Cigar Leaf: Does it belong in Pipe Tobacco?

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LotusEater

Lifer
Apr 16, 2021
4,391
58,500
Kansas City Missouri
When I was smoking cigars and pipes at the same time I tried a few cigar leaf blends and I was not a fan. Something about the cigar leaf made the blend fairly rough.
I thought I read in another thread that you liked Robusto?
Maybe I am misremembering and you just said that liked it better than other cigar blends.
 

supdog

Can't Leave
Nov 10, 2012
313
186
I have found that a 'longer' cut of leaf can lean more towards that cigar flavour profile across a number of different leaf varieties. I have taken leaf I have grown (burley varieties for the most part) and from the same handful of leaf, from the same plant, rolled a quick cigar (which tasted like...a cigar) cut a section to smoke whole in the pipe like @Chasing Embers suggested, and rolled a tighter rope, cut some wide coins, and then thin coins and rubbed them out. The 'cigar' profile retreated further into the background the finer the cut. I have theories about what happens with flavour accumulation as you burn along the length and breadth of the leaf, but they are really just musings.
I think it was Nestor Plasencia who said that length and girth both play a roll in the flavor profile of a cigar , He stated that if you really want to know what the blender was trying to achieve, the toro size (6 in x 50 ring gauge) is the best.
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,825
31,571
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
What do you think the biggest user of dark fired Kentucky is?
you successfully read my subtext. Though I will add that not only do I really like cigar leaf in pipe tobacco, I also find it essential for the fact that the leaf used in cigars has to be structurally pristine to a silly level. So it's good that perfectly fine leaf that either has cosmetic issues or tears can be enjoyed by smokers anyways. Also I find cigar leaf blends to be generally more interesting then most cigars.
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,825
31,571
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I think it was Nestor Plasencia who said that length and girth both play a roll in the flavor profile of a cigar , He stated that if you really want to know what the blender was trying to achieve, the toro size (6 in x 50 ring gauge) is the best.
doesn't matter who said it. It's really pretty easy to test and figure out the veracity of that idea. :) O also have no idea who that is but Nester Carbonell played the best super hero ever This GUY!!! Accept no substations.
 

badbeard

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 9, 2017
284
585
Kentucky, USA
It belongs if you like it. Personal preference, I like cigars, and I like pipe tobacco.. but I don't mix the two in either method of consumption. I've yet to come across a cigar with pipe leaf, or a pipe blend with cigar leaf that does either justice. Sort of a "Trying to be two things at once, but not doing either well" sort of situation. But again, that is just my plebian opinion.
 

troyniss

Can't Leave
Jul 8, 2018
473
1,257
Michigan
In Key Largo it does. Have about 3lbs cellared in 8oz tins. Such a fine creamy smoke. Haven't opened any of them though. Finished 2x 2oz tins before and now that I know how superb it is a wonder what age will do to it.
 
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supdog

Can't Leave
Nov 10, 2012
313
186
doesn't matter who said it. It's really pretty easy to test and figure out the veracity of that idea. :) O also have no idea who that is but Nester Carbonell played the best super hero ever This GUY!!! Accept no substations.
This is Nestor Plasencia, Nestor Plasencia Sr. (born circa 1950) is a tobacco grower and cigar maker of Cuban descent whose factories in Honduras and Nicaragua produce over 30 million cigars a year. Contracting out the use of his factories to Rocky Patel and other leading brands, Plasencia remains one of the leading figures in the Central American cigar industry.

