Those who know me know that I'm a big VaPer fan even since my first coin of Dunhill DeLuxe Navy Rolls, they really opened up a new world for me after smoking tens of tins of Dunhill Nightcap. I've been on a quest ever since to find that golden mean VaPer combining natural sweetness, some citrus/zest, some hay, sweetness, spice, body, breadiness, a tiny pinch of pepper, NATURAL SWEETNESS (am I making myself clear?) and nicotine. I'm still looking. C&D Bayou Morning Flake nearly hits all of these but getting C&D tobaccos is very hard for me. HH Acadian Perique nearly hit all of these too but it's gone, sadly. St Bernard Flake, Louisiana Broken, Solani 663, Ascanian No2, Roppel's Roundels, Flake Medallions, Motzek's VaPers, St James Flake, Louisiana Perique Flake are all great smokes, but none is hitting my spot quite 100%
At the same time I was lucky or unlucky to find a love for masses of Dark Fired Kentucky, and do smoke a lot of it very often.
Ok, so where am I going with this? This post IS about a VaPer from HU tobacco right? Yep, it is, I just like writing!
So about a year ago I got a tin of this, not knowing what to expect, not knowing what red Virginia is like at all, and overall having a much less developed palate. I bought it, opened it, sniffed it - delicious zesty/tangy smell, sweetness, spice, and some hay at the bottom. Amazing presentation as well, wide evenly cut flakes curled in the inside of the tin. The photos don't do it justice because my phone camera is crap, it doesn't convey smell, and I've smoked most of it.
So first smoke was a disappointment, I found no taste in it at all! I had another smoke, rubbed and dried to a crisp with no better results so I sealed the tin with aluminium tape and wrote "Open in 2025" on it. It is not 2025 so what happened and most of it is smoked already? Serendipity happened. About 6 months later, on a whim, I cut a piece of flake and stuffed it into a pipe I was planning to smoke later and didn't want a taste bomb of any sort - just to have something burning as a friend of mine says. The thing is I didn't get to smoke that pipe for a couple of days. When I got round to it I was out with the kids so I was not paying much attention to the smoke, it was just smoldering in the pipe until it forced me to sit up and listen.
It is very zesty and tangy. Almost like citrus peel at time but it is NOT a citrusy Virginia if that makes any sense. No vinegar. There are bready and woody notes developing once you reach past the middle of the bowl. There's a whiff of spice coming through. The flake is made up of primarily red Virginia, brown fire cured, and Perique, I do believe this has a pinch or Perique as described, and no more. @jiminks says "a little more than a pinch" and I believe it, I don't have anywhere near the sophistication his palate has. The magic happens as the bowl develops, the tang and zest is always there but there's an underlining intense sweetness developing, real candy sweet, which doesn't let go. It is natural too, like smoking and sipping a very light fruit syrup at the same time, not heavy and not artificial. Maybe that's what Jim means when he says "ripe fruit sweet", it could be the juice of a peach - not fig, raisin or date though, that'd be too heavy, maybe my brain is making this up but it doesn't matter because once tasted it can't be missed, it is wonderful.
So ever since my preparation is to fold and corkscrew a piece of this flake in a big bowl - I used my biggest home made pipe to get a nice long 2+ hour smoke of this wonderful tobacco - then carefully pull it out and let it dry for at least 5-6 hours or overnight. It doesn't matter it retains just the slightest moisture to be able to stuff back in without crumbling and has given me a great smoke every time. It's my Sunday night smoke for a few months now.
So what happened? Maybe it developed some in these 6 months of sitting in the tin, but I doubt it. Maybe it needed some airing. Maybe letting the tobacco come to me rather than chasing it helped. Maybe - likely - my palate developed, and could have been fresh from the usual DFK bombs I smoke.
The quest for the Holy Grail VaPer is incomplete, but I met this amazing tobacco along the way. It has a nice backstory to it too from @arno665, which you can read here.
At the same time I was lucky or unlucky to find a love for masses of Dark Fired Kentucky, and do smoke a lot of it very often.
Ok, so where am I going with this? This post IS about a VaPer from HU tobacco right? Yep, it is, I just like writing!
So about a year ago I got a tin of this, not knowing what to expect, not knowing what red Virginia is like at all, and overall having a much less developed palate. I bought it, opened it, sniffed it - delicious zesty/tangy smell, sweetness, spice, and some hay at the bottom. Amazing presentation as well, wide evenly cut flakes curled in the inside of the tin. The photos don't do it justice because my phone camera is crap, it doesn't convey smell, and I've smoked most of it.
So first smoke was a disappointment, I found no taste in it at all! I had another smoke, rubbed and dried to a crisp with no better results so I sealed the tin with aluminium tape and wrote "Open in 2025" on it. It is not 2025 so what happened and most of it is smoked already? Serendipity happened. About 6 months later, on a whim, I cut a piece of flake and stuffed it into a pipe I was planning to smoke later and didn't want a taste bomb of any sort - just to have something burning as a friend of mine says. The thing is I didn't get to smoke that pipe for a couple of days. When I got round to it I was out with the kids so I was not paying much attention to the smoke, it was just smoldering in the pipe until it forced me to sit up and listen.
It is very zesty and tangy. Almost like citrus peel at time but it is NOT a citrusy Virginia if that makes any sense. No vinegar. There are bready and woody notes developing once you reach past the middle of the bowl. There's a whiff of spice coming through. The flake is made up of primarily red Virginia, brown fire cured, and Perique, I do believe this has a pinch or Perique as described, and no more. @jiminks says "a little more than a pinch" and I believe it, I don't have anywhere near the sophistication his palate has. The magic happens as the bowl develops, the tang and zest is always there but there's an underlining intense sweetness developing, real candy sweet, which doesn't let go. It is natural too, like smoking and sipping a very light fruit syrup at the same time, not heavy and not artificial. Maybe that's what Jim means when he says "ripe fruit sweet", it could be the juice of a peach - not fig, raisin or date though, that'd be too heavy, maybe my brain is making this up but it doesn't matter because once tasted it can't be missed, it is wonderful.
So ever since my preparation is to fold and corkscrew a piece of this flake in a big bowl - I used my biggest home made pipe to get a nice long 2+ hour smoke of this wonderful tobacco - then carefully pull it out and let it dry for at least 5-6 hours or overnight. It doesn't matter it retains just the slightest moisture to be able to stuff back in without crumbling and has given me a great smoke every time. It's my Sunday night smoke for a few months now.
So what happened? Maybe it developed some in these 6 months of sitting in the tin, but I doubt it. Maybe it needed some airing. Maybe letting the tobacco come to me rather than chasing it helped. Maybe - likely - my palate developed, and could have been fresh from the usual DFK bombs I smoke.
The quest for the Holy Grail VaPer is incomplete, but I met this amazing tobacco along the way. It has a nice backstory to it too from @arno665, which you can read here.
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