My New & Best English Blend

[RSteve]

This is very close to my other blends, but the tweaking I've done has convinced me that I can't make it any more palatable to my taste.
Peter Stokkebye 310 latakia 12 oz.
Sutliff TS20 perique 2 oz.
Sutliff TS24 Turkish 2 oz.
Sutliff 507-S stoved Virginia 2 oz.
Sutliff 515 RC-1 red Virginia 2 oz.
Sutliff B20 black cavendish 3 oz.
Habano cigar leaf 1 oz.
Total 24 oz.

 

[RSteve]

I have a very similar blend without the cigar leaf, but with Kentucky dark fired. The Kentucky dark fired gave the blend a harsh edge, I did not care for and also seemed to add quite a bit more nicotine.

 

[Brunello]

This is very close to my other blends, but the tweaking I've done has convinced me that I can't make it any more palatable to my taste.
Peter Stokkebye 310 latakia 12 oz.
Sutliff TS20 perique 2 oz.
Sutliff TS24 Turkish 2 oz.
Sutliff 507-S stoved Virginia 2 oz.
Sutliff 515 RC-1 red Virginia 2 oz.
Sutliff B20 black cavendish 3 oz.
Habano cigar leaf 1 oz.
Total 24 oz.

Looks great. I'm going to put together a batch today, but I'll have to substitute the Sutiff B20 Virginia Cavendish with Peretti Black Virginia - should be close enough. I imagine the Cavendish adds texture and also balances some sweetness with the richer, more savory cigar leaf. I'll report back.

 

[Brunello]

Reporting back: Another winner! This one's a meal in itself, like eating a 20 oz. Kansas City steak!

From your recipes I now have three great choices for my final bowl of the day. I've labeled the jars Lion's mane, Lion's Roar, and Lion's Pride. Any one of them supersedes the original Nightcap or other full-bodied English blends.

What I like about all three is that they are rich, complex, and satisfying, but with no trace of the dreaded creosote (or what I liken to grill scrapings, or charred fat). I can never get past that dominating creosote taste in Pirates Kake, Gaslight, or Spark Plug.

 

[RSteve]

I'm pleased that you are enjoying it. I'm eager to see what it's like in 6 months after it's been pressed under extreme pressure. I think it's very smooth now, but I want to see what happens when the components marry. By intent, I included minimal red virginia, because it tends to give me tongue burn.

 

[Brunello]

Although I proclaimed this an ideal end-of-day smoke, I just enjoyed a bowl this afternoon on my daily walkabout. It's been a long time since I took a few puffs of a blend, raised my head the clear blue sky, and exclaimed "Aaahh ... Heaven!"

I urge all DIYers to make a batch and see for yourself!

 

[BriarPipeNYC]

I admire your courage smoking a blend with 50% Latakia.

 

[RSteve]

I am quite ticked off! I went on-line to purchase the components of the blend to make up another batch. Foolishly, I only kept 4 oz. of the initial batch for current use. The rest was pressed and canned for aging and I don't want to break into it. I'd purchased all the component tobacco except for the Peter Stokkebye 310 latakia from Tobaccopipes.com, but they're OOS in some of the components. If I dig around the web, I may find everything, but the shipping charges will really add up.

Added by edit: I made a couple of substitutions and placed an order with pipesandcigars.com. My gut level feeling is that some of the component tobaccos listed at C & P as "blending" tobacco, without branding, are probably Sutliff. Hopefully, this works out.

 

[RSteve]

I admire your courage smoking a blend with 50% Latakia.

On a sunny, calm day, I'll even shovel snow without wearing mittens.

 

[RSteve]

I made a couple of substitutions and placed an order with pipesandcigars.com. My gut level feeling is that some of the component tobaccos listed at C & P as "blending" tobacco, without branding, are probably Sutliff. Hopefully, this works out.

Here's what I ordered:
Blending Perique 2 oz.
Blending - Turkish Ribbon Cut 1 oz.
Blending - Smyrna 1 oz.
Sutliff Stoved Black Virginia 507-S 2 oz.
Sutliff Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1 2 oz.
Sutliff Black Cavendish 3 oz.
Peter Stokkebye 310 Black Latakia 12 oz.
.....and I'll add habano cigar leaf 1 oz.

 

[Blackhorse]

What...no Burley?

 

[RSteve]

What...no Burley?

In my Balkan/English blends, I have given burley a:

 

[BriarPipeNYC]

Is this true? Can this be real?

I just read that Latakia contains very little nicotine! Due to the long process of turning tobacco leaves into Latakia the nicotine content diminishes. Also noted... that when smoked, straight....it's very mild and smooth, but aggressively aromatic, and smoky. It's that characteristic smell of creosote -that kills me, and turns me off. So I avoid it. I can deal with a little added Latakia, but not much. I always thought it was very strong and loaded with nicotine. But, then, what do I know?

Do, clue me in. School me.

