Adventures in Blending - American Blend
Posted by KeenanW on Friday, 25-Jan-2008
I wanted to blend a good, affordable smoke for daily use, and so I came up with ingredients that, in theory, ought to produce a rich, American blend cigarette. I thought to use three good tobaccos to produce a blend with roughly the correct proportions for an American smoke- 50% Bright, 35% Burley, 15% Orient:
American Spirit 100% U.S. Grown
I've read that this tobacco is 94% Virginia, which burns at a higher temperature and brings out the flavor in other components, so I started with this.
Bali Red
This tobacco is itself a blend of Virginia and Orient, and so, in theory, this would provide a good deal of Bright and plenty of Orient for my blend, especially since I don't have any Ramback on hand.
Two-Timer from Daughters & Ryan
A sweet, distinctive, 100% Burley tobacco.
For the Virginia base to this blend, I combined one part American Spirit with two parts Bali Red for this reason: Bali is a much smoother and more interesting smoke to my taste. American Spirit, while it may have the proper burn characteristics, is far to harsh, in my opinion, to be smoked alone on a daily basis. Even at proper moisture levels, American Spirit can be harsh and leave a burning feeling in the mouth and back of the throat. So I used the American Spirit sparingly. Why did I use the American Spirit at all? Because I was anxious to see if the burn characteristics would, indeed, bring out the other flavors in the smoke, and, since American Spirit is almost completely Bright, I thought it might contribute some of its own merits to the blend: American Spirit, while it's not a complex smoke, is also not totally lacking in flavor.
Two parts Bali Red provides much of the base for this blend, and it's a rich, wonderful tobacco for blending. It also provides, in theory, an ample orient component.
Last, I used two parts Two-Timer. This Burley is double-toasted and won't diminish the quality of the smoke. In fact, it's so sweet and distinctive that it's bound add a lot to the blend, and, since this is an American blend, a good portion of it should be Burley. You can't go wrong with Two-Timer.
So how did it turn out? First of all, the Two-Timer really shines through in the first part of the cigarette. It's a very bright, modestly sweet smoke, the brightness, to my taste, being contributed from the Bali Red and the sweetness from the Two-Timer. There's also a distinctive spiciness about it, especially toward the end of the cigarette. I think this must be the Bali plus the remnants of harshness from the much-diluted American Spirit. But the spiciness is not unpleasant: it's similar to the spiciness in Dutch recipe tobaccos (just the spiciness: there's no Halfzware flavor here). The tobaccos combine to produce a very distinctive flavor. The "loudest" component is definitely the Two-Timer.
Setting out to achieve a typical American blend cigarette, I think these three particular tobaccos do more than provide something akin to a Marlboro. This is a very flavorful smoke - very aromatic and pleasing. I could definitely use this blend for smoking daily, but it doesn't taste much like a typical American blend.
Keenan
Comments [ new ]
- Re: Adventures in Blending - American Blend
- Posted by KL on Friday, 25-Jan-2008
I have mixed all of these tobaccos quite a bit. This blend should have come out being almost a totally Virginia tasting smoke.
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The Orient part of the Bali Red is very slight so I don't think it contributed much in that department.
Which American Spirit did you use ?
The Dark Blue is a great source of Virginia for blending but the light blue tends to add some harshness.
There are other sources of Turkish for blending that have a more pronounced Turkish taste than Bali Red.
(that's one of my Fav tobaccos) What other tobaccos do you have ? I bet you seen that the fine cut of the Bali Red made it hard to mix well with the cuts of Two Timer (T.T.)and the(A.S.) American Spirit.
If you want to, let me know what AS you have and what other tobaccos you have on hand and maybe we can have some fun blending the smoke your looking for.
kl
- Re: Adventures in Blending - American Blend
- Posted by KeenanW on Friday, 25-Jan-2008
The American Spirit is the dark blue can - 100% U.S. Grown as opposed to the Original Blend. I think it did taste very Virginia, of course, but with the exception that you could definitely taste the Two-Timer's distinctive flavor shining through. Very bright and sweet altogether.
