Newbie questions

[TommyBB]

OK you pipe FOGs. Crack your knuckles, adjust your sleeves, fix your glasses on your noses. Ready? We have work to do.

I've seen different strains of tobacco described, as I've looked at blends.

Viriginia--obvious, right? Well, no. I see that "Virginia" is grown all over the world. Then there's "Eastern Belt" and "Middle Belt." So, just what IS Virginia?

Burley--same thing. Where is it from, where is it grown? What are it's properties?

Latakia--grown in the Middle East, yes? I've seen Syrian and Cypriot. It's a more "aromatic" tobacco, right? I know my buddy LabRatGDI hates it, and my other buddy Magnus5 enjoys it.

Perique--I know about. It's from up the river in St. James Parish, only grown on one or two plantations, total. Part of Perique is its curing in oak sherry barrels, if I remember the article properly from a few years ago. Percy Martin is the only one still growing Perique if I remember right. Supposed to be very flavorful and strong.

Turkish--obvious? Grown in Turkey only?

Cavendish--ok, I'm confused on this. Just what is it?
Golden Cavendish?
Fire-Cured? Black Cavendish?

What is "rubbed?"

What's the difference between flake? cake? and any other cut? I mean, I can SEE a difference but what are the whys and wherefores?

Thanks.

[magnus5]

Tommy you may find this site helpful

http://www.albany.net/~murray/smoke/tobacco.html

Whew! I'm tired now after all that work answering your questions. Time for a nap.

That is a very comprehensive explanation of a lot of the questions you have. I have found it useful and have sent others there for edumacating

[TommyBB]

That's a nice introduction....

[Smogre]

That's a pretty good link there, magnus. Thanks.

I have to say in my opinion; I really dig flaked or cubed tobacco. I get to fondle it more and it gets dried out and well...I better stop before this reply finds it's way to the CNBC room.

But really, pipe smoking for me is more of a process that I enjoy from start to finish and some parts of it don't include the actual smoking.

[TommyBB]

From a manufacturer's point of view, there are two basic categories of pipe tobaccos. First, the more natural English and Scottish-style cake tobaccos, which are matured in pressed cakes to release the naturally occurring sugars in flue-cured Virginia and in the Greek or Turkish Oriental leaf. Second, the American-style, cased and flavored tobaccos, which rely largely on the application of sugar syrups for their flavor. The serious pipe smoker usually graduates over time from the sweetened to the natural-style tobaccos, perhaps going through the Danish and Dutch cavendishes, which, based historically on Maryland-style tobaccos, or possessing some component of burley, are both flavored and matured in pressed cakes, combined with loose leaf.

VIRGINIA. One of America's first cash crops, Virginia tobacco was grown initially by the Jamestown colony, from imported Central American seed, and exported exclusively to England. It is possible that we would not be an English speaking nation but for Virginia tobacco and its importance to the survival of that first colony.

Most of today's Virginia is flue-cured to preserve its bright yellow, orange or red color, and its oiliness, and Subtle sweetness. This curing method pumps smokeless heat into the airtight tobacco barn through metal flues or ducts. The best Virginia tobaccos today, matured in pressed cakes and therefore called matured Virginias, have a subtle sweetness and a delicate fruit-like flavor. They are rather tangy and pleasant on the palate, reminiscent of a mild salsa. The best matured Virginias are naturally sweet and clean-smoking tobaccos that fill the mouth with flavor. You will notice a flavor curve that is zesty at light up and then turns richer as the tobacco is smoked.

Virginia tobaccos are also important components of English Mixtures and aromatic, flavored blends.

MARYLAND. Maryland tobacco is light air-cured and, therefore, a dull brown color. It is bland in flavor but has a nice, light texture and good burning qualities. Never especially popular in the United States or England, most Maryland tobacco traditionally has been exported to Switzerland, Germany, and France. The Maryland colony exercised special sovereign rights to export directly to France and the Netherlands. Perhaps this is why traditional Danish and Dutch Cavendish cake tobaccos, based on Maryland-style leaf, were made by adding sugars from the outset, whereas the English found it easy to go "natural" with naturally-sweet Virginia.

BURLEY. Today's burley tobacco is all descended from the White Burley Mutation discovered by Ohio tobacco grower, George Webb, in 1864. It has a rich, nutty flavor and a certain gusto. Burley is light air-cured, with a brown appearance and a dull or matte finish. Most burley, which has virtually no sugar of its own, is "cased" or flavored with sugars of one kind or another and this rich, full-flavored tobacco has traditionally been the base of the majority of American-style sweetened blends.

When smoked, cased burley starts light, mellow, and mildly nutty, with no sharpness. If it is of good quality and has been handled properly, it will produce a rich, full flavor somewhat like sweet oatmeal or granola, with a caramel character coming from the burnt sugars.

ORIENTAL. This naturally aromatic, heady tobacco comes not from the modern Orient (the Far East), but from the old Orient, the Near East-Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and other Eastern Mediterranean countries. The finest Oriental, often called "Turkish" tobacco, has a flavor that is delicately spicy. Used in small quantities, it gives to "English" or "Oriental" mixtures a sweet, yet piquant character.

Sun-cured Oriental leaf has a greenish-yellow to golden brown color. Second only to flue-cured Virginia in natural sugar content, the finest Orientals from Greece and Turkey are mildly sweet and have an herbal or spicy character with an incense-like aroma.

LATAKIA. Latakia is sun-cured like other Oriental leaf and then hung in dense smoke from wood fires of oak, pine, myrtle, or cypress until blackened, a process that can take two months. The different woods impart different flavors.

Latakia has an intense, incense-like fragrance but is surprisingly soft on the palate. It is cool-smoking and relatively tasteless in the middle range, an excellent condiment tobacco, basic to the natural Oriental or English mixtures. Usually, the fuller the mixture, the more Latakia is used.

PERIQUE. Perique is a deeply aromatic tobacco with a fragrance somewhere between cooked fruit (prunes) and sautéed mushrooms. Like latakia, perique is a naturally fermented condiment tobacco and, as such, is used rather sparingly. Its rich, black color and leathery texture belie its delicate flavor.
Before fermentation, perique appears most like Kentucky burley. During fermentation, the tobacco steeps in its own juices for 10 months before further aging. Perique is the truffle of tobaccos, rare and precious for its distinctive pungency.

[magnus5]

This is a good resource for individual blends.

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/

Good Q and A

http://www.aspipes.org/faq/faq/official.html

[TommyBB]

Damn, that Tobacco Reviews is exhaustive.

That's the power of the Human Network.

[Fishin Phil]

Originally Posted by TommyBB

Damn, that Tobacco Reviews is exhaustive.

Remember to apply the same principles to reading those reviews that you use when reading cigar reviews. One man's Connie is another man's Cohiba.

[TommyBB]

Absolutely. There's just so MANY of them.