I find myself at IRC in Chicago . It was a mind blower of a shop , it truly was . I hadnt been in anything like it before . Even earlier in life , while hanging out in NYC or more specifically the Times Square area , which was the pit of hell and I loved it , I had never went into any of the bougie shops there . When I went to NYC , I had my pipe and pouch and was busy doing shit I shouldnt have been doing and didnt even think to find them
Im getting off track ... so , at IRC , a guy working there guides me to try their Private blend . I bought some and split . For the next year or so I smoked the hell out of it . Fast forward to say , 2012 or so and I ordered a pouch ... loved it . But ya know how it goes ... Ya love a lot of things and IRC isnt cheap , especially with shipping . So , I ordered all their blends over a bit of time and didnt repeat Private till just before this past Christmas . Love it
So heres my spin :
Firstly , for anyone that likes a non aro that isnt adorned with flavoring or hadly pg ... say for example ... SP natural or PS Natural Dutch Cavendish , which each have way more pg than this [ and a bit of flavoring ] ... this blend is a few steps up to me . The difference is that there isnt really any steamed out cavendish .. its is less processed .... think Country Doctor but an bit easier cut . If there is any flavoring , its incredibly mild to where it doesnt stand out
Heres the blend components from IRC ..
" A real blender’s masterpiece! Private Blend is a non-aromatic made with a healthy base of Toasted Burley and Bright Virginia Flake. Just the right amount of Turkish, Black Cavendish, Perique and Latakia are then added to produce a blend with complexity and mellowness. "
Back in the day , the word " Balanced " was used pretty often describing a blend . It sounds too vague a word but really isnt . Balanced refers to a blends ability of components creating A flavor or that nothing in the blend is way up front , something in the middle and something at the edges .. where everything is balanced into flavor . At least thats what I always took away from it .
So , heres a picture of what the blend looks like ....
Its on the dry side and is a true mish mash ... flakes , flecks , tiny plugs this that etc ... the colors run the range from bright yellow to black . A handful is also very light in weight
The tin aroma is ... tobacco . You can kind of make out that there's oriental in it ... kinda . Its like .. all things equal one , if that makes sense
I love a balanced blend when in the non aro world . The reason I love and freak out over Germain 1820 is that , especially for an English , its actually balanced . I don't find English blends to be very balanced . To me , they're whatever amount of latakia to Virginia and hopefully oriental to save it . They change throughout the blend depending on what youre drawing on atm , which is usually predominately one thing or another [ just my opinion ] and its why I only smoke a very few English blends
IRC Private uses Perique , Latakia and Oriental as a spice , which in my world is where they really shine
There's nothing to not like about Private , if in the mood for an American Non aro . If I could squeeze out 1 con , it would be that I wish is had one more push of Umph ...
It gets a 9/10 from me . Its a perfect example of its style . Its as smooth as Old Colonial .... and thats saying something
The light up is a breeze and staying lit isnt an issue . Theres no bite and it has a smooth mouthfeel [ which I really dig ] and smoke cool
