HU Tobacco Director's Cut

The fire cured Virginias are very earthy and woody with a lot of sugar and tangy citrus along with a some dried tangy dark fruit notes. The perique is spicy, plumy and raisin/fig-like, so it's very complimentary without dominating the other tobaccos. The dark fired Kentucky is a woody, earthy, spicy, lightly sweet and sour, herbal, floral, nutty presence. Here and there, it seems to compete with the perique regarding spice content. The very nutty, earthy, woody, molasses sweet burley varies in effect as a constant contributor, but generally holds the forth slot. I sense a slight, sweet topping, but have no idea what it is (sugar?). No matter how you stack the tobacco in the bowl, the flavors will change as you smoke it down. Sweet, spicy and slightly sour at various times from puff to puff, there's not a weak, dull or harsh moment to be had. No chance of bite. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Because it is very complex, the wider the bowl you smoke it in, the more you will notice its various attributes. This has a full rounded smoke that doesn't overwhelm the smoker. Burns a little slow, clean and cool and leaves very little moisture in the bowl. Requires a few relights. Has a very pleasant after taste, and the room note won’t scare anyone away. Can be an all day smoke.

Update: 12-1-2019. I have noticed in recent productions that the dark fired Kentucky has a stronger presence than it did when I smoked it years ago. There's less perique in the blend now, possibly to save a few needed dollars. Whatever their motive, it's now a VaKyPer, rather than a VaPerKy.

-JimInks

There is really something special going on at Hans Wiedemann's HU-Tobacco. Director's Cut is another outstanding blend coming from this micro tobacco company. As other's have noted, DC looks a lot like Three Nuns in the tin. The smell is heavenly as the nose is greeted with the scent of raisins, figs and hay. There are some similarities to the current version of Three Nuns; however this blend (IMHO) is much better. It has body, just the right amount of perique, a little burley to round things out. Director's Cut is pleasantly sweet, a little spicy and a tiny bit sour, but in a good way. There are a lot of complex flavors in Director's Cut. As one other esteemed reviewer pointed out, the taste changes throughout each bowl. I find that the Burley takes over toward the end of the bowl as the blend becomes less sweet, but not bitter. I found it most flavorful in a small bowl Morrisette dedicated to VaPers. This blend should age wonderfully. The challenge will be not to smoke it up beforehand. The only downside is the cost. If you are ordering from North America the cost can be nearly double of other tobaccos in its class. Is it worth it? Yes, every single penny! Very Highly Recommended!

Based on a small sample from an internet friend (thanks, friend!) - about 3 bowls worth. Not enough to get a full grip on the blend but enough to post my thoughts. As others have said, this is a curly cut - basic browns with an interesting bag aroma I couldn't place. Not prototypical VaPer, exactly, but still familiar. It came to me mostly rubbed out so that's how I loaded it. But would love to buy a tin and experiment further.

Lighter on the perique (but I'm not very sensitive to it, so amounts have to be high for me to notice) but a nice run up and down the Virginia spectrum, from sweetness to tangy richness. The burley, Kentucky and dark-fired VA lend a nice heart of darkness to what may otherwise have been a run of the mill blend. This darkness was spicy and robust, while not overtaking the basic "VaPer-ness" of the blend. A bit thin in mouthfeel but with an interesting take on what we call complexity. Complex enough to be interesting but not so much as to be vulgar. I enjoyed this blend to perhaps a 3.5 star level but am going to try to get more because I definitely did not discover all this blend has to offer IMHO.

I managed to acquire a generous sample of this, perhaps an ounce or more, as a result of a trade via PSF.com. I hadn't really been expecting it as part of the package I received and I hadn't even heard of it so it was a pleasant surprise to gain a tobacco that I had no preconceived notions about.

The aroma is very much like the smoke, wafts of figs or raisins as noted before and a lot of creaminess. The curly cut is easy to rub out, making packing a breeze and one light will do the trick. The flavour remains pretty constant throughout the smoke and is hugely enjoyable. The moisture levels must just be perfect in this one as there is no gurgling whatsoever. The fine ash at the end makes for a clean emptying of the bowl.

This is probably far from the best review I have ever done on here but, to be honest, I don't think any review could do this justice, it is such a marvelous tobacco. Despite being a complete and utter Lat-head, I have being exploring VaPs these past few months and I've come across some good ones, some okay ones and some disappointing ones. This one is amongst, not just a good VaP or even a great one, it's a great tobacco full stop. It's just a shame that a cursory look on the internet reveals this one to be unavailable in the UK, otherwise it would be a regular.

According to Hans, this is his best blend yet. This treat comprises 55% Vaper curlies, White Burley, pressed Kentucky and pressed Virginia and a bit of firecured Virginia. Comparisons have already been made to the Original Three Nuns and I can taste where that is coming from: fans of that blend, as well as admirers of the late and lamented Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture, will find great pleasure in Director's Cut. But the recipe is not the same, nor is the taste: there is a lot more going on in DC besides Vaper curlies. It is a fairly strong Vaper that is smoothed out by "an extremely expensive Burley" (according to Hans) and for variety in taste, some fine Virginia grades and a firecured Virginia. This yields a very harmonious smoke, rich in taste varieties, every puff slightly different to the previous one. Director's Cut will become a future classic!

