Webmost was kind enough to share a wad with me a few years ago. I still have a bit left. I agree that it is a great wrapper. It's the only CT that is worth using, from a flavor point of view.
Blending Thread
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I don't say my supply is completely tight.
I do say my supply is down to where I want to be a tightwad.
There is more FX Smith's Sons CT shade available.
It's just not the wad batch.
I have some stored here, & there's a ton more at the old factory.
It's completely dry, hence too fragile to ship as is.
If there's interest, gimme time, I'll condition that which I have here, sort it for quality, & see if it's worth sending.
If not, I'll secure more from the old factory and do likewise.
All genuine CT valley shade.
Would trade for Nic. Hoping LO Esteli viso comes back in stock.
I do say my supply is down to where I want to be a tightwad.
There is more FX Smith's Sons CT shade available.
It's just not the wad batch.
I have some stored here, & there's a ton more at the old factory.
It's completely dry, hence too fragile to ship as is.
If there's interest, gimme time, I'll condition that which I have here, sort it for quality, & see if it's worth sending.
If not, I'll secure more from the old factory and do likewise.
All genuine CT valley shade.
Would trade for Nic. Hoping LO Esteli viso comes back in stock.
I used to let my stash of leaf dry out and then condition it before I used it since I didn't roll very often. Then I thought that since a dried out cigar can never be brought back to it's original glory then I should make sure my leaf never fully dries out. Now I keep it in a cooler where it stays flexible.
You mention that the stuff you have is "completely dry" Do you think that's a problem?
You mention that the stuff you have is "completely dry" Do you think that's a problem?
No.
It's air-cured... Dried in a baccy barn; not fermented in a pilon. So never has been conditioned.
Air-cured, not fermented. Interesting. That is the detail I've struggled with when buying leaf. The term "curing" can sometimes be confusing. My understanding is that curing is when green leaves are hung in a barn and slowly turn brown. Then they are fermented by pilon or kiln. I thought that if leaf was not fermented ( a process different than air-curing) then it wasn't as good. Both LO and WLT do mention fermenting on their websites but as I said, these terms seem to be interchangeable sometimes.
I started a thread about this back in Dec. 2016 ( https://www.botl.org/threads/is-it-fermented-or-not.88773/ ) and my confusion still exists 5 years later. If you say it's OK to let the leaves dry out then it must be OK. I'm very much an armature.
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Not sure what's in it, but this Blissfecto is the best I've tried from him.:
The skin appears to be some of the Indo I sent him, scored from FX Smith's old larder. Look how smooth and shiny he has stretched it. Got himself a nice plumpfecto shape to it, tapering both ways. Might be a bit young, cause it went out halfway thru. I need to give the others he sent me more time to season. Prolly didn't help that I never took them out of the baggie. But a very nice blend to match the voluptuous shape.
Muy Rico.
The skin appears to be some of the Indo I sent him, scored from FX Smith's old larder. Look how smooth and shiny he has stretched it. Got himself a nice plumpfecto shape to it, tapering both ways. Might be a bit young, cause it went out halfway thru. I need to give the others he sent me more time to season. Prolly didn't help that I never took them out of the baggie. But a very nice blend to match the voluptuous shape.
Muy Rico.
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Thanks for taking a flyer on it! Yeah, I like to imagine it would have burned with some dry time. Lately I've realized I should think about keeping ligero out of the second half area since according to DeluxeStogie that stuff is very hydroscopic and gets wet during the smoking process...
I kept a template of my wrapper for that so I'll give it another go soon and try to improve the burn.
So help us out ... What was in that plumpfecto?
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Seems to me the wrapper was FX Indo, and the binder and filler were from that not-LO, not-WLT channel I've told you about. It's also possible that the filler is WLT Corojo: I rolled a bunch of random things during that week and I might have done some Corojo-based rolls in addition to the other-place rolls. In either case I used binders from that other place, and the ratios were 3:1 seco:ligero.
It's taken me a couple of weeks to devise a blend to commemorate the death of our dog Sophie. Now that I have, I wish I could share what's in it. There's three (what appear to be Dominican) seco leaves which wound up in a mis-labeled WLT bag. Here's the obverse and reverse sides
Note how one side is much darker than the other. Note how these leaves tend to be raggedy.
Anyone who can guess what they may be, feel free.
So, three of these, one Olor viso, a Bronceado wrapper as binder, and a Los Rios wrapper as wrapper.
My batch of Bronceado arrived smelling like raisins. That, to me, denotes remnants of fermentaion. So this stinkage will prolly need six months or so to dissipate. Once it does, I have high hopes.
