RO Series Fire Storm 1.75 Ounce Tin

​I’ve been blending pipe tobacco for nearly forty years, but ten years ago is when things really took off. I had made some blends for our brick & mortar store that did well, so we put them up for sale on P&C, and that was the beginning of Hearth & Home. Recently I was asked to make a new series that would let me stretch my wings, as it were, trying to think outside the box, and to use tobaccos and techniques that were different than anything I had done previously. I welcomed this challenge. The powers-that-be, here at P&C wanted me to put my name on these blends, and here’s the first entry in the RO Series – Fire Storm.

While most of the RO Series will be small-batch, limited editions, Fire Storm will be continuously available. I took the Virginias I used in my best-known Virginia-based blend, Anniversary Kake, and amped up the Perique content. Then I added a splash of some very nice dark-fired leaf. Fire Storm starts out, as does Anniversary Kake, quite sweet, but the spice shows up shortly thereafter and builds gradually through the end, with a peppery finish. If you like bold Virginia/Perique blends, give it a try and you’ll understand the reason for its name.