Some cigars made by Plasencia[edit]​

  • Crux Cigar Company
  • Bonacquisti Cigars: "Bonacquisti" (Seven Traditional Sizes) and "Empire" (Sun Grown Nicaragua and Shade Grown Honduras)
  • 262 Revere
  • Jesus Fuego
  • 5 Vegas: Classic, Gold, Gold Maduro, Cask Strength
  • Alec Bradley: Harvest 97, Maxx, Nica Puro, American Sun Grown, American Classic Blend, Black Market
  • Casa Magna
  • Cu Avana: Intenso
  • Cuba Libre
  • Gurkha: Avenger G5
  • El Mejor: Emerald, Espresso
  • Line of Duty
  • Nestor: Reserve
  • Padilla: Obsidian
  • Rocky Patel: Connecticut, Decade, Edge, Sun Grown, Renaissance
  • Thomas Hinds Honduran Selection
  • Villiger: 125, Colorado, Selecto, Talanga
  • Wilson Adams Cigars: Habano, Sumatra, Mr. Wilson
  • Total Flame: 8ball
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,825
31,571
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I spent a good number of early adult years working for a farm that grows it.
geographically that makes a lot of sense. Though best chew I had wasn't commercially available and was made with Cuban tobacco. That was amazing. I bring it up because I know that if that if there was a major release of such a product on the market, a lot of people would say that it was this horrible waste and that the leaf is meant for cigars....
Oh and side note one thing I've learned is that it's amazing the things that can happen if you just talk to people. Mention random ideas to the right person and next thing you know you're getting a care package you never thought would happen.
Second side note. There is certainly a chance for chewing tobacco renaissance, because it is just as capable of showing all the nuances and all that smoked tobacco can.
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,825
31,571
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
This is Nestor Plasencia, Nestor Plasencia Sr. (born circa 1950) is a tobacco grower and cigar maker of Cuban descent whose factories in Honduras and Nicaragua produce over 30 million cigars a year. Contracting out the use of his factories to Rocky Patel and other leading brands, Plasencia remains one of the leading figures in the Central American cigar industry.

Some cigars made by Plasencia[edit]​

  • Crux Cigar Company
  • Bonacquisti Cigars: "Bonacquisti" (Seven Traditional Sizes) and "Empire" (Sun Grown Nicaragua and Shade Grown Honduras)
  • 262 Revere
  • Jesus Fuego
  • 5 Vegas: Classic, Gold, Gold Maduro, Cask Strength
  • Alec Bradley: Harvest 97, Maxx, Nica Puro, American Sun Grown, American Classic Blend, Black Market
  • Casa Magna
  • Cu Avana: Intenso
  • Cuba Libre
  • Gurkha: Avenger G5
  • El Mejor: Emerald, Espresso
  • Line of Duty
  • Nestor: Reserve
  • Padilla: Obsidian
  • Rocky Patel: Connecticut, Decade, Edge, Sun Grown, Renaissance
  • Thomas Hinds Honduran Selection
  • Villiger: 125, Colorado, Selecto, Talanga
  • Wilson Adams Cigars: Habano, Sumatra, Mr. Wilson
  • Total Flame: 8ball
Oh thanks. I reread my post and I apologize because I feel like I missed my mark. My aim was to say he's right and I am sure he's a guy who really knows what he's talking about, but heck even a schmuck like me can tell you that he's right.
Though I still usually smoke panatela sized cigars. (just cause I can tell a difference doesn't mean I enjoy it that much more.)
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
45,238
119,160
geographically that makes a lot of sense. Though best chew I had wasn't commercially available and was made with Cuban tobacco. That was amazing. I bring it up because I know that if that if there was a major release of such a product on the market, a lot of people would say that it was this horrible waste and that the leaf is meant for cigars....
Oh and side note one thing I've learned is that it's amazing the things that can happen if you just talk to people. Mention random ideas to the right person and next thing you know you're getting a care package you never thought would happen.
Second side note. There is certainly a chance for chewing tobacco renaissance, because it is just as capable of showing all the nuances and all that smoked tobacco can.
A straight dark fired twist right out of the barn is amazing.
 
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pantsBoots

Lifer
Jul 21, 2020
2,364
8,983
I began as a cigar smoker and still enjoy a few every month. I need to dig in further to what types of blends use cigar leaf as I've got about a pound of well-aged Hoyo de Monterrey cutoffs from the factory in Cuba. I don't blend at home much at all, but need to start doing it to get this leaf out of my way.

Incidentally, I don't think cigar leaf blends in a pipe taste too much like a cigar. I tried smoking some of the above-mentioned leaf alone in a pipe and was surprised it didn't taste more cigar-like to me.