Their tobacco's are of the highest quailty. Northwoods in no exception. I have a hard time keeping this lit, but taking time to dry it out would likely fix this.

Too much of an L-Bomb for my tastes, but good tobacco. Recommend to the Latakia lover.

The taste did not agree with me, as it was like smoking pine needles; that is just not something I am into.

However, in the beginning of the season when it is still a titch warm out, sometimes it can be a bit unbearable to smoke latakia blends. This is what makes Northwoods a perfect early fall blend. Not as complex and chewy as heavier handed latakia mixtures, plus that slight aromatic flavor makes the trasition process seamless.

This blend is great in the morning with coffee, after dinner with a snifter of brandy or cognac, and also an evening dessert smoke with a tawny port.

It has a nice dose of smoky Cyprian latakia, and has a smooth, creamy texture. It's quite sweet, as one might expect of a blender known for aromatics. It requires little care or attention, but delivers a rewarding smoking experience.

While flavorful and creamy, this is decidedly light in body. Those who call this a 'full English', whatever that means, must be referring to something other than its strength.

What I DID NOT like about this blend is the tobacco itself. It seems really moist, even after having it for over 6 months, and is tough FOR ME to pack, but you might be better at it than me. Once you pack it right, it smokes goooood.

Doesn't bite, burns to the bottom, and as far as taste goes (and bag scent too).

My last word is a note about the tobacco's bag scent and taste. It's got some sort of aromatic smell and taste going on in addition to that typical english smokiness, which is kind of odd because this blend is not sold as, or even normally thought of as an aromatic/english cross-over. I'm not at all saying it is an aromatic/english cross-over, but i'm sure that when you smell this blend you will detect this aromatic creaminess that I'm talking about. In my opinion, this is all a GOOD thing.

Also, it's worth noting that when I first tried this blend I wasn't especially impressed with it. However, after a half dozen bowls or so, I really fell in love with this blend. Now, its one of my favorites out there. All that to say give this blend a few smokes before you formulate a strong opinion.

Overall, certainly recommended.

The tobacco itself is primarily black, both oily and dull, and is sprinkled with tan strands.

The addition of the black cavendish really cuts the smokiness, both in the tin note and the taste.

Overall, the taste of the tobacco is quite good. It tasted like a mind to medium English for the majority of the time, with occasional moments where the Latakia and cavendish would come together beautifully. In my experience, this blend tastes better with three to four shorter puffs than one long one. Towards the end of my most recent bowl, I was hit with a rather noticeable taste of perfume, which confused me, as I'd never noticed it before with this tobacco and the pipe I was using was devoted to Englishes. It may have just been a fluke of the environment and my senses at that moment.

I would highly recommend this blend to anyone trying to cross into Englishes and would recommend it to even the most dedicated English-Man.

This is my first Boswell's blend. I never tried Boswell's before because they are primarily known for their traditional American aromatics, a genre I don't smoke very much of. Anyway, after coming across a zillion positive reviews for Northwoods, I ordered a few ounces with the attitude that, if I didn't like it, I could certainly find something to mix it with. Upon arrival, this ribbon-cut blend looked, felt and smelled like a heavy, goopy mess of Latakia and black cavendish, with maybe a few stray strands of Va mixed in for color. I loaded up a meer with some trepidation and got ready for .... well, not what I ultimately got, let me tell you.

Northwoods starts out pretty much as expected: a blast of pure latakia and cavendish-based sweetness. No subtlety here! I smoked a few minutes, enjoying the base flavors but disliking the muted but obvious aftertaste of what appears to be some kind of preservative or chemical casing (a slightly oily, almost plastic flavor that dances around the edge of the smoke in tandem with blasts of sweetness). The bowl started to heat up at the 15-minute mark, so I let it go out, fixed another drink and waited for it cool off. When I relit ...WAM!

