Uncased Blends (C&D Highlight)

[NomadOrb]

Hi all, I forgot what thread it was in, but a couple of us were discussing unadulterated tobacco blends and C&D. I emailed them about it and Mr. Reeves replied. I thought I'd share what he had to say about C&D tobacco. I've replied with some follow up questions, mainly about if GLP is also uncased, I'll post back when I get a reply.

Are there other manufacturers that you know if that offer uncased blends? The only other I can think of is Tabac Manil.

Jeremy's response:

"Thanks for the email. No, there is no list of blends with no casing or flavoring, but the vast majority of our blends are uncased, but I would suggest the following list as good places to start: Virginia: Opening Night, Bayou Morning, Red Carpet, Sunday Picnic. Burley: Burley Flake #1-4, Haunted Bookshop, Pegasus, Oak Alley. Latakia: Star of the East, Joie de Vivre, Pirate Kake, Billy Budd. Again, this is not an exhaustive list of uncased blends we produce.

Hope that this helps!

Best,
Jeremy Reeves
Head Tobacco Blender
C&D"

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Virginia Flake in bulk is another one. I keep a jar open of that, almost all the time.

 

[vosBghos]

Crazy to think some of these blends are uncased and it's just the truly unique sourcing and blending, but as with Tobak Manil, that's just what it's tastes like out of the ground. The variety in flavor of uncased orientals is astonishing and some C&D/GL Pease blends really showcase this.

 

[NomadOrb]

Thought I would update from Jeremy. It sounds like anything C&D blends is also uncased, must be why GLP and the Savinelli blends they do are so good.

Jeremy Reeves,
"It is my pleasure to help! Here is a link to a video we produced a few years ago on the subject of casing vs. topping, that might be useful to you as well.

In general, the majority of all products we produce, accross brands, are uncased. I give some examples there of cased vs. uncased products to see how subtle the differences are."

The video:

 

[ThermionicScott]

^ I appreciate how transparent Jeremy Reeves is about everything. He does admit that some C&D-produced blends are cased and/or topped, and then goes ahead and rattles off a bunch. Sometimes, when he's doing an interview, I think "dang, was he supposed to reveal that?"

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have smoked Opening Night and Derringer back to back, since watching this video on IG, and I can taste how the sugar opens up some of the other flavors in the leaf. You get some slight fruity notes and a stewed note that are not present in the ON. It also has very slight hints of Vanilla, very slight. But, it is interesting to see how just some sugar can transform a blend. Derringer reminds me of a top quality codger blend.

 

[NomadOrb]

I

I have smoked Opening Night and Derringer back to back, since watching this video on IG, and I can taste how the sugar opens up some of the other flavors in the leaf. You get some slight fruity notes and a stewed note that are not present in the ON. It also has very slight hints of Vanilla, very slight. But, it is interesting to see how just some sugar can transform a blend. Derringer reminds me of a top quality codger blend.

I'm lining up the blends he mentioned to do the same. I already love Opening Night, so it should be a fun comparison.

^ I appreciate how transparent Jeremy Reeves is about everything. He does admit that some C&D-produced blends are cased and/or topped, and then goes ahead and rattles off a bunch. Sometimes, when he's doing an interview, I think "dang, was he supposed to reveal that?"

Cased isn't necessarily a bad thing in my opinion, it's just nice to have a big blending house like C&D offer so many uncased options.

We truly are living in the golden days of pipe tobacco.

 

[PennyStonks]

This is interesting. I’ve always been told casing is necessary to make tobacco smokable but I’ve never smoked raw whole leaf tobacco

 

[Piping Abe]

This is awesome information and thank you for sharing. I think we can say for sure that this is why a lot of folks do not like their blends and label them as ‘harsh’. Those people prefer to have their tobacco tamed down/cased, and that is fine.

But like me and many others, once you get hooked on these uncased blends, theres just no comparison.

