McClelland Dark Star prep advice

[fluffie666]

Hello everyone,

Recently I purchased a 100gm tin of DS. What I did not realize is the amount of time and preparation this fine tobacco needs to go through before I can enjoy a proper bowl of the stuff. So I read the description on the tin, bought a pipe to dedicate to the blend and set out for home thinking I was going to be in flavor country in a few short hours at most. If you know anything about this tobacco then you're probably giggling on account of my ignorance right about now. I opened the tin, which really smells great, and was greeted by dark, rubbery looking wet and broken flakes. I'm OK with this. I said to myself that this is going to take a while... I took out a few flakes to dry overnight. I broke them up as best I could and loaded a bowl full. Smoked that last night and put the tin in the closet to breath. This tobacco is outstanding. The taste is amazing if I pay attention and smoke slowly. The problem is that it keeps going out. Now my plan is to age it for about a month opening the tin every few days and then shaking the flakes around. After I do that I need some help on how to rub this stuff out. How dry should it be after aging and how do I go about getting it to a enjoyably smokable consistency? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tarak]

I' m interested to hear too. I have a jar that's been aging for about a year that I'm waiting to try. I hear its an awful lot of work though....but worth it.

 

[7ach]

It's one of the few blends that I cube cut... small maybe 1/8"

 

[escioe]

I'm mostly through my first tin of it, and this is what I've settled on.
First, I opened the tin and left it open for a week or two before I had to try it out.

If I think about smoking a bowl of it in advance, I take a pinch out and leave it on a plate to dry for six hours or so.

If I don't think about it but want to smoke it anyway, I stick it in a toaster oven for a few minutes on a real low setting. Most folks use a microwave for this, but I don't own one.

I've tried cube cutting and it's fine, but I've had better results by rubbing it out. It's really dense, so a knife to chop stubborn pieces works well.

Two or three matches to do some charring lights, then set it aside for a minute or two.

Tamp to get an even top, then light and you're off to flavor town.
This usually keeps me lit through half of the bowl, which is pretty good for me, a chronic relighter.

 

[torque]

Doesn't pipestud say that he gives every flake he smokes a couple of quick pulses in a blender to make them burn more evenly and consistently? Might give that a try. You could also get one of those cheapy Mr. Coffee grinders and give it a short pulse or two, should give the same effect. Personally I've never tried it so it's just an idea.
I've smoked dark star and didn't find it too bad after an overnight dry, but I didn't try to dry it in flake form, I rubbed it out first and it wasn't bad the next day.

 

[cobguy]

Ah, Dark Star ... I recently posted a thread called "Ode to Dark Star" where we discussed this fine flake.
It is definitely agreed upon that after popping the tin it takes a few months to mellow and dry.

After that initial resting time, the best method I've found is cutting it into small cubes.

Gravity pack only and count on several charring lights before it gets going.
I just finished a 2011 batch and even after 4 months in the tin it still needed

about an hour or two of extra dry time after cubing.
One more tip ... rub out a small amount really finely to use on the top as "kindling".

It helps get the cherry going faster and more evenly.
Good Luck!

 

[fluffie666]

Well thank you everyone for the input. I will try all of the techniques suggested because I am completely neurotic when it comes to pipe tobacco. I should say that I am neurotic about a lot of things but I'm especially neurotic about my pipes and tobaccos. The cube cut I'm going to use for a quick smoke. Kind of an instant gratification resort. The coffee grinder idea sounds great for that as well. The cutting board and chef knife is good too. It seems more along the lines of my master plan for this stuff. See, I want to experiment with it until I can get it to rub out to a ribbon cut. I think the va's taste best that way. I'm able to do that with Three Nuns but DS will be quite a challange to get it to that point. Escioe is going my way with this but I want to age all of it and then rub the whole tin out into an easy to manage and delicious smoke. Cutting the aged pieces into strips with a knife and then rubbing those out into ribbons may work.

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to get so many different points of view and advice from so many people. Thank you all very much!

 

[fluffie666]

That's awesome cobguy! I'm going to find that thread right now. Thanks!

 

[peteguy]

Agree on the drying time with Dark Star. I have been enjoying a 15+ year old tin and it still could sit out for 5 hours and not be too dry. DS really needs to be aired out and dried out a lot longer than you think it needs. It is one of my regular blends and after I open a tin I just let it sit for two weeks with the top off before transferring to a jar. I then still dry it out before loading a bowl. Once you get it where it needs to be it sure is an amazing blend. This aged stuff is just so damn good. mmmm, mmmmm.