At about a third of the way down, this blend morphs into a woodsy, spicy, COMPLEX mixture that immediately conjured up memories of some of my favorite Balkans. There are no orientals listed in the ingredients, so I can only surmise that this delicious spice comes from the Vas or even the Lat itself. (I wonder if the Vas are perhaps being gently stoved as the bowl burns down?) No matter -- as the bowl progressed, this delicious melange of incense-like flavors intensified, especially with relights. I even enjoyed smelling the smoke as it burned, and my wife didn't seem bothered at all by the room note. I've ever experienced anything like this in an crossover blend, and I've tried a LOT of them.

In summary, I'd describe this stuff as what might happen if Frog Morton stopped swilling chocolate syrup, went on an all-steroid diet and bought a gym membership. Put another way: This stuff is vaguely reminiscent of McClelland's lat offerings (British Woods, the FM series, and Legends) in terms of flavor but, where McClelland's mixtures are almost always on the mild side of the spectrum, Northoods is definitely on the stronger end. I am reluctant to place Northwoods in quite the same category as Pease's best Balkans or English blends (it's not THAT complex, as there are no orientals or even perique) but the bottom line is that I enjoy it as much as I do my Odyssey. I was absolutely floored by this stuff! I never would have believed these constituent tobaccos could add up to something this tasty or satisfying.

It burns very well, and has never bit my tongue (even when smoked aggressively enough to heat up the bowl). It has enough nicotine to satisfy, more than most traditional Englishes but not enough to scare anybody off. And -- oddly enough -- it tastes almost identical in my meers, briars and cobs! One caveat, however: this stuff really likes larger bowls, so don't even bother loading up a clay. Instead, reach for that giant Danish freehand sitter you haven't touched since discovering Virginia flakes and get ready for nirvana ....

I've smoked through most of my 4-ounce sample in a variety of pipes and I'm about to pull the triggr on a few pounds. The only negative I've identified -- and this is a BIG negative to many smokers -- is the aforementioned chemical aftertaste. I've encountered it before in blends like Shortcut to Mushrooms, 1-Q, etc., so I believe it to either be PG or something that's added to the black cavendish. It's annoying, and I still don't like it, but this blend's flavor and temperament simply overwhelms my traditional preference for more naturalistic English blends. I can, however, definitely envision some English or Balkan fans not being able to overlook it.

YMMV, of course.

The smell in the bag is of something like incense and applewood smoke, with maybe some burnt rubber (in a good way) and hickory coals... The tobacco looks to be mostly black cavendish... Very strange look for how it tastes. The tobacco had the same curious moisture as other bosewells: not wet, not sticky but 'heavy'. Again I wonder what kind of additives they use to make the tobacco behave so. Trying to dry it out for an hour under my desklamp didn't do too much so I packed it anyway. This stuff is hard to pack. There are hard, dense bits along with skinny ribbons that jumble together in an awkward manner.

Lighting was almost too easy for how 'heavy' this stuff is. The taste made me wonder if this was meant to be an aromatic, the sweet/spicy cavendish provided a great aroma and mellow smoke.The latakia is there, but not soo much that it takes center stage (PERFECT) The flavor was very consistent, lasted over an hour and produced great amounts of mild and bite-free savory smoke, perfect for smokerings. The difficulty packing came back to me as I had to fuss with it a bit to keep an even burn.

This is my all day smoke that wont turn your tongue to leather nor get you chased away by non-smokers with the room note. A perfect blend to introduce aromatic fans to English type blends.

Another factor in this blend's favor is it's availability.

Update 11/5/2012: still a great blend but falling behind more distinctive blends for me that don't seem to have the humectant this one does. Revising to 3 stars.

*****Original Review***** Nothwoods is the second English Blend that I've tried, the other being Sillem's Black. While I'm not an authority on English blends, I must say that I quite like Northwoods. The smell is the bag is quite pleasant, almost like a mild maple syrup. However, that smell is not even remotely present in the taste or the room note. While smoking, it has a nice flavour in the mouth. Overall, It's a fine blend that my wife easily easily tolerates, and believe me when I say she doesn't tolerate many tobaccos. So that's a plus for me as well. Try it, you may find it to be interesting.