Semois pipe tobacco as snuff.

Yeah try it, it’s kind of incredible. Not even going to describe it but it’s pretty damn awesome as a snuff. 

Agreed!  :slight_smile:

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@Cobguy it’s a nice pipe tobacco and not quite like anything else. I consider it burlys weird uncle. But as a snuff it’s kind of amazing. I assume you’ve tried it too.

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what’s you guy’s process to convert it into snuff? I may well try it.

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@bob and @Cobguy is there a particular brand or blend containing Semois?

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@SammyD13 Vincent Manil pipe tobacco

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Honestly I just ground it into a toast grind and didn’t do anything else with it and Zanaspus is right the tobacco. It comes in a three ounce block which is more then it sounds like since it’s dry. It’s a heirloom tobacco grown in Belgium and it’s available in Belgium in a few different commercially available blends but in the States it’s Vincent Manil. It’s also a really good pipe tobacco that’s a little odd. It’s type of burly but really it’s more like burlys weird uncle.

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Found that some is available stateside for $25 3.5 ounce. That is about what St James Perique leaf runs by wet weight, but the Semois is dry. Could definitely be worth experimenting with. @Bob would you suspect the tobacco is unique due to the strain or perhaps the curing method? Does it smell like it was highly fermented?

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Well I know the strain is is unique. In my reviews of it. I say if you like 5 brothers you’ll like this, since I suspect that Semois is the sixth brother they don’t talk about much. He’s somehow cruder then the rest and also more sophisticated. The cure seems pretty straight to me. It’s seems like the other thing otherwise then being a rare strain is just where it’s grown. You know how Cuban tobacco has a very distinct terroir that is instantly notable? There is something similar going on here too. If you ever wondered what the description of a tobacco having a mineral taste, you can figure out what that means by smoking this. It’s very clearly closely related to burly but not quite since it’s got a very near burly quality to it. There is a touch of sort of cigarish but not quite too. Then there is there is a floral note that doesn’t seem like it should be there with the other flavors but it’s there and also pretty distinct, and it works really well with the rest of it. If you’ve ever had certain oolong teas that are said to have a floral taste it’s a nearly identical flavor. Four seasons oolong is the best example I can think of to demonstrate that profile (yeah never got that component from tobacco before). Lastly I would bet the curing of it goes like this. Sun cured it really has a sun cured quality to it and then toasted. I don’t know that for a fact but it seems like the only way you’d get the qualities it has in taste and coloration. And finally that 3.5 ounce is dry very dry and it feels like a lot of tobacco for 25 dollars. Now as a pipe tobacco try it cause there isn’t anything like it but it ghosts pretty hard so careful which pipe you use. You may or may not like it but it’s unique enough to be a must try (a lot like durian fruit I love it but I could see people hating it too), as a snuff I can’t imagine anyone not adoring it.

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Last year I was interested in Semois tobacco (suspecting it could be great for snuff making) and had spent loads of time reading every related piece of info. This tobacco is grown in Semois Valley, which is a very congenial place for tobacco growing. The soil, microclimate and special double-curing (air curing and toasting) method makes makes this Burley strain so unique.

Here’s a short and nice writing about Belgian tobacco:

https://dutchpipesmoker.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/sunny-semois/

P. S. A very interesting blog this!

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reminds me of how antique it feels.

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“I say if you like 5 brothers you’ll like this”

I’d agree with that … especially the older pouches.

Yesterday,  I cracked open a pouch that still had the “tax stamp” intact!  :slight_smile:

~Darin

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it’s certainly not the same but their is some clear relation between the two. Both are strong and dry however the Semois is pretty complicated in it’s flavor even if it doesn’t seem to be on first glance.

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I have enjoyed it as both pipe tobacco and ground into snuff. However @SammyD13 really puts it into perspective when he states it is the same price per ounce as St James Perique. For a snuff I would certainly choose the SWS.

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it’s cheaper then the SWS much cheaper. He’s talking about the same price per ounce as the base leaf used in the SWS (or at least the type of leaf). 

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Thanks @bob. That makes sense.

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@tinhuey if you’re a pipe smoker I’d say buy some smoke some of it and snuff some of it. If you’re not a pipe smoker I’d say find two other people who are interested in the snuff split the costs among your self if you can’t break the price into an even three the person buying and grinding it should pay a little less. It will be a lot cheaper then buy a big tin of St James from SWS. Though not having tried that snuff I imagine they’re both awesome in different ways and that one of the biggest differences is the time and skill that SWS applied to make the snuff. :slight_smile:

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and maybe just getting whole leaf Perique might be an even better plan, since whole leaf is the cheapest way to go with any tobacco. Once someone makes it into a consumable form the price has to go up.

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The whole leaf St James Perique I’ve gotten has been moist in the extreme. I’ve heard some estimates that generally speaking, whole leaf produces about 30% of its weight in snuff. For Perique, I would lower even that considerably.To put it in perspective though, Perique tobacco flour is essentially a “flavoring” for snuff blends. I don’t believe you want to snuff pure Perique or even half-and-half. I can notice Perique in a blend when it composes 10 percent or less of the blend. Overdoing it will muck up the scent. 

If you get some Perique flour, it will go a long way blending less-expensive leaf like burley or Vigrinia- or with ready-made snuff, for that matter. 

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SWS St J.Parish is a blend of virginias,rustica,perique and all of them slightly toasted I think.

I’m not sure that this is an easy blend to copy…

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