Kyle Weiss
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2011
- Messages
- 11,988
- Reaction score
- 7
I swear, these days it's not so much "I just tried," but "I just tried a few bowls over the course of a few days..." It's been a rough summer with interesting ups and downs, so to hell with consistency. :lol:
My good friend jacquesdubois here in Reno is the closest thing I have to a regular "smoking buddy," and he made an order with a few things, Ten Russians being one of them. Like me, he isn't tap dancing around too much with tobacco, he's going for the gusto, and has only been at this for a couple of months. His palate is damn good, and likes everything from a modest Frog Morton to a bowl of Penzance.
When we opened the tin, all ten of the Russians inside literally punch you in the face. Smokey, sour and heavy with earthy qualities. The "plugs" are interesting, and have a particle board kind of quality, I suppose this is the "pressed" form of tobacco I have heard about, where everything is pretty much done (blending, aging, cutting) and then it is smashed into neat, square blocks. It rubs out perfectly, no need to get out the Bowie knife (David or otherwise) to go to war on this "plug."
Immediately I noted this stuff reminds me of C&D Pirate Kake. Except a little less sweet, believe it or not. Ten Russians is meaty, like smoking a slab of the finest dry-rub brisket you could imagine. Well-rounded, but not too strong. The earthiness, buttery-tart flavor is completely savory, even a little salty. A great presentation of Cyprian Latakia and the "wine-like" notions it has. Like most "Lat bombs" I smoke, there seems to be some kind of threshold where even with a ton of Latakia, there's a ceiling with the flavor. More Lat does not equal more Latakia flavor, at least to me. I seem to taste more Latakia in mixtures with less added. Overall, though, because of the well-rounded approach and result from this stuff, it's hitting all of my marks of a good mix. I like it more than Pirate Kake because of this.
Nautical notions aside, I would feel perfectly happy chopping cottonwood for a campfire while smoking this. Very much so not a good "public smoke," as my neighbors were wondering who was burning a mattress when I smoked it the other night. DGT is phenomenal, and the nicotine is on the medium-to-strong side, so heed warning. I have now smoked this in a cob and briars, and both do well, although the cob mutes the Orientals a little and ads a touch of that "something sweet" only a cob can provide.
Did you ever have tobacco that solidifies in the bowl, even if you pack it loose enough? This is one of those. I only need to tamp once or twice, with the weight of exactly 1/4 the psi of a gnat's wing. Like a rock. It smokes fine, but it just turns into a stone in the bowl. All you really have to do is occasionally relight. I remember Pirate Kake doing similar things--must be the cut/pressing.
Like a fire-roasted beast-feast fit for ten Russians, twenty Hungarians and maybe a dozen Ukrainians. I dig it.
8)
My good friend jacquesdubois here in Reno is the closest thing I have to a regular "smoking buddy," and he made an order with a few things, Ten Russians being one of them. Like me, he isn't tap dancing around too much with tobacco, he's going for the gusto, and has only been at this for a couple of months. His palate is damn good, and likes everything from a modest Frog Morton to a bowl of Penzance.
When we opened the tin, all ten of the Russians inside literally punch you in the face. Smokey, sour and heavy with earthy qualities. The "plugs" are interesting, and have a particle board kind of quality, I suppose this is the "pressed" form of tobacco I have heard about, where everything is pretty much done (blending, aging, cutting) and then it is smashed into neat, square blocks. It rubs out perfectly, no need to get out the Bowie knife (David or otherwise) to go to war on this "plug."
Immediately I noted this stuff reminds me of C&D Pirate Kake. Except a little less sweet, believe it or not. Ten Russians is meaty, like smoking a slab of the finest dry-rub brisket you could imagine. Well-rounded, but not too strong. The earthiness, buttery-tart flavor is completely savory, even a little salty. A great presentation of Cyprian Latakia and the "wine-like" notions it has. Like most "Lat bombs" I smoke, there seems to be some kind of threshold where even with a ton of Latakia, there's a ceiling with the flavor. More Lat does not equal more Latakia flavor, at least to me. I seem to taste more Latakia in mixtures with less added. Overall, though, because of the well-rounded approach and result from this stuff, it's hitting all of my marks of a good mix. I like it more than Pirate Kake because of this.
Nautical notions aside, I would feel perfectly happy chopping cottonwood for a campfire while smoking this. Very much so not a good "public smoke," as my neighbors were wondering who was burning a mattress when I smoked it the other night. DGT is phenomenal, and the nicotine is on the medium-to-strong side, so heed warning. I have now smoked this in a cob and briars, and both do well, although the cob mutes the Orientals a little and ads a touch of that "something sweet" only a cob can provide.
Did you ever have tobacco that solidifies in the bowl, even if you pack it loose enough? This is one of those. I only need to tamp once or twice, with the weight of exactly 1/4 the psi of a gnat's wing. Like a rock. It smokes fine, but it just turns into a stone in the bowl. All you really have to do is occasionally relight. I remember Pirate Kake doing similar things--must be the cut/pressing.
Like a fire-roasted beast-feast fit for ten Russians, twenty Hungarians and maybe a dozen Ukrainians. I dig it.
8)
