CASING – the sauce that brings out the good taste of pipe tobacco
When pipe smoking began to gain wide acceptance in the 1600s, tobacco manufacturers turned to ways of bringing out the best flavour in the tobacco. Essentially this meant emphasising the best nuances of taste in the raw tobacco for the optimal enjoyment of the smoker. For centuries the tobacco masters have sought to find the perfect casing for a given mixture.
When pipe smoking began to gain wide acceptance in the 1600s, tobacco manufacturers turned to ways of bringing out the best flavour in the tobacco. Essentially this meant emphasising the best nuances of taste in the raw tobacco for the optimal enjoyment of the smoker. For centuries the tobacco masters have sought to find the perfect casing for a given mixture.
Whenever there is talk of casing, to the pipe smoker the subject always seems shrouded in secrecy. But in fact casing simply means sauce, although in the world of tobacco the word casing has always referred to the particular sauce used to bring out the taste of the pipe tobacco. The only secret to casing is the recipe, the raw materials used and in which quantities. To develop a casing which brings out the taste of the tobacco without overpowering it is a true art. Every pipe tobacco factory has its own unique recipes, which have been developed and refined over many decades - if not centuries. The tremendous work effort involved in finding the ideal casing for a given pipe tobacco is the reason why the recipes remain such closely guarded secrets, unknown to all except a few pipe tobacco masters at the factory.
In older days, seamen had problems trying to keep their tobacco fresh on long sea voyages. They experimented with ways of keeping the tobacco moist as long as possible and found out that different types of sugar mixtures kept tobacco fresh for extended periods of time. Word of this soon made its way back to the tobacco masters and soon it became an integral element in the casing. It is not possible to put an exact date on when casing was first used and by whom, but it most certainly dates back hundreds of years.
There is nothing mysterious about casing. In essence, it is easy to make. All that is required is water and a selection of good, natural ingredients. When we at Mac Baren produce a casing, we fill a boiler with water and then add the good, natural ingredients. The mixture is then boiled for about four hours and left to cool. When it reaches the right temperature, the finished casing is added to the tobacco. To achieve the optimal taste, the tobacco is left for 12 hours to allow the casing to impregnate the tobacco. The purpose of the casing is twofold: to bring out the taste and to keep the tobacco moist. The ingredients used in casing have not changed significantly for a long time. In fact, at Mac Baren we still use the same raw materials that were used by the old tobacco masters. Every tobacco mixture has its own unique casing, specially developed to complement the raw tobaccos that go into making each mixture special
Mac Baren casing is made from lots of good, natural ingredients including Liquorice, Chocolate, Cane sugar, Maple sugar, Cacao, Honey and fruit extracts.
After storage, the tobacco must be dried. This takes place on a large drum where the tobacco is heated; then the tobacco cools down to normal temperature and moisture level. The casing that the tobacco has not absorbed is now dried off, and the tobacco must be stored again so that the entire lot reaches the same temperature and moisture level again.
