WLT Blends - first experience

[jwit76]

First I'd like to thank everyone for the wealth of knowledge available on this forum. It's invaluable for someone like myself that is new to the world of whole leaf. Thanks for having me.

I've enjoyed tobacco on and off throughout the years, always appreciate a good pipe or cigar, and especially a fine cigarette a few times a day. Since I try to moderate my enjoyment, I've always purchased premium when it comes to commercial cigs. Lately I had switched between Nat Sherman Classics, Dunhill International, American Spirits, and even some Marlboro Reds mixed in there.

Enter whole leaf tobacco. Being a newcomer, I decided to give Don's cig blends a try and landed on the Yedi Turkish. I must stay that right out of the gate it competes with anything I've tried commercially, regarding taste. In many ways, I'm not sure what I would do to improve it. Once I found the right humidity level, I then lightly cased it with the mixture Don includes with the order, after diluting it with water as instructed. I also decided to take a portion of the shred and toasted it at 270 deg for 20 minutes, then mixed it with the un-toasted leaf. Again, flavor wise I feel it's superior to the majority of what I've smoked over the years.

The only negative that I'm experiencing is what I would call a dry throat effect after smoking which I've never experienced with the commercial cigs, I'm assuming due to the many additives. I was hoping to lean on the veteran knowledge present here for suggestions on what I might be able to do to improve the overall throat feel. Perhaps more casing, less casing, no toasting, etc? Thanks again,

Josh

 

[istanbulin]

In commercial cigarettes, Flue-cured and Orientals are generally cased only with dilute (4-5%) sugar solution (not with aromatic casings) and they're not toasted. Casings with additives (aromas etc.) and toasting process are generally applied to Burley. Casings can be also applied to Maryland but I've never heard of toasted Maryland in cigarettes.

 

[jwit76]

Thanks for the reply, I've found blending with some toasted leaf in this case enhances the flavor, however I'm wondering if it's a factor in the dry/rough throat sensation I'm experiencing. It was my understanding that toasted tobacco was more mellow, but perhaps it's adding to the dryness. I might try increasing the humidity level as well.

 

[Knucklehead]

To get an idea of what is doing what, smoke each tobacco variety in the blend by itself, uncased. You can do that in a pipe or cigarette. It will give you an idea of what each variety brings to the table, and will help isolate where the throat effect is coming from. We can then better help with a solution.

A good video about moisture content of tobacco for rolling: http://www.ryomagazine.com/multimedia/tobacco.htm

 

[jwit76]

Good tip, thank you. I'll review the article tonight. I hydrated the baccy a little more yesterday and I noticed it did make some difference in smoothness.

 

[holyRYO]

To get an idea of what is doing what, smoke each tobacco variety in the blend by itself, uncased. You can do that in a pipe or cigarette. It will give you an idea of what each variety brings to the table, and will help isolate where the throat effect is coming from. We can then better help with a solution.

+1 on this

 

[DGBAMA]

Good tip, thank you. I'll review the article tonight. I hydrated the baccy a little more yesterday and I noticed it did make some difference in smoothness.

tobacco too dry will definitely smoke hotter/harsher/drier on the throat.

 

[deluxestogie]

Tobacco that smells and tastes better may encourage more aggressive inhalation.

Bob

 

[DonH]

I'd experiment with different tubes. Or do you roll your own? If so, try different papers.

 

[jwit76]

I appreciate all the feedback, definitely have some things to consider. I actually started by trying the RAW hemp fiber papers and their organic cotton filters. The draw was lacking, so I switched to zig zag filtered tubes and hand injector, became a completely different smoking experience, superior in every way. The taste of the Yedi blend, as I previously stated, is superb. As advertised it is a mild smoke, relatively light body, but what really surprised me was the nicotine hit....intense for lack of better words. Not expected based on the light body. I had been accustomed to smoking marlboro reds and other full flavor brands but none of them had a nic hit like I experienced with this. Maybe it's just me, or perhaps characteristic of the pure leaf.

