What is Your Holy Grail?

Primarily, I enjoy Virginias and a good Burley mix. But, to hold me, I need complex flavor accomplished with condimental leaf. Years of experimentation have taken place. I know that latakia must be not more than 1/16th of the mixture but it must be there.

It took a lot of years doing what you guys do all the time (trying different tobaks).

For me it was identifying my mixture of favorites with the help of Craig Tarler.

You've seen this many times before:

Captain Bob's Full Flavor Blend consisting of Latakia, Perique, Red Virginia, Black Cavendish, Carolina Brights and Turkish (Izmir). Oh yes, and with a drop of "Grape" flavor. Smoke it all day every day! This is my "Holy Grail".

In addition, I will enjoy Riverboat Gambler or Two Friends Heritage perhaps once or twice a day.

The reason I don't partake in the TOTM each month is that at one time or another, I have smoked most of these. I have found what I want and I hope the same for all of you.

Smoke what you like and like what you smoke or throw it away!

Every now & again I think I'm getting really close. And then I get distracted. Right now, I think Morley's Best is as close as I'll get to what some guy referred to as a National Joy Smoke (good Lord!). Not because of its Road to Damascus qualities but its manna-like, ready-when-you-are, always a great smoke, anytime, any place. I can smoke this blend first up or after dinner, its always good. It makes me realise that good Burley is an honest companion. But the holy part is in the blending - a little Va, a little Latakia. Truly inspired. I'm a convert.

There are simply too many blends out there, that I will probably never truly settle down with what I can consider a holy grail.

People who know me may think that I have found my holy grail in the form of Orlik Golden Sliced (OGS), but they are sorely mistaken (the crowd gasps). OGS is simply the best I have found so far. I haven't married myself to this blend, we just have a good and healthy relationship. I will continue to search for the blend that gives OGS the proverbial boot. I like the medium level nicotine, the citrus notes and the grassy flavors in OGS, but those aren't criteria I set up for the blend that may eventually take top rank in my tobacco cabinet.

Given the number of new blends being introduced all the time (even though we're in a tobacco recession), I don't see myself ever finding The One Blend, The Holy Grail or even the Big Kahuna.

I am also not exclusive to VA's. There are so many interesting kinds of leaf to choose from, that I pretty much from the first bowl decided to hunt for "best of breed" rather than "the best". With VA/Pers the crown goes to Three Nuns for the time being. There are still so many VA/Pers I haven't tried that I honestly can't say if Three Nuns is the best there is. The same goes for Orientals, Englishes, Scottish Mixtures (real ones), Burleys, and so on.

Part of my drive is about exploring, being pleasantly surprised with my findings, and sharing them with whoever wants to listen. I guess that is the holy grail for me. In that case ... WOOHOO :)

"The National Joy Smoke" was an actual slogan used in an advertising campaign for Prince Albert pipe tobacco back in the day. I didn't make that up

It sounded uniquely GI. Personally, I'd take it as a compliment! By the way, when was that slogan used? Must have been the 50's or 60's - good old days when pipe smoking was a national activity.

have a Holy Grail but it is something I will always pursue. It is like hunters and the fox, the thrill is all in the chase. I will forever be on the hunt and I find much pleasure in that. Never will the day come that I don't wonder what this blend would be like, how does it smoke, smell or taste. If I should ever acquire all the tins made then there is always blending. For me, this is how it should be. -- The word according to flake.

Chris and I are simply .. flaky

Morley's Best from C&D/Bob Runowski. It's got great burley flavor with a bit of Latakia giving it a pleasant smokiness and a little VA, too. I've got a Mark Tinsky billiard that absolutely loves it but it's great in a cob, too.

Smokey

"It's like being married for a long time, 57 years, I ain't gonna change now" (in reference to his "Holy Grail" Two Friends-Heritage).

As for the rest of you guys? I think you're all a bunch of sluts, sleeping around with every tobacco that crosses your path! :)

We may be sluts, but damn we're having fun.