Note how one side is much darker than the other. Note how these leaves tend to be raggedy.
Anyone who can guess what they may be, feel free.
So, three of these, one Olor viso, a Bronceado wrapper as binder, and a Los Rios wrapper as wrapper.
My batch of Bronceado arrived smelling like raisins. That, to me, denotes remnants of fermentaion. So this stinkage will prolly need six months or so to dissipate. Once it does, I have high hopes.
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If your color balance and contrast are correct, that resembles LO Honduran seco or Piloto volado. Although I've never seen a raggedy-ass LO Honduran leaf like that.
Yeah, they are ragged.
And they don't smell Honduran.
Looking for some wrapper suggestions. I’m going to bind up using LO Nicaraguan Binder as a constant. Same with WLT CV Corojo Seco 2006 & WLT Corojo Viso. Changing up the Ligero every 2 sticks. 10 total to fill up a 9 x 52 mold. Length I’m shooting for is about 5-6”. Some considerations so far are WLT Criollo 98, Bronceado, Los Rios.
Edit: I’m looking for flavor over strength.
Edit: I’m looking for flavor over strength.
Looking for some wrapper suggestions. I’m going to bind up using LO Nicaraguan Binder as a constant. Same with WLT CV Corojo Seco 2006 & WLT Corojo Viso. Changing up the Ligero every 2 sticks. 10 total to fill up a 9 x 52 mold. Length I’m shooting for is about 5-6”. Some considerations so far are WLT Criollo 98, Bronceado, Los Rios.
Edit: I’m looking for flavor over strength.
Criollo 98 is too small to wrap that large of a log
Bronceado doesn't burn worth a crap
That leaves you w/ Los Rios
I recently scored a couple pounds WLT Nic Habano viso and a couple pounds WLT Corojo viso. I'm loving Nic lately. The corojo I like, but The One Who Must Be Obeyed thinks it stinks awful, and I must admit it instills a furious morning mouth.
Parenthetically, I'm liking these little visos because of the natural shape & size of the leaves. Sounds trivial, but works out handy. If you simply split out the midrib and fold up each half, you entube the shape of a plumped up delicado. OTOH, if you split out the midrib, whack each half in half, then shyift the middle of each whack toward the end, then you entube a natural evenly filled corona.
Anyhoo, I'm bored rolling coronas cause they're such a snap to do. I'm shifting back to delicados for a bit. They're a longish perfecto tapering gently toward the foot, filled to be plumpest about a third from the head, and again taperingt toward the head. That's if it works out ideally, of course. It's a challenge.
Anyhoo, here's my endeavor: I want to blend a delicado out of one or both of those two new visos, one which changes flavor as it burns along the way. The delicado will tend to do that as the proportion of filler to binder & wrapper changes because of taper. What I'm looking at is what binder & wrapper might enhance a blend with both these visos in it. Leaves must be a good size to cover the long and odd shape. I don't mind using a wrapper for a binder.Here's my best candidates on hand:
Los Rios wrap
Olor wrap
FX CT shade wrap
Bronceado wrap
Ec seco shade wrap
I also have some mystery dark wrap useful as binder, but I dunno what it is
Dom seco as binder
Rene seco as binder
Where should I start, ya think?
Have you tried the two visos with any success?
Parenthetically, I'm liking these little visos because of the natural shape & size of the leaves. Sounds trivial, but works out handy. If you simply split out the midrib and fold up each half, you entube the shape of a plumped up delicado. OTOH, if you split out the midrib, whack each half in half, then shyift the middle of each whack toward the end, then you entube a natural evenly filled corona.
Anyhoo, I'm bored rolling coronas cause they're such a snap to do. I'm shifting back to delicados for a bit. They're a longish perfecto tapering gently toward the foot, filled to be plumpest about a third from the head, and again taperingt toward the head. That's if it works out ideally, of course. It's a challenge.
Anyhoo, here's my endeavor: I want to blend a delicado out of one or both of those two new visos, one which changes flavor as it burns along the way. The delicado will tend to do that as the proportion of filler to binder & wrapper changes because of taper. What I'm looking at is what binder & wrapper might enhance a blend with both these visos in it. Leaves must be a good size to cover the long and odd shape. I don't mind using a wrapper for a binder.Here's my best candidates on hand:
Los Rios wrap
Olor wrap
FX CT shade wrap
Bronceado wrap
Ec seco shade wrap
I also have some mystery dark wrap useful as binder, but I dunno what it is
Dom seco as binder
Rene seco as binder
Where should I start, ya think?
Have you tried the two visos with any success?