It probably ranks as one of the most enjoyable smokes of my life, but it started with primitive origins as many good things do. Some pipe-smokers noted that you could use a pasta press to make cake presses of your favorite tobaccos, so one was acquired and testing commenced.

Early results were not promising. In particular, most advice involved using Virginias and topping them heavily, which simply produces massive amounts of dark liquid oozing from the press and a low-nicotine, mild but almost flavorless puck.

Throwing caution and commonsense to the wind, your correspond dumped a bunch of Sutliff TS-12 Dark Fired Cured and some Cornell & Diehl Virginia Flake into a press in alternating pours, then packed the stuff away for a week.

What emerged will not make the cover of Pipes Magazine, or really any publication except one dedicated to objects without promise. Two ounces of prime pipe tobacco became a densely compacted plug of dark, oily vegetable matter.

However, initial inspection heartened the smoker somewhat. The dense smell of fermentation and a lack of ammonia smells suggested that the pressing had indeed smashed the little tobacco cells, letting loose their internal components and keeping the delicious nicotine.

Nothing to do at that point but fire it up. After a few slices with the trusty kitchen Buck knife, a cake even denser than the commercial variety appeared, and it packed nicely into the pipe, leaving room for the inevitable heat expansion and moisture (which we want to waft away anyway).

First light brought the almost liquor-like flavor of the dark fired Kentucky Burley and not much else, but after the char flickered out and was lightly gravity tamped, the second light brought a full flavor with the sweetness of the Virginias buoying the intensity of the smoke-cured Burley.

At this point, the heap of tobacco settled in, as it tends to do, and fell into a even smolder. Its unhurried progress moved at a glacial pace, throwing off plenty of molasses-sweet smoke, and it burned down into what all smokers desire, the fine light grey ash of a complete burn.

The flavor might not be enough in nuance for many smokers, but it worked for this one, since the mixture followed the “UK Plug” formula of light Virginias mixed with a beefy blast of Burley. It has enough internal variation to remain interesting especially if smoked without puffing, huffing, and sucking.

For now, it seems a great way to use some of the tobaccos that have piled up around here over the years. If you throw in enough dark fired Kentucky Burley, it hits the far-right of the strength scale. The smooth burning and mild flavor without bite are fairly compelling.

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