Natural tobacco- European vs US

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Right basis, wrong conclusion.

Traditional American blends were topped or cased, usually made of burley. (Some call this style Danish)

Traditional English Blends weren't (,supposedly,I'm just repeating by osmosis,there was a English Law prohibiting it)..

This is no longer true in either case... Look at McC,C&D,GLP, etc... the majority of their tobacco's aren't topped or cased... Now look at all the G&H and SG stuff that have their 'signature' on it....

Trying to base what blenders are better based on their location is a no go... Plenty of 'English' style blends made all over the world, just as theres tons of topped/cased blends made all over the world.

The odd thing? (Both simply my opinion) I think one would be hard pressed to find a better Aro than SG's Braken Flake (made in the UK) and THE Balken Style English blend has to be GL Pease Odyssey (made in the US)
 
Agree w/ Puros - a whole pile of serious, inarguable benchmarks are blended by houses that have NO physical connection to the style of tobacco. The best Danish aromatic comes from Ireland, as far as I can tell, the best English Mixtures are blended in the USA, my favorite Virginia is blended in Denmark, and my favorite Oriental now comes out of Germany. Lots of "virginia" is African, if I remember right. Good, well made blends are good, well made blends.

There are better and worse crops, better and worse leaves within crops. If you think your giant 12 dollar tub of Sir Walter Raleigh has the same grade of tobacco in it as your 12 dollar tin of Pease.... :?:
 
As for the claim of European tobaccos being superior because they are sans chemical additives:

http://www.orlik.dk/sw3057.asp

What tree does sodium benzoate grow on? And is that our old friend propylene glycol?

Unless a blender specifically warrants that they don't use additives, they (or someone in their supply chain) uses them.
 
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.smokers.pipes/browse_thread/thread/9ac27fdc611cd566#
Our store says that the European tobaccos don't have the additives that tobacco made in the US has. As a result, tobaccos that are blended in Europe are better.
Any thoughts?
Who is right?
Bub
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I dunno. I'm certainly not an expert but it seems McClellands has their dedicated fans. There's more. LMAO!!!

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.smokers.pipes/2006-02/msg03915.html

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.smokers.pipes/2006-02/msg04071.html
 
Most regulations about additives nowadays come from the European Union bureaucrats, not from individual national governments. There no longer are national laws about such things. That is to say, all national legislations have to comply with Union directives.

It would be interesting to know what is permitted specifically at this time; much has changed in Community policy over the last few years. Genetically modified crops, for example.

Which doesn't mean that things that cannot be sold in Europe aren't there in tins shipped to the USA, where legislation is different.
 
I just finished "The Pipe Smoker's Tobacco Book", by Robert F. Winans, available from www.pipesand cigars.com. Very informative as to the origin, chemical make up, and processing of tobacco, generally, and pipe tobacco, specifically.

I highly recommend the book.
 
As Doc Manhattan mentioned above, the issue with much of the European stuff is the heavy use of humectants and preservatives (i.e., Orlik, K&K, SG, G&H, etc., etc.). The additive lists are easily available on the internet because of the various European disclosure laws for manufactures.

See a previous thread on this here:

https://www.brothersofbriar.com/the-tobacco-jar-f2/what-s-in-your-dunhills-t4303.htm?highlight=dunhills

On this side of the pond ... the only thing that C&D, for example, adds to its blends by way of a preservative is a food grade product called Mycoban which is a mold inhibitant. Distilled H2O is used for moisture. This is, at least, what Craig Tarler told me when I asked him about it a while back. As for the other big US botique blender (McClelland), I have not searched it out but I am sure someone has brought it up with one of the McNeils at some point, and if so do let us know. Casings are toppings are a whole different thing, it is the preservatives and humectants which are the additives to be concerned with here.

