Grand Croupier Jack Pot

A fabulous value allsorts blend composed mostly of lightly topped burleys and Cavendish, Jackpot is a sweet treat. I am confused about this and its cousin, Double Down. I bought 4 ounces of each of the three allsorts blends: Jackpot (supposedly aromatic...it's really not), Double Down (a Virginia - burley allsorts) and Boneyard (an English/Balkan allsorts blend).

Upon arrival, I immediately opened each bag for a whiff. I am blind so won't comment on colors...but the cut is a real mixed bag for all three blends. I found ribbons, cubes, bits of flake, twigs (not many) and even a carburetor from a 1972 Chevy Vega... (O.K., didn't really find any auto parts in the bag).

The confusion arises from a real similarity in pouch aroma between Double Down and Jackpot. I smelled raisins, a hint of cinnamon (!), nuts and a bit of earth and hay in both. Neither blend is appreciably sweeter than the other. For a few minutes, until I had smoked a bowl of each I actually believed that smokingpipes.com had either made a mistake or had pulled a fast one on me.

Mechanically, these are just about perfect, although the mix of cuts makes packing and lighting a little bit tricky. However, once properly packed and loosely finger-tamped, both blends take fire very easily; I was able to ignite both blends in corncob pipes with only one match. