This summer has been unusually cool and rainy, that is until the past 10 days or so. It has turned into the heat and humidity that we normally face in summer. But that’s not really important; the big thing is that I’ve been busy with some projects, and haven’t checked in for awhile.
One thing that’s kept me busy is developing some blends for Frenchy’s Pipes. Frenchy’s a great guy who sells fairly priced pipes with a nice selection of estates. We’ve been friendly for a few years, and now Frenchy’s selling some tobacco, so I asked him if he’d like some blends of his own. He was excited about the idea, so I made three blends, sent them and modified the blends after feedback from Frenchy. He will soon have an English, Virginia and Burley blend in tins with his label. I’ve also sent a sample of a “no-holds-barred” blend to him. This has enough of a kick to make you want to sit down. I can’t wait to hear from him about it.
I’ve also been doing a lot of ”matching”. A number of tobaccos have disappeared in recent years, and I’ve been inundated with samples sent by customers to see if I can come up with something similar. It’s a challenge to do things of this nature, and some of these samples are going to present me with puzzles that will take some time. But when I find a blend that works, it’s very rewarding. Reverse engineering is a lot simpler with electronics and the like, as it’s very easy to determine what the components are. Tobacco is much different as the leaf changes from year to year, and there are so many things one can do to change a blend. It’s been fun, and I hope to finish these matches in the next week or so, so I can get back to working on new projects.
Keep and eye out on http://pipesandcigars.com/ruouhobl.html in the next month or so. Very soon you will see our next blend called Stogie, which is a true pipe tobacco made for cigar smokers.
We’re gearing up for Richmond, but more about that in my next post.
