Pipe Tobacco

I love the history and story behind tobacco, like so many things in pipe culture this is our link to the past, present, and future. In order to really get a good understanding of the blends I was sent and how they are made and blended I had to reach out to someone who was very knowledgeable of the area to fill in the details. Enter Rick Head who has lived in Indonesia for over 22 years and has been more recently involved in the local pipe club the PTCI (Pipe and Tobacco Club of Indonesia).

Most of the blended tobacco comes from the Java area and have a basic or base Indonesian taste that as Rick puts it, reminds him of musty old furniture. After smoking it I’d say it reminds me of walking into an old antique store or a dusty old Asian store that peddles strange and unusual items. Supposedly this unique taste that is across much of the tobacco is the yeasts present in Indonesia and how they aid fermentation. Most of the tobacco in Indonesia aside from what’s previously mentioned can be classified as burly, and is sun and air cured.

The pipe tobacco industry in Indonesia is a very cottage or boutique industry. There are no large pipe tobacco manufactures — all the larger companies are cigarette companies and cigar companies. From what I have gathered there are 5 tobacco blenders in Indonesia ; RnR, Sutet, Putu Cowe Toko, Naga Hanya Satu, and Siswa Pipa.

Soppeng Tobacco

I’ll start with Soppeng tobacco since it’s the description of it that got me interested in it enough to order some. Soppeng comes from the island of Suluwesi and is a burly tobacco. What sets this apart like a lot of Indonesian tobacco is that it is first “rangingan” or “di iris” meaning after it is harvested it’s shag cut and then it’s cured.

Storing and aging of Soppeng Tobacco

Soppeng is even more different because they spray it with Aren (which is sugar that comes from a special palm tree that itself has a tendency to spontaneously ferment. Next they hang the shredded tobacco in barns and burn coconut shells to smoke it very similar to how Latakia is made. After it is cured they pack it in bamboo, usually wrapped with banana leaves and store it for 6 months before selling it in the bamboo.

The consistency is like a krumble kake, and the taste is totally different from what you may be used to. Rick notes that it does burn a bit hot for him, and I noticed this as well but it wasn't too bad, as I've varied the pipes I smoked it out of and and varied the moisture — too dry it smokes very similar to semois (fast) so re-humidifying it slightly after you receive it does help slow the smoke.

My smoking notes on soppeng: slightly dry, sweet, and with a very small hint of cinnamon. I notice the woodsy taste that likely is imparted from the bamboo, it burns very well. I find it quite enjoyable.

Srintil Tobacco:

Srintil tobacco is actually an abnormality of tobacco and as such is very rare. It is grown in the Java region in Temangung Valley. It’s an aberration that only occurs occasionally to some of the plants and as Rick says they have not been able to replicate it anywhere else nor can they force it to happen. The locals say it’s considered a blessing from God and because of this it’s very expensive when compared to other tobacco. It manifests itself in the malformed tops of the plant (and if you know your tobacco leafs the tops are usually where the nicotine is greatest) and produces an extreme amount of resin. Because of its potency and price it is most often used as a spice (like perique) with other tobaccos

As you can see it’s very gummy looking and black. Rick states that he’s heard they sometimes wrap it in banana leaves and bury it for a period of time. The flavor profile has a musty taste similar to other Indonesian tobaccos — and is similar to gawith twists. Now as this is usually mixed, my sample came as a blended sample which came from the same blender “Patrick” that also did some of the other blends like Demit666. While he didn't reveal all of the secret top note he uses for his Srintil mixture what we do know is that it comes from raisins — like a wine that it is cured in.

My smoking notes of Srintil: It’s mixed with another burley that I can tell, it’s got fruity notes (most likely the raisin) and because of this its slightly sweet, I’d call it borderline aromatic. It does not smoke as hot per say as soppeng.

Tambolaka

Tambolaka can be found here in the US by going to 4noggins and is the only Indonesian pipe tobacco that I know of that is available here. The history behind it according to Rick is that it used to be sold in a shop in Bali and an American guy named Bob discovered it on the island of Sumba. Upon discovery he formed a company to market it both as pipe tobacco and also cigars that he made from it. Then unfortunately he had a stroke a couple years ago and his Indonesian partner took over. His partner concentrated mainly on cigars instead of the pipe tobacco. Now aside from buying from the shop in Bali and the company that was marketing it — the locals can buy it directly.

The way it is made is very time consuming and similar to perique. They take the newly harvested leaves and roll them very tightly into long poles about 10' long. Then they wrap the poles with rope or cord very tightly and store them for a minimum of 5 years. During that time anaerobic fermentation turns the leaves black.

It’s sold in slices that you have to cut into cube or shred into lose/shag cut yourself. It’s suggested that you steam it to help separate the leaves then you cut them however you’d like. Now what came in the sample was already cut in lose ribbon cut, and apparently its a bit messy and time consuming to actually prepare it yourself. A fellow redditor has put his review which includes the steaming here.

My notes: Earthly, Leather, slight spice in the back of the throat. It seems to have a much higher nicotine content thus you should have a full stomach before smoking. Very rich, full smoke, and you don’t need to smoke much to feel the nicotine.