SHPC VR Blend

[PegLegEd]

Help!!!! Much needed, and Will Be much appreciated.

I just received a shock. I received some SHPC VR Blend from a Brother a while back, it was somewhat course, a little moist, crumbly, kinda like what you get with normal pipe tobacco. It tasted good, smoked good, smelled good. So I ordered some from
http://search.store.yahoo.net/cgi-bin/nsearch?catalog=pipes-cigars-tobacco&query=SHPC&.autodone=nsearch.html

Here is where I got into trouble. It came in a 8oz can. In this can is about 12 thick logs of tobacco sticks. I have no idea how you are supposed to smoke these things. I don't have a Pipe large enough to get one of those things in it.

If anybody has any suggestions what to do. Please let me know.
Thanks,
Ed

 

[scottbtdmb]

Ed,
I just break off a small chunk, rub it out, and load my pipe. You will really enjoy this stuff btw. It is definitely one of my faves! Let us know how it works out for you.

-Scott

 

[Dock]

Scott's dead on correct. Crumble and load loosely......Then try SHPC's "Great Hiatus" while you're at it :lol: :lol: :lol: That one was thought up by myself and was made to somewhat resemble original Dunhill's #965 :cheers:

 

[PegLegEd]

Thanks for the replies. The pack loosely will probably work, tight does not. I have lots of great hiatus love it. tastes like great hiatus to me. never had #965 but that is good to know.
thanks,
Ed

 

[scottbtdmb]

Scott's dead on correct. Crumble and load loosely......Then try SHPC's "Great Hiatus" while you're at it :lol: :lol: :lol: That one was thought up by myself and was made to somewhat resemble original Dunhill's #965 :cheers:

Dock I have never had Great Hiatus, but you guys sure did a wonderful job on VR Blend. Was VR based loosely on any tobaccos of long past by the way? Either way, it stands on its own and I have about 4 oz in the cellar, with about 2 lbs in the cellar of my mind (hehe). Anyhow, next time I put an order in at pipesandcigars.com, Great Hiatus will definitely be on my purchased list!

-Scott

 

[abbacab]

Got several tins in from Pipes and Cigars last week, including my first 8 0z. Thought it was odd the way the tobacco seemed to rattle around in there...Mystery solved. (Somehow oddly appropriate).

Thanks to you and your other SHP Culbbers, Dock. VR quickly became my "break in blend". The BEST cake building blend ever; and a heck of a nice smoke... :cheers:

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

You might try steaming the sticks to extract leaves. That's what the folks from Tambolaka suggest for their stick version.

BTW there's a group buy for this Indonesian tobacco (Tambolaka) going on at Puff.com. Smoking some now, extremely strong, maybe 50% greater nicotine than GH Brown Rope, a velvety feeling in the smoke which I put down to its high-order strength; otherwise cigar notes and definitely the deepest tastes of any tobacco I've ever smoked.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I find this all very interesting. I just received a couple ounces for a small sampling. It looks nothing like the photos I've seen of it. It's all in ribbons with a few cake chunks here and there. Worst of all, it is bone dry. I have to ask: is it supposed to be really dry? Should it be similar in moisture to say McClelland 2015 or a little drier like the Stokkebye cakes?

So weird and really rather disappointing. I had no intentions of trying to get a new sample back into smoking shape.

 

[Cadfael]

I enjoy this blend very much!

 

[SailorJack]

Who cares what it looks like? I bought some of it in bulk and the flakes were somewhat broken up. Just rub it out, the tobacco I mean, and enjoy. VR is a great blend that any lover of Va/Pers should try ASAP. That reminds me, I need to order some more.

 

[MisterE]

I like this blend. I got a little sample from Natch (he's the birthday boy today BTW) last year. I just crumbled it up and it was fine. If I remember it was a little tastier wet than dried out. Seems like most crumble cakes (Kakes as they call them) are friendlier a little moist IMHO.

 

[Zeno Marx]

Who cares what it looks like?

because its form makes a difference in both flavor and how it smokes.

 

[gandalfpc]

It's not to be steamed like Tambolaka - that stuff is unique.

VR is just a firmly pressed cake, break off, rub out, pack loose and enjoy. I prefer it in a large bowl...

 

[Natch]

Bought several larger tins when it first came out and wasn't too impressed with it. But it seemed to have a quiet little background voice that said, "check me out again in a few years, big-boy!", so I'm waiting to see how she ages.

Natch

 

[Zeno Marx]

http://www.pipesandcigars.com/pipe-tobacco/88935/scottys-bulk-blends-vr-blend

just been renamed?

 

[docwatson]

http://www.pipesandcigars.com/pipe-tobacco/88935/scottys-bulk-blends-vr-blend

just been renamed?

I believe that is correct. They have dropped the SHPC (Sherlock Holmes Pipe Club) designation and just renamed it VR blend.

 

[Brewdude]

I was a huge fan of the VR blend and have long exhausted my meagre stash of it. Great to learn it's back in production under a different name.

Has anyone tried this resurrected version? The pic in the link shows the 'baccy in a kind of coarse shag and I remember the square logs that one had to break apart and rub out to the desired consistency. But even then they never did look like the pic in the link. Much darker too.

:?:



Cheers,

RR