 

[RSteve]

I just read that Latakia contains very little nicotine! Due to the long process of turning tobacco leaves into Latakia the nicotine content diminishes. Also noted... that when smoked, straight....it's very mild and smooth, but aggressively aromatic, and smoky. .

100% correct, virtually no nicotine and very mild. Virtually everything in the above blend has very little nicotine except for the red virginia. I put together one English/Balkan blend with scant Nicotiana Rustica which has considerable nicotine. I couldn't taste the difference, but certainly could feel it.

For many years, I exclusively smoked MacBaren Virginia #1. I would literally slowly stove it myself to eliminate most of the nicotine.

 

[BriarPipeNYC]

100% correct, virtually no nicotine and very mild. Virtually everything in the above blend has very little nicotine except for the red virginia. I put together one English/Balkan blend with scant Nicotiana Rustica which has considerable nicotine. I couldn't taste the difference, but certainly could feel it.

For many years, I exclusively smoked MacBaren Virginia #1. I would literally slowly stove it myself to eliminate most of the nicotine.

Thanks for the verification regarding the nicotine content . This information is completely counter to what I always thought, mainly based on the aroma of the aggressive, Latakia. Now....I know.

Now I can mix up a small amount of "Chocolate Manhood" without the thoughts that my head would be going into the toilet due to the excessive amounts of nicotine -that I assumed was contained in the Latakia.

You schooled me. So, now I know.

Thanks, again.

 

[RSteve]

Now I can mix up a small amount of "Chocolate Manhood".....

One of my dearest and longest term friends (63 years) is African American. He's a retired college professor, university dean and provost.
I think he'll say that blend was named after him. We met as 8th graders at an all city track meet. I beat him in the 50 yd. dash, but he killed me in the low hurdles. I thought he'd be angry when I beat him in the dash, but all he had to say was, "You're pretty fast...for a white boy."
We ultimately did go to the same H.S. where I ran a 9.9 100 yard (not meter) dash. At our 50th H.S. reunion, he asked me what I thought I could run the hundred in at age 68. I said I could still do a 9.9 from my bedroom to the bathroom at 2:00 am.

 

[RSteve]

I made a couple of substitutions and placed an order with pipesandcigars.com. My gut level feeling is that some of the component tobaccos listed at C & P as "blending" tobacco, without branding, are probably Sutliff. Hopefully, this works out.

Here's what I ordered:
Blending Perique 2 oz.
Blending - Turkish Ribbon Cut 1 oz.
Blending - Smyrna 1 oz.
Sutliff Stoved Black Virginia 507-S 2 oz.
Sutliff Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1 2 oz.
Sutliff Black Cavendish 3 oz.
Peter Stokkebye 310 Black Latakia 12 oz.
.....and I'll add habano cigar leaf 1 oz.

I am far more than satisfied. The blend is even better than the original. I received the components yesterday, mixed it immediately and have smoked several bowls.

Oops: I forgot to add that besides the habano cigar leaf, I also added the leaf of an A. Flores Serie Privada desflorado toro.

Minus the cigar leaf, tax, and shipping, this worked out to $2.62 oz. for the pipe tobacco components.

 

[RSteve]

I am so happy with this blend, I just re-ordered all the components so I have an ample supply to age.

 

[RSteve]

I am so happy with this blend, I just re-ordered all the components so I have an ample supply to age.

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Peter Stokkebye 310 Black Latakia 16 oz.		​
Blending - Perique 3 oz.
Blending - TS24 Blended Turkish Ribbon 3 oz.
Sutliff Stoved Black Virginia 507-S 3 oz.
Sutliff Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1 3 oz.			​
Sutliff Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1 3 oz.
+Cigar leaf 3 oz.
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I want to add that there is nothing particularly original or inventive about this blend, For me, it just seems to work It has flavor, but is mild with absolutely no tongue bite and very limited nicotine.
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[RSteve]

The list of blending ingredients, noted in the post above, arrived yesterday and I eagerly assembled the blend.
Because I simply can't leave "well enough alone" I slightly altered the choice of cigar leaf.
1 one custom roll habano laguito #6
1 A. Flores Serie Privada Desflorado
1 A. Flores AFR-75 San Andres maduro
All the cigars are toro size. Each cigar is quite a different blend, very different wrapper, but all to my taste, are relatively mild.

Now, I am done making changes. I've smoked three bowls and, in all honesty, for my taste, I think I've hit the mark. I don't know that I'll ever want to smoke anything else. Yes, the blend is only 47% latakia. Please note that in the list of component blending tobacco Sutliff Red Virginia is listed twice. It was a mistake. The correct list is listed in this post. My apology.

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Peter Stokkebye 310 Black Latakia 16 oz.		​
Blending - Perique 3 oz.
Blending - TS24 Blended Turkish Ribbon 3 oz.
Sutliff Stoved Black Virginia 507-S 3 oz.
Sutliff Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1 3 oz.			​
Sutliff unflavored Black Cavendish 3 oz.
+Cigar leaf 3 oz.
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