DistillingJim's 2017 Grow

[DistillingJim]

This will be my first ever grow having secured an allotment a few months back. I'm finalising my seed order and current plan is to get some

- Cherry Red (Bright leaf Virginia)
- Goose Creek Red (Dark Virginia)
- Pennsylvania Red (Cigar Filer)
- Comstock Spanish (Cigar Binder/Wrapper)
- Bolivian Criollo Black (I'll probably put a bit of this aside for some perique)
- Little Dutch
- Japan 8
- Black Sea Samsun (Oriental)
- Xanthy (Oriental)

I'm mostly a pipe smoker but also partial to the odd cigar. All feedback suggestions welcome.

 

[Tutu]

What exactly do you plan to do with the leaf? What kind of blends will you be making?

 

[DistillingJim]

A bit of everything really.

I plan to get an old fridge/freezer when we move house in the new year and turn it into a curing/fermenting chamber (this may be particularly helpful living in a cold climate)

For my pipe, I'm going to order some latakia and some other bits from WLT to do some English blends. Some will be turned into perique, some into cavendish. Currently I mostly alternate between Balkan and Va/Per blends but I'm also keen to play with cigar tobaccos in blends as well as anything unusual. My other hobby is home distilling so I may also play with some home made casings although I tend not to be a huge fan of aromatics so it wont be an immediate priority.

Cigarwise my tastes are less nuanced, just wanting to play with different types of leaf and see what I can make.