2019 Director's Cut After 2 1/2 Years In The Jar

[sablebrush52]

In the fall of 2019 I bought a kilo of HU Director's Cut as part of my last successful order from Esterval's. @JimInks placed a similar order about the same time.

When the order arrived I wasted no time in fixing myself a bowl and lighting it up. It was awful. The blend's balance was off. So much dark fired had been added to the blend that it fairly overwhelmed it. Jim agreed, which led to Hans Biederman, who had created the blend, being contacted, and after smoking it, he agreed that it had been changed. K&K has since adjusted the blend to remove the extra dark fired.

I jarred the kilo with the hope that some time would settle the dark fired and perhaps allow the Perique and other components to shine through. If the blend didn't improve I would toss it in the trash. Win some, lose some.

I opened a jar today to see if it had changed and am happy to report that the dark fired has indeed settled down and the Perique has bloomed. While not quite the same as the Director's Cut I first enjoyed, it's a pleasure to smoke and is now a superb Va/Per.

Sorry trash can, you're out of luck!

 

[verporchting]

I just love happy endings

 

[Ahi Ka]

Glad to get some feedback a few years on about this blend...and one could maybe assume that other blends which have had their dfk increased could have matured similarly? I always like your observation about the PS flakes being released too early, and that is why they are cheaper, the 4 years or so storage “costs” have been shifted to the buyer

 

[verporchting]

I’m happy to pay storage costs given what inflation has been doing to my buying power, not to mention supply issues…. Good trade plus what else can a guy do with all these closets, drawers, shelves, etc.?

 

[JimInks]

In the fall of 2019 I bought a kilo of HU Director's Cut as part of my last successful order from Esterval's. @JimInks placed a similar order about the same time.

When the order arrived I wasted no time in fixing myself a bowl and lighting it up. It was awful. The blend's balance was off. So much dark fired had been added to the blend that it fairly overwhelmed it. Jim agreed, which led to Hans Biederman, who had created the blend, being contacted, and after smoking it, he agreed that it had been changed. K&K has since adjusted the blend to remove the extra dark fired.

I jarred the kilo with the hope that some time would settle the dark fired and perhaps allow the Perique and other components to shine through. If the blend didn't improve I would toss it in the trash. Win some, lose some.

I opened a jar today to see if it had changed and am happy to report that the dark fired has indeed settled down and the Perique has bloomed. While not quite the same as the Director's Cut I first enjoyed, it's a pleasure to smoke and is now a superb Va/Per.

Sorry trash can, you're out of luck!

That's good news for me. I'm glad Hans listened to me when I let him know DC was changed, because the original was awesome. The current version is in-between the original and what we bought back in 2019.

 

[verporchting]

That's good news for me. I'm glad Hans listened to me when I let him know DC was changed, because the original was awesome. The current version is in-between the original and what we bought back in 2019.

Jim, call those guys in Poland who f@&ked up Condor and make them listen to you! ?

 

[Ahi Ka]

Jim, call those guys in Poland who f@&ked up Condor and make them listen to you! ?

That would require him to taste consecutive iterations of polish condor.

 

[Terry Lennox]

I have no experience with the HU blends but I do know that K&K loves to throw that Kentucky leaf with a heavy hand. I have had recent tins of Rattray's Brown Clunee (the mildest of their Va lineup) that had way more Kentucky than it normally should.

 

[JimInks]

Jim, call those guys in Poland who f@&ked up Condor and make them listen to you! ?

If I knew them, I would.

 

[JimInks]

That would require him to taste consecutive iterations of polish condor.

@condorlover1 gave me a Condor plug from Poland. I forgave him.

 

[craig61a]

I ordered two kilos in 2019 also. I didn't mind the blend as I had nothing to compare it to, not having smoked it previously.

I added roughly 15% PS 311 Perique to the amount I had set out for smoking. Gave it a nice Perique edge. But I had noticed that the original blend was settling well too.

 

[helistone]

I am very happy about your expertise, sablebrush !
To be honest, this is one of my hard blends in my rotation,
and one of the main reasons I browsed this forum as a lurker for a looooong time.
I am very glad now?

 

[shanez]

This is indeed good news. I have some of this blend cellared and waiting.

I think cellaring might help many blends that are "over DFKed" for lack of a better term.

I noticed Savinelli's 145th anniversary blend has improved with age. The first half of the bowl is just fantastic and then the DFK takes over again for the second half. Hopefully more aging helps the second half improve.

 

[karam]

Good to hear, I’m on the fence about this K&K “DFK”. I put the quotation marks because I’ve tasted and seen it (blackish chunks of broken flake) in a few blends but to me it doesn’t taste like the DFK in DFK bombs like Lakeland Dark, Dark Birdseye, or even ODF and Motzek Dark Twist.

 

[Ahi Ka]

I think cellaring might help many blends that are "over DFKed" for lack of a better term.

that’s a good term. Now can you confirm it’s pronunciation, just so I don’t embarrass myself when talking about it. Is it “over D-FKed” or “over DF-Ked”?

 

[OldCaptainTheo]

I had a similar experience with Director's Cut. In 2018-2019 I smoked the stuff almost exclusively, and then one day... it was just off. I recently found an opened tin in my cellar from the dreaded batches of fall of '19 (surprisingly in very good condition, having in mind that it was in the original tin), that I had buried in the depths of my mind (and cellar) out of desparation. It was very good indeed. The Dark Fired had mellowed, the rough edges gone, the perique has worked magic and the virginias were deep and sweet.

I'm glad Hans listened to Jim and we have something that -at least- remind us the original (that was insanely good, in terms of general balance).

 

[captpat]

Now that is good news for I have some of that vintage in my cellar.