Director’s Cut is a rather mild, yet complex and smooth tasting VaPer that can easily be an all-day smoke and a welcome addition to your daily rotation. This blend is not too sweet and has just the right amount of spiciness to keep making you come back for more. There isn’t one tobacco that really stands out, but rather a collaborative effort between the Burley, Kentucky, Perique and Virginia tobaccos resulting in a balanced, deeply satisfying experience.

Upon smoking, the flavors I noticed were: honey, light molasses, followed by a grassy and Prune-like aftertaste. The taste becomes more robust the more you smoke it. The Burley and Kentucky tobaccos really enhance the blend, adding further complexity and depth. From what I understand, the blender of HU Tobacco: Hans Wiedemann, is the modern-day Da Vinci of master blenders. If that is so, then this is the Mona Lisa of VaPers.

HU Tobacco is one of the best in Europe and I will be switching over to them since my first-love Dunhill will be kaput soon. If you think of it, it’s not a bad trade off: kind of like breaking up with your drama-queen English girlfriend (Ms. Dunhill) who is getting a bit older and flabby around the sides, always threatening to move out and break up with you; replacing her with a young, hot blonde German chick with a nice rack (HU Tobacco). Sounds good to me!

I will be ordering a few more HU blends next month, in particular: Nyala and Tuarekh. Great stuff and I’m glad I discovered HU Tobacco.

When I first opened my tin of Director’s Cut, I thought this was nothing but Orlik’s version of Three Nuns resurrected. I was wrong. While the small curls in the mix are similar in appearance, the fire cured VAs and pretty high amount of Perique (Hans is known for) contribute a spiciness and complexity seldom to be found elsewhere. DC is a strong tobacco with distinct notes of pepper from the Perique, accompanied by subtle notes of wood, fire (Kentucky) and natural VA sweetness. To me this blend is slightly piquant in a very pleasing way, but never bity or overwhelming.

There is so much to experience here, every bowl size and shape seems to change the interplay of the ingredients a little. So does a charcoal filter, the use of which reduces complexity and strength significantly in my opinion.

If you are a fan of Three Nuns, MB Stockton, MB HH Acadian Perique, C&D Cajun Kake or even Barbary Coast (although all of those are very different), the HU Director’s Cut is highly recommended to you to try. If you like tobaccos that remind you of ancient times (at least that’s what it does to me) and you also want to actually taste and feel Perique, this is your blend.

I only can second the previous reviewers.

Director's Cut is indeed a quite "innovative" blend, reflecting the blending talent of HU-Tobacco.

Having approx. 50% VaPer-Curlies, this blend is far away from being a "tamed" 3 Nuns, sort of. The addition of various well-chosen Virginias and some Burley/Kentucky makes it a blend which stands for its own.

Spicy, creamy, full in taste, with mild "peppery" taste-notes from the Perique, this blend smokes very fine right out of the tin, but at the same time promises to wonderfully age as well ! Your Turn !

I was slightly disappointed with Director’s Cut because I was expecting something else. Director’s Cut is one of the highest rated HU tobaccos in Tobacco Reviews and actually HU’s tobacco with the most reviews. I have had the pleasure to taste quite a few of HU tobaccos and I firmly believe they have one of the most exciting and varied portfolios among blenders around the world. My disappointment does not mean that Director’s Cut is not a good tobacco, but I was expecting a Va/Per with the added dimension of Kentucky and Burley’s which to some extent it is, but not wholly. My problem then is that Director’s Cut is flavoured to taste like a Danish blend, a thing for which I was not prepared. It is a wonderful Danish blend, the taste of natural tobacco still intact, full bodied, flavourful, strong without a bite, but Danish blends are not exactly my kind of stuff. I prefer non-aromatized tobaccos and Director’s Cut despite being a complex, tobacco-tasting tobacco, it’s on top of it aromatized in the sweet Danish way and actually it is too sweet for me…

As a Danish blend it is excellent, it is a potent, tobacco-tasting blend that may appeal to many, but I thought it should be stated more overtly that it belongs to that genre. Because if you are looking for a Va/Per of sorts, it is not, it’s a Danish Va/Per at most..

Many compared Director's cut to Three Nuns. However, I'd rather call it 4 Non-Blondes. Perfect combination of 4 different tobacco types in perfect harmony, singing a song about "what's going on". While I understand where other reviewers are coming from, IMHO Director's Cut is far far superior and complex than what current Three Nuns by Mac Baren is (or trying to be). Mr. Wiedemann created another masterpiece and chose the perfect name for it. It looks and smells like a movie we have seen before but an extended version from our favorite director. I'd be lying if I say I was able to single out all 4 tobacco types. As with other HU offerings, they were married so well, tasted like they evolved to a new type of sweet/smoky/tangy tasting leaf.