Post by slowroll on Nov 25, 2017 11:42:46 GMT -5
I had a revelation. I'm generally not a lover of Straight Va or VaPer blends, preferring latakia blends, but I stumbled on a way to make at least some of them enjoyable indeed. I find Va to be harsh with a taste of new oak shavings, like an overoaked chardonnay wine. I found Fred Hanna's approach of baking a tin to work wonders. A tin of Haddo's Delight baked for 5 hours at 200 degrees turned it into a mellow, nutty smoke without bite or that new oak taste. It was more like a properly barreled chardonnay in an old barrel. It was so good, I'll probably smoke it often in the mornings. Fred Hanna says it sort of emulates lengthy aging, he may be right. Worth a try. Might mellow out stuff you find too sharp. Here's a link to Hanna's article. www.reddit.com/r/PipeTobacco/comments/4za4mq/notes_from_the_tobacco_bakery_by_fred_hanna/