As for the US-produced OTC stuff - much seems to be chock full of all kinds of preservatives and moisture retainers, much like the higher-end Euro stuff. A big 'yuck' in my book - but then again, have you ever read the labels on the side of a bag of *insert your favorite mass-produced snack here*? It is all relative.
 
shootist51":94q8zgrj said:
I just finished "The Pipe Smoker's Tobacco Book", by Robert F. Winans, available from www.pipesand cigars.com. Very informative as to the origin, chemical make up, and processing of tobacco, generally, and pipe tobacco, specifically.

I highly recommend the book.
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I second this recommendation - I ordered it a while back along with the reprint of the Dunhill "About Smoke" catalog and found it a very interesting, and quite informative, read.
 
I did a search about a year ago to find the most pure tobacco possible, I found two that qualified. First from C&D: Organic Pipe Dreams, which is certified Organic. The other is from Natural American Spirit, who sells cigarettes and RYO tobacco (which I smoke in my pipe on occasion). NAS has an Organic pouch as well as other blends that are not organic but claim to "not have additives". You could google any of these for more info.
Short of growing and processing your own these are about the best options for anyone who want's "pure" baccy.
 
When ya get right down to the nuts and bolts even that 'organic' tobacco isn't 'additive' free...

We used to carry these bags of 10-10-10 on our shoulders as we walked up and down the rows before planting...then during the growing season we'd load that 50 gallon drum on the back of the tractor with •bug spray...

Even the 'organic' guys use something to make the ground more fertile, they also need something to keep the bugs away. I've heard the arguments. I've hauled 'organic' chemicals, trust me, they'll kill you just as dead as 'inorganic' chemicals.


•Nicotene is one of the deadliest poisens available to man, you'd think it would kill the bugs. Only problem is you have to concentrate it to get it to deadly levels.
 
Hell, I can't even find it now. Looks like C&D may have discontinued it.
Glad I stocked up last winter.
You right P_B true Organic anything is hard to distinguish/prove. I felt that I had read somewhere that it was raised here in Va by Native Americans according to their handed down methods of growing and it was Certifed Organic, which is supposed to mean it gets inspected & tested to prove it. My thoughts are that there can be some amount of certain chemicals but after a threshold is passed it's no longer "certified".
I just appreciated the pure baccy taste (it did have extract of agave, prune, and vanilla to prevent mold).
Anyhow, I know I like FVF even if it's chock full of DDT. Same goes for Devil's Holiday, or Manhattan Afternoon, I likes em an I'm a gonna smoke em even if they kills me :D .
 
Handed down indian methods?
Har!
Hey just for poop and pagentry dig a little and find out who owns that American Spirit Tobacco...whitest lookin injun I ever seen...
 
puros_bran":zyqxw5ce said:
Handed down indian methods?
Har!
Hey just for poop and pagentry dig a little and find out who owns that American Spirit Tobacco...whitest lookin injun I ever seen...
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I did a year ago, just took me some time finding my links. (P_B sorry bout the links but they're quite lengthy to try n quote fer ye).

http://organicsmoke.blogspot.com/

http://www.tobaccointernational.com/0908/feature2.htm

These guys run Organic Smoke and were involved in Santa Fe's (Am. Spirit) program for awhile. Sun Butler seems like the injun you was lookin fer.
 
Just to get back on topic...

American horseshit is better for you than European horseshit... It has the added benifit of flavoring your tobacco with Hops n Barley flavorings...
 
I don't understand how the additives of cigarettes and 'American' aromatics can be extrapolated to all forms of tobacco, from wherever. Everyone expects 'American' aromatics and OTCs to contain PG, whether manufactured here or there, and the FVF and Union Square are expected to age, largely because they don't have that in them. Specifically, is there any specific URL, that says that FVF, or Dark Flake for examples, are treated with PG? And if so, does it age despite that, or is the idea that PG inhibits the aging process inaccurate? Lakelands don't age? I'm not saying they do, but that's more the question than whether PG, with no known adverse effects on smokers is present or not. Where do all those crystals come from? I hope to resist the too common unseemly tendency to knee-jerk defend something I like, such as FVF, based on emotional desire, rather than facts. Accordingly, I'm uncomfortable with the painting of all of either with a broad brush without factual basis. :cyclops:
 
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