Virginia strong nic

[georgebmcclelland]

I may be wrong, but aren't Virginias usually quite mild in the nicotine department by nature? Something about the amount of nicotine your body actually absorbs... There are others who could explain this with a better base of knowledge, but I believe this is why it's been difficult for you to find a very strong straight Virginia... Maybe go for a Va/Per, in which the Perique will help your body absorb more nicotine from the leaf? Again, someone else will have a more steady knowledge on this. Cosmic seems to know his stuff in this department.

 

[briarbuck]

x2 on the Peterson Irish Flake. Maybe I had an empty stomach, but that stuff punched me in the head.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The acidity. Virginias actually have a ton of nicotine, but the acidity prevents it from being absorbed. The fermentation process of perique turns the nicotine into another chemical, which does not act like nicotine at all, but merely makes it so that more of the leaf it is blended with gets absorbed.
This is why I call bullship whenever someone says that they smoked perique and it was too strong. It doesn't even make sense, or they are suffering from some sort of hypnotic suggestion or something.
That all said, while a VaPer is a tad stronger in nicotine, I still have never had a VaPer that was outrageously strong... unless it had some burley in the mix.

 

[georgebmcclelland]

Aha! Thanks for the assist, Cosmic. That's just what I was grasping for; I'd read that somewhere. but didn't have the facts clear in mind.

 

[blendtobac]

Also, the higher up on the plant, the stronger a Virginia will be, at least if they harvest by primings, i.e. taking the lower leaves off first, later taking the middle, and finally the upper leaves. The lower leaves, called cutter, tend to be milder; the middle, referred to as leaf, are a bit stronger; and the top, called tips, are the strongest. If the plant is stalk-cut, the results won't be the same.
Russ

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The top leaves are also the hardest to flue cure... at least for me. They never seem to turn yellow on the plant, and forcing them yellow in the flue gets tricky, because your flu will be full of these ligero Virginias of different sizes and leaf thicknesses in that delicate green state. I lost about 3/4th of that flue run.

Plus, they don't have that same sweet flavor as the rest of the plant. They are more...pungent for lack of a better word.
I assume that D&R and some of C&D's Virginias have at least the top to middle leaves blended in, because I get a hint of that top leaf flavor and they are so much stronger than all of the other companies. But, still, it's not nearly as strong as many other blends out there.

 

[mso489]

Legend has it that the brown rope is a little higher nicotine than the black, noted because it is somewhat counterintuitive. I haven't tried the brown, so I can't verify this. The black has a nice kick. If you don't know your nicotine sensitivity, go with a small bowl or a partial bowl to get the measure, if you're at it for pleasure. If you're for daring, do as you will. I don't buy blends for nicotine, but when encountered, it is usually pleasant; I'm somewhat (somewhat) tolerant. Nic can make some folks really sick, so be aware.