 

[yazamitaz]

Here is cobguy's thread on DS
Ode to Dark Star
Here is my comment on the McC Personal Reserve Blends:

I am sure you guys are sick of this story but I think all of the McC Personal Reserve tobaccos need to be opened and sit in the tin for no less than six moths. I bought a tin of SJW because Samcoffeeman, who is a member of my pipe club, swears by it. I cracked the tin and tried to smoke it....fail. A few weeks later I rubbed some out and let it sit for an hour....fail. He then told me he rubs out the whole tin when he pops it and let's it sit. I lost my patience and pushed it to the back of the cellar. About 7 months later when I was all caught up in my flake acquisition I saw it in the back. I figured what the hell. I rubbed out a bowls worth ams let it sit for 30 min. I fired it up...... HEAVEN. For whatever reason it just needs to be popped and ignored for a while. I bought 4 tins in May, popped one, rubbed out about 5 bowls worth and put it back in, and plan on smoking some in November.
Just my .02 but it worked for me.

 

[fluffie666]

I found the Ode To DS thread last night. Any tobacco that can serve as that kind of inspiration is definitely one that I want to tinker around with to get it perfect. What you said yaz, about aging it for at least six months is exactly the advice I needed. As we know, va's are always better with some age. So as I said, I broke open the tin and threw it in the closet. I'll shake it around every few days for a while and then transfer it to a glass jar. ( Thank you peteguy. Good name. My name is also Pete.) Now what I want to do is leave it in the jar for at least a half a year and then try to get it to as close to a ribbon cut as I can. I like a ribbon cut va. Does anyone think this is possible? Cobguy suggested rubbing some out very fine to use as kindling which is an excellent idea but I have my heart set on getting the whole tin as close as I possibly can to a ribbon cut.

 

[andystewart]

Grab a couple of flakes and nuke them. Works every time. If you want fine cut, then you can go with the coffee grinder, or go online and buy a tobacco shredder from ebay or one of the many sites that service our weed-smoking friends.
Andy

 

[troutface]

Follow these steps precisely:
1. Open tin of Dark Star

2. Proceed to kitchen

3. Dump contents in trash

4. Go back to your tobacco cellar

5. Open tin of Blackwoods Flake

6. Load pipe and enjoy

:rofl:

 

[fluffie666]

Ah, "tobacco" grinder. My old lady has one of those. I'll have to clean it out pretty well before I use it lol. I'm surprised I didn't think of that one. Thanks buddy!

 

[fluffie666]

I was lucky enough to hear from peteguy on this thread. He seems to be a seasoned DS smoker with his own tried & true method of preparation. He sent me about an ounce out of one of his jars he has from 1997... 17 year old Dark Star! Holy Mother! He sent it to me as a sample to help me figure out how I want to go about preparing my fresh tin that I have aging in the closet. First of all, I am truly grateful and humbled by your kindness! Many thanks peteguy! You and the few people I've had the pleasure of going back & forth with on the forums, the little bit of tobacco I've traded and have been gifted with reaffirmed my faith in the kindness and decency of humanity (at least in the humanity of us pipe smokers. The rest still seem to be quite fu*ked). I told peteguy of all the tobaccos I have to trade but all he asked in return was that I throw a little review of this fine 17 year old leaf. So peteguy, I offer you my ceaseless gratitude for your extremely kind gesture. You've given me enough tobacco to toy around with so I can find the correct pipe for it. I will certainly put up a few words on the old DS as requested. Thanks buddy!

To keep myself in the loop of kindness and generosity, the Spirits tell me that I must offer a bowl or two of this fine stuff to the first person who wants to try it and sends me a pm with their address. Gotta keep the kindness flowing freely.
Thank you!
~The Fluffie Devil~

 

[fluffie666]

Sample has been spoken for. Thanx for playing.

 

[doctorthoss]

I'm with Troutface on this one. Buy some Blackwoods Flake and, you know, smoke it. It tastes mostly the same as Dark Star, at least as far as I can tell. After all, I've never successfully smoked a bowl of Dark Star, no matter how I prepped it (and I tried three different tins over a multiyear period). The stuff isn't pipe tobacco so much as it's a flame retardant stuffing for furniture and kiddy toys. Blackwoods, on the other hand, is the best VA produced by McClelland, I think, and relatively easy to combust. They are both part of the Personal Reserve Series, which is chockfull of incredible products. Dark Star notwithstanding, of course.

 

[yazamitaz]

What a lucky guy am I.....
I'm really looking forward to this fluffie. I guess I should also be thanking peteguy for starting this awesome madness

 

[peteguy]

Very cool - enjoy yaz!!

 

[drrock]

I like Dark Star but find it too non-user friendly.

As for Blackwoods Flake - don't tell everybody!!!!!