I believe there are three different types of tobacco blenders in the world.
First are the Professional Blenders. These are blenders who make their living by mixing different varieties of tobacco into the commercially available pipe tobacco we buy. They are blenders like Joe Lankford, Russ Oulette, Craig Tarler, Carl McAllister. The number is too long to list them all.
Second, you have the Tobacconists. Now, I’m not saying they aren’t professional, but they don’t blend the same volume as the professionals. I’m talking about people like Jon David Cole at The Country Squire in Jackson, Miss. These are people behind the counter of tobacco shops who still truly blend tobacco. They Virginias with Burleys and add a pinch of this or that to make house blends. (For the sake of this discussion, they don’t include shop workers who open a bag of Lane Ltd. or Sutliff bulk pipe tobacco and pour it into a jar with another name.)
The third are us amateurs and home blenders. Like amateur chefs, we like making something different by using a list of “recipe” ingredients but not following the recipe directions or measurements. I have done this myself and just didn’t get what I wanted. That’s when I turned to Jon David Cole and explained my ideas which resulted in my two private blends.
There are quite of few other amateurs who have taken it a lot further than I did. I’ve seen forum discussion by those who have spread tobacco out on trays and sprayed it with various things like root beer extract, bourbon, rum, red wine, coffee, etc. All in the effort to develop a pipe tobacco with a distinct aroma and taste. I am fascinated with what they do, but haven’t taken that leap yet.
That leaves what I call the home blenders and you guys know who you are. You start with a tobacco you don’t like but don’t want to toss the whole tin in the trash. So, you said, “Let me mix some Carter Hall in with it and see if its better.” And it was.
“Hey! This cherry flavored tobacco has a medicinal taste, what if I mixed it with a chocolate flavored tobacco?” Voila! A tobacco that reminds you of a chocolate covered cherry is created.
For others, it happens when they get to the last bit of tobacco in a tin. There’s not quite enough for a full bowl, so you add a little of something else. Eureka! You like it and start just mixing it together all the time.
I know some who get really serious when doing this and have taken it to another level. A friend on one of the pipe forums, for example, ghostsofpompeii created a blend by mixing Sutliff Vanilla Custard, Sutliff Chocolate Mousse and Sutliff Créme Brulee. Others have tried it and rave about it. There are many pipe smokers who have done similar in an effort to find something new or different.
Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with any of the commercially available blends on the market – other than some of them being constantly “out of stock”. Most home blenders buy and smoke a lot of retail blends. I think it’s more of a matter of pipe smokers being on a quest to find the ultimate pipe tobacco to their taste. And, while there are some who have become perfectly satisfied with just smoking the same tobacco day in and day out, most of us like to keep trying different blends.
For us, it’s more about the “hunt” than the capture.
