Hot-pressed and ready rubbed Rustica is stoved, resulting in a smoothing of the bold leaf, but its familiar BBQ tang and floral spice are preserved, dynamically complementing the caramelized sweetness of the Stoved Virginia. The Oriental Katerini takes to the Cavendish process beautifully, offering herbal, woody undertones. The result is an exotic mélange with a vitality that reimagines what a stoved mixture can be.
Stoved—or Cavendish—tobaccos are often thought of as the vehicle for top flavoring. Though this is certainly a fine attribute, the wonderful characteristics imparted from the stoving process can easily be overlooked. Pipe Force illustrates just that with the stoving of two varietals for the first time, Rustica and Katerini.
Pipe Force, a series that celebrates pipe smoking by showing innovation isn’t a thing of the past, there are still frontiers to explore.