Semi-Oriental 456

[buckeyebob]

Does anyone know what oriental tobacco strains are close to the LeafOnly semi-oriental 456 ? I love that stuff . I mix it in with my bright leaf and it supercharges the whole smoke . If you haven't tried it you are missing one of the great smokes of all time.

 

[DGBAMA]

have you tried sending them an email inquiring as to the name of the strain? Worth a shot.

 

[darren1979]

The only thing i know about that strain is its grown in moldova. Thats it im afraid.

 

[SmokeStack]

A while back, I purchased some Semi-Oriental 456 from Leaf Only. I also enjoyed it very much, but it is a little to harsh to smoke straight. But adds a nice boost to pipe blends. I also inquired Leaf Only about which particular strain 456 is, but they did not know. Leaf Only does provide some good whole leaf tobaccos, but, unfortunately, Leaf Only will not provide information in regards to a specific varietal. They just refer to their tobaccos in a general sense, such as Burley, Virginia, Dark Air, etc. They most likely cater to clients who do not really care about specifics as we aficionados do.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Not sure if you are looking for just a general oriental floral note, but if so you can get a similar flavor from the seed pods after collecting the seed if you save the chaff and mix it into your blend.

 

[leverhead]

Not sure if you are looking for just a general oriental floral note, but if so you can get a similar flavor from the seed pods after collecting the seed if you save the chaff and mix it into your blend.

That's pretty cool! How did you figure that out?

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I had this big pile of chaff after saving my seed and it smelled really good so the next logical choice was to pack a bowl and smoke it lol

 

[buckeyebob]

Thanks for the idea. Since I have a huge box of seed pods I will definately give it a try. Those pods still freak me out. There must be thousands of seeds in each pod. Someday when I'm bored and it's raining I'm gonna open one and count them.

 

[Knucklehead]

www.wholeleaftobacco.com carries a nice Turkish leaf and Don doesn't mind helping you out with the varieties.

 

[notcrack]

Old thread, I know, but I was just googling semi-oriental due to coming into contact with a supplier of it. The supplier of leafonly call the leaf Moldavian 456 which is described as a semi oriental. From my reading it seems to be a Dubek leaf crossed with (I think) Virginia 401. The interesting thing about this leaf is that it has very high nicotine content compared with most Oriental leaves. That is all I can find out, but I'm sure someone like Istanbullin (SP?) would have a lot more info regarding it.

 

[istanbulin]

First ... notrack, where were you man, vacation ?

Countries around Turkey all tried to cross oriental strains with American types. But in Turkey it's impossible to find a semi-oriental (crossed with American varieties) strain (a still growing one). Semi oriental leaf producers' aim was bigger leaves, good taste, easy to cure. Most of these countries are flue-curing these semi-oriental types. Also I have an interesting information about Burley in Iran, they're flue curing Burley leaves, very interesting. Anyway, most of these semi-orientals are really poor quality but some of them are good especially in pipe tobacco blends. Because of old, expired and partial (in some cases) tobacco references (like Constantinides) people may think that Dubek is a tobacco strain, it's not, either Perschian, Tikkoulak etc. are not. These are old very local and emprical names of that tobaccos, actually the generally name of their packaging style. Anyway, you're right most of them have higher nicotine content than (average) oriental leaves.

 

[leverhead]

Most of these countries are flue-curing these semi-oriental types. Also I have an interesting information about Burley in Iran, they're flue curing Burley leaves, very interesting. Anyway, some of these semi-orientals really suck but some of them are really good especially in pipe tobacco blends.

This is interesting! To what end, sugar retention, color, flavor?

 

[rainmax]

Not sure if you are looking for just a general oriental floral note, but if so you can get a similar flavor from the seed pods after collecting the seed if you save the chaff and mix it into your blend.

Those seed pots are quite good. I try it also. Even better than flowers.

 

[istanbulin]

This is interesting! To what end, sugar retention, color, flavor?

Actually they're imitating sun cured yellow (nearly bright leaf colored) leaves like İzmir, but the main reason is flue curing is really easier than sun curing. BTW, flue curing Burley in Iran is different. According to reports the characteristics of that Burley is really different than US grown Burleys so it's impossible to use it in blends as a replacement. You've a flue curing chamber may be you may try to add some Oriental and Burley leaves in it. It may be an interesting experiment.

 

[leverhead]

It may be an interesting experiment.

I've thought about it many times. It was the reason I picked out Bitlis, it has a high sugar content and I thought it might be interesting to do. After the leaf drying stage could be shortened quite a bit because the stems are so small, maybe down to four days total for the whole cycle. Do you think the Burleys were different because of lower rates of Nitrogen in the soil?

 

[istanbulin]

I've thought about it many times. It was the reason I picked out Bitlis, it has a high sugar content and I thought it might be interesting to do. After the leaf drying stage could be shortened quite a bit because the stems are so small, maybe down to four days total for the whole cycle. Do you think the Burleys were different because of lower rates of Nitrogen in the soil?

High sugar content may cause a throath burn while inhaling smoke (cigarettes) and cause more tar formation this is why I'll air cure my Bitlis this year to see the difference. It'll probably be milder. As they said they got that Burley variety from Germany in 70s. Soil has a great influence on tobacco but the variety and cultivation are also different there.

 

[SmokeStack]

I have smoked some of the Moldavian 456 in a pipe and I found it to be quite harsh. I doesn't smoke at all as would a typical Oriental such as Yenidje, Bitlis or Izmir. I would use 456 in a blend to give it some strength. I still have some of the 456 and I am going to smoke it again this evening to give it another assessment.

 

[CJGait]

A while back, I purchased some Semi-Oriental 456 from Leaf Only. I also enjoyed it very much, but it is a little to harsh to smoke straight. But adds a nice boost to pipe blends. I also inquired Leaf Only about which particular strain 456 is, but they did not know. Leaf Only does provide some good whole leaf tobaccos, but, unfortunately, Leaf Only will not provide information in regards to a specific varietal. They just refer to their tobaccos in a general sense, such as Burley, Virginia, Dark Air, etc. They most likely cater to clients who do not really care about specifics as we aficionados do.

They really have no clue as a business either. I gave up on them after exasperating experiences with their customer service which consists of a long line of ’Oh, I didn’t get any emails’ and oh things are so tough all over I can’t do my job . The semi oriental 456 is the only thing I miss from there.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum, @CJGait. This is a 7 year old thread. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum.

Bob