Commercial Blends...Consistent Over the Years?

[sumusfumus]

I have recently started smoking my briars again. Like everyone else, I decided to try different tobacco blends, and I have found two, commercially prepared blends, that I enjoy smoking, when mixed together. I have mixed Lane Ltd. "HGL" Mild English) with McClellan's-#2050 (Oriental Cavendish).
My questions:

Is it reasonable to expect these tobacco blends will remain consistent in flavor and still be comprised of the same component tobaccos, over the years to come?
Do/Can commercially prepared blends vary from year to year....or even from batch to batch? I'm thinking yes, but also guessing that commercial blends are generally more consistent than those "custom blends" that rely on the availability of individual, regional, or specialty, tobaccos. Do the big, wholesale tobacco houses like Lane Ltd. stockpile leaves to ensure consistency in their blends over the years?
I guess what I'm really asking is this....will LL-"HGL" and McC-"#2050" have the same flavors/characteristics five years from now? Get out the crystal balls and give me your best guesses. My crystal ball tells me that some answers will suggest that I store a few pounds, starting today, for my future smoking pleasures. And, if that is the best way to go....would it be wise to press it, and then, store it?
Thanks for any suggestions.
Frank

 

[64alex]

There are three factors to consider. The first is there is inevitably some variation from year to year of tobacco crops as there is variation in wine and in any other agricoltural product.

The second is that the blenders can and do change the blends sometime.

The third is the storing conditions particularly of tin versus bulk as I suspect sometime particularly the bulk can be suboptimally stored in the stores.

So going back to your question, Yes I think there is a variation not only from year to year but also from batch to batch and probably more noticeable for bulk and there is no guarantee that your next purchase from a different batch will be exactly the same even if in most cases it will be very close or undistinguishable.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I think that crop variations year to year is why casings are added that impart a small bit of flavoring. If changing ratios doesn't help, they can also change the casing. But, really I would think that the differences one crop might have from year to year would be so slight that most of us couldn't detect it, unless something went really wrong, or a crop had to be sourced from a completely different farmer or region.

 

[woodsroad]

Sourcing tobacco probably has as much effect as anything. Manufacturer's usually buy from brokers, not directly from farmers. Farmers seldom plant the same crop, in the same place, year to year, due to crop rotation and market conditions. Farmers seed sources change, or their seedlings from a grow operation change. Manufacturers may try to keep enough component leaf on hand to mitigate these changes, but then you have the product aging in the manufacturer's warehouse.
So many variables.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Add in... a new guy running the flue cure or fire cure, a rainy day just after stacking stalks, or a farmer choosing to harvest early to avoid a hurricane. I imagine it is impossible to get an ideal consistency without some sort of "control" as in blending and casing. And, this is before it even gets to the tobacconist's.

 

[sumusfumus]

Thanks guys for the suggestions and confirming some of my thoughts.
Frank

 

[ashdigger]

This is similar to blending scotch. The blender is the master that controls the flavor from a palette of "consistent inconsistency's". This is why blending any agricultural product is both an art and a science.

 

[blendtobac]

One thing that can be done (and I've done this over the years) is to mix tobacco from the previous year with the same tobacco from the current year. I would start out with 90% old and 10% new, and then I'd change the ration throughout the year. It makes the variations less noticeable.
Russ

 

[jpmcwjr]

Or, you could top the shit out of it and no one could taste the differences!

 

[mso489]

Re: Russ post. Fascinating. I hadn't heard of that, nor thought of it. Always intriguing to hear from the pros. My comment otherwise was that blenders work hard to keep blends on track with their consumers and fans. It is remarkable that blends are as consistent as they are with all the variables, but obviously people are working hard at making that so.

 

[woodsroad]

Right. So what Russ describes will not eliminate change, but ease it into production. It takes a skilled and perceptive blender to make that happen. I'll note that you never hear anyone here say "Gee, Russ's XXXX has really changed since I last bought a tin".
The desire for consistency in pipe tobacco is totally understandable. You find a blend that you really like, and you want it to stay that way. But I find the prospect of change to be more interesting, in much the same way wine vintages are followed and enjoyed. We see this in the few limited-release vintage tobacco blends out there, like McClellands Christmas Cheer. The FDA deeming regs have probably put an end to releasing a new products, but couldn't a manufacturer re-release the same blend, with differently sourced (and dated) leaf?

 

[sumusfumus]

Russ....ditto mso489. Now that I see it in writing, I feel like a dope. Perfect! Adulterate the new stuff with a minor percentage of the old just to even things out. With my taste buds....I'll never know the difference.
Frank
Glad I asked the Forum Members. What I thought was a problem just drifted away like lazy smoke rings.

 

[didache]

I also worked in the tobacco industry (although not in blending). The comparison with Scotch is a good one. Take (for instance) Johnny Walker Black - every year the constituent malt and grain whiskys which make up the 'recipe' will vary. But if the product does not taste reliably the same, the customer will get upset and perhaps even switch brands. The blender will ensure, despite the variations, that the bottle of JW Black you have will taste just the same as it did last year and the year before.
It would be much the same with the large scale tobacco blends. The smokers of Carter Hall (for instance) want their product to taste reliably the same every time they buy it.
I imagine this would be less true of more artisanal blends, but I know from my own experience in the industry that with more mass produced blends, the blenders are extremely good at minimising seasonal differences in the leaf available to them.
Mike

 

[jpmcwjr]

I wouldn't use the word "adulterate" in any of Russ' blends! But your questions were very good ones.

 

[sumusfumus]

Sorry for any misunderstandings of my comments. Gee....I meant no slight to Russ's blends. I'm new to this forum and don't know who Russ is or what he does, and besides, I am not smoking Russ' blends. I responded to his suggestion of mixing older stock with the newer, to reduce inconsistencies from batch-to-batch. I thought it was a great idea.
My original questions were about Lane Ltd. and Mc Clelland tobacco blends, and specifically about the consistent smoking qualities of commercially blended, tobacco mixtures over time...and from batch-to-batch.
Thanks for the interesting suggestions.

Frank