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I've also got some Cockstrong on hand, some Bali Blue, a pouch of Look-Out (can you tell I like strong tobacco?) and some McClintock Light. By the way, did I find one of the last cans of McClintock out there? I bought it last week, but I've read it's now made in Poland and shipping in bags now? I've also got a tin of Drum.
I don't have any Turkish like Ramback at the moment, as I definitely would have added some to give it more Orient. I agree that the Orient isn't appreciable in the Bali Red, which is why I said "in theory" it would add some Orient.
Anyway, that's what I've got. I think my blend might be a fairly good attempt at an American Blend (perhaps minus some of the Oriental aroma).
Keenan
- Re: Adventures in Blending - American Blend
- Posted by KL on Saturday, 26-Jan-2008
absolutely...I'm sure it is a very tasty blend, all the components are top quality. I like strong tobacco also. I never thought Cockstrong was as strong as it's billed to be but that's just me. In contrast, McClintock light isn't very light is it, but very tasty all the same, I like it much better than the Red. I always thought it should have a different name than McC Lt since it's so different from the red
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The CS is a strong source of Burly and a week source of Orient, and CS is also a nice American blend by it's self, I think I will try giving it a boost of Two Timer to see if I can make it even more of a standard American Blend, maybe the same thing to McC lt . Never smoked look-Out and never seen it on a shelf but I have heard of it. Do you have Peter Stokkebye's Turkish Export on the shelves where you live?
BTW Bugler doesn't have squat for Turkish in it taste wise
There is really very few authentic Turkish blends out there. If you live in Michigan you can buy D&R off the shelf in a store (only a few locations, but it can be done) and I've heard of Balkan Prospect (not D&R) makes Balkan Premium brand, never seen it sold anywhere.
Out of the 3 D&R Ramback Turkish blends the Ramback Gold is the least light (to me) and Ramback Balkan is the most light, they are all very tasty and I have all three on hand at all times. My most used blending components are any of the Rambacks for the Turkish, American Spirit, Windsail Platinum, PenHooker FF for the Virginia and Two Timer, Venguer ( FF or Platinum), Rowland (FF or Platinum) for the Burly and the secret weapon is Athey, used very very sparingly for the sweet, nutty component, no one can ever tell that's what I used
- Re: Adventures in Blending - American Blend
- Posted by dave z on Saturday, 26-Jan-2008
I agree w/ your assesments of McC light and Bugler. McC light tastes FF to me and I can usually only barely detect turkish in canned Bugler ( the pouches are much better tasting and less stinky too). I ve always shied away from light tobaccos as I like FF, but the McC and the Bali light 1/2zware were both pleasant surprises. The McC does have a distintive flavor and the Bali, while not as pungent as its big brother can hardly be called light. BTW, I also tried Gambler light, the only way to rid your tongue from their "flavour" is SOS, the pre-soaped type. Funny though, my wife says its alright (gambler light). They might be hurting sales calling some of these light.
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- Re: Adventures in Blending - American Blend
- Posted by KeenanW on Saturday, 26-Jan-2008
I'll have to try Athey, as I do like a slightly nutty flavor as you described. As for the Cockstrong, it reminds me of a very mild cigar. It's not so much the strength, but that uncanny, cigar taste that appeals to me. I wouldn't smoke Cockstrong as a mainstay, but I like it occasionally with a coffee. Look-Out is a descent, strong, very inexpensive Halfzware; the pouch I have was all dried out when I opened it. Bugler is, to my taste, inferior tobacco. The only thing that's worse is some of those flavored Burleys that they sell in pound bags at all the smoke shops: some of those are okay, but I tried one that smelled and tasted like rotten apples. I agree that McClintock Light is great - I hope they still make it.
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- Re: Adventures in Blending - American Blend
- Posted by KL on Saturday, 26-Jan-2008
Oh they still make it alright. The Athey straight is not nutty at all, but as a blend component and used very sparingly on, say... the standard blend that everyone does, you know... the Ram Sail Platinum Blend.
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1 part Ramback, 1 part Windsail Platinum or A.S. dark Blue and 1 part Two Timer, used sparingly on this blend really brings out a nutty and sweet taste.
If you can taste the Athey clearly then there is a little too much in it. it will also do it on the 1 part Venguer Platinum and 1 part Ramback Gold blend. (the Camel blend)