"...of the three who undertake the quest for the Grail (Bors, Perceval, and Galahad), Galahad is the one who actually achieves it. When he does, he is taken up into heaven like the biblical patriarch Enoch or the prophet Elijah, leaving his companions behind." Sinless and pure, w/o guile, though we seem to be like knights errant in lands with no mercy for us.

Anyway, for me, the object of my obsession is Blue Boar Rough Cut (BBRC), now gone these 25 years. It was a blend of balance, strength and flavor, but for the mature (experienced palate) smoker, which I wasn't then. The base tobaccos were dark, rough cut burleys, with latakia and some bright VAs. Like the ass that I can be, I should have stock-piled some for the dry periods. But, in the early 1980s, who would conceive that the smokers' parade would ever end. Morley's Best is an homage to BBRC. The original sadly is really unreproducible because the base burleys are no longer grown and processed in the exact manner in which American Tobacco did. So, I flit among the stocks of raw leaf and hope against hope that some day I may get even closer.

What was the special treatment?

I like a well rounded tobacco - sometimes that means its a blend, sometimes it just means a well aged single leaf. I like sweetness. I like bold flavors. Then again I like nuances of flavor. And best of all is a tobacco that changes character throughout the bowl. I abhor tongue bite. Nicotine is necessary BUT not too much.

For example purposes ... MacBaren Navy Flake is that well rounded blend with a sweet note and just enough nicotine that I can smoke it all day but a single bowl will also satisfy. Its definately well rounded (VA/Burley) ... but it lacks depth of flavor (nuances). Pretty much what you get when you light up the bowl is what you get when you finish. For nuances McClelland 2010 (fresh, not aged) is superb. I tasted all three listed VAs at various points in the bowl - its astounding however it bites when fresh and is (so far) bland when aged. Solani Aged Burley Flake is bold enough to kick your slats out (flavorwise) and maintains a sweetness throughout the bowl but it is perhaps a bit too strong in vitamin N.

Somehow a combination of all the positives of each of these blends without any of the negatives would be smoking nirvana. I know it will never happen. I don't even seek it anymore.

and double Wow. Samuel Gawith Cob Plug. Wow. Did I say that already, well let me say it again. Wow, this is the kind of discovery that makes the search for the Holy Grail of tobaccos such a wonderful journey. The blend has a superb aroma that screams sweeeeeeet! I had got the impression that this has a rather heavy Nic Hit, so I used a rather small bowled KW 5150B. Prep was minimal, grab some leaf and pull it off the top, slice it with a razor. Was a fairly wide cut but it packed easily. No dry time, just lit it up. A little tough to get going but once lit it delivers every bit of flavor that is detected in the scent. Such a sweet flavor I wouldn't think it could pack such a wallop. Not like the kick of a mule, more of a kiss from King Kong. Gentle but it has strength and goes the distance. The tongue tingles from the nic. Highly recommended, even for those Nic-wimps out there.

I could not believe someone on TR was so repulsed they pulled the bag from their nose. I guess that just shows the proof is in the pudding not in what others think. Am I gonna hoard this, you bet your bippy I am. As soon as I wade through some more tins I have a tine of 1792 that I need to get around to also. However, 3 of the ounces have been cellared, one added to the opens and I will move on to the next john. The quest continues.

BTW: SS, Thanks - good recommendation!

1792 is great, but the plug is even better.

It is like all the things that make it so great is better conserved within the plug.

I like to cut off three thin flakes from the plug, fold these and put in a pipe, perhaps a bit of drying, the plug gets a bit moister further in. it smokes so slow and sweeet, as ckr have noticed :)

The only bad thing with this tobacco is that my flat mate hates the room note, says it stinks like manure.

CKR: you might want to try RB-plug, the tin scent is that of a ladies soap, but that is not really something that is noted within the smoke experience. That wonderful sweetness is in there tho, all the way down into the dottle. a bit lighter than the cob plug, but still as satisfying

AS far as the research indicates, American Tobacco blended their burleys' leaves, added a natural flavoring, then stored the leaves under pressure for a undetermined time, then cross cut the pressed leaves. The rough cut burleys were blended with latakia and VA bright, then cut again. The problem is that it was the exact composition of burleys was not discussed in the AT records nor the flavoring.

