Latakia Mellows with Age - I Like That in Billy Budd

[admin]

Last year, Bob brought me a bunch of tobacco samples to the Richmond Show. He gave me A LOT of different tobaccos.
So it was a while before I got around to trying them all.
The baggie of Billy Budd sat around for perhaps 9 - 10 months.
I LOVED it and smoked it all after the first try.
I just opened a fresh tin of Billy Budd, with the production date of Sept 2010.
Whoa.
It is very good, but it is totally different than when I first tried it. It is much stronger.
I like Latakia blends and smoke several of them frequently. I had heard that Latakia mellows with age and since I like the smokiness, I usually try to finish off a fresh tin soon before it gets too mellow.
Interestingly, I think I like Billy Budd better after it mellows some.
I think it seems extra strong to me because it also has two kinds of cigar leaf along with the Latakia. I wonder of the cigar leaf mellows with age too?
The fresh Billy Budd seems about 5 times stronger than my recollection of my first time smoking it.
As I said, I like both versions, but I like the mellower version of this one.
I won't rush through this tin so much.
I also have a great new blend to recommend to cigar smokers.

 

[buckeye]

i bought some billy bud a couple of months ago. 8oz to be exact. man that first bowl was nasty. i smoked some last week and it wasn`t as strong as the first bowl.i am not a cigar smoker so maybe that's why it was a little harsh.

 

[greggors]

nice, I have to get some of that, I've got 2 friends smoking pipes now and a 3rd complains its not strong enough. He's a die hard cigar smoker so this should get him hooked on pipes :D

 

[kcvet67]

I had the same experience a few days ago with some GH Bright CR Flake. I bought a half pound of it about two years ago and wasn't that impressed with it. I smoked an ounce or two and cellared the rest. I broke open the jar last Tuesday and was amazed by the change. What had been a fairly bland straight VA had developed a lot of complexity. It had the spiciness that I normally associate with oriental blends hiding behind the VA sweetness.

 

[admin]

Another strong one from C&D that I opened last night is Bayou Nights. It is LOADED with Perique. I almost made it to the end of the bowl, but then I had to set it down as it was too strong for me.

 

[python]

Bayou Nights is very POTENT. I even have problems smoking a whole bowl of it sometimes.

 

[surfmac211]

I love me some Billy Bud. I think I agree though that I like it after a few months age. I usually buy it bulk and cellar half of it, and just got around to it after 6 months aging.
Kevin do you know what type of cigar leaves they use in it? I would guess possibly a ligero, but I could be completely wrong.