Dark Fired Kentucky
- Thread starter Recon Paul
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Out of all my no-aro's this is one of my favorites. Just love the tangy sour taste I get. As for what's in the fire-cured, I am thinking burley. The reason being it came up on the top list of burley blends on SmokingPipes. Shallow logic, but that's the best I have.
It's not at all like Latakia. Depending on the amount of processing it's had, and what it's mixed with, it can range from woody and somewhat sour and peppery with notes of freshly cut, or charred wood (think BBQ), sweetening substantially in blends like MacBaren's Old Dark Fired where it's mixed with Virginia and pressed.
Latakia has a far heavier taste like campfire, creosote, tar in some cases. Depending on what it's mixed with it can give off sweet and sour notes, spice and at times incense.
Also good to remember that Latakia is made from oriental leaf with minimal nicotine, while DFK is made from Burley variants with a lot of nicotine.
and Solani Silver and St Bruno where Dark Fired is applied as important condiment leaf , if this wasn't the case these blends hardly would be the same
GL Pease Cumberland has quickly become one of my all-time favorite blends since getting around to trying it. It gives you a good idea of the dark-fired flavor without being a sledgehammer.
I'm hoping Cosmic or somebody else knowledgeable will chime in here in a bit, but the gist of it is, dark-fired tobacco is generally a specific type of leaf which might be most accurately described as a burley, though it isn't the same leaf as that grown for an air-cured burley.
Although it's often called "DFK", dark-fired tobacco is not exclusively cultivated and cured in Kentucky, nor is it grown throughout the commonwealth. There is a specific region ranging from northern Middle Tennessee to South-Central Kentucky where it is grown, with epicenters around Bowling Green, KY and Springfield, TN.
When the tobacco is firing in the barns, it releases the most heavenly smell known to man. It's always signified the beginning of fall for me, as I was born and raised in dark-fired country. Here's what a typical tobacco barn back home looks like, though I think this is for air-cured Burley. photo cred: Mrs. Hap
Although it's often called "DFK", dark-fired tobacco is not exclusively cultivated and cured in Kentucky, nor is it grown throughout the commonwealth. There is a specific region ranging from northern Middle Tennessee to South-Central Kentucky where it is grown, with epicenters around Bowling Green, KY and Springfield, TN.
When the tobacco is firing in the barns, it releases the most heavenly smell known to man. It's always signified the beginning of fall for me, as I was born and raised in dark-fired country. Here's what a typical tobacco barn back home looks like, though I think this is for air-cured Burley. photo cred: Mrs. Hap
Some of the blends you guys are mentioning are NOT Dark Fired Kentuckys. Especially from GH or SG. Those would be Empirial tobaccos, like Dark Virginias, African varietals, and such... There is way more fire cured tobaccos that DFK. When you see Dark Fired on a tin, don't just assume it is DFK. Most come from Malaysia and that region.
And, Jitter, who used to be our resident tobacco farmer, used to put them in the bright leaf category, because of the potential starch to sugar content. But, they are their own thing, even the African Dark Virginias. They really suck without a fire cure.
so you’re saying that these are not merely the same seed grown and cured in a different place( like VAs grown in Canada, for example), but different varieties all together?
I always thought it was just the same dark fired leaf grown and processed in Africa, not really a different variety altogether but showing differences in tastes just by nature of being grown someplace else...
I’ve also become a BIG fan of D&R Ryback, for a quick DFK smoke. Kind of like 5Bros but stronger.
There are dozens of commercial varieties of what we pipesmokers mistakenly call "Virginias." These are known as brightleaf or flue cured in the bigger industry. Those yellow "Virginias" are from a totally different seed stock, and I've grown them in Alabama, as well as the Ukrainian varieties.
I've said this many times, but going on the marketing on the backs of tins or websites for pipe tobacco makes us rather ignorant of what the tobaccos actually are. Sykes backed me up on this. When you get to the level of farmers and the manufacturers who process the tobaccos before they get to these blenders have a whole other language. If you get into growing, you'll have to learn the new jargon they use and drop all of the nonsense we have learned from reading reviews, tins, and websites, because there is way more to all of this than the marketing folks can convey, and it's probably not in their interests for us to know.
But, really if I started using the proper jargon, no one would understand me on here. So, I still call them Virginias. plus, it doesn't sound as pretentious, ha ha.
Nope, I've grown several varieties of Dark and African Virginias. They all come from different seed stocks.
All fascinating info. Thanks!
I’ve read your posts regarding the VA nomenclature, I guess I never applied it to fire-cured or realized that not all fire-cured is DFK but something other entirely and that was kind of I dunno, crazy to me.
I have not warmed up to latakia myself. I have. third "English" blend on the shelf that I may try this week. While I don't find lat necessarily offensive, there is an element of old shoes burning to it that i find uninviting. I would use the word "smoky" to describe lat in my limited experience.
ODF tastes like smoke. That sounds weird, but it's the only way to describe it. If a vanilla aro tastes like vanilla, then ODF tastes like smoke. Think of proper TX BBQ smoke. Whether it's brisket or sausage or beer can chicken, they all share the same smoke flavor. Add that smoke flavor without the meat flavor on top of the tobacco flavor and that's pretty much ODF.
I guess some call it an aro because the flavor of smoke is added to it in the curing process. Like a smoke casing. Seems a stretch to me.
I've got a few "DFK" blends (in quotes per cosmic's description) on order. I'll add them to the discussion when they arrive. Lots ofblends i am noting for the future from this thread.
I did not like ODF the first time I tried it but recently gave it a second chance and finally got what everyone else has been saying about it. Very tasty! I found it to be a little one-dimensional, but that one note is a fantastic one.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Savinelli Doblone D'oro. I like WC 558, but I think the Savinelli is the best blend out there for condimental use of dark-fired in a VaPer. Very nice stuff.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Savinelli Doblone D'oro. I like WC 558, but I think the Savinelli is the best blend out there for condimental use of dark-fired in a VaPer. Very nice stuff.
I enjoy a number of Dark Fired blends. Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky, Mac Baren Old Dark Fired, Solani 660 Dark Fired Kentucky, GL Pease Kentucky and Virginia, Stonehaven Kentucky and Virginia. There is Savinelli Doblone d'Oro which has dark fired Kentucky and Perique. There are others as well. These are just off the top of my head.
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