The First Pax Virtual Tobacco Crawl - Virginia Burleys

[stosho]

I have smoked two bowls since my first post. The second was in my Ropp Cherry wood. Keep in mind I am still pretty new to smoking the pipe. This was the smoke of 1000 lights. I got very little pleasure from the experience. Clearly me, not the tobacco.
Tonight I smoke from a small meer I picked up a year ago. It was clearly a much more pleasant experience. I can't describe the details as well as other more discerning folks have but I do note the coolness of the smoke in each of the three pipes. It is a smooth smoke with nothing startling or overwhelming for someone early on in the pipe world. Perhaps it is the time of year but clearly it makes me think of the upcoming grouse season. I imagine this would smoke well over a nice shotgun and my bird dog after an early hunt.

 

[smokeybear]

I imagine this would smoke well over a nice shotgun and my bird dog after an early hunt.

Very true i didnt realize that until you mentioned it i can totally smoke this blend on a nice cool evening in the woods after a hunt.

 

[ruger414]

I had a bad time with the ODF tonight. After being relatively successful with cube cuts in a briar yesterday, I decided to mix it up by fold and stuffing in a cob today. Needless to say, it must have been packed to tight because it would not stay lit and started to taste very sour about halfway through the bowl. Tomorrow I plan on rubbing it out and trying it in a smaller cob. Wish me luck!

 

[settersbrace]

For those having issues with keeping the fire going, may I suggest fully rubbing this tobacco out. It has an unusual texture in that it's stringy and comes apart in strands. I find it smokes very well when rubbed out and a tad bit on the dry side. All that and tons of flavor has been what's working in my pipes. It also does not like to be packed too tightly I've found.
To the comment on smoking ODF on or after an upland bird hunt, my sentiments exactly and my annual Oct. trip west to N. Dakota this year will find me packing copious amounts of the stuff along with 3-4 large cobs to accompany me and the pointers out on the prairie. A perfect match IMO.

 

[thesmokingtexan]

I agree with thus being a good blend for a hunt. Like I said in my initial review it reminded me of being in the woods in the fall but I did not put it together and would have completely missed the connection to a good hunt. For that I thank y'all. Next dove season while I am sitting out aiming at birds and missing at least I will not be frustrated cause I'll have this great blend with me.

 

[brass]

I smoked a half bowl last night and then re-lit it on the way to work this morning. ODF is many things but maybe not the best to use for DGT. Tasted like an old cigarette ash tray, had nicotine laced juices that were just nasty. Tried a fresh bowl, smoked half, and re-lit this afternoon when I went to the Potomac to chase some small mouth bass. Same nasty taste.
I did use the same pipe for 24 hours, so may try DGT (delayed gratification technique) sometimes in future.
But it is still a winner for me.

 

[pruss]

ODF is many things but maybe not the best to use for DGT. Tasted like an old cigarette ash tray, had nicotine laced juices that were just nasty. Tried a fresh bowl, smoked half, and re-lit this afternoon when I went to the Potomac to chase some small mouth bass. Same nasty taste.

I'm with you. This is the first tobacco, in a very long line of tobaccos, in which I find the dottle unpalatable. I just can't smoke it. It is resinous, rubbery, sour, ashy and unpleasant. Which is fine, because I can stop smoking and dump it when the flavour turns burnt black walnut bitter.
Contrary to the main view, I've been packing this tobacco as tightly as I do all my flakes. Which is to say that I generally cube cut, pack the first third super tightly, the second third very tightly and the top third tightly. I leave about 1/8th of an inch at the top of the bowl for expansion and start with a draw which is similar to drinking a milkshake through a straw. I do use a charring light, and a true light. But after true light I rarely need to re-light unless I am taking too long between sips or put the pipe down for a conversation. A good tamper and occasional fiddling has all that I've needed to smoke ODF through the top 2/3 leaving a grey/white ash layer above my ember bed. As mentioned above I knock out and dump when I get through the top 2/3 of the bowl.
$0.05 in the bucket.
-- Pat

 

[brass]

To be semi-scientific, I tried another half smoked bowl this morning, using another pipe. I can now say for sure that that the bad taste after a DGT bowl wasn't related to a particular pipe. It will be interesting going forward to see if the nasty DGT is related to this specific blend or is generic to VaBurs.
Regarding relights, I've had no problems with the burn at all, when I rub it out. If I don't count relighting when it gets to the dottle, I can burn a whole bowl without relights.
When I fold and stuff, it has, at times, taken several charring lights to get it going, but once lit it stays lit for me. I'm tolerant of relights anyhow, so I'm not bothered by the occasional need to touch up with the soft torch.

