The Artful Codger, one of the YTPC presenters I really enjoy. He's the go-to on Velvet.
Velvet tobacco
- Thread starter Texas1940
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I agree with this and liken it to the volume and simple vs complicated dynamics found in music. If you're not mixing it up every once in a while with a mellower blend or a straight tobacco or to continue the allegory with simply putting the pipe down from time to time IE silence then the song of your tobacco enjoyment just becomes an endless drone with no great flurries of dynamic beauty.
What a lovely description
You guys are some real poets. I can be poetic too.
"Velvet.... it's ok if you like that sort of thing."
"Velvet.... it's ok if you like that sort of thing."
For some obscure reason that escapes me at the moment I have never tried Velvet. If the nearby B&M carries it I will try it if for no other reason just because I can. I completely agree the the concept of using the acceptable but not fantastic Codger blends to help reset my appreciation of my "go to" blends. At my age ( over 3/4 century) it is easy for me to forget how great my favorite tobaccos taste. Life is good but a warm pipe pushes things over the top.
My grandfather was a staunch Velvet smoker. There was always a full metal container (old style Velvet tin) sitting on his end table with a couple drugstore pipes. I grew up with the smell. When he passed away I got his old, rusty tin, his pipes (Grabow, Kaywoodie), and immediately purchased a new container of Velvet. I'm usually not fond of Burley, but Velvet is so familiar that I can smoke it no problem. During the 90's, Velvet kinda underwent some changes that made it, frankly, terrible. That seems to not be the case now as I currently have a container that I like to dip into now and then for nostalgia. The current blend has that nutty, brown sugar and licorice flavor that I remember. The only codger blend that I really go for.
I went through a period of trying every codger blend I could get my hands on and smoking them from both pouch and tub when available. A few things I noticed was that the pouch form of any of them would stay moist in a loaded pipe, spread out on a sheet of paper to dry, or whatever for as long as I left it. The tub form of the same tobaccos would dry if spread out or left loaded in a pipe for a few days. It makes sense if you think about it for the manufacturers to dose the pouch form with more humectant than the tubs, since the tubs have fairly good seals. FWIW, In every single case, I preferred the tub form to the pouch form.
Velvet was among my favorites and I found it to be a great smoke in a cob when doing outside/outdoor work in the yard/garage etc. It is mild, with a hint of licorice which I like, and is forgiving if your cadence gets away from you, which it often does for me doing yardwork. The other one that rung the same bells for me, though without the hint of licorice, was Sugarbarrel, which unfortunately is no longer made.
To the OP- Glad you found what will likely be a long time friend...
Velvet was among my favorites and I found it to be a great smoke in a cob when doing outside/outdoor work in the yard/garage etc. It is mild, with a hint of licorice which I like, and is forgiving if your cadence gets away from you, which it often does for me doing yardwork. The other one that rung the same bells for me, though without the hint of licorice, was Sugarbarrel, which unfortunately is no longer made.
To the OP- Glad you found what will likely be a long time friend...
I recently read a review of Velvet in which it was said that it reminded the reviewer of cigarette tobacco. Ok, I withdraw my previous post.That's one I've never tried. I'll add a pouch to my next tobacco order 'cuse you never know till you try it. I'm surprised no one mentioned blending it.
For what it's worth, there's a Sugar Barrel match blend that may be worth trying.
Just tried Velvet for the first time last night and it was waaay better than I anticipated. The name fit the tobacco perfectly. So smooth, nice, light flavor. I love the room/mustache note. Definitely going into rotation.
It has been on the back of my mind what I might have as a standard tobac for general smoking. Reading this thread, it seems to me that many of you use a "codger" tobac for exactly that purpose ... sort of a baseline. Honestly, I never smoked any of these tobaccos. Comments indicate that it is better to dive into a can ... now I know what to put into a larger tobacco canister ...
When you delve into the history of mass market American smoking tobaccos two brands leap out above the rest.
The first is Bull Durham, which was North Carolina bright leaf, aged and likely flavored a little, which came to market at the close of the Civil War. It was so popular the American government bought the entire output of the factory in 1917 and 1918 for the troops “over there”.
But the winner wound up to be Prince Albert, which first came in 5 cent sacks the same as Bull Durham. It was when Prince Albert first came moist, in pocket tins, mild Kentucky sun cured burley heavily flavored, that the success of PA led to every brand of codger burley still on the shelves.
Many formerly famous blends like George Washington, Model, and Edgeworth are long gone. They were off the shelves even fifty years ago when I started pipe smoking.
The reason for the success of American OTC burley blends is they get the majority of their signature flavor from added flavors to the burley leaf, which also has always been cheaper than fire cured Virginia. The makers could add a little bright leaf, or dark fired burley, and Revelation added orientals, Perique and a touch of Latakia. But mostly they were flavored burleys.
The American drug store blends were and still are consumer products.
Instead of flavored carbonated water, flavored candy bars, or flavored chewing gum, they are moistened and flavored burley tobacco.
Velvet tastes like Velvet.
Now they’ve resumed using aged burley leaf again it’s as good as it ever was.
I like Velvet but do prefer Sir Walter Raleigh Regular, in the same genre. I like the casing better and it has more nicotine. I have some Lane Ready-Rubbed but I haven't tried it yet, so I can't tell as of now where it stands, besides the fact that the topping is different than Velvet and SWR.