Dark Fired Kentucky

[Recon Paul]

haven't stepped into Perique/VaPers yet. One of the Eng blends I have, Sutliff Emerald Isle has some, but it's a lat bomb. All I taste is Hush Puppy fumes.

 

[Bigdadz]

I am currently enamoured with Doblone d’Oro which has some dark fired Kentucky. A very full flavoured spicy and fragrant VaPer.

 

[anotherbob]

I haven't tryed any blends with dark fired Kentucky because im not a huge fan of latakia. Is it smoky tasting like latakia? By some of the responses it sounds sweeter at least.

nope very different more of a hickory smoke flavor then mysterious campfire.

 

[DangerStranger]

DFK does wonders in a VaPer too

Exactly this! Karam gets it!

 

[hawky454]

Some of the blends you guys are mentioning are NOT Dark Fired Kentuckys. Especially from GH or SG. Those would be Empirial tobaccos, like Dark Virginias, African varietals, and such... There is way more fire cured tobaccos that DFK. When you see Dark Fired on a tin, don't just assume it is DFK. Most come from Malaysia and that region.

And, Jitter, who used to be our resident tobacco farmer, used to put them in the bright leaf category, because of the potential starch to sugar content. But, they are their own thing, even the African Dark Virginias. They really suck without a fire cure.

I’ll take your word for it my man. You know a hell of a lot more about it than I do. I stand by those blends whether they have DFK in them or not, though, they be some good blends.

I do get what you mean though cause I get that same vibe from Condor and it’s a straight VA. Does Condor use Empirial tobaccos then?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I’ll take your word for it my man. You know a hell of a lot more about it than I do. I stand by those blends whether they have DFK in them or not, though, they be some good blends.

I do get what you mean though cause I get that same vibe from Condor and it’s a straight VA. Does Condor use Empirial tobaccos then?

I’d wager on it... at least the older better stuff.

 

[elvishrunes]

I just recently got into to DFK the last few months, after being lost in the English wilderness for almost a decade... I got Amphora DFK, really great stuff and I have cellared a bunch. I have to say I think I prefer it to Latakia, though I still enjoy Lat.

I think I’m also going to go back to Aros soon, very tasty, but unfortunately lower nic.

 

[northernpipeshed]

Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky doesn't really live up to its name. Rather sweet and spicy, not very strong.

Agreed......I was a little disappointed with DSK....not a bad blend by any means....in fact quite interesting, but not what I was expecting !

 

[northernpipeshed]

If every blend that pipe smokers assumes was actually DFK, then most of these blends would taste the same. And, we wouldn't get those sour more oddly tasting blends like 1792 and Dark Flake.

Thanks for the info ....enjoyed reading it.

 

[rajangan]

Nope, I've grown several varieties of Dark and African Virginias. They all come from different seed stocks.

Please elaborate on the African brightleaf tobaccos. I want to know. Where did you get them/it? Was it anything particularly different?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Please elaborate on the African brightleaf tobaccos. I want to know. Where did you get them/it? Was it anything particularly different?

I will have to see if I can find the seed packets, but I did pick them up my first year of growing.
As far as different... my first year, I hadn’t perfected flu curing, so they weren’t particularly sweet. They didn’t have a burley taste either. I wouldn’t say it was my most successful crop fir that year. The second year was a little better. That was the first year used two steel drums as a smoker. They didn’t absorb a lot of the smoke, but I used the ribbon from that year for a couple of years as a blender. It had a lot of strength, slightly bitter, maybe a tad on the anise-like tobacco flavor, but it never had a burley bass note or barnyard like flavor. The leaves were thin, set on the stalk more like a Virginia, but they were never very sweet, more smokey savory with hints of a unique spicyness.

 

[Grangerous]

I have not warmed up to latakia myself. I have. third "English" blend on the shelf that I may try this week. While I don't find lat necessarily offensive, there is an element of old shoes burning to it that i find uninviting. I would use the word "smoky" to describe lat in my limited experience.

ODF tastes like smoke. That sounds weird, but it's the only way to describe it. If a vanilla aro tastes like vanilla, then ODF tastes like smoke. Think of proper TX BBQ smoke. Whether it's brisket or sausage or beer can chicken, they all share the same smoke flavor. Add that smoke flavor without the meat flavor on top of the tobacco flavor and that's pretty much ODF.

I guess some call it an aro because the flavor of smoke is added to it in the curing process. Like a smoke casing. Seems a stretch to me.

I've got a few "DFK" blends (in quotes per cosmic's description) on order. I'll add them to the discussion when they arrive. Lots ofblends i am noting for the future from this thread.

That is exactly how I’d describe ODF. For me it’s a rare, have to be in the mood for it, treat. It’s tasty and good, but a bit rich for me.

 

[Recon Paul]

Few things to add to this. I recently tried Amphora Burley. I really like it. Surprisingly similar to ODF, but it doesn't have that thing that ODF has. It has something it doesn't. Best pounch tobacco I've had.

I also tried Hearth & Home Smokey Mountain. It was tobacco of the week on P&C a while back and the description recommended it for fans of ODF. Not as good as Amphora. Not sure if it's something to do with the aging, but it has a sourness similar to latakia. Might have a sprinkle in it. Not enough to turn me off (don't dig on lat). My first plug tobacco. It's more of a "I don't know what I want" tobacco.