 

[lincolnsbark]

So tomorrow (Thursday) marks the official end of the first week. I was thinking it might be fun to do an unofficial rating out of ten each week that we can average together across all of our palates. If everyone who has participated wants to send me there rating out of 10 in a pm (include a brief explanation if you would like on what your average means to you) then I will average the ratings out and put them together. Feel free to post your rating in the thread as well but if it is in the pm then it will definitely be part of the rating average.
Obviously ratings are incredibly subjective and a 7 to some people may be the best blend they've smoked and others will think a 7 means shit, but I just thought this might be a fun way to try conclude the weeks.
My thoughts for a loose guideline are loosely: 0-3= this blend sucks, 4-6= I enjoyed this blend but probably won't smoke it again, 7-8= I really enjoyed this blend and will likely buy it again, 9-10=I love this blend and will probably cellar it and smoke it for the rest of my life.
If no one feels like doing this that is fine also just thought I'd throw the idea out there.

 

[brass]

Cool idea, LincolnsBark:
I'll start out assuming a perfect ten, then deduct points.
Flavor: Terrific flavor but not quiet an OMG! Flavor degrades a little in last third bowl. 9
Delayed Gratification Technique: Dottle is unsmokable, not a DGT. 4
Burning qualities Tough lighting when stuffed; no issues as all when rubbed out. 9
Cost Value for dollar: Good value, not a steal like Orlik Golden sliced 9
Room Notes Wife didn't complain but no compliments 9
Overall satisfaction: 9
My score mathematically should be 8.2 but I'm making it a 9.

 

[smokeybear]

I like this idea so here is mine:
My personal score sheet is out of 20 and this blend scored 15/20, Percentage wise thats 75% therefore 7.5/10 would be my score by the standards lincolnsbark provided.
My overview on this blend is as such. I don't like the tin note but i absolutely love the flavor of the smoke and the subtle sweetness that the Virginia provides throughout. I am awaiting a 1LB box of this flake to add to my cellar and plan on aging it to enjoy in the future.

 

[smokeybear]

May I suggest that we have a sticky made just for the PAX ratings of each blend we smoke. for example if members were to search the sticky they will be able to see and average rating of the blend. or would that be too much work?

 

[brass]

I've confused the issue when I mention smoking dottle. When I use DGT, I mean letting a partially smoked bowl, say a half to a third left, rest for several hours or overnight. Many blends taste as good or better when they are finally relit. ODF tasted like crap in these circumstances. So, I shouldn't have used the term dottle. As matter of fact, there is almost no doattle left when I smoke a bowl of ODF. I burn it down to the ash.
I'm struggling with the scores. At first I was thinking maybe changing to 8 but on the other hand, from a birds-eye view, I think ODF was better than 90% of those I've tried - although I try mostly very well regarded blends. So, I'm sticking with 9. If I smoked a lot of drugstore stuff, I would likely bump it to 97 or 98.

 

[settersbrace]

I'll give it a straight 8 across the board. ODF is a reliable, uncomplicated smoke that takes on the role of utility player for me. There are times when I absolutely crave it.

 

[mrenglish]

I would give it a 9. Its in my top five smokes and I have about eleven pounds stashed away. I have not any issues with DGT but have found if smoked to quickly it can get sour. This usually happens if I am in my truck with the air going and not paying attention.
I have also noticed that some air time helps this blend considerably. When I first got a hold of it, I was like meh, no bad but not great either. After a few bowls I put it up and revisited it about a month later and was shocked at the difference. Much smoother, better tasting, deeper flavor profiles. That is when I was hooked.

 

[thesmokingtexan]

I'll give a 10 this wil definitely be a blend that I always have on hand and it is hands down the best I have ever had. Now keep in mind that I have only tried no more than 10 different blends in my youth as a pipe smoker.

 

[ruger414]

I'm going to give it a 7. The unpalatable second half of the smoke is enough for me to call it quits. I really enjoy the first half of the bowl, but it's all down-hill from there in my opinion.

