With the lack of availability in certain blends, Carter Hall to be specific, I have been searching a bit for something to fill that void. Being a smooth, well behaved tobacco, that doesn't take all my cash to have a fair quantity on hand. This caught my eye since I do enjoy a Backwoods cigar now, and then...and at about $12 a lb. it was hard to pass. It is not CH, and isn't trying to be flavor wise, so don't think I am trying to put that out there. Opening the bag it has a relatively sweet, and pleasant aroma. I would think there is some variety of topping here, but they will ship it to me so, in theory it does not. The bag claims it to be a straight Burley/VA blend. Out of the bag, it does burn well enough, has a small potential for bite if smoked quickly, but lacks in the flavor dept. basically all together. I have tried mixing in a few straight blending tobaccos to give it some interest with limited success, and have not come up with any recipes that are worth repeating as of yet. I decided to revisit this blend recently with an old timers trick for some of the drug store blends. Pulled a couple ounces out, and stuck it a paper lunch bag to draw out moisture, PG, or other possibly undesirable additives that may be in there. Let it sit the table all day while I was at work. All of a sudden it becomes something entirely reasonable. Any hints at biting are gone, very well behaved in the pipe, and there is some flavor to be had. Not really pronounced, but enough to hold some interest. Mellow, easy going, with a background of some sweetness that I would not call vanilla, or any of the other more common flavors associated with cheaper blends. To my palate, I would say molasses is what comes to mind. This is not a blend where I notice nicotine content, but I don't with CH either. In summary, this not a replacement for CH, but may be a decent thing to try if you budget is limiting, and you favor a lightly sweet, all day kind of smoke.
A little side note on PG, as a licensed trapper, I can tell you this is added to liquid attractants to prevent freezing, and slow evaporation. That being said, for blends containing this as a flavor binding agent, just letting the bag/tin sit open on the table may not be as effective as you would like.
A little side note on PG, as a licensed trapper, I can tell you this is added to liquid attractants to prevent freezing, and slow evaporation. That being said, for blends containing this as a flavor binding agent, just letting the bag/tin sit open on the table may not be as effective as you would like.
