Today I tried blending tobacco for the first time- frankly, it was this that spurred me to join.
I have smoked a pipe regularly but infrequently for about eight years now. After years of Borkum Riff Cavendish, I tasted Squadron Leader and that was the end of that- I want English blends.
In my search for new English blends, I made an error. I misremembered the name of a tobacco and ended up with 50g of Rattray’s Hal o’ the Wynd- a well respected tobacco, but a Virginia blend and not the Latakia-laden deliciousness I was looking for.
I had a bowl full, and was unimpressed. I have had pure Virginia tobaccos which I have enjoyed, with gorgeous hay and dried fruit notes, but generally find them uninspiring when compared to VaPers or English blends. Frankly, as a full-time cigarette smoker I find they taste like an excellent cigarette- they don’t offer much beyond what I was already getting.
Hal o’ the Wynd is unfortunately no exception. I find it one-dimensional. So, thinks I, I’ll try my hand at some blending and see if I can liven it up.
I ordered 15g each of McConnell Oriental Turkish blend and Gawith Hogarth’s Cyprus Latakia no.7. I put them both in a sandwich bag with the Rattray’s, and made the weight up to 100g with some Borkum Riff Black Cavendish I had laying around.
So roughly:
50% Hal o’ the Wynd
15% McConnell Oriental Turkish
15% Gawith Hogarth’s Cyprus Latakia no.7
20% Borkum Riff Black Cavendish
I gave the bag a good shake, squeezed all the air out, squashed it all together as tightly as possible, and put the bag in my tobacco jar.
I’m currently quitting the little paper tubes, and don’t intend to touch tobacco at all for a few months. Come summer, this should make a lovely evening smoke. We’ll see how it turns out...
I have smoked a pipe regularly but infrequently for about eight years now. After years of Borkum Riff Cavendish, I tasted Squadron Leader and that was the end of that- I want English blends.
In my search for new English blends, I made an error. I misremembered the name of a tobacco and ended up with 50g of Rattray’s Hal o’ the Wynd- a well respected tobacco, but a Virginia blend and not the Latakia-laden deliciousness I was looking for.
I had a bowl full, and was unimpressed. I have had pure Virginia tobaccos which I have enjoyed, with gorgeous hay and dried fruit notes, but generally find them uninspiring when compared to VaPers or English blends. Frankly, as a full-time cigarette smoker I find they taste like an excellent cigarette- they don’t offer much beyond what I was already getting.
Hal o’ the Wynd is unfortunately no exception. I find it one-dimensional. So, thinks I, I’ll try my hand at some blending and see if I can liven it up.
I ordered 15g each of McConnell Oriental Turkish blend and Gawith Hogarth’s Cyprus Latakia no.7. I put them both in a sandwich bag with the Rattray’s, and made the weight up to 100g with some Borkum Riff Black Cavendish I had laying around.
So roughly:
50% Hal o’ the Wynd
15% McConnell Oriental Turkish
15% Gawith Hogarth’s Cyprus Latakia no.7
20% Borkum Riff Black Cavendish
I gave the bag a good shake, squeezed all the air out, squashed it all together as tightly as possible, and put the bag in my tobacco jar.
I’m currently quitting the little paper tubes, and don’t intend to touch tobacco at all for a few months. Come summer, this should make a lovely evening smoke. We’ll see how it turns out...
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