What Did You Smoke Today? (Pipe Edition)

[JimInks]

The last of my stash of D&R Rowland Regular in a 1988 smooth full bend Peterson System Standard XL 315.

[JimInks]

Listing this a few minutes early: FVF in a 2014 Savinelli Gaius smooth brown slight bend black acrylic stem and ferrule 320KS author.

[JimInks]

Almost half way through this bowl of Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem.

[JimInks]

Almost finished smoking Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match in a 1979 straight smooth Dr. Grabow Grand Duke 45 pot.

[JimInks]

Heine's Blend in the very first pipe I ever bought ($2.49) in 1974; a smooth three quarter bend Dr. Grabow Omega. An under rated OTC.

[JimInks]

Amphora Brown in a 1990s slight bend black Sasieni 4 Dot Ruff Root Dark 4 Dublin.

[NeverBend]

2015 Gawith Hoggarth Bright CR Flake in a 2000s Ser Jacopo Picta #23, smooth oval shank, taper billiard with filigree silver band.

[Emperor Zurg]

Drying out some GL Pease Gaslight. A very nice tobacco IMO

[c.ortiz108]

I don’t believe that you were alone in thinking that casing and top sauce are interchangeable terms. The difference can be illustrated by burley that readily accepts flavors and is the base for most aromatics and virginia that doesn’t (readily) accept flavors and in consequence is usually top sauced instead.

This is a great explanation of coumarin: Coumarin wiki

I don’t know how tonquin is derived but I assume it to be a different method from coumarin, perhaps not an extract but rather a ground part of the tonka bean made into a solution.

I notice tonquin far more than I notice coumarin or possibly it’s used more liberally. I found that in McConnell and Sobranie mixtures the coumarin enhanced the natural aromas and added a binding faint sweetness that tastes integral to the leaf rather than artificially added. The result is a smooth, rich smoke and I doubt that anyone will duplicate the classic mixtures from these companies without using coumarin. McConnell and Sobranie used the best leaf and knew how to use coumarin as a top sauce to great effect.

I don’t know of any company that still uses coumarin. McConnell used it until they closed in 1989 but I don’t know about Sobranie. McConnell made their own line, Rattray’s, (my brand) Elephant & Castle, Ehrlich’s, Charatan and others. Some of these marques have been made by Kohlhase in Germany since 1989 but without coumarin (evident in the first German tin of Red Rapparee that I tried). Not all McConnell made mixtures used coumarin, but most of the English and Balkans were sauced with it.

Coumarin mixtures seem to age well, at least for a time, but the underlying tobacco may not. Tobacco packed under pressure ages faster than when packed loose. Latakia loses potency quicker than virginia, so very old latakia mixtures packed under pressure, like the 50-gram Sobranie #759 (black) start going downhill (imo) after about 8 years. It’s possible that coumarin actually degrades the tobacco and certainly McConnell and Sobranie didn’t make mixtures in the 1980s with the expectation that they’d be stored for many years.

I smoked hundreds of tins of McConnell (and Sobranie) so if coumarin is dangerous I’d probably have already grown another head.

I think it’s very normal to prefer latakia mixtures in the first years of smoking, it’s a big and direct flavor and they’re generally more forgiving with things like a tight pack than virginia. Flakes are a little more difficult to become comfortable in smoking but it’s nothing more than practice.

Pete

Thanks, Pete - another really interesting post. I tried a search on TR for blends with coumarin and they don't even have it as a category. Only about 10 have tonquin, and most of those are SG or GH.

What's your opinion of the K&K versions of the McConnell blends? Do they hold a candle, or even have similar flavor profiles? I've only had the Original Oriental and it's one of my favorite tobaccos so far (out of the merely dozen or so I've tried).

I was really interested to read about Elephant & Castle and your posts about it in a thread I found on another forum. Are you still blending, and do you have any recommendations that might be along the lines what E&C produced? Sounds like some pretty amazing blends!

Another reason I like latakias is that my dad smoked them, so to me it's what pipe tobacco is "supposed" to be. I've always liked smoky stuff in general, like Islay whiskies, smoked cheeses etc. My burley and VA uncertainties might be party due to being a former cigarette smoker. The VA I've enjoyed most so far was Firedance Flake, which is odd since I thought I didn't like strong aros.

(Sorry for threadjacking guys, but I wasn't sure what kind of new thread to start since we're touching on a lot of topics here - hope nobody minds).

[JimInks]

MacBaren Virginia #1 in a late '90s half smooth/half etched freehand sitter, medium bend Nielsen Viggo.