Rescuing Mystery 'Baccy

[woodsroad]

I stopped in to a B&M today, a ways from home. It was a hole-in-the-wall that mostly caters to RYO and single cigar sales. They had a few nice pipes, but, oddly, they only had Mr. Brog (sans name) and some $300-$500 pipes that I had never heard of before. But they also had a long row of jars that held what they claimed to be various McBaren and Altadis blends. I picked on two McBaren English varieties and bought 2oz of each. When I got home, I checked the names (slightly different versions of Medium and Heavy English) and numbers and nothing quite matched up. Then I checked the contents. One was bone dry, the other just about right. One seemed to have some black leaves, but the Latakia aroma was faint. The other had a passable aroma, but also weak.
So, on a whim, and without the benefit of alcoholic beverages to spur me on, I mixed the bags together, added 2oz's each of Latakia and Izmir and liberally sprinkled Cognac over the whole thing. I dumped it into a gallon ziploc bag, inflated the bag and went at it like Shake N' Bake until everything was well mixed. There was some tobacco sticking to the inside of the bag, but it didn't all glom together, either. Next, I packed it into a one pint Ball jar and put it up on the shelf.
My fingers are all stained brown from packing it into the jar, and they smell fantastic.
I figure that I'll let it go for a couple of months, then spread it out to dry a bit and give it a try.
This could be the start of something beautiful.

 

[papipeguy]

It certainly has the key elements for something special. Let us know when you go for a test run.

 

[petes03]

Sounds like that experiment could pay off in spades! Looking forward to hearing how it turns out!

 

[woodsroad]

The next step is to do this with all quality ingredients. At best, this will make some work-a-day tobacco more palatable. The Latakia and Izmir that I have are both from P&C, really good stuff, so I'm thinking about a blend with those two and some McClelland 5100 Va Red Cake or H&H Anniversary Kake, plus the Cognac.

 

[mso489]

I hope it is the elixir of the gods for you. My misgivings would be that you don't know what is in the original two blends,

so you may end up with one or two more tobaccos than you would ordinarily choose to mix. I find my best mixes are with

fewer tobaccos. Even tinned professionally blended tobacco, when it boasts of having many different tobaccos, it usually

isn't as good. The best effects seem to arise from three or four tobaccos at the most. There are probably some notable

exceptions, but especially for amateurs like me, it's a good guide. On the other hand, if you prove me wrong, and it is a

truly enjoyable blend, you may not be able to replicate it. But that's the adventure. Your plan B with known ingredients

sounds way more promising. Now that I'd like to try.

 

[woodsroad]

Indeed, there are perils all around. i felt like I was very likely throwing good after bad, but, what is life without risk?
I'll mix up Plan B tonight.

 

[latbomber]

I've been thinking of doing some mix-experimenting with pure tins of tobacco for awhile, maybe I'll accelerate my development program...

 

[spartan]

I've seen a lot of tobacco with various spirit influences, but never Tequila.
I wish someone would give tequila the love it deserves.

 

[woodsroad]

I wish someone would give tequila the love it deserves

The spirit is calling you. Literally.