Beiträge von Fermat

  • Pfeife des Monats November: Die schönste "nur in der Schublade gelegen und auf die richtige Gelegenheit gewartet"- Pfeife

      


    I bought this pipe a long, long time ago. I was on vacation, spending some time with my aunt and enjoying the company of my three cousins, hanging around the beautiful landscapes "dans la Bretagne". It was a good summer. I bought the pipe as a present for my father altogether with a pair of earrings for my mother. He had only three pipes. This is the one that survives. I smoke it rarely, don't know why, but each time is a pleasant one. I use it for va's or va-per's. The bowl gets very hot but the smoke doesn't. It is humble but, certainly, a good and friendly pipe.

    Cheers

    Louis

  • HU Tobacco African Line Nyala

    Thanks Thorsten! Glad you like!

    I totally agree, for me this is a master example of skills, accuracy and good taste.

    Will be a blend in my bar for a long time!

    Hugs

    Louis

  • HU Tobacco African Line Nyala

  • HU Tobacco African Line Nyala

    Nyala. African Line. HU Tobacco. Blended by Hans Wiedemann. Manufactured by Kohlhase & Kopp. Bu-Va-Per-Cigar (Brazil, Havano).

    The last three African Line blends load cigar leaf. Nyala is the first in order of appearance; after came Manyara and Khartoum. There are Havana and Brazil leaves in Nyala, that all together with Perique spice a base formed by Red Virginia and a good dose of Burley. This last is cased with a pinch of chocolate. I feel it closer to the European than to the American taste.

       

    Before lighting the bowl scents of: dried citric rinds, chocolate, pepper, vinegar, nutmeg, pickles. At first sight: any type of browns. The cut is a potpourri: tiny cubes, scattered broken flakes, threads of different sizes. I dare to think it has so much to do with a comfortable combustion and the perfect fusion of flavors.

       

    The first puffs smear your face with a dense smoke, fully loaded of floral nuances; the conjunction of all those leaves produces a very aromatic fragrance with plenty of exotic spices, a carnival of sweet and sour, toasted and fresh.

    The Red Virginia gives shape and outline the air-cured leaf flavor that definitively leads the way. These initial notes are very cheerful and full of nuances: by the side of the Burley, bittersweet chocolate, some kind of nutty creaminess and sweetness. Both (Va-Bu) combine and complement perfectly. Besides that, the Burley helps to spread his buddies’ flavors so efficiently. Perique draws attention from the beginning, adding that characteristic fruity sourness and the funny tickle on the back of the nose. Both cigar leaves by their side provide some strange spiced and no nosy. They complete the whole picture by being in the right place with that perfumed woody touch.

    As you leave the first third, the flavors start to evolute without denaturing. And the accents swing. In the chocolaty Burley, the bitterness gains vigor and weight. Perique progressively leaves the roll of fermented fruit and enjoys playing as hot aromatic spice. Virginia offers more of that rich toasted side as the cigar leaves rise the bitter without losing the floral spicy touch. But all of this is just guessing because if something must be said is that this mixture is above all a blend: a blending of tastes, flavors, colors.

    When I smoked it in too depth bowls, felt that the ending turns a bit bitter and cigar tone overpasses the rest but maybe it was me. In average capacity pipes the balance of flavors was perfect until the last thread.

    I’m not used to burley-based blends, but I could smoke this tobacco on a daily basis. Besides that, I’m sure it still could teach me more. I didn’t go through its limits. For me the combination Cigar Leaf-Perique is really accomplished: spicing but not overwhelming or being out of tune. It gave me good pipings. Being an absolute profane in the blending art it seems really hard to reach such a perfect balance between these particular and distinctive flavors. The goal was to build a global taste effect and here it is.

    Greetings

    Louis

  • HU tobacco-Sammelthread

    Zitat von TheStoneOfThor

    Hola Louis,

    the Flanagan is DTM-stuff, so he should have slept a night or two over

    the VA/O bags in Lauenburg before creating this one.

    Saludos cordiales

    Thorsten

    Hi Thorten!

    Thanks but I realized it when I saw the sticker without any useful information about the date of production :D:DActually the image referred more to the careful choice of oriental each time Mr. Wiedemann use it.

    Anyway, is a superb blend and I love it.

    Greetings

    Louis

  • The gesture of smoking a pipe

    Zitat von Karlo

    Hi,

    this was the long version, now my own in short:

    I like to smoke my pipes and tobaccos ;)

    greetings, Karlo

    Indeed Karlo! A perfect match with the summary. What I like the most in the text is the sense of humour. Behind the philosophical slang, there is a big smile. and the simple joy of smoking his pipes and tobaccos.

    Gruß!

    Louis

  • HU tobacco-Sammelthread

    Hi everyone!

    Asmara is one of the things that will put a smile on my face the day I die. This month, I added two more blends from HU to the list: Flanagan and Special Fayyum Kake.

