Boswell Pipes & Tobacco Black Jack

I'm a big fan of most Boswell blends, and this one is no different. While I usually smoke English blends, Black Jack really hits all the right notes for me. It provides real tobacco flavor, yet isn't overwhelming as some aromatics tend to be. The rough cut (which I prefer) lights easily and stays lit. Good stuff, and one of my favorites.

While a nice aromatic, I did not detect any licorice or anise flavoring whatsoever. An ounce of this was included in the Autumn sampler that I purchased a few days ago. I was hoping for a little more licorice...

While it's not a bad tobacco, it's not something I will revisit. It just doesn't stand out from the crowd enough..

I like the look and feel of the tobacco: springy broad cuts of contrasted black and light brown. It also smelled really good when I popped Boswell’s non-vacuum canister, and that aroma carried over to the smoke. Well done for an aromatic. Aroma and flavor are in sync, never any bite even with aggressive puffing.

Sort of a cross between Lane BCA and 1-Q. Tastes like Cocoa Puffs. I also get charred marshmallow, graham cracker, milk chocolate, and occasional hits of molasses and caramelized brown sugar. Not surprisingly, the ambient aroma is like somebody has been making s’mores! No natural tobacco taste that I could discern, but that’s not what this is about.

The hands have been let, all bets are placed, and the dealer appears to be staying. Turning over the fated cards reveals the Deuces-wild fortuned stake, JM Boswell’s chanced wager of Black Jack, an even-handed aromatic spread of mixed Burley and the generous payout of a hopper’s worth of Black Cavendish. Lightly partnered with the merriment of sweetened spice, this blend postures to command the table for a pipeful worth of sheer winning thrill.

As a mild-medium strength mixture, Black Jack is pretexted with a serious natured Poker face that is shadowed by an overriding prompting of a hefty mass of irregular, densely focused shreds of coarse cut Black Cavendish tobacco. With unfettered conspiring, a balanced allotment of roughened Dark and paled White Burley ribbon combined to fill the hand to generally form a dark-suited run of ebon, aged slate-brown and yellow/golden tan. Given the initial encounter, and based upon the noted appearances, this modestly dampened blend appears to be well playable.

Gathering a qualified listing of the bagged pouch nose, surprisingly, one is dealt a low distributed flush of an exceedingly relaxed air modeling a general sweetness, characteristically evasive in standard temperament. With a deeper focus on discernment, candidly, a wisp of light non-committed spicing comes forward to play, wanting to offer a smattering of bittersweet anise, slighted vanilla, honey, and generalized dark sugared innuendos. These peaceful elements hover atop some bright earthly sourness that seems determined to mash down a minimal breath of herby wood.

In objective summarization of the overall taste profile, it is fair to state that in measuring Black Jack’s featured registration, it is discovered to be contained and restful in persona. Being consistent with a reserved attitude, the tobacco acknowledges as a cautiously natured expression of flavor that emerges homogeneously and acutely constant. More specifically, the smoking experience reveals a reliable stream of dainty aromatic sapor that is preeminently casing/topping advantaged. Respectfully, the meaningful intensity of said coatings are passive in force and limited in coloring, making this mixture an easeful averaged bidding.

On that note, what attempts to surface as the prime featuring of flavor is a reposed buttery sweet black licorice flair that tends to ebb and flow with true abandon, sometimes denotable, sometimes not. When it does manifest the flavorsomeness is quite enjoyable at that. Nonetheless, the true influence of a sugary vanilla-painted Cavendish is positioned more firmly, which often outweighs this licorice enticement to the greater extent. With an additive cajoling effect, evidence indicates the presence of some distinct thickened molasses, a slight touch of mint, brown sugar, and a strong pass of darker honey highlighting.

Here is the interesting attribute of this blending in particular. Depending upon how the taste streams cluster and interweave themselves, the registration that is depicted tends to take a couple of different bends. Namely as the licorice note marries more strongly with the honey, the abiding taste mirrors that of a frothy root beer, which is really a novel experience. Conversely, when the prime note melds with the minted relishing and dark sugars, it projects more of a traditional candied horehound ambience. Again, the magnitude of these described renderings is exceptionally self-composed in the rulings.

Lying hidden below are the native varietals peeking through with guarded influence. As it stands, the Cavendish aptly carries with a sugared, darkly smoky and deeply musty earthiness overall. Selective embellishments of a tarnished zest and moody sourness come to quarters in building the base reference. As for the Burley, it seemed the Dark leaf was modestly bolder in impact as its toasty herby green/vegetal wood affluence leads foremost over the roasted pecan emergent of the weaker White selection. A calmed essence of that traditional soured Burley “pipey” aroma forms the main thrust of the expended room fragrance, being garnished with just a fleeting bit of contribution from the sprightly infused additives. Nothing magnanimous by any means, yet, on the whole decidedly reserved in being true to the recipe’s natural construction. Perceivably, therefore, Black Jack may earn a generally tolerable rating in acceptability by most.

Mechanically, Black Jack performs nicely with respect to physical burn properties and the production of voluminous smoke given the weighty Cavendish component. The textural quality of the drawls is generally smooth with just a minor incurrence of roughness in the transitioning of various strains. Namely, the Cavendish to be exact, does periodically exhibit a marginal tone of seeded harshness. Judging from the minimalistic nicotine factor experienced, nevertheless, this Boswell tobacco submits as a feasibly docile day-long aromatic for one’s simple amusement.

Finally on a more subjective note, I am not the designer of this blend and therefore cannot comment intelligently on the original intent. What I can state, at least for myself, is that doubling down on a healthy splash of licorice additive would serve to progressively kick this one in the seat of the pants in achieving better alignment with my preferential level of enlivening jolliness. However, I will never tell folks how to play their cards. And so, in a decision to stand on this mixture, you may ultimately deem it to be well worth the gambled push. 2.6 Pipes