HH Mac Baren Rustica Nic Hit

[Brad H]

So I just got in 18 ounces of HH Mac Baren Rustica.
Upon first light it’s dark and strong. It’s just a notch under Mac Baren Dark Fired Kentucky at strength.
The Nic hit is a 6.5 on a 1-5 scale. I can smoke Nic all day long. I can smoke GH Irish brown twist all day long and be ok. This Rustica man!!! It’s potent.
Now the Rustica is incredibly good. Might even get some more before it vanishes.
Has anyone else experienced this overwhelming Nic hit? Or your thoughts on the HH ready rub Mac Baren Rustica?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I don't find DFK very strong at all, more of an all day smoke for some. But, rustica is a kick in the gut spins. I grew a few plants one year, and beyond the first set of leaves, it was impossible to smoke. I shredded the leaves and put them in my goat pens to try to keep some bugs out.

 

[Brad H]

I don't find DFK very strong at all, more of an all day smoke for some. But, rustica is a kick in the gut spins. I grew a few plants one year, and beyond the first set of leaves, it was impossible to smoke. I shredded the leaves and put them in my goat pens to try to keep some bugs out.

I miss spoke. Meant to say Mac Baren Bold Kentucky. Bold Kentucky had me choking.

 

[anotherbob]

I miss Bold Kentucky .
Rustic is great for snuff or in a tiny little pipe. Never tried it blended with anything.

 

[Brad H]

I was just smoking it straight. Never crossed my mind to blend it with anything yet. it’s pretty good. Almost through an entire bowl of it now.

 

[eyjaygaming]

Rustica on average has a nicotine content of 9% - 3x the amount of the usual leaf varieties.

 

[renfield]

To me the HH Rustica seems higher in nic than the average blend, but not tremendously so. I have often smoked bowls of HH Rustica back to back without feeling an enormous nic hit, but that’s just my experience.

Gawith Dark Plug hits me much harder.

There’s more at play than just the nicotine content that determines how much ends up in your bloodstream.

 

[Brad H]

Finished a whole bowl. No bite at all. Smooth, yet full bodied. Love the flavors. If you remember the first time you smoked Ennerdale and had that puzzling look on your face, well that is what Rustica did to me today.
Won't be tomorrow but a few days in the future I will revisit it.
Got to start my morning out with some Cowboy Coffee!!

 

[mspadoni]

Haven't tried it. Is this one that's gonna be gone soon? I just tried mac baren dark twist and love it. Hoping to stock up before that one goes

 

[dottlejockey]

Haven't tried it. Is this one that's gonna be gone soon? I just tried mac baren dark twist and love it. Hoping to stock up before that one goes

The entire HH line.

I smoke 8-12 bowls a day and used to smoke nearly half a box of cigars a day in years past. I rarely feel any nicotine, but Rustica definitely will do the trick. It's a small bowl baccy or an excellent blending agent to add some punch to a blend that needs a lift. Bold Kentucky is also a great way to fill out some body in a blend that's a little lacking in that department. There is one home blend that i used both, for both reasons. Turned out to be much better than the sum of its parts.

 

[Brad H]

Haven't tried it. Is this one that's gonna be gone soon? I just tried mac baren dark twist and love it. Hoping to stock up before that one goes

yup its going to be gone. Sadly I just discovered Rustica (well knew about it but thought id have time to try it later) a few days ago. Its amazing. I think i cellared about 4-5 pounds of the dark twist (get what you can asap). All of Mac Baren roll cakes are great. Going to try and grab some more in next few days.

The entire HH line.

I smoke 8-12 bowls a day and used to smoke nearly half a box of cigars a day in years past. I rarely feel any nicotine, but Rustica definitely will do the trick. It's a small bowl baccy or an excellent blending agent to add some punch to a blend that needs a lift. Bold Kentucky is also a great way to fill out some body in a blend that's a little lacking in that department. There is one home blend that i used both, for both reasons. Turned out to be much better than the sum of its parts.

maybe its because Rustica was new to me (only smoked it one time now) but man I had to put it down for a few mins. It hit me like a spider monkey.

