Tabac De La Semois?

[sjohnston0311]

Only semois I've had is Vincent Manil's La Brumeuse, which is thick cut pure semois. Very different. I like it quite a bit. The only reason I don't smoke it more often is because I'm afraid to run out.

 

[Mrs. Pickles]

Count me as one more devoted fan of the Vincent Manil Samois and yet another voice encouraging you to try it.

I can't speak to any other sources of Samois, though. Has anyone here smoked Samois not from Vincent Manil that they could comment on?

 

[ADKPiper]

Semois comes in many (six, I think) grades, all of which taste distinctly different.

The top stuff is quite good while being like nothing else on Earth, while the lower stuff is basically crap. Traditionally used as a cheap cigarette filler.

So. A photo of the package you're talking about would keep this thread going in a straight line early on.

 

[ADKPiper]

I am a burley lover. Probably worth a spin.

 

[NomadOrb]

I blend the medium cut with the finer cut, reserve du Patron. Makes it burn perfect.

I haven't tried the blue one yet, I'll add a brick to the next order.

 

[ADKPiper]

OK.
Smoking my first bowl full.
Definitely different.
I do like it,
Can't really find the word for the particular taste.
It almost tastes like what I imagine that it would taste like if you smoked tobacco with some Oolong tea mixed in.
OK I dig it.
I don't find it overly strong.
I smoke a lot of Burley.
I wouldn't say that it's stronger that Haunted Bookshop.
It's good. I get some of the typical burley flavor but something extra.
A spice taste.

 

[Mrs. Pickles]

OK.
Smoking my first bowl full.
Definitely different.
I do like it,
Can't really find the word for the particular taste.
It almost tastes like what I imagine that it would taste like if you smoked tobacco with some Oolong tea mixed in.
OK I dig it.
I don't find it overly strong.
I smoke a lot of Burley.
I wouldn't say that it's stronger that Haunted Bookshop.
It's good. I get some of the typical burley flavor but something extra.
A spice taste.

Digging that oolong comparison.

 

[Swiss Army Knife]

Manil's Semois has haunted my SmokingPipes shopping cart for at least a year. I love that it's such a small and unique operation but that $28 price tag has never made the checkout cut. Someday!

 

[NomadOrb]

Manil's Semois has haunted my SmokingPipes shopping cart for at least a year. I love that it's such a small and unique operation but that $28 price tag has never made the checkout cut. Someday!

If it's any consolation, you're not paying for any water weight with semois, all tobacco.

 

[ADKPiper]

Manil's Semois has haunted my SmokingPipes shopping cart for at least a year. I love that it's such a small and unique operation but that $28 price tag has never made the checkout cut. Someday!

Yeah I did the same thing.
Eventually bought it.
It is a pretty generous portion.
I filled 2 jars with it and since it is semi dry, it's a good amount of tobacco.

 

[ADKPiper]

Digging that oolong comparison.

Grasping for straws really.
There is a kind of a very slightly tart spicy background note.
That's about as close as I could think of.

 

[ADKPiper]

I don't know.
I smoked this for my first bowl of the day and my thought was "I could unwrap one of my wife's cigs and smoke it in my pipe and it wouldn't be very different".
It's OK. But right now it doesn't seem as interesting. Nothing objectionable. But nothing to write home about.

 

[hawky454]

It’s good stuff but I personally don’t reach for it often. I wish blenders would experiment a bit more with it. Added some to Old Joe Krantz (OJK) and it really worked well with that blend.

 

[simong]

I’ve tried a couple of semois blends. Didn’t do anything for me to be honest. Much prefer the shags from Gawith Hoggarth’s. Like Belgium itself, I found semois to be a little bit strange & rather pointless.

 

[mso489]

There was an article about Semois in The New York Times, a feature article, and I figured I'd never get a chance to try it, but I guess the article created a demand, so I was amazed when it showed up in the U.S. A member here sent me a sample, and wow, for a burley devotee it is amazing. Yes, packed dry as a bone, so you get all tobacco and no moisture, and it keeps well. If you enjoy it, it is highly nuanced, a harmony of flavors in a single leaf.

 

[anotherbob]

Manil's Semois has haunted my SmokingPipes shopping cart for at least a year. I love that it's such a small and unique operation but that $28 price tag has never made the checkout cut. Someday!

get it. For one the price tag isn't really that steep. Don't think of it in weight but as a solid brick of tobacco. It's a brick of densely packed perfectly dry tobacco. I brick of that with constant smoking lasted me a longer time then 28 bucks of any other tobacco would have.

 

[ADKPiper]

get it. For one the price tag isn't really that steep. Don't think of it in weight but as a solid brick of tobacco. It's a brick of densely packed perfectly dry tobacco. I brick of that with constant smoking lasted me a longer time then 28 bucks of any other tobacco would have.

Yes I did find that when I opened it and broke it up it was a lot of tobacco.

 

[anotherbob]

Yes I did find that when I opened it and broke it up it was a lot of tobacco.

I bought it because I thought I like experiencing new things even if they turn out to be something I don't want to repeat. But I thought man this is expensive stuff. And it lasted a long time even with giving a friend a jar of the stuff because I thought he had to try it since he just picked up a pipe but we've smoked a lot of cigars together.

 

[Brewfan]

I threw a brick in with my Folklore order. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Piping Abe]

I’m a fan of Semois. I just tried HH Rustica for the first time the other day. I would consider Rustica a degree below Semois in terms of flavor and strength.

But if I had to compare Semois to anything, it would be Rustica. Imagine Rustica amped up to 11.

Does anyone else have a similar experience with both blends?