 

[DonH]

I appreciate all the feedback, definitely have some things to consider. I actually started by trying the RAW hemp fiber papers and their organic cotton filters. The draw was lacking, so I switched to zig zag filtered tubes and hand injector, became a completely different smoking experience, superior in every way. The taste of the Yedi blend, as I previously stated, is superb. As advertised it is a mild smoke, relatively light body, but what really surprised me was the nicotine hit....intense for lack of better words. Not expected based on the light body. I had been accustomed to smoking marlboro reds and other full flavor brands but none of them had a nic hit like I experienced with this. Maybe it's just me, or perhaps characteristic of the pure leaf.

Yes, the WLT leaf is fairly high in nicotine. The tobacco companies remove the nicotine from the tobacco and then spray it back on to get a consistent level (so I've heard). So why wouldn't the tobacco companies reduce it a bit so you smoke more? I can't imagine their "sheet" has much nicotine before they spray it back on. They also add stuff to make it burn faster. My own homegrown has less nicotine than WLT leaf and burns faster. So now I mostly smoke my own but I'm starting to run out of flue cured types, so I've been smoking a lot more of WLT, so I definitely notice the higher nicotine and lower burn rate. Often I will smoke half, put it out and relight it to finish later. With my own, due to some soil and other conditions in my old garden, they burn pretty fast and are lower in nicotine, so I smoke the whole thing pretty quickly.

 

[jwit76]

That makes a lot of sense, and that's exactly what I've experienced, high nic hit and definitely longer burn times. I thought I was going to fall off the park bench the first time around, ha! Not unpleasant, just a very different feeling compared to commercial. It doesn't surprise me that the big tobacco cos try to engineer a more consistent nic delivery for the masses. Interesting stuff.

 

[DGBAMA]

Commercial also uses "expanded" tobacco (treated much like puffed cereals) so it takes less product by weight to fill the tubes (reduced cost for them). Part of the longer burn is their is simply more tobacco in a cig made from whole leaf.

 

[FmGrowit]

This is all very helpful information. The 2013 crop was "washed out" in that the Spring was very wet and the leaf suffered with lower nicotine than normal. This year has signs of being much more normal, so I'll increase stock on lower primings which will have nicotine levels closer to what middle primings had last year. This years Red should be a head spinner.

 

[BKtx]

In my short period experimenting with whole leaf I've experienced something similar to what you've described. I've never tried the prepackaged blends, I buy WLTs product by the pound. My throat irritation stopped when I switched from bright leaf to red and primer mixed around 40 and 30 percent of my blend. I really liked the bright but it just didn't sit well with my throat, itchy,scratchy feeling almost as if I had an allergy to it.

Now, I've also read where most say you don't need to toast the flue cured tobacco. I toast mine individual types separately at 250 for about 12-15 minutes,I don't toast the Turkish. I then use Dons casings,I buy all 3 types, to bring it back up to case and if needed some distiller water. Then I blend and let it set. This I believe is the most important time for patience,it's smokable after 24 hours, but it's down right exceptional when I can let it set for 3weeks or more.during that period of time I open the sealed containers and turn it by hand at least every third day.

I my opinion you might want to try some individual pounds or a sampler and experiment some. Camel cigarettes had almost the same effect on me and made me cough like the dickens. Don't get me wrong IMO there's nothing wrong with the bright leaf, it just doesn't agree with me. I think it has to do with the temperature difference the red and it are cured at and the level of rawness. Sorry for the long post, hope this helps.

 

[FmGrowit]

More helpful information. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jwit76]

Bktx, I appreciate the insight. I'm finding the longer the tobacco sits in the mason jar after casing, the smoother and better tasting it gets. I would assume weeks of resting it would only improve it, as you suggested. I'm still debating the toasting effects on this particular blend, jury's still out for me, so to speak. Either way, the whole leaf experience so far is head and shoulders above any commercial product I've smoked.