Last June I bought 2 pounds of Plantation Evening from C&D . I have always thought this blend to be a good combination , but missing that little extra something . So , I thought I would try my hand at some alterations . Here is what I did . I used half pint mason jars as "tins" . I packed the full 2 pounds into various tins , 4 oz each . I had to really pack the tobacco to get 4 oz in each jar using the butt end of a long glass jar that fit easily into the tin . Most of the tobacco I put in the closet to use as my control group , and to see if it would age any on it's own . I took four tins and put them , sealed tightly , into a pot of boiling water for a consistent 200 or so degrees and let them boil for 3 hours . After removal I could see a marked difference in the Virginia ribbons . For those of you who have tried Plantation evening or seen it at the shows at the C&D table you will remember that the Virginia is a very bright yellow . ( I am guessing this is Virginia -g-) . The boiled tins showed a very pronounced darkening of this leaf . This was back in June, 1999, and I let it sit until January 2000. I removed all the tobacco from one of the boiled tins , added a little water to get the humidity up to " just under sticky " , divided it into two tins for 2 oz each ( packed about as tightly as I would pack a pipe ) and let it sit overnight . In tinning the tobacco I would gravity fill the jar until level , then pack down 1/4 of the way and gravity "heaping" fill it and pack to about 1/4 inch from the top , just below the threads of the jar . I opened a tin of the control this afternoon and compared the two . The aroma of the boiled is markedly different , with much more depth and character than the control . The overall smoke is much better than the control as well . I do not have any "fresh " Plantation Evening to compare with , but from my memory the control tins have not aged very much , if at all , but rather sat in stasis for the duration . If there is any aging it is minimal as the smoking qualities are pretty much the same as I remember of it . I also have some Engine 99 that I have done the same initial work with and plan on opening one of the boiled tins soon to do a similar comparison . IMHO this alteration has improved the tobacco from a good blend to a great blend , one that rivals some of Craigs Premium Blends , of which there are no dogs ! Er , well , there are a couple of "Dawgs " though , but that's a different matter ! As always YMMV , but if your looking for some fun with a nice payoff this kind of thing is worth a try, especially with a blend that you think has promise but that you have just not quite gotten the hang of yet .