Sutliff's 515 RC-1 has Way too Much Vinegar... Any Way to Remove It?

[anotherbob]

mix it with some dark fire and get a bbq flavor. And a little burly but make sure the dark fire is the other star. It will be weird but you'll probably end up being one of those weirdos that only smokes your home blend.

 

[ScienceSmoker]

I like it, especially in the summer in a cob. Everyone's taste is different.

The normal 515 RC-1 seems good, yes. My bag wasn't regular 515 RC-1 though.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The normal 515 RC-1 seems good, yes. My bag wasn't regular 515 RC-1 though.

It seems like a lot of people didn't get "normal" 515 RC-1.
(I hate numbers for names. Can't we just call this Faux Cake?)

 

[Worknman]

So its a vinegar flavored aromatic? Interesting, I guess...

 

[Swiss Army Knife]

I have no idea what alchemical wizzardry the McNiel's used to achieve that ketchup aroma, I'm guessing it did include vinegar but requires more time and effort than Sutliff is willing to put in to get it. I know it's only four years old at this point but has anyone just locked up some 515 in the cellar and come back to it yet? Wondering if marinating in that vinegar sauce for long enough mellows it out to ketchup levels instead of the carolina BBQ sauce monster it is fresh out of the bag.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have no idea what alchemical wizzardry the McNiel's used to achieve that ketchup aroma, I'm guessing it did include vinegar but requires more time and effort than Sutliff is willing to put in to get it. I know it's only four years old at this point but has anyone just locked up some 515 in the cellar and come back to it yet? Wondering if marinating in that vinegar sauce for long enough mellows it out to ketchup levels instead of the carolina BBQ sauce monster it is fresh out of the bag.

According to what we've gleaned from the McNiel's Interviews and Greg Pease's observations, vinegar was never used in McClelland's blends. However, Using bacteria, there are ways in which sugars are fermented directly into acetic acids using the leaf as the source of sugars.
I've posted this exhaustedly over and over, ha ha. But, Sutliff's attempts in adding distilled vinegar to the leaf is like Boone's Farm adding distilled spirits to grape juice and calling it wine, as opposed to McClelland's fermenting the leaf directly into a vintage wine.

I mean, I don't understand why so many can't discern the differences between the these. Arethere people who can't tell the differences between Boone's Farm or MD20/20 and a fine wine?:

Distilled vinegar has a whole different taste and smell than anything McClelland's has ever produced. If someone finds the sutliff stuff palatable... fine. But, it is nothing like McClallands at all.

 

[ScienceSmoker]

According to what we've gleaned from the McNiel's Interviews and Greg Pease's observations, vinegar was never used in McClelland's blends. However, Using bacteria, there are ways in which sugars are fermented directly into acetic acids using the leaf as the source of sugars.
I've posted this exhaustedly over and over, ha ha. But, Sutliff's attempts in adding distilled vinegar to the leaf is like Boone's Farm adding distilled spirits to grape juice and calling it wine, as opposed to McClelland's fermenting the leaf directly into a vintage wine.

I mean, I don't understand why so many can't discern the differences between the these. Arethere people who can't tell the differences between Boone's Farm or MD20/20 and a fine wine?:

Distilled vinegar has a whole different taste and smell than anything McClelland's has ever produced. If someone finds the sutliff stuff palatable... fine. But, it is nothing like McClallands at all.

 

[ScienceSmoker]

Well... I finally got it. I ordered MORE 515 RC-1 a few days ago, because so many people were sort of hinting that my super vinegar 515 was just the way normal 515 tastes. Well, the proof is in. I'm literally sniffing them side by side right now, and I can absolutely assure you, with 100% confidence, that there WAS something wrong with my first batch. That is, IF this second bag is to be considered "normal". The one I just got is pretty vinegar-y... but it's still smokable. It's not pleasant IMO, but it's not the LITERAL SMELLING SALTS that the first bag was. Even now, after 6 airing-out and re-hydrating sessions, my first batch is WAY more vinegary and intense than this second one.

My guess is that there is/was some issue with quality control, likely a "stirring" issue, where clumps of tobacco end up with far more topping than the rest. That's almost certainly what happened to my first batch.

 

[Swiss Army Knife]

According to what we've gleaned from the McNiel's Interviews and Greg Pease's observations, vinegar was never used in McClelland's blends. However, Using bacteria, there are ways in which sugars are fermented directly into acetic acids using the leaf as the source of sugars.
I've posted this exhaustedly over and over, ha ha. But, Sutliff's attempts in adding distilled vinegar to the leaf is like Boone's Farm adding distilled spirits to grape juice and calling it wine, as opposed to McClelland's fermenting the leaf directly into a vintage wine.

I mean, I don't understand why so many can't discern the differences between the these. Arethere people who can't tell the differences between Boone's Farm or MD20/20 and a fine wine?:

Distilled vinegar has a whole different taste and smell than anything McClelland's has ever produced. If someone finds the sutliff stuff palatable... fine. But, it is nothing like McClallands at all.

I had a feeling that was the case. As for the differences, I'm a greenhorn and obviously access to McClelland virginias is pretty hard to come by! So it's pretty hard to compare.

Thanks for this write up though. I know people post the same questions and lamentations about McClellands all the time so I do appreciate the info rather than just an angry all caps response lol.