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Semois Tabac

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Dr.Pierce

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I've been enjoying a 100 gr block of Manil- La Brueuse. My understanding is that there are only three authentic producers of Semois tobacco. Manil, Didot and Martin. I didnt have any luck locating an importer into the usa for any- with the exception of the Manil.
Does anyone have a suggestion to how the Belgians cure/ toast their tobacco? In a video, I saw an elaborate wood burner to toast it.
 

Charly

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Semois tobacco is lightly toasted.
If I remember well, they mix the tobacco from 3 successive year (to get a more "stable" product, avoiding specific variation from year to year), then roast it in a big rotating metal cylinder (just like a coffee roaster) until the tobacco gets slightly toasted.

> Video of Vincent Manil

In this video, Vincent Manil explains is method :
- soak the tobacco in water to humidify it, remove it and let it rest 2 days (to allow the humidity to spread accross the leaves)
- shred the tobacco
- lightly roast it (with small fire, don't burn it)

Manil adds 10-15% of another "secret" tobacco to help the semois to burn well (and probably to enhance the flavor profile)
 

deluxestogie

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Informative video, even though my French is not up to Vincent Manil's speed. (Meaning, the images alone are worth watching.) I have the impression that the Vincent Manil "factory" is owned, managed, operated--as well as the floor swept at the end of the day and the front door locked--by Vincent alone. His ?sister? operates their tobacco museum (differing from the factory in that the antique items in the museum are much smaller than those in the factory). The factory output seems to be of a one-man scale. So it's not surprising that not a lot of Vincent Manil tobacco is imported to the US.

I had forgotten about pipe tobacco bouchons.

Manil_bouchon.JPG


I'll have to make a supply of them for my pipe-smoking winter months. I'm guessing that a long-filler bouchon would not need to be closed at either end, for storage.

Bob
 

Dr.Pierce

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Okay. If I wanted to try toasting a batch at home in the oven...
Spray lightly w/ plain h2o.
Shred in the ol' pasta machine.
Oven at 250-300 degrees.
Turn the tabac every 5 minutes.
Lightly toasted.
 

Charly

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It's his wife, Gaetane Manil, which operates the tobacco museum.
The "Manil factory" (like all real Semois producers) is indeed of a one-man scale. Very small production.
If this has not changed, there are only three factories left.

The "bouchon" are interesting, I smoked some a few years ago, but I suspected that Vincent added more of the "secret tobacco" (or could it be some other additive ?), because they are more aromatic than their standard tobacco.
Their bouchons are only closed on the upper end, to avoid the tobacco (in ribbon) to fall.
 

Dr.Pierce

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People who know Semois, really like: Langue de Chien, de Joseph Martin. I have reached out to several Belgian tobac retailers. they are not interested shipping Tobac out of the country. I even asked if they could send an order to a colleague of mine in Germany. No dice. In that uniquely maddening ( for Americans) Gallic refusal to do business. Maybe it was my "Google Translate" french that put them off- who can say? ( Gallic shrug).

Is there any interest in a group buy? Perhaps a large order would greese the skids.

I'm not sure what would be involved. I have read that Mr Martin is more introverted than Mr. Manil. Others forums have done it before. Brothers of Briar, Pipe Mag forum, etc.
 

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ChinaVoodoo

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I bet that if any of the French (or is it Belgian?) growers were willing to sell whole leaf Semois to WLT, that it would sell. Not that I'm after it. Just that there's a lot of chatter about it.
 

Dr.Pierce

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Jitterbug, Good point.
I think i can get some Semois seeds to plant next spring. I like to think that I'm all set for Cigar tobacco. Next year I'd like to try to focus on pipe varieties.

The 2019 list so far:
Semois
Maden
Prilep
Bursa
Canik
 

skychaser

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Jitterbug, Good point.
I think i can get some Semois seeds to plant next spring. I like to think that I'm all set for Cigar tobacco. Next year I'd like to try to focus on pipe varieties.

The 2019 list so far:
Semois
Maden
Prilep
Bursa
Canik

I have all of those seeds available. Semois and Samson Maden aren't listed on my website yet.
 

Dr.Pierce

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Paul at Northwoods now harvested Samsun Maden and has seeds. I'm looking forward to (hopefully) 20 plants of the following:

Semois
Samsun Maden
Bursa ( I've read here that I should give these at least 2 ft spacing)
Prilep
Yellow Twist Bud
Frog Eye Orinoco

If any kind soul who has grown any of these -would like to chime in on individual growing quirks of these varieties or other helpful tips- I would be obliged.
 
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