Just about anything from Watch City is top notch.
Do you have a "personal" blend? One you make yourself?
- Thread starter JCinPA
- Start date
Back in late September of 2015, I used a Smoking Pipes bulk sale to mix 5 parts Mac Baren Va #1 with 2 parts straight C&D mixing Latakia, enough for four quart wide mouth jars. Five years later in October 2020, I tapped one of the jars and was slightly underwhelmed with the results but not enough to chuck in the entire experiment. I pulled my last 8 ozs of 2016 McClelland mixing Cavendish from the cellar, unjarred the lot, remixed everything together and rejarred it.
This morning, a little over a year later, I decided it was now or never. I cracked this jar, smoked back-to-back bowls in an IMP meer with coffee and was quite pleased with the results. The combination of Lat and Cav did exactly what I desired which was take the edge off of the Va #1 which I like but can be somewhat bitey alone. The mixture produced a nice American style crossover English with a touch of sweetness and a little more backbone than commonly offered. Aside from a nice smoke, my amateurish effort has also given me a new appreciation for small batches, most of which I'm certain require a more thoroughly dedicated effort than this one.
You aint kidding! I just got Ahabs Comfort and Old black magic.....WOW!
I have been following a group on FB "Old Codgers Smoking Pipe" and a gentleman developed a mix that a lot of people love called "Ghost of Frog Morton" he said it doesnt exactly taste like frog, but it scratches his itch. I just got the 2 components today and mixed them up, it smells delicious!!!!
I just saw a match guide for McClelland that said Sutliff 515 RC-1 was a match to McClelland #5100
I would disagree with that assessment; however, 515 may still be to your liking as a mixer.
Ok, this is going into my regular rotation!!!! Doesn't taste anything like Frog Morton but its good in its own right.
- Thread starter
- #28
JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
That's what I'm talking about! A simple mix of a couple of blends, nothing too complex. That sounds interesting as heck!
Ok another one I picked up on FB:
Haunted Pirate ship
50/50
C&D Pirate Kake
C&D Haunted Bookshop
But you MUST let it sit and do its thing in a mason jar for a minimum of 30 days to tone down the latakia and let the burleys meld together. I have a friend that swears by it. I have 2 more weeks to go on my batch before I can try it.
P.S.
I made an 8oz batch of ghost of frog morton I loved it so much!!! So now I am on the look out for more simple blends like this, take 2 or 3 blends and make something spectacular!!!!! I feel mad scientist mode coming on now LOL
Haunted Pirate ship
50/50
C&D Pirate Kake
C&D Haunted Bookshop
But you MUST let it sit and do its thing in a mason jar for a minimum of 30 days to tone down the latakia and let the burleys meld together. I have a friend that swears by it. I have 2 more weeks to go on my batch before I can try it.
P.S.
I made an 8oz batch of ghost of frog morton I loved it so much!!! So now I am on the look out for more simple blends like this, take 2 or 3 blends and make something spectacular!!!!! I feel mad scientist mode coming on now LOL
A friend of mine says he mixes Sillems Green Label and Mac Baren Solent Mixture for an Aromatic with a Tropical Island kind of vibe.
Despite the fact that his description of the fruity, rum, coconutty flavors make it sound way too sweet for my tastes, I'm almost tempted to try some just because he calls it "Solent Green".
I love it when someone does this and am constantly looking for more ideas like this. I'll write it down and keep it for later in case I get a hankering for super sweet fruity, rum, coconutty flavors lol
I use 50/50 mix of Sutliff 515RC and 507S (stoved) for my 5100 replacement red VA base.
My affinity for Burley/Cavendish/Virginia blends, and my love of Peterson Sherlock Holmes got me to looking at what I had on hand.
I have Prince Albert (Burley) which is pretty good and Captain Black Royal (Cavendish/Virginia) which is pretty good, so I tried a 50/50 mix of the two. Cha-Ching! The two together are more than the sum of their parts. Very complimentary and very very close to Sherlock Holmes. In a blind test, I couldn't tell you the difference.
Peterson Sherlock Holmes is $5.94 an ounce, and the Prince Albert/Captain Black mixture is $3.56 an ounce - almost half the cost.
Nowhere as great a deal as Field and Stream Match (Burley/Cavendish/Virginia) at $1.87 an ounce bulk, but the Sherlock Holmes taste is worth the expense and I may wind up making my own instead of buying it.
I have Prince Albert (Burley) which is pretty good and Captain Black Royal (Cavendish/Virginia) which is pretty good, so I tried a 50/50 mix of the two. Cha-Ching! The two together are more than the sum of their parts. Very complimentary and very very close to Sherlock Holmes. In a blind test, I couldn't tell you the difference.
Peterson Sherlock Holmes is $5.94 an ounce, and the Prince Albert/Captain Black mixture is $3.56 an ounce - almost half the cost.
Nowhere as great a deal as Field and Stream Match (Burley/Cavendish/Virginia) at $1.87 an ounce bulk, but the Sherlock Holmes taste is worth the expense and I may wind up making my own instead of buying it.
- Thread starter
- #34
JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
That's great, Phil! I haven't tried a burley/cavendish blend. Partly because SWMBO likes my vanilla blend. I have to try this.
Burley and cavendish go very well together. You won't be much cavendish, but as a condiment it's good.
Some years ago, someone gifted me a tin of Sillems Black.
Straight up, it nearly poltergeisted the dang pipe. I could smell the violent tin notes for days even after sealing it back into its black crypt. I know Sillems has a bit of a cult following, but that was more than enough for me. I quickly ran to some Presbyterian to seek pipal absolution.
But I can understand why some would blend them into more pedestrian standards for the added zip.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
It occurs to me that some Virginia flake, like PS Luxury Twist or the Newminster 400 Superior Navy, might mix well with some Sir Walter Raleigh Regular or Half & Half. Probably because I like all 4.
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