Homemade Balkan Sobranie?
- Thread starter BrewinHooligan
- Start date
I did not. The casing was so minimal and I truly believe there is a positive benefit to using it. From my experience with rolling cigars I can see how the casing isn't really something you can taste, but helps to smooth the smoke
Another silly question, but how do you get such a small amount of casing evenly distributed throughout a pound of tobacco?
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Never mind, I see it comes in spray bottles...simple enough
Yup. Spray, stir, stay, stir, etc until evenly coated. Then let dry until at desired moisture content and seal it up. The hardest part is the shredding and after a conversation with pipe maker Ian Barnes I will be buying an electric paper shredder to shred my tobacco. Him and a friend of his have processed tobacco this way with excellent results and it is not a significant investment to get something that will work for my purposes. At that point shredding will take minutes and not hours.
Couldn't help but try some of this tonight. Prominent flavors are sweet citrus from the Virginias and the spicy orientals. I could not detect much of any Latakia flavors which was a little disappointing and the flavors were a little young/green. It was very smooth though and creamy with hints of toasted nuts. It was very unique for me and I feel like this will age very well. I will let this rest for a little bit and then revisit more and do a side by side with the real thing.
Sent Ian Barnes a sample of this. He has smoked about 6 bowls so far and is asking for a half pound as he has grown very fond of it. Lights very easy and burns nice and cool for a VA blend. I should note that Virginias tend to bite the shit out of me but this produces nice fluffy billows of smoke without tearing up my mouth. There is almost a perfume aroma to the room note that I am surprisingly enjoying and typically don't care for floral/perfume anything. Probably need more 3rd party unbiased opinions. The snork is very spicy and I enjoy that quite a bit. Definitely want to order some bulk Latakia to blend in as I feel that will make a very pleasant compliment to this.
Agentskull
BoM Feb 14
really loved to see the evolution of this project. you were able to process it really consistently by hand.
Thank you!! It was very labor intensive and after talking with a few people, the next time I will be able to process and shred much faster. I didn't clock how long it took, but I can guarantee it was more than 6 hours of work by hand and with a knife. Enjoying the finished product now makes it all worth the effort though and a pound of pipe tobacco will go a very long way for me.
Agentskull
BoM Feb 14
maybe you should mason jar a few to age to see how it evolves over time.
Done and done! I think I need to try to hide a large jar away from myself though.
@BrewinHooligan can you give us an update on this blend if you still have some left? I stumbled across this WLT kit last night while browsing for info on the Perique process.
I still have some left. It's really good. I have some of the real thing to compare it to, I just haven't tried it yet. I will try soon so I can give some feedback to that.
Ok @JZBdano, I have just finished off a bowl of the real deal. the kit from WLT is not an exact copy, but it is actually pretty close. The real thing seems to have a little more Latakia smokiness but they are both creamy and smooth. If you are having a hard time finding Balkan Sobranie or don't want to pay the retail or marked up prices, the kit will get you close and will save you a ton of money. A pound of pipe tobacco is a lot... You will spend quite a bit of time processing/shredding but it's worth it IMO.
@BrewinHooligan thanks for the comparison. I am interested in processing and blending so I will probably get a kit sometime.
@JZBdano no problem at all. One suggestion to anyone that buys the kit would be to buy an ounce or two of Latakia in bulk to add to the kit to get even closer to the real thing. Add a little at a time. Let it sit a week or two and test before adding more as it does take some time for it all to meld together well