Semois ... Done Right

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cobguy

Lifer
Oct 18, 2013
3,742
15
This last week, I spent some quality time with Jitterbugdude's home-grown Semois. The smell of the leaf was spot-on, the cut was perfect and the flavor was amazing. The only way I would have guessed that this was not from Tabac Manil was that this was ... better! The nutty / floral flavor was there in spades from charring light to finish. No rough edges and it smoked all the way down.
This was grown from the same seed that he provided me for my own crop this year. In about three more weeks, I'll be cutting and hanging my own plants. If my leaf turns out even close to being this good, I'll be one happy camper! Thanks JBD! :puffy:

 

mackeson

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 29, 2016
758
2
Still need to try that stuff. I like stronger tobaccos and some burleys. Sometimes burley just doesn't taste good to me, but when it does ---it sings. I think I'll order some next month

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
So much for the terroir theory, then -- if the tobacco tastes the same when grown in a different region, it is the genetics that give it the flavor.

 

bigpond

Lifer
Oct 14, 2014
2,019
13
The bizarre thing about Manil's Semois is that it seems universally paned in Belgium but it's all we have easy access to in the US.

 

cobguy

Lifer
Oct 18, 2013
3,742
15
So much for the terroir theory, then
I thought the same thing, DM. JBD is much further north than me, though, so we'll see how mine comes out.

Also, the way it was cured and kilned plays a large part.
Wow, I can't imagine it being any better than Tabac Manil's but I'll take your word for it.
Believe me ... I'm not easy on tobacco and wouldn't make a statement like that without being pretty amazed.

 
I am about to fill my pipe with some of jitter's leaf also. But, as to regional... Tobacco adapts very easily to different conditions. We don't know for sure how long it would take for it to adapt into another strain if planted and seeds were harvested year after year. I'm anxious to get my own reactions.

If it doesn't adapt, and year after year we get Semois just as it is grown in Belgium, then something else weird is going on.

 
May 4, 2015
3,210
16
So much for the terroir theory, then -- if the tobacco tastes the same when grown in a different region, it is the genetics that give it the flavor.
Or the soil happens to be coincidentally similar. Or a variety of other factors lined up to make that work. The terroir theory is pretty indisputable - to what DEGREE it matters will vary by situation, though, surely.

 

hawky454

Lifer
Feb 11, 2016
5,338
10,220
Austin, TX
Well Jitteebug was nice enough to PM for my address to send out a sample my way. I'll report back here when I sample it.
Thanks Jitterbug!

 
Ot is dead on semois, side by side, smell by smell. Jitters is a tad less barnyardy. Color, smell, even the cut is exactly like the Vincent Manil, except that it hasn't been compressed into a brick, and then crammed into a jar, ha ha. Excellent. How did you get the cut?

Have you visited the semois farmers in Belgium?
What I love most about Semoise is that you can cram and cram and cram the micro-thin leaves into a pipe, and the more yoi can cram, the smoother it smokes. And, it hits my palate in the same way a strong cigar does. Not a really exactly like a cigar, but similar. The smoke also hangs heavy in the air, dense, bit not as oily.

2C0A370D-9921-4B4D-A165-B035C926984C_zpsoihlimg8.jpg

Bravo Jitterbug. You're a class A semois farmer. I love this stuff. I'd like six pounds for my cellar! Chop chop, ha ha!

 

jitterbugdude

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 25, 2014
993
8
How did you get the cut?

I had a custom made shredder built that shreds 1.6mm. OK.. I actually have 2 of them.
Have you visited the semois farmers in Belgium

No but I've always wanted to play one on TV
I'd like six pounds for my cellar!
I have seeds. You are more than welcome to some. Next year I'm going to grow 25 plants instead of the 6 I grew this year. I also have some Semois-Burley seeds that I will grow next year too.
 

jitterbugdude

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 25, 2014
993
8
Is that just the natural aroma of the plant
Just planted the seeds and harvested like I would any other tobacco plant. They did seem to cure much quicker though than most air dried tobacco.

 

jitterbugdude

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 25, 2014
993
8
I contacted the guy that sells these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/331667768268?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
and had him make me one with a 1.6mm cut. I liked it so much (very high quality) that I ordered a second one. If you contact him his name is Lucas.
If you don't mind a .8mm cut you can get a pretty good one from Whole Leaf Tobacco: http://wholeleaftobacco.com/Heavy-Duty-Manual-Shredder-HDshrddr.htm
I use mine manually most of the time. It's rather relaxing hand shredding but when I want to do a pound or more at a time I just hook a drill up and shred with fury..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs3Jg5_APHk
Also made this for more serious shredding. I bought the head from Lucas and cobbled everything else together. I've since disassembled it and am in the process of putting a gear drive on it. It is a .8mm cut
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsEWumwGFXQ

 
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