Joe Harb, Rick Newcombe, and I discuss our approach to judging the Balkan Sobranie Throwdown
Monday, May 2, 2011 at 9:58AM | Neill Archer Roan | Permalink tagged Balkan Sobranie 759, Balkan Sobranie Throwdown, Joe Harb, Rick Newcombe | in Dialogue, Opinion, People, Pipe Shows, Pipe Tobaccos, Successful Smoking 
ON THE PIPES WE USE
JOE: Rick, I chose the pipes for tasting the blends because I know I can enjoy the type of tobacco in it, and selected the same year of manufacture and shape because those are the only ones that have a similar heritage, but most importantly, a good track record for the way they smoke Oriental blends. Also, I am confident that there will be small differences between the pipes. I chose which to assign to the sample blends on a simple random basis. Had we been tasting a different type of blend, I would have selected a different set of pipes which would meet the same expectations as above.
RICK: I am pretty casual about what pipes I smoke the blends in. I’ve just been smoking my regular briars, whatever suits my fancy, and the tastes have been consistent in all cases. I keep the pipes clean anyway. However, I have decided that clay pipes are overrated as a tool for really tasting the tobaccos. i bought four clay pipes for the testing, and I really can’t tell the difference in taste when I am using a clay pipe versus a briar pipe. And clay pipes smoke so hot and are much less fun than smoking a good briar pipe.
NEILL: Rick, I laughed about your comments about clay pipes. Let me just say that I HATE them. Not only could I not tell any difference at all in the flavor of the tobacco, but they were so ungodly hot I had to smoke using a glove. And I’m talking holding on to the things by the stem.
JOE: A factor which is hard to quantify is the pipe. As it is smoked it also warms, and this helps to keep the steam and flavors as an aerosol. I had a pipe that had so much wood around the chamber, and particularly at the bottom half of the bowl, that I just could not get it to heat up no matter how hard I coaxed it. The aerosol was always condensing and collecting in the draught hole.
RICK: One point I forgot to make is that I have tried prince-shaped pipes during this experiment, and then billiards, brandy glass shapes, pears, apples, dublins, pots and other shapes – and, like my experience with the clay pipes, to me the differences in taste are negligible if at all. In other words, I can’t tell the difference. This is obviously another good source for an endless debate, like so many other pipe smoking topics.
WHAT ORDER SHOULD THE CONTESTANT BLENDS BE SMOKED IN?
JOE: I was interested in Neill’s approach to the tasting of the contestant blends before the original. I chose the opposite path, because I feel I can better tell if my taste perceptions on the second sample are consistent with the first, and can better pinpoint and differences from one to the other.
RICK: My first week was exactly like Neill’s in that I smoked nothing but these four blends. I plan on smoking my other blends and then weaving in the Sobranie and blends X, Y and Z periodically. There is a reason for this: I prefer the “feel” of a pipe or tobacco — meaning the experience I have with it — to any type of quantitative analysis. My subconscious mind is processing my impressions automatically and instantly telling me what I like and don’t like, and what is similar to Sobranie and what is different.
NEILL: In this second week of judging, I switched smoking order. I started by smoking the 759 and switched off to the contestant blend. I’m still smoking one contestant blend per setting and concentrating on that blend. I find that smoking the contestant blends after the 759 is a different experience than smoking the contestant blends first. At this point, I’m not sure which is a better order. They both highlight differences between blends, but in different ways. I think I prefer smoking the contestant blend first, myself.
WHAT SMOKING TECHNIQUES HAVE WE USED TO JUDGE?
JOE: I prefer to have a pipe ready for the morning because my hands are too stiff when I get up. I like to load a pipe with the blend I plan to smoke in it after cleaning so that it will season with the blend. That way I get the taste of the tobacco instead of the dregs from cleaning - there will always be residues, no matter how well I clean it. I always clean new pipes before I smoke them, and then season them overnight.
To season the pipe, I clean it, then after an overnight rest I load it half way, leave it overnight, then start the break-in. I think of seasoning as getting the flavors of a blend into the wood, and caking as a buildup on the walls.
RICK: That’s really interesting about loading the pipes the night before. Jess Chonowitsch told me that Poul Rasmussen used to load a pipe at night, do a charring light, and then let it go out so that the pipe would be ready for smoking first thing in the morning. Poul Rasmussen said this was his favorite pipe of the day because the flavors get “married” during the night. I know it sounds weird, but I also know that this works. I am going to start doing it again. I used to do it all the time and then got out of the habit because of travel or whatever. One time recently I loaded a pipe with 965 and did not smoke it for three days and it was excellent. The reason I waited three days was because of this contest — the tobacco samples had arrived and I wanted to try them.
IS IT BETTER TO JUDGE THE BLENDS IN A MOIST OR DRY CONDITION?