Bob, was that really called for? Sticks and stones .....

No, it was totally unnescessary... but I have seen that term tossed around here so much I decided to try to use it. The one good thing about being a tobacco slut is you won't get an STD!

STD = Sequential Tobacco Diversion, a chronic condition in which the smoker establishes an arbitrary sequence in which they are diverted into sampling tobaccos, then encountering a momentary sense of guilt before sampling again. There is no cure. The only abatement is maxing out one's credit card or checking account. For the 12 step program which addresses STD, one is frequently required to join the Quaffer's Twelvist Movement: All the world is based on the number 12 or multiples thereof. (12 months, Apostles, signs of the Zodiac, and 2 six packs of beer, 2 x 12 bottles of beer in a case).

It'd be Haddo's Delight, or Full Virginia Flake!!!!

Hmmmm, the symptoms sound vaguely familiar. Perhaps this is true. Yes, Yes it is true! Eleven new tins to sample is just plain wrong, I should have gotten one more. Aug! missed that Star of the East Flake.

Morleysson is onto the Twelvist Movement. Dispatch the twelve member Tobacco Strike Force immediately. *end transmission*

Actually, I have always been fascinated by prime numbers. If only mason jars came in flats of 11 or 13 instead of 12 . . .

Gotta love it STD= euphemism for tobacco slut/pouch hopper. The Twelvist Movement also another brilliant observation. :) I'm reminded of a term from my high school days, the girls that were...well...easily had, where often referred to as morally casual.

variation is the key, of course, and further on, the luxury of having such a large number of different tobaccos seem to be coming to an end..

do you eat the same food over and over and over again, each day, every meal ? Those who do are few and surely autistic in some way.

then of course, there are those who only eat pork and grape juice.

If all I could get to eat was Whoppers, I'd be a happy man, but alas... Oh and Coca Cola .. every day .. Man that would be awesome.

Do you mean whoppers the chocolate covered malted milk candy or Whoppers like in Burger King (Half a cow ass fried in fat with 3 wods of cheese and oh yeah just a little rabbit food to make it healthy)? IMHO, either one would be acceptable but I think the malted milk candy would probably be a bit more artery friendly.

arteries schmarteries!

Whopper me!

well...I have recently dug into one of the last tins that I have with me (the vast majority of my pipes and tobacco are awaiting my arrival back home...with another year of age on the tobacco...which is quite welcome)...but I opened a two year old tin of Mac Baren VA flake...and was reminded why I love it and hate it...

The flavour...sheet and tart at the same time...a bit of a grassy aftertaste...it is wonderful...but oh does it bite if I am not careful. I have been pampered by my OJK and others that don't mind if you slightly over-puff them...but I'll be darned if I can keep this stuff from biting me save keeping it just barely alight...

but the flavour...if I could find that flavour and lose the bite...I would be in heaven. I have still yet to try...I miised it on the TOTM and don't have it with me...but it is my next guess in trying to get the flavour minus the bite...any other suggestions?

Cheers,

Josh

Mac Baren VA flake can be a bit of a hassle. If you fold and stuff rather than rub out, you may find the beast a lot easier to tame.

I hear you on how grand the flavor of MacB VA flake truely is Josh - I love it. Yes, it tends to bite pretty hard but only when moist. Take a flake out and let it dry for a day - yes, you read that right - let it get as dry as dust. Then crumble it and fill your pipe and you'll find the bit totally gone and the flavor, surprisingly, will still be there. I discovered this by accident when I left a tin on the shelf too long (before I found mason jars) and was so satisfied with the results that now whenever I pop a tin of VA Flake I immediately set it out to dry before smoking any of it. I do the same with Navy Flake too - not because Navy Flake bites but because I've grown used to smoking these two sister blends this way. Give it a shot - it really will kill the tongue bite for ya.