First Attempt at Mixing Blends..Not So Hot.

[damnyak]

So after reading that combining Lane's 1-Q and BCA can make quite a amazing third blend, I figured I give a whirl blending tobacco I have at hand.
I am a maple guy. Love maple tobacco. My Idea came to create some sort of Super Maple Tobacco That Kills all other maple tobaccos. I decided to mix equal part of C&D's Autumn Evening (My favorite tobacco so far) with Town Topic (another high rated "maple tobacco")
I combined the two in equal parts on a scale. I wanted to try to be perfectly equal here. I mixed them, allowed them to chill and dry for 10 min. Then I crammed this Super Maple into my pipe and began to puff. Well turns out this blend is not the greatest. The two maples were fighting each other like a young brother and sister. While both of the same "family" (maple) they both wanted my attention, and the taste was like the slap fight that would have ensued between the brother and sister. Harsh, hot, and left a bad taste in your mouth. I think for the most part it is because the maple flavors are to different, Autumn Evening is a smokey maple, and town topic is a sweet maple/vanilla. They really did not work, it bordered on cancelling out the goods of them both. Although it was a fun experiment, I was disappointed in my first blend.
I have some 1-Q, and some BCA on order, I am interested in tasting this combo to see what all the hubba-balo is all about. Perhaps I should take all my maples and mix a bit, and let them have the first ever "Genuine Briar cage match" and see it they can all work things out to make something worth smoking.
I think I will enjoy this new found entertainment of mixing my tobacco's to see what goes and what doesn't.
Do any of you have a mix you have created that you care to divulge to the rest of us?

 

[judcole]

Your "super maple" might be better if you let it sit for a month or so, to let the flavors merge. That might decrease some of your issues.

 

[taerin]

I find you gotta mix them really good and let them sit in the same container for a while. I normally give them a week before I try it and a month after blending ones I know I like.

 

[damnyak]

Ahhh!
Thanks for the tips!

 

[cynyr]

I use Prince Albert as a neutral, and throw it in to 'tone down' something that might overpower on it's own. Also, PA will give some 'savor' to an otherwise bland aromatic. Try PA 50-50 with 1Q. Your mileage, of course, may vary, sometimes wildly!

 

[doctorthoss]

Another tip is to be very cautious mixing tobaccos from different manufacturers, at least until you've smoked enough of them to be come to grips with each blender's unique characteristics. This goes double for aromatics or McClelland's virginias, and goes triple for McClelland aromatics.

If you're looking for a maple blend to kill all other maple blends, let me make an "outside the box" suggestion. Mix 4 parts Autumn Evening with 1 part GH Kendal Kentucky. Then, add about 10 to 15 percent granulated perique from C&D and let it meld for a couple of weeks. I think you'll like the result.