Best tobacco for flavor extraction

[Str8vision]

What are your favorite tobaccos for flavor extraction? Of the seventy + pipe and cigar tobaccos I've tried so far only a handful stand out and, for me, the best of the best all have come from pipe tobacco blends. In no particular order, here are my top picks;

Sutliff "Voodoo Queen"
Dunhill "Nightcap"
Hearth and Home "Louisiana Red"
The Smoker "St. James"
Cornell & Diehl "Mississippi Mud"
Cornell & Diehl "Sunset Harbor Flake"
Cornell & Diehl "Billy Bud"

Several of the tobaccos listed weren't exceptional until they had aged (steeped) for a month or two after the flavor extraction process.

There were other tobaccos that, IMO, yielded good flavor including some I had mixed using single "blending" tobaccos but they weren't good enough to be noteworthy. The majority of tobaccos I have tried produced only fair to marginal flavor that didn't significantly improve with aging/steeping. I'm still sampling new pipe tobacco blends and am always looking for new ones to try. What are your top Picks?

 

[joelmora89]

have you tried whole leaf tobacco. real tobacco that hasnt been processed yet.

 

[Str8vision]

Early on I macerated air and sun dried organic tobacco leaves but neither produced an acceptable flavor for vaping. My thought is that the curing process used on tobacco contributes heavily to the flavor that we extract. I seem to prefer tobacco that is fire or flue cured.

 

[johni]

Excellent list Str8! Our tastes are similar and we share a preference for full-flavored blends. I've been lucky enough to try many very good extractions from several home extractors and here are a few that strike my fancy:

Milan Tobacconists "Centenary"
Hearth and Home Signature "Virginia Spice"
Cornell & Diehl "Bayou Night"
Seattle Pipe Club "Mississippi River" (compliments to boomerdude)
Milan Tobacconists "French Vanilla"

I recently extracted all four blends from the Missouri Meerschaum tobaccos at P&C. These were all designed to emulate old-time American tobaccos that were mostly smoked in cob pipes. All four are among my favorites now. Missouri Meerschaum "Country Gentleman", "American Patriot", "Missouri Pride", and "Great Dane".

 

[PaulBHC]

johni recommended a few to me that turned out well.
Louisiana Red already listed
Peter Stokkebye 80 (not sweet to me)
From johni
Virginia Spice
Danish Burley

cigarette type
American Spirit Organic (I've extracted in both pg and vg)

 

[Str8vision]

It's true Johni, I normally prefer the flavor extracted from full bodied tobacco blends. For a time I even believed that for a full, bold tobacco flavor one had to extract a full bodied tobacco blend. Sutliff's "Voodoo Queen" shattered that belief as did Hearth and Home's "Louisiana Red" although both had to steep for considerable time before reaching their full potential.

I have yet to try any of the Missouri Meerschaum tobacco blends but after reading their descriptions on P&C all four sound like excellent prospects and will be included in my next order. Thanks Johni

 

[johni]

Voo Doo Queen was one of my first batch of extractions and I wasn't crazy about it. I'm tempted to try it again but would rather swap for it than commit to a whole batch.

For those of us that never smoked a pipe, learning how to pick good blends that translate well to vaping has been one of our biggest challenges. To me, it is almost amazing how many good results many of us have attained! It's actually flattering that vendors are picking up on our success and offering some of the blends originally extracted by our adventuresome little group!

 

[Ian444]

Good thread idea Str8vision!

My favorites so far in no particular order:

McClelland Old Dog
Samuel Gawith Brown Rope No. 4 Rum
Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake
Samuel Gawith Navy Flake
Lane 1-Q
Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 cigar
Cornell and Diehl Billy Budd

These are outstanding in their own ways IMO, and they extract easily, except the cigar needs longer time in maceration, and in steeping. I'm sure I've left a couple out, can always add later.

Note - the Lane 1-Q has a strong but nice vanilla flavor in it, some people might not like this. The vanilla is definitely not subtle, its at least half of the flavor The Full Virginia Flake is my overall favorite.

I'm finding most of my extracts need around 2 months steeping to develop their flavor, only a very small minority are a good vape right from the start, and even then, improve with steeping time.

 

[dave51]

Always keep inmind any tobacco that contains virginia tobaccos have a suger content and will sweeten with age
burleys have very little suger content so dont ag e at all
McClelland tobaccos all have a catchupy taste to them because of the process they are made
SG tobaccos especialy virginia flakes are best if stored in a sealed glass jar for a few months you can see the white crystals built up on them which is sugar
Most all lanes tobaccos have a vanilla flavor added to them
I have mixed and blended pipe tobacco for many years so this is just so you will know tobaccos with a suger content will get sweeter as it ages and effect the flavors of you juices over time

 

[Str8vision]

.......................Note - the Lane 1-Q has a strong but nice vanilla flavor in it, some people might not like this. The vanilla is definitely not subtle, its at least half of the flavor The Full Virginia Flake is my overall favorite.

I'm finding most of my extracts need around 2 months steeping to develop their flavor, only a very small minority are a good vape right from the start, and even then, improve with steeping time.

I just happen to have a batch of Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake brewing, looking forward to sampling it!

I fully agree that aging often improves the flavor extracted from tobacco, in some instances I've noticed the improvement is nothing short of stellar. Two of my favorites (Voodoo Queen and Louisiana Red), tasted rather anemic right after extraction and required "months" of aging/steeping before reaching their prime.