 

[brass]

Friday August 8, Week 2 of the First Pax Tobacco Crawl
Featured Tobacco: 3 Nuns
Nominated by Brass aka Pax. CmdrMcbragg seconded. In fairness, I added Cmdrbcbrag to the December team. If anyone abandons their place in the selection ques, the Commander gets first dibs. The reason is I had mistakenly thought he was the one who nominated 3 Nuns, when it was yours truly who picked it - The Cmdr just concurred. I offer apologies for any confusion caused.
________________________________
About 3 NUNS From http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/search?Blend=Three+Nuns
A blend of dark fired and sun cured tobaccos mixed with the finest Brazilian Lights to produce the unique flavor and mellow smoking characteristics for which Three Nuns is famous.
Notes: The Three Nuns coin tobacco was originally a creation of J & F Bell, dating back to the 19th century. A favorite of British authors (and friends) C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien.
In the formula from Imperial Tobacco, Three Nuns was a VaPr mixture.
Pipe Tobacco Hall of Fame Inductee
Brand Bell's

Blended By Mac Baren

Blend Type Virginia/Burley

Contents Kentucky, Virginia

Flavoring None

Cut Curly Cut

Packaging 50 or 100g Tin

Country DK

Production Re-release

Where to Buy PipesAndCigars
_________________________________________
Anyone can join the tobacco crawl at anytime and smoke as few or as many blends as they like. Anyone can join the conversation at anytime, as long as they've smoked the blend.
However, declaring your membership, as you have, gives you an official voice in the blend selection and theme planning. But don't wait to participate. Join us this week and smoke some 3 Nuns.
Procure your selections from your favorite vendor, your cellar, or swap samples with fellow tobacco crawlers. PM CmdrMcBragg, our TinMaster for sharing assistance.
August Selection Team

Theme: Virginia Burleys

misterlowercase (Chose Old Dark Fire)

Pax - Chose 3 Nuns (Cmdrmcbragg (Gets a selection next up or if anyone defaults)

thesmokingtexan (Deferred Selection)

lincolnsbark (Jacknife plug)

catyrpelius (Peterson Perfect Plug)
September Selection Team

Theme: Tobacco 101 - A tour of the Major Blend Styles

puffdoggie (Chooses McClelland's Deep Hollow for the Straight Virginian)

smokeybear (Picks G.L. Pease's Barbary Coast for the Burley)

rsuninv (Will choose a VaPer)

TwoOneFive (C&D Epiphany English blend)
October Selection Team

Theme?

Settersbrace

Sallow

Darwin

eightywon
You guys want to start thinking about your theme? Do we want to continue surveying the major blend types or start a month focusing on one style?. We could do an aromatic, cigar leaf based, American, Oriental, straight burley, etc Or do a month on the top VaPers or Navy Flakes, or Aromatics.
Please keep in mind that no matter what we choose will not be everyone's top choice but sooner or later, you will get to pick a blend. And to me, part of the intrigue, is smoking blends I normally would NOT choose. ODF is a perfect example. ODF wasn't even in my sights, much less my wish list. I'm very glad that mrlowercase bought this fine blend to our attention for August.
November Selection Team

Theme:?

Stosho

Ruger414

Dread

SailorJeremy
December Selection Team

Theme:?

Pruss

Mike73

mrEnglish

Cmdrmcbragg

 

[lincolnsbark]

My ODF report, I know its a bit late but I couldn't get to my stash for a while being out of town and all, is a bit underwhelming to be honest. I have really liked the darker, earthier, leathery tobaccos and I expected this to be on the same notch. Lately I have also been getting walloped by nicotine in some blends so I was almost hesitant with this blend at times but never really had any problems. I just never quite got the flavor I was expecting from this blend's name and hype. It is a really nicely put together flake, which I can appreciate, and I love the tin note. I let it get pretty dry for about 20-30 minutes and packed it rubbed out so the smoke was very creamy and full, but the flavor never followed through. Almost everything about this blend was fantastic except the flavor wasn't where I expected it to be. I am a bit disappointed to be honest and will give it a 6, but only because I will probably never buy it again based on my own flavor profile (like all tobaccos I reserve the right to change my mind after I smoke it again in a month or two!).
On further note, I am very excited to start 3Nuns tomorrow. Even if its not the same stuff exactly I can't wait to smoke the same blend as Tolkien and Lewis.

 

[brass]

I'm on my second bowl of Bells Three Nuns. It is pleasant enough and it is a lighter smoke in contrast to ODF, our first blend. It seems to burn a little hotter, and the Kentucky isn't as pronounced. I'm going to smoke a few bowls before going into any more detail.
On another subject, I'm a little confused about the genealogy of the tin I'm smoking. Am I to understand that this is now a Mac Barren product. SmokingPipes has a history online in which they credit Imperial Tobacco as the original distributor, which apparently handed the reins over to Mac Barren. But is the recipe the same as the original or has it "evolved"? I've read it no longer has perique....