Smoking some real old codger tobacco
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I smoked a bowl last night and it was pleasant. From what I've read, it was supposed to have a molasses flavoring and while it has a sweet, almost caramel scent (to my nose), I didn't think molasses. The tin had a good seal and the tobacco was still soft and supple as opposed to being crispy and brittle. It wasn't close to being dried out but it doesn't require any drying time either.
I packed some into a Missouri Meerschaum Diplomat cob, lit it with two matches and smoked it till it was just ash.
Was it spectacular? No. It did almost remind me of Prince Albert. But it was different at the same time. There was a sweetness to it, but mostly I tasted the tobacco.
I also expected it to bite, but it didn't bite or burn my tongue.
It was raining so I was sitting in the small covered porch by the front door. One of my daughters came out and I asked if she smelled it. She said it smelled good (translation: It doesn't stink like cigarette smoke.
I packed some into a Missouri Meerschaum Diplomat cob, lit it with two matches and smoked it till it was just ash.
Was it spectacular? No. It did almost remind me of Prince Albert. But it was different at the same time. There was a sweetness to it, but mostly I tasted the tobacco.
I also expected it to bite, but it didn't bite or burn my tongue.
It was raining so I was sitting in the small covered porch by the front door. One of my daughters came out and I asked if she smelled it. She said it smelled good (translation: It doesn't stink like cigarette smoke.
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Burley and Virginia are natural companions and can be proportioned in a wide range of blends. I recently tried Sir Walter Raleigh Aro, which is burley based with Virginia as a condiment and several liqueurs as flavoring, a surprisingly pleasing OTC codger blend available in a pouch or tub.
Glad you are enjoying that old George Washington, pappymac, and thank's for the purchase! You know, a lot of those old "Drugstore" lever top tins had exceptional artwork and that George Washington tin was superior. And the artwork on those G. Washington tins was always a little different, depending on the size of the tins. Also amazing to me is how the tobacco in those old lever tops seems to still be in great shape and in smoke ready condition - even tins from the 50's on through the 70's. They seem to seal as well or better than anything made today. Go figure...
And it's by R.J. Reynolds in Winston-Salem, N.C. That used to be the major tobacco and cigarette manufacturing/processing city in N.C., along with Durham. I think both cities may be entirely without cigarette plants today. Reynolds kept losing jobs and capacity over decades, and finally closed out and diversified into food and other products. I've been in N.C. since 1972, but somehow never got myself to a public tobacco auction, of which there were many. It was the big cash-in for tobacco farmers and a sort of harvest fair festival. The auctioneers were artists of a sort. Today I think most leaf is grown under contract. It's much reduced from the past, but still a big crop in the state. The old tobacco auction warehouses are strewn across rural counties and are sometimes used for flea markets.
An odd footnote: Winston-Salem is the home of a well-regarded Wake Forest University, so-named because it originated in a little town north of Raleigh by that name, Wake Forest. Today that campus is the home of the Southeastern Seminary, founded by the Baptists.
I trained as a Veterans Administration on-campus representative at the regional office in Winston-Salem, and worked with them for about four years on campuses in the Raleigh area.
An odd footnote: Winston-Salem is the home of a well-regarded Wake Forest University, so-named because it originated in a little town north of Raleigh by that name, Wake Forest. Today that campus is the home of the Southeastern Seminary, founded by the Baptists.
I trained as a Veterans Administration on-campus representative at the regional office in Winston-Salem, and worked with them for about four years on campuses in the Raleigh area.
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