Quote:
Originally Posted by danreeve
This is just my opinion, and nothing more. The KFC is a cigar you are either going to love, or it's not going to be for you. It's very unique and I don't think there is anything else on the market like it. If you like it or not... that's up to you, but I don't think there will be a middle ground.
I don't see it as being a trend but then again, I'd never even really heard of the tobacco being good for premium cigars until the Leccia release. So maybe?
Dan
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What's interesting is how I came across the "Dark Fire" tobacco. Like I mentioned earlier, I went out and sourced all of the tobacco for my blends. While at one of the warehouses in the DR, I had asked for specific tobacco that I wanted plus asked to try some samples of tobacco that I may be unfamiliar with. In doing that, I was able to smoke some very different tobaccos from many different countries. I have played around with tobacco from the obvious places, and tried tobacco from Peru, Columbia, Germany, Italy, and the USA among others. When I came across the "Dark Fire" it was introduced first to me as Darkafina a wrapper grown in Italy. I was literally blown away by not only the aroma, you could nose it from 5 feet away, but the color, texture, and consistency was unlike anything I have seen. It was a flawless leaf that really got my heart pumping with excitement. I initially tried it as a wrapper, but it proved to be a little over powering with the base blend that I was already working on and the burn qualities were not what I had hoped, so I tried it in the filler. I needed to give this tobacco a fair shot, it was too unique not to. I ended up using a 1/4 leaf of it. (Half of half a leaf). It was only when I decided to make a go of it, did I find out it's true origin, and that being Kentucky and Tennessee. The tobacco is called "Dark Fire" and it is wood fire cured after harvesting. The oak fire smolders inside the barn and the smoke from that fire is absorbed in the tobacco. It is by no means a new process. The Native Americans used this technique, but it was not used much in the premium cigar world. Make no mistake this is an incredible leaf with very distinct qualities, trust me I had my reservations about it, but when it's good it's good. Again, I have only used a 1/4 leaf of this in the blend, you notice it right away on the foot prior to lighting, but the flavor is subtle. I like to say that it ties the blend together, like the Big Lebowski's rug. It doesn't overpower, or take away from the blend, it's just a hint of smokiness. If your a scotch whisky drinker, it is very similar to using peat to dry the barley.
I hope this info was useful...fire away if you have any questions!
~Sam