    - Flanagan has this perfect Va-O group. In a naive way, I could imagine Mr Wiedemann rummaging every corner of the K&K/DTM storage, looking for the perfect oriental to each occasion. The combination with the Kentucky and the Perique is an ideal match.

    - Special Fayyum Kakke: It seems to me a peak in this sort of revision of the English style. Velvety, tasty, imaginative, just perfect.

    Greetings

    Louis

  • The gesture of smoking a pipe

    Hi everyone again!

    I let a link at the bottom that allows downloading a fun article titled "The gesture of smoking a pipe". It belongs to a posthumous volume named Gestures that gathered several articles written by Vilém Flusser about that matter. I found this one in particular, fun and exciting and even if I'm not sure to agree with everything said there maybe could be useful for someone. Help yourself! :):)

    the author

    Here, the link to wetransfer: https://wetransfer.com/downloads/9339…10084700/c2059b

    Greetings

    Louis

  • HU Tobacco - Livinghardt (Clans of Scotland)

    Thorough, meticulous and almost cartesian methodical but no less beautiful and pleasant review! Thanks for opening that window!

    Zitat von TheStoneOfThor

    Eigentlich kein Aromatenliebhaber, liebe ich aber Spezialitäten wie den Ennerdale
    Flake von Gawith & Hoggarth, den Rum-Plug Salty Dogs von DTM und, wenn es
    Latakia sein darf, den Navy Flake von Samuel Gawith oder Bob’s Chocolate Flake,
    ebenfalls von Gawith & Hoggarth. Ob der Livinghardt mich derart begeistern kann,
    muss sich herausstellen…

    My fondness for aromatic is very much like that. Maybe Perfection instead of Bob's. And this collection attracts me but I don't find a way to introduce them in the rotation.

    Let's see what happens in the future!

    Gruß!

    Louis

  • HU Tobacco – Tigray... Drei (?) Engel für Latakia (Mein Eindruck)

    Hi Thorsten!

    I did it but I’m just waiting for his answer. Mr Reeves is the quicker gunner in town! 😂😂Let’s see if Karlo has the proper reply!

    Greetings!

    Louis

  • HU Tobacco – Tigray... Drei (?) Engel für Latakia (Mein Eindruck)

    Zitat von Karlo

    Hello Louis,

    Zitat von Fermat

    ...Nevertheless, It lasts as something to check if the original formula of Tigray changed or not, given that Dark Virginia can't be one of the "sweetest grades of Virginia" as it's in the HU description. But it seems that this is something that only Hans Wiedemann himself could state for us.

    yesterday morning HU-Bosch informed me that they sent my questions directly to Hans Widemann.

    So I am excited to his answer.

    Gruß karlo

    supercalifragilistico espiralidoso!!!😂😂 Great news!!

    Let’s see what tell us the creator of all of that!!! 😂😂

    Greetings!!

    Louis

  • HU Tobacco – Tigray... Drei (?) Engel für Latakia (Mein Eindruck)

    Good morning everyone!

    Finally, we have something to begin with. Yesterday, Jeremy Reeves from C&D answered about Dark Virginia. Here I let you part of the mail with his response:

    "Dark Virginia simply refers to a style of tobacco that is now grown all over the world, including in Africa, Vietnam, China, Brazil, Italy, France, Russia and many other countries but which originated in Virginia. The leaf to produce Dark Virginia comes from the upper third of the stalk, and if allowed to mature and deeply ripen, these leaves can then be cured by flue method to achieve a deep reddish or reddish-gold color. Typically, the darker color denotes higher levels of nicotine and lower levels of sugar, whereas, the brighter the leaf color, the higher concentrations sugar are to be found.


    While I have heard from hobbyists of something called Fire Cured Virginia, I am not aware of any such product, and know of no tobacco that is first flue cured and then fire cured. In fact the only tobacco that I am aware of that
    is processed by two methods of curing is Latakia, which is fully sun-cured Oriental that is then hung over smoldering fires of aromatic woods and resins for several months, far longer than would be necessary to simply cure the tobacco.

    As for tartness or sourness, this characteristic tends to come more from Bright to Orange leaf, which has more sugar and a little fruitier flavor. Dark Virginia tends toward more muted, earthy sweetness.
    These are the natural characteristics of the tobaccos in question. However, most pipe tobacco manufacturers use additional materials and methods to produce sweet, sour and tart flavors that go well beyond the natural character of the tobacco.    "

    So, in conclusion:

    - I was wrong in assuming that Dark Virginia is fire-cured. It was naive on my part to assume that "Dark" was related to some Dark Fired curing method. It is simply one of the grades of Virginia.

    - Nevertheless, It lasts as something to check if the original formula of Tigray changed or not, given that Dark Virginia can't be one of the "sweetest grades of Virginia" as it's in the HU description. But it seems that this is something that only Hans Wiedemann himself could state for us.

    Gruß!

    Louis