RICK: Neill, as an experiment, I would suggest that you load four pipes with the tobacco and then dump out each bowl on a piece of paper or newspaper, and put the pipe next to the appropriate pile of tobacco. Spread out the tobacco a little and let it dry out for a few hours or even overnight. Then re-load each bowl and smoke them. I would be curious to see if the flavors changed for you with the drier tobacco.
JOE: This phenomenon of enhanced flavor with dried blends has always intrigued me, and it is a topic rarely discussed. I think we can logically identify at least 2 factors that can relate to understanding what is going on. When the tobacco is combusted, everything that can be atomized becomes part of the smoke. Water is, I think, the prime vehicle for the flavors to remain in the smoke, but at the same time, it tends to dilute the relative amount of flavor elements in the smoke. When you remove some of the water, the smoke will carry relatively more flavor elements and there is still enough water to keep it atomized until it exits the pipe. The sensation is that the flavor is enhanced. The second factor is that not all the atomized smoke exits the bowl. Some of it will remain in the underlying tobacco, which is not warm enough to keep it atomized. These components are then easier to re-atomize from the underlying tobacco because they are already warmer and it doesn’t take as much heat to get them back in the smoke. I think it is this second factor that intensifies the flavor as one progresses down the bowl.
RICK: There is also another important factor, which is that wet tobacco is difficult to keep lit, while drier tobacco stays barely smoldering – the key to enabling the pipe smoker to settle back and enjoy the experience. How can you enjoy pipe tobacco if you keep tasting the match or butane or lighter fluid? These three blends are vastly enhanced, for me, by being dried out a little.
NEILL: Rick, I decided to take your suggestion to start comparing the tobacco blends after they have had a chance to dry out some. I find the results very interesting in that some of the blends change a lot and some less so. I find that the 759 is a little less sweet than it was moist, but that the overall body of the tobacco increases. The contestant blends seem to change somewhat as well. To my palate, the latakia tends to become more prominent. I wonder. Is this due to a change in the burning temperature of the tobacco?
Reader Comments (5)
For instance, some people believe that Latakia does not age like Virginias, and thus there is no point in "cellaring" English blends. Personally, I think this a load of bull. But a number of tobacco experts say it is so. I believe that one of the reasons this Balkan Sobranie 759 tastes so good is because it was blended 25 years ago and the flavors have had that much time to "marry." This puts the three blenders at a totally unfair advantage, yet I am amazed at what an extraordinary job they did.
But is this right? Do English blends stay the same or get better over time?
Another question is, should one use particular pipes -- such as the prince shape -- to test the tobaccos? My feeling was that a few smokes with the clay pipes told me everything I needed to know about these blends, and it was more important for me to evaluate them as I smoked all of my normal tobaccos (many of which are like the aged Sobranie) in my normal pipes, while occasionally smoking blends x, y and z to see how they fit in. Would I continue smoking these blends if I weren't a judge in this contest?
I know some pipe smokers who never smoke blends that have not been aged for at least 10 years, and I know other pipe smokers who only smoke the blends they bought last week. Is there a right or wrong answer to this?
Joe Harb has offered a scientific explanation for why drier tobacco brings out the flavor better than wet tobacco, yet I know many pipe smokers who are constantly trying to re-humidify their tobaccos or trying to find the perfect mason jar so no air whatsoever gets in. I used to be that way, but now I prefer tobacco that is crispy on top and cold (moist) when you reach your hand inside. I have no idea why; I just know that this is what I like best.
I really am curious to hear different opinions on some of these subjects.
First let me say that my explanation for why drier tobaccos bring out more flavor isn't based on any science that I know - it is just a way I explain it because logic does tell me there are different dymanics going on.
Secondly, I have really enjoyed our conversations and have learned a lot from both you and Neill, and that is one aspect of the hobby being so compelling - the learning never stops. Thanks for the Throwdown for letting it happen.
I think all types of tobaccos will change over time when tinned, with some changing more than others. I consider a blend that has been aged a long time is a really unique blend when opened. If you immediately smell the aroma after the tin is opened, you will get a scent that is always unique, and it can dissipate very quickly, so if you don't capture it, you will never experience that aroma sensation. Like you, am curious to hear opinions on the points you raised.
Joe
Rick, I used to always load up any new tobacco into a Mason jar to maintain the moisture content. I knew that when I eventually cracked it open for use, I'd probably need to dry it out a bit. I'm primarily a Virginia man, and my current favorite blend, Russ Oulette's Anniversary Kake, requires a bit of drying out before loading. However, in the last several months, I've been so busy with work, I just let the tobacco sit in it's 1lb bag until I had a chance to cellar it. I was worried that it might dry out entirely and be ruined, but I found that after weeks of just sitting out, it tastes wonderful and tends to be just as you said, "crispy on top; moist in the middle". Now this may be that because it is packed into cakes, the compression allows it to stay moist longer. All I now, is that my new cellaring method for this particular tobacco is to leave it out for a month or so, set some aside for smoking, than store the rest away.
--tim (Milwaukee, WI)
Joe