 

[NomadOrb]

This is awesome information and thank you for sharing. I think we can say for sure that this is why a lot of folks do not like their blends and label them as ‘harsh’. Those people prefer to have their tobacco tamed down/cased, and that is fine.

But like me and many others, once you get hooked on these uncased blends, theres just no comparison.

I was one of those people once!

 

[KingcobraJFS]

Virginia Flake in bulk is another one. I keep a jar open of that, almost all the time.

You ever try fire curing your home grown Virginia?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

You ever try fire curing your home grown Virginia?

Yes, I just put 3oz of some in the Box Pass. Once you've been around and are in good standing... all of the requirements... you should join the Box Pass.

 

[NomadOrb]

@cosmicfolklore you just convinced me.

 

[KingcobraJFS]

Yes, I just put 3oz of some in the Box Pass. Once you've been around and are in good standing... all of the requirements... you should join the Box Pass.

I think I'll have to do that at some point. What kind of woods did you use?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I think I'll have to do that at some point. What kind of woods did you use?

It has been a few years. The exact blend I can’t recall. But I used a continuous vertical drop feeder with food grade pellets. I’m sure it was a mix of the pellets that you can buy at any place that sells grills and smoker supplies. I used two large barrels stacked, and set the smoker up next to it. Very makeshift. Crock pots for humidity in the bottom.

I thought about using the whole flu cure shed, but I was worried that everything would smell smokey that I cured after that. So… I did it with other stuff I had about.

 

[KingcobraJFS]

It has been a few years. The exact blend I can’t recall. But I used a continuous vertical drop feeder with food grade pellets. I’m sure it was a mix of the pellets that you can buy at any place that sells grills and smoker supplies. I used two large barrels stacked, and set the smoker up next to it. Very makeshift. Crock pots for humidity in the bottom.

I thought about using the whole flu cure shed, but I was worried that everything would smell smokey that I cured after that. So… I did it with other stuff I had about.

Yeah, I'd guarantee your whole barn would smell for a long time if you cured in the barn. My friend's house had a minor fire and smelled for months.

How does your home grown leaf compare to the uncased C&D stuff? Ever try pressing it?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

How does your home grown leaf compare to the uncased C&D stuff? Ever try pressing it?

I think it’s pretty great, or else I just wasted eight years, ha ha.
I don’t mean to be condescending, but it is like hearing, “do your homegrown tomatoes taste as good as canned tomatoes?” Ha ha. Not to knock C&D or Hunt’s tomatoes…

I have pressed some in my hydraulic press, but two things… it’s hard to get bricks into my jars. Also, I’m just not a flake fanatic. Flakes are good, especially when we are talking about commercial tobaccos. But, when you grow something that’s already great…

 

[KingcobraJFS]

I think it’s pretty great, or else I just wasted eight years, ha ha.
I don’t mean to be condescending, but it is like hearing, “do your homegrown tomatoes taste as good as canned tomatoes?” Ha ha. Not to knock C&D or Hunt’s tomatoes…

Oh I get that, lol. I guess what I meant was, does it have a similar sort of flavor profile to their Virginias, or is it quite unique?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Oh I get that, lol. I guess what I meant was, does it have a similar sort of flavor profile to their Virginias, or is it quite unique?

Similar, but unique. If that makes sense. My reds are less tangy, but more fruity. I grew an heirloom variety of brightleaf called cherry red, which I cured red of course. My ukrainian came out spot on to other Ukrainian yellows, but commercially I’ve never found a single crop Ukrainian. So it is unique because I didn’t blend it.

 

[Indygrap]

This is awesome information and thank you for sharing. I think we can say for sure that this is why a lot of folks do not like their blends and label them as ‘harsh’. Those people prefer to have their tobacco tamed down/cased, and that is fine.

But like me and many others, once you get hooked on these uncased blends, theres just no comparison.

Maybe that’s why the majority of my cellar is C&D? I like a lot of their straight blends & their casings are handled with a deft hand. Even their aros seem to lean tobacco forward.