The Strongest Blend You’ve Tried

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coys

Can't Leave
Feb 15, 2022
336
780
Missouri
Sixpence fills that for me. I can’t comment on nicotine since everyone is different but I think it’s a rich, nuanced blend when I want something like that.
Thanks! I’m not interested in nicotine content, just a good solid flavor.

(This has sent me to tobacco reviews, where “strength” and “flavor” (or taste?) seem to be different quantities. I wonder what the difference is in the minds of most?)
 
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coys

Can't Leave
Feb 15, 2022
336
780
Missouri
C&D Burley Flake #3. (I haven't tried the other ones but I think they're all pretty hefty). First time I smoked that my whole head started buzzing. C&D Big 'n' Burley. Has a little Latakia and Orientals in it offering some subtle complexity. One of my desert island blends. A lot of the GH&Co. blends are good and strong, especially any of the brown ropes, Brown Twist, Dark Birdseye, Kendal Kentucky. Coniston Cut Plug is also one of my favourites. It's in the same ballpark as 1792; a little perfumy with tonquin bean extract (which has coumarin, giving it a flavour a bit reminiscent of vanilla). Dark Flake is maybe the strongest tobacco available. On that, I agree with @wolflarson, but Old Dark Fired is pretty mild to medium if you ask me. All GH&Co. blends should be dried for a week then blasted in the microwave for 5 minutes on high before smoking. ;) Especially the ropes. Five Brothers! Semois! No need to dry them!
Thanks!

Greetings by the way, I spend some time in Winnipeg as my better half is from there. Always enjoy a visit. (Prefer the summer, but…)
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I went through a strong blend phase at one point, and I still enjoy C&D Big'n'Burley and Bayou Night, among others. By strong, I think most people mean high in nicotine. One of the sturdier blends I've had was the Indonesian air dried burley Tombolaka which was sold for a while by Cup'O'Joes, I think it was.

I still crave a full-bodied blend from time to time, but I also enjoy many mild to medium blends. It's the flavors of the strong blends rather than the nicotine hit that I enjoy. When I lay off smoking for a few days or a week because of busyness or health, I don't crave the nicotine at all. It's more the ritual and flavors, and the time out that I like.
 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
The strongest blends in my cellar are Peterson Irish Flake and Mac Baren Old Dark Fire. I smoke for flavor, not for strength. Years ago I tried SG No.4 Brown rope and XX Black rope. It was like smoking a barbecue meal and I didn't care for them. It wasn't the nicotine as I was still smoking a few cigs a day, the flavors just didn't work for me.
 

vosBghos

Lifer
May 7, 2022
1,523
3,361
Idaho
I j
Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake was that tobacco for me. Strong in tin aroma (I thought something had gone wrong before tinning), strong in taste, strong in nicotine, and strong in ghosting the Virginia-dedicated pipes I had foolishly entrusted to it.

Have heard tell that dark flake unscented is basically 1792 without the Tonquin , I like them both , and the unscented won’t ghost cepting a bit of the ol essence. I smoke all my straight Gawith‘s in the same pipe but the topped ones get their own
 

coys

Can't Leave
Feb 15, 2022
336
780
Missouri
I went through a strong blend phase at one point, and I still enjoy C&D Big'n'Burley and Bayou Night, among others. By strong, I think most people mean high in nicotine. One of the sturdier blends I've had was the Indonesian air dried burley Tombolaka which was sold for a while by Cup'O'Joes, I think it was.

I still crave a full-bodied blend from time to time, but I also enjoy many mild to medium blends. It's the flavors of the strong blends rather than the nicotine hit that I enjoy. When I lay off smoking for a few days or a week because of busyness or health, I don't crave the nicotine at all. It's more the ritual and flavors, and the time out that I like.
Thanks - you’re like me, wanting a very full flavor, with medium or low nicotine being ideal. I wish I could edit the thread title!
 
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vosBghos

Lifer
May 7, 2022
1,523
3,361
Idaho
Thanks - you’re like me, wanting a very full flavor, with medium or low nicotine being ideal
There are some really good flavorful dark fired Burley/Va flakes out there they burn slow and even so if you are worried about too much Nic just half a third or a quarter of a flake at a time. For robust flavor Mac Barren HH Old Dark Fired or a bit more tangy Bold Dark Fired another one a strong flavor I can’t really describe other than I love it is Peterson Irish Flake and also already mentioned but in a shag form 5 bros. These all have a strong flavor and as mentioned the 5 bros can add some depth to any blend enjoy
 

makhorkasmoker

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 17, 2021
564
1,354
Central Florida
Thanks! I’m not interested in nicotine content, just a good solid flavor.

(This has sent me to tobacco reviews, where “strength” and “flavor” (or taste?) seem to be different quantities. I wonder what the difference is in the minds of most?)
As far as strong flavors, anything with Latakia. A little goes a long way for me. Cigar leaf also can add strong flavor for me. I usually smoke dark burley blends. These are flavorful—and have much more nicotine— but positively subtle , flavor wise, compared to many Latakia heavy blends . I have enjoyed heavy flavor blends like nightcap and billy bud, but I smoke them rarely
 

tmcg81

Part of the Furniture Now
May 8, 2020
897
13,751
NJ
The first time I tried Star of the East Flake, I was convinced that I was smelling straight up BBQ in the tin. It didn't necessarily translate to the smoke, but to me, it's a very full flavored blend.
 

Architeuthis

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 17, 2021
248
1,058
Big, bold, hearty flavors, huh. I'd go with MacBaren Bold Kentucky, Samuel Gawith 1792, Peterson Irish Flake, Rattray's Stirling Flake, Arango Balkan Supreme, and GL Pease Jackknife Plug.
 

Architeuthis

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 17, 2021
248
1,058
GH Dark Flake kicked my ass a few times too many.
My palms start sweating at the very mention of it...

I finally did figure out how to smoke it, but for me straight was WAY too strong. Its quite good as a way to beef up milder codger burleys when added at around 25-30% of the mix.
 
Aug 11, 2022
2,226
17,512
Cedar Rapids, IA
Thanks - you’re like me, wanting a very full flavor, with medium or low nicotine being ideal. I wish I could edit the thread title!

Do you retrohale when smoking? I didn't know about it during my first phase of pipe smoking, and felt jealous of all the flavors other people were experiencing. It also led me to chase the stronger-flavored tobaccos, hence my trial of 1792 Flake (which, if it wasn't clear, I didn't like and am not personally recommending.) Once could go so far as to say I "wasted" a lot of fine tobaccos, not experiencing them fully.

Now that I work in some retrohaling (not every puff, but now and then), the flavors in nearly every baccy I smoke are bursting out at me, and my enjoyment has gone through the roof. 👍
 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
The most flavor punch + nic strength I've found:

G&H Brown Bogie sliced really thin---meaning after fluffing it looks like cigarette tobacco---that's then dried for a good while. Six, eight, or ten hours depending on ambient heat and humidity.

Not crumbly-breaky dry, but distinctly closer to it than regular tobacco. Why? because it's been treated somehow (oiled?) and doesn't burn worth a damn or taste like much UNLESS it's been dried to that point. And cut really thin. It's a combinatorial thing, apparently.

Smoke in a tall, narrow-chambered pipe.

Just dayum... :col:

It's the ristretto of the PipeWorld.