Esoterica Tobacco

[Blackhorse]

It was one of those delightful experiences where you have this rictus grin on your face and your entire body is tensed up with shock while you mumble in a less than manly manner how unique and amazing the smoking experience was. Sort of like biting into a nice fat Carolina Reaper Pepper.

 

[Logs]

At another site Ernie Q at Watch City Cigar and Pipe writes:
"I can not stress this enough. Every tobacco you buy commercially, unless it is in leaf form, has been cased. Every single one has been cased...."

I'm familiar with the original post and I respect Ernie Q a great deal but he is incorrect. They may be the exception to the rule but there are blenders who put out uncased blends. Both C&D and GL Pease have blends made from uncased leaf. Jeremy Reeves is very clear about it in several of the C&D videos. He says GLP Union Square is uncased. Opening Night is uncased. Stratford is uncased.

Here's some supporting info:

 

[RSteve]

Let's look at some information from Tobacconist University. In June of 2013, the following was written by Kevin Godbee, Certified Master Tobacconist.
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"Casing, is done to all pipe tobacco blends – NOT just AROMATICS. Casing happens around the middle of the processing, and it is not meant to add anything that is detectable to the flavor. Casing is applied, and then the tobacco is left to sit for about a day to absorb the casing. So, casing is absorbed into the tobacco, and toppings, as implied, sit on top of the tobacco and quickly burn off. You don’t so much as taste the topping as smell it.
The most typical casings are as follows:
Virginia tobaccos (which are not strictly from VA) are typically cased with sugar-water.
Burley tobaccos are typically cased with a solution that contains chocolate and / or licorice.
Even though chocolate and licorice do have distinct flavors, they are not detectable as a casing.

Casings serve the purpose of enhancing and bringing out more of the tobacco’s natural flavor. Toppings, on the other hand, serve the purpose of adding an additional flavor (taste+aroma) to a blend. The simple way I use to remember the difference is to think of casing as a marinade, as it is added during the processing, and soaks into the tobacco. And think of toppings as a sauce."

 

[Logs]

Jeremy Reeves is also a master tobacconist who knows the difference between casing and topping. I see no reason to disbelieve him when he's talking about his own blends.

 

[Blackhorse]

I’ve seen Greg’s comments about Union Square being (one of) the only blends that uses totally untreated tobacco. He’s pretty unequivocal. I still have my doubts. I still think that initial treatment of the raw tobacco includes some additions to make it usable. Whatever.

This same question and ensuing debate both come up on occasion. Both sides cite their information sources and take their side of the issue certain they are correct and that God is on their side. Flags are waved, trumpets blare, muskets brandished and a few warning shots are sometimes fired but eventually things settle out and brothers are reunited across battle lines. Most guys go home to reunite with their families after a great barbecue and a few kegs of ale.

 

[Gusto]

When my tobacco crop has hung and dried the leaves are fragile. I have to spray them with osmotically purified water with no additives. (Others may use distilled water or steam.) This is called "bringing the leaf up to case" so it can be stemmed, packed and pressed. Casing tobacco doesn't always entail casing sauces and humectants, good tobacco flavor can develop naturally with proper ageing and fermentation - over years rather than overnight.
My answer to the initial puzzle is that some enjoy the taste of an occasional Esoterica Tobacciana offering. De gustibus non est disputandum.

 

[Logs]

If you're not willing to believe what a blender is saying about their own blends then what can we say? Sure, maybe they're lying. But it's also possible that they're an exception to the general rule about casing... it doesn't seem like that much of a stretch. I know plenty of home growers and non-professional blenders who routinely blend with uncased tobacco and seem to be satisfied with the results. People talk about how uncased tobacco is unsmokable but that's not really true either. Yes, casing can bring out flavors but the main purpose for commercial blenders is adjusting the PH and adding a mold inhibitor. The original purpose of vinegar casing is ph and mold inhibiting. Along the way people started to like that flavor and associate it with good VA and now vinegar flavor is a popular thing for matured VA blends but that's not why it started.

 

[Brunello]

Hmmm, just noticed this thread because the title on Esoterica didn't interest me (never had one of their blends that was all that orgasmic), but the discussion on casing certainly does.

As an avid home blender I have limited, but not completely uninformed experiences with unprocessed leaf, and have done my due diligence and tried unprocessed leaf before casing, and then afterward with different formulations. First I have to say that some uncased leaf isn't really all that repugnant, as in making a person gag or vomit. After all, indigenous peoples used uncased leaf and enjoyed it enough, as did the first Europeans who tried it. I have one blend where I use 5% unprocessed Basma, because this particular batch had a lot of natural sweetness it it. But most other leafs without any kind of PH adjustment give a rawness and dryness to the back of the throat.

But all of that is rather arcane minutia in terms of how I actually enjoy tobacco as a smoker. I have to say that probably 80% of what I respond to in a blend is directly related to the kind of casing used and method of processing. That's why I find a common house style from different producers because their ready supply of blending components have been processed a certain way, and I recognize this commonality across all manner of blends they offer. One of my favorites is Wilke, which has a common undertone in most of what I've tasted. This is also why a grower calling hydration a form of casing seems a moot point to me unless we dive really deep down the rabbit hole and consider a how pre-cased or hydrated leaf at a bone dry level of 6% moisture will then absorb more flavoring than one that has been hydrated to the more typical 12%.

Now, can I just get back to enjoying a nice bowl of baccy?

 

[RSteve]

If you're not willing to believe what a blender is saying about their own blends then what can we say?

Let us just say that I am skeptical. One blender may say that spraying the leaves with sugared water is casing the pilon. Another may say it isn't; that it is just a catalyst to fermentation.

 

[RSteve]

Years ago, I used to buy tobacco from a vendor in New York. He had a rudimentary website. All orders were by mail or phone. Everything he sold were his own bulk blends, no branded tins. He took great pride as the last of the genuine hand blenders. (Obviously, he was a legend in his own mind. Many other shops still hand blend.) While on a visit to the East Coast, I stopped in to pay him a visit and observe his hand blending. As it turns out, all of the tobacco he used for blending was processed tobacco. I'm not certain how much of C & D tobacco is purchased as raw leaf.