 

[spike]

I’m an old goat who has been smoking a pipe a LONG time, but am still a nicotine wimp. I don’t touch even regular burley blends. I’m getting dizzy just thinking about Rustica.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Luckily, rustica is the easiest tobacco plant to grow and cure. It was thought up until recently that Rustica was extinct, until the guys who started the American Spirit Tobacco Company found some and made the seed commercially available. It has big thick, almost prehistoric looking leaves, and cures easily by just hanging the leaves. You can now order the seeds from any seed bank that sells tobacco seeds. It is thought that this is a plant variety, from which all other tobaccos were derived. Side by side with Orinoco, or Ukrainian, they look very similar, but taste and strength, I have found nothing that rivals Rustica. It is pretty close to a hallucinogenic drug, smoked straight.
My suggestion to anyone growing it would be to use the bottom six sets of leaves and then chop the plant down and grow another crop next.

The only way I could smoke what I grew was to blend it down with a light bright leaf variety. It can easily be used in about the same way perique is blended, except in lighter doses.

 

[Brad H]

Luckily, rustica is the easiest tobacco plant to grow and cure. It was thought up until recently that Rustica was extinct, until the guys who started the American Spirit Tobacco Company found some and made the seed commercially available. It has big thick, almost prehistoric looking leaves, and cures easily by just hanging the leaves. You can now order the seeds from any seed bank that sells tobacco seeds. It is thought that this is a plant variety, from which all other tobaccos were derived. Side by side with Orinoco, or Ukrainian, they look very similar, but taste and strength, I have found nothing that rivals Rustica. It is pretty close to a hallucinogenic drug, smoked straight.
My suggestion to anyone growing it would be to use the bottom six sets of leaves and then chop the plant down and grow another crop next.

The only way I could smoke what I grew was to blend it down with a light bright leaf variety. It can easily be used in about the same way perique is blended, except in lighter doses.

so the thought never really occurred to me that blending this with another blend might be good. Have you mixed Rustica with any blends?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

so the thought never really occurred to me that blending this with another blend might be good. Have you mixed Rustica with any blends?

Yes, and I love it. I don't give that blend away because I was only able to keep so few of the leaves from rustica that year. Plus the lemony bright leaf I blended it with, I only got a pound of that.

If someone really loves rustica, give growing some a try.
I've only ever tried the MacBaren HH Rustic blend, but I suspect it has been blended as well. It is too weak to be pure, IMO.
But, Cotton Boll Twist is a rustica blend, or was... I think they changed the recipe on that one. It has an added molasses casing now that I don't like.

 

[Brad H]

TBH I would have no idea what to mix the HH Rustica with. Almost everything I have I like as is. Perhaps toss it in with an aromatic or something. I am not big into aromatics.
My first thought was to add some to Mac Baren Golden Extra, then I decided, I don't want to ruin my no longer produced 8 pounds of it...... So I will see when I get home what aromatic I have that I can mix it with to really give a blend I don't care for some kick.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

TBH I would have no idea what to mix the HH Rustica with

I'm pretty sure if it is that tinned HH Rustica, that it is already blended down.
But, if you wanted a suggestion as to what to blend it down even further with... try buying a bag of that D&R Two Timer. It is a very nice double toasted burley that tastes very mildly nutty, but with almost no nic hit for me. It might make a delicious blend for you.

 

[The Clay King]

The only pipe baccy the Clay King has ever got a baccy rush from

 

[Brad H]

The only pipe baccy the Clay King has ever got a baccy rush from

really?
It honestly is the only one I can say has giving me a nic rush off of as well.
I am going to have my second bowl of it tonight after work. I want a repeat match on it and see my thoughts on the 2nd smoking of it.
I can say I am puzzled by the ready rub Rustica vs the Flake Rustica.....Either hit harder than the other?

 

[anotherbob]

I was just smoking it straight. Never crossed my mind to blend it with anything yet. it’s pretty good. Almost through an entire bowl of it now.

Just want to make sure I am clear. I mean the rustica leafs. Not the H.H. blend. Have only had the stuff as leaf.
Another thing about the leaf is it's strong enough to make a chaw out of it straight with no processing beyond the cure.
Never tried the MacBarren blend. Wish I had now.