Thanks for sharing your favorites, several will be on my next order from P&C.

 

[Str8vision]

Voo Doo Queen was one of my first batch of extractions and I wasn't crazy about it. I'm tempted to try it again but would rather swap for it than commit to a whole batch.

Having completely consumed all of my well aged sample extraction, I'm currently processing a larger batch of "Voodoo Queen" and can send you some after it's finished. Sad thing is it wont be "good" until it has aged/steeped for months.

 

[johni]

Having completely consumed all of my well aged sample extraction, I'm currently processing a larger batch of "Voodoo Queen" and can send you some after it's finished. Sad thing is it wont be "good" until it has aged/steeped for months.

I'm up for a swap later or whenever. I wish a few more folks would drop in and contribute to this thread! It's already a pretty impressive list of tobaccos, like to see it grow.

 

[johni]

Vaping Gawith and Hoggarth Black Irish X today. This full flavored, strong tobacco comes in a twist made from dark fired Kentucky and dark cured Indian tobacco. I can't say it's one of my favorites but I enjoy it occasionally. If you're a dark fired fan, this one has a big presence.

 

[usr/]

Vaping Gawith and Hoggarth Black Irish X today. This full flavored, strong tobacco comes in a twist made from dark fired Kentucky and dark cured Indian tobacco. I can't say it's one of my favorites but I enjoy it occasionally. If you're a dark fired fan, this one has a big presence.

Reading the review on tobaccoreviews.com. this sounds like some potent stuff. What nic strength would you mix something like this? I guess coil life is pretty low too? All last week I was stuck on a Titiana Rum that I mixed up. Couldn't put it down til I mixed up a bottle of Cornell & Diehl Habana Daydream #420. Love this stuff. Coil life has actually been pretty decent, especially with the Titania Cigar. Plan on more cigars coming up. Good stuff.

 

[johni]

Reading the review on tobaccoreviews.com. this sounds like some potent stuff. What nic strength would you mix something like this? I guess coil life is pretty low too? All last week I was stuck on a Titiana Rum that I mixed up. Couldn't put it down til I mixed up a bottle of Cornell & Diehl Habana Daydream #420. Love this stuff. Coil life has actually been pretty decent, especially with the Titania Cigar. Plan on more cigars coming up. Good stuff.

Coil life with G&H tobaccos is excellent. Strong, straight up tobaccos with little or no casing or top dressing make them inherently clean and I filter to 2.5 microns.

Most cigars tend to be pretty clean also due to less added flavoring, sugars, etc.

I have not tried Titania Rum, but enjoy rum flavored tobacco. Milan Tobacconists Sunset Rum is another good one.

 

[usr/]

Coil life with G&H tobaccos is excellent. Strong, straight up tobaccos with little or no casing or top dressing make them inherently clean and I filter to 2.5 microns.

Most cigars tend to be pretty clean also due to less added flavoring, sugars, etc.

I have not tried Titania Rum, but enjoy rum flavored tobacco. Milan Tobacconists Sunset Rum is another good one.

Hey, thanks for that tip, johni

 

[Les Traveled]

I wish a few more folks would drop in and contribute to this thread! It's already a pretty impressive list of tobaccos, like to see it grow.

Perhaps one day I'll be able to contribute. I just started my first two extractions about a week ago. I went with Sutliff Voodoo Queen (I guess I know a little something about Latakia at this point) and Wild Honeysuckle. There isn't a description or review of the Wild Honeysuckle yet on Pipes and Cigars. I just liked the sound of it. I love honeysuckle. I'm going to try at least one of the Missouri Meerschaum blends on my next order.

For now I'll just say thanks for the guidance. I wouldn't have had any idea what brands to even consider if it weren't for this and the Natural Tobacco threads.

 

[Ian444]

A pic of some of my favorites:



I always take a couple of these 3ml bottles to work in my top shirt pocket. I fill a bottom feeder with unflavored and use these bottles to drip a bit of flavor as required. Most of them are mixed at 12.5% extract and the cigar around 20% I think. Still waiting on some others which are still steeping. Most of them seem to reach their best at 3 months steeping, but a few are a nice vape early on. I'm not sure if steeping time gets reduced as the extract ages, I will find out in due course. Many thanks to all that helped me in my travels in the extraction process. I would never have imagined such an excellent result from extracting tobacco, its been a wonderful journey so far, thanks to you guys here

 

[usr/]

Enjoying a tank full (taifun gs) of the Orlik Golden Sliced. Boy this stuff keeps getting better buy the week. Easily one of my favorites so far. Mixed 30 ml at 60/40 pg/vg 12.5% extract filtered @2.5 micron,12mg nic. Brilliant med.light amber color, crystal clear. Great morning smok with coffee. Good all day vape for me. Have an Orlik Golden Mixture that's getting ready to try, if I can put this stuff down long enough to mix it up..........

 

[Les Traveled]

The Sutliff Wild Honeysuckle is definitely a favorite. I really wasn't sure what it was going to be. Avail out of Richmond has Moonglow (honeysuckle melon) and Wild Cut (honeysuckle tobacco), both pretty good. I guess I'm saying I expected some honeysuckle. Instead, it's a very flavorful honey with Burley and Cavendish. For me it's nice any time of the day, anywhere. It can be very nice first thing in the morning, though, with a cup of tea.

I still haven't tried the Voodoo Queen. That Latakia smell was so off-putting. I could smell it before I even opened the package. I'm mixing up some today. I bought it, might as well give it a go.