came about through the San Diego Pipe Club, wanting to see if we could 3D print a pipe and being curious about the technology; I have a printer and design ability, so here we are. James: What’s the type of plastic you’re using? Chris: It’s all PLA plastic, a renewable potato starch plastic that is food-safe. The stummels are printed with a plastic that has wood in it 40% wood fiber, bamboo, rosewood, ebony, redwood, and walnut are the woods I’m printing. For the accent rings I just got a new material that I’m printing that has 40% copper, so its real metal that you can sand, and polish the same as wood filament. The stems are 3d printed as well. The concept is renewable and cheap from a production standpoint, with the ability to make a very high quality smoking pipe based on the experience. By combining the calabash system pipe and bottom draft hole and using 3d simulations to see airflow, I can see where I’m having eddies and ripples in my current, and see where my moisture and all the particles are dropping back out from a vapor to a liquid. Most people who have tried these say the stems are clean, and they don’t even have to run a pipe cleaner afterward because everything collects at the bottom. Chris has also been experimenting with color-changing plastics so you can see the hotspots. Chris said he was able to use this to slow down his cadence, which, of course, could mean you could get a slow-smoke training pipe to teach yourself to perform better. If you’re interested in learning more or want to check one out, you can contact him on Instagram: Copper Beard Pipe Works The Negative Space The show was buzzing about one specific pipe, which had everyone guessing how it was made. I chatted with Adam Davidson briefly about it. James: How did this idea come to fruition? Adam Davidson: Smokingpipes.com had an expo back in August open to all of the makers they carry. The theme was to make a pipe utilizing bamboo. Given that the last time we had the expo I made a smooth Almond with three bamboo shanks, […]
There are quite a few examples in other industries, crafts, hobbies, etc. where individuals chose not to follow “conventional wisdom, and theirs are household names.
Come to think of it….the Oulette name is well represented in my abode!
As the great philosopher Toucan Sam says…..”follow your nose, wherever it goes”, Russ.
Many of the greatest inventions come from thinking outside the box.
As my philosopher friend, Paul, says:
“Rules are made to be broken”.
“If nobody ever broke any rules, they would have no need to exist”.
I, for one, am glad you’ve relied upon your own good tastes / senses.
Keep up the great work!
I suppose even a loose canon will hit the target sometimes! 🙂 Keep breaking the rules Russ, you’re doin’ just fine in my book.
Nice article.
And like others have said, keep breaking the rules.
Nice article.
And like others have said, keep breaking the rules.
Great essay. I know from experience that two people can sit down with identical pipes and smoke the same blend at the same time getting a completely different profile. Enjoy some of your blends and others I say what the hell were you thinking. That is why there are so many different blends. What a sad world this would be if we had no choices, keep up the good work.
I actually gave up the quest to create those “rules” quite some time ago. What made me write this piece is that I’m working on a new blend that is a pretty radical departure from the norm, but the early test is pretty encouraging. That caused me to laugh when I thought about how silly it was trying to create guidelines for something so subjective.
A good parallel is watching TV cooking shows about BBQ. One pitmaster is telling us to never remove the silverskin from a rack of ribs before smoking them to keep them from drying out, while another says that the marinade won’t penetrate the meat properly if you don’t remove it.
Russ
Russ – surprised in your comment about the bacon flavored tobacco, that you did not mention the name. I have actually bought your Vermont Meat Candy blend (the bacon flavored tobacco.) It’s EXCELLENT. It burns well, smells great and truly does remind one of bacon.