S
ScienceSmoker
Guest
There are basically no shag-cut English blends in existence anymore... and it's a shame.
Manufacturers have moved to cut flake or coarse cut tobacco. Even just ribbon cut English blends are starting to become more rare. I guess shag is more difficult to produce... but IMO, it provides a much better smoke.
Of course, there's Margate and Pembroke... both Esoterica blends, but they're impossible to find with any regularity. Same with Germain's King Charles, another fantastic shag-cut English... but again, you can never get your hands on it.
But it's not just English blends. It's hard to find *any* type of shag-cut tobacco anymore. GL Pease's Penny Farthing is a new-ish va/per that calls itself a "shag cut", and using the technical definition, I guess it is. But it's just a flake that's been cut finely. So they're these fine, but hard, slivers of tobacco. Shag cut should really be finely cut *ribbon* tobacco (I still really like Penny Farthing though... it's a fantastic blend).
The only true shag cut tobaccos that I can get with any consistency are Gawith & Hoggarth's various Kendal blends... like Kendal Kentucky, Kendal #7, Kendal Gold, etc. There's just something about a shag-cut tobacco... it loads better, smokes better, tastes better... at least in my opinion.
What do you guys think?
Manufacturers have moved to cut flake or coarse cut tobacco. Even just ribbon cut English blends are starting to become more rare. I guess shag is more difficult to produce... but IMO, it provides a much better smoke.
Of course, there's Margate and Pembroke... both Esoterica blends, but they're impossible to find with any regularity. Same with Germain's King Charles, another fantastic shag-cut English... but again, you can never get your hands on it.
But it's not just English blends. It's hard to find *any* type of shag-cut tobacco anymore. GL Pease's Penny Farthing is a new-ish va/per that calls itself a "shag cut", and using the technical definition, I guess it is. But it's just a flake that's been cut finely. So they're these fine, but hard, slivers of tobacco. Shag cut should really be finely cut *ribbon* tobacco (I still really like Penny Farthing though... it's a fantastic blend).
The only true shag cut tobaccos that I can get with any consistency are Gawith & Hoggarth's various Kendal blends... like Kendal Kentucky, Kendal #7, Kendal Gold, etc. There's just something about a shag-cut tobacco... it loads better, smokes better, tastes better... at least in my opinion.
What do you guys think?