Morning! Here's me writing after a long while, this time about some house mixtures from a Swiss tobacconist called Urs Portmann. I've visited the B&M shop in Konstanz - beautiful town shared between Switzerland and Germany, you can literally hop over the border, it's just a line on the street - it's a great tobacco and cigar shop, anyone who finds themselves there should pay a visit. In any case I got these tobaccos based on description on the website alone, so here we go, this thread will get more entries as I smoke through them.
One last thing, I am always curious of some of the tobaccos I've found in B&M shops in Switzerland because while they are always called "house mixture" it's possible to spot the telltale signs of the big manufacturers (e.g., perfect square flakes and roundels scream STG/MacBaren/Kopp - whoever if making these these days, thicker cut, rubbery flakes and Kendal toppings scream Gawith), Portmann used to also carry "house" ropes, I've smoked enough from all over to be able to spot the obvious, plus there are no "house" ropes, only Gawith makes proper ropes.
Portmann No 102
Portmann No 115
One last thing, I am always curious of some of the tobaccos I've found in B&M shops in Switzerland because while they are always called "house mixture" it's possible to spot the telltale signs of the big manufacturers (e.g., perfect square flakes and roundels scream STG/MacBaren/Kopp - whoever if making these these days, thicker cut, rubbery flakes and Kendal toppings scream Gawith), Portmann used to also carry "house" ropes, I've smoked enough from all over to be able to spot the obvious, plus there are no "house" ropes, only Gawith makes proper ropes.
Portmann No 102
- Portmann description: Golden Virginia flake, Burley, a pinch of Perique, honey and orange aroma
- Presentation: stringy long, partly broken, light in colour with brown strands. I don’t get any of the sourness of Perique, but I do get a whiff of orange, honey, and grass
- Smoke: I was getting vibes of Huber Virginia Golden Flake from the start, turned out to be softer on the orange but a stronger smoke than expected, with less grass than it smelled like, and potentially more Perique too. Progressively the flavour turned stronger, and the Perique more noticeable to the point it was reminding me of stronger VaPers at times. I’d call this a great Virginia blend, not a VaPer (even though it is, according to the description), maybe/probably the Burley is doing some work on the background giving it body it could have been lacking otherwise. I’d probably like a bit more scenting, however there was an underlying sweetness always coming through. It’s not Huber Virginia Golden Flake, but it’s pretty close. Fairly cellar-worthy.
Portmann No 115
- Portmann description: Dark-fired leaf pressed into flakes with tonka bean aroma
- Presentation: Gawithian broken flake, quite dark and somewhat rubbery, medium-strength tonka bean flavour followed by malty Virginia
- Smoke: after cube cutting and a little drying the initial blast is of tonka bean, not powerful in terms of nicotine, but smooth in the smoke. Faint smokiness. Mid-bowl most of the tonka becomes an afterthought and the malty, bready and partially grassy Virginia becomes the main taste, intensifying and sweetening as the bowl progresses. It’s a long and cool smoke, the cube cut flake does a Gawith by first turning stone-hard and then slowly burning to fine white ash (hadn’t seen pure white ash in a while). Not particularly strong in nicotine at any point, but smooth and enjoyable. Fairly full taste. Would have liked a bit more tonka but it’s possible these flakes were old (note “crystals” on the flakes). Very cellar-worthy.
