The Mad Tobacconist

[cmdrmcbragg]

Ok, so the title is a bit misleading. What I have done isn't really mad, or daft ... or even extraordinary. Like others before me, I found myself with some tobacco that I just wasn't sure what to do with.
I could not be the only pipe smoker who had some blends in my cabinet that just were not getting the right kind of attention. Now, I don't fault the blends for being what they are. They can't mix themselves. They are designed to be what they come as in the jars at the B&M or in the zip bags from P&C.
So here is where I went just mad. I combined blends.
I know, it isn't crazy. If you have some stuff on hand that isn't so great, why not combine it? Maybe, just maybe, it could become something better.
I don't care for the fruity blends. If I want to smoke strawberry, cherry or mango banana, I'll find a hookah bar. Tewksbury & Co. is near my school's campus so I stopped in for some Hobbit's Weed. Figuring I would give it a try based on its reputation, especially as a local shop with international renown. Point is, I didn't like it. I also got another blend, Strawberry Fields, it was half off. I didn't like this either.

How could I make use of these blends I didn't care for? My crazy solution was to see if some Carter Hall would help take the edge off the two. More evenly distribute the strong taste of Hobbit's Weed cherry and Strawberry Fields, well, strawberrys. I combined 6 oz in a jar; 2 oz each of Hobbit's, Strawberry and CH.
The Mad Tobacconist took some odds and ends to create a monster. He gave life back to the lifeless. He reanimated three blends as one. This may be a fruity monster, but it is my creation. I can give it life and if need be, take it away. Possibly donate it to the pipesmagazine ministry of science for further study.
Has anyone else given this a go? Care to share your successes and failures?

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

By the way, this blend ended up being three parts Virginia, two parts burley and one part perique. With cherry, strawberry and vanilla flavoring.

 

[pstlpkr]

I was have committed for that type of insanity myself. :wink:

A not so strange cousin of mixing of blends is my bottom of the jar - jar.

I also sometimes add a plug of dottle to it give it a bit of an edge.
I love the Frankenstein jar...

 

[shayde]

I plan on doing this with all the blends I taste/cellar an still dont like.

 

[vigil]

A couple times a year I'll end up with some odds and ends. They all end up in the leftovers jar. Once that jar is about half full I'll try a half bowl. Sometimes its good the way it is. Sometimes all I'll do is add a little Aero and call it good.
And sometimes it requires drastic action... But, I never waste anything.

 

[jservant98]

Very cool cmdrmcbragg! That's exactly what I do with blends I don't like, I blend em'. It usually works out pretty well!

 

[petes03]

Carter Hall works wonders! I mix it with H&H Mt. Marcy for a nice mild English.

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

I did the same thing with a pouch of Captain Black Dark and a pouch of Erin Go Bragh Irish Whiskey. The Irish Whiskey I liked, but just wasn't smoking very often. The CBD was just too much cavendish. I had never smoked straight cavendish so I learned my lesson: cavendish is for blending. I think that blend will turn out very well.

 

[metarzan]

BOTR has its time and place... Hey McBragg, next time in Tewkbury sample the Nosferatu.

 

[stbruno70]

We have all done this.
Of course, if you should by happenstance create a masterpiece, you will never be able to reproduce it.

 

[lifeon2]

I actually do that fairly regularly If the mix comes out to weird I just add PA until its smokable it lives in my garage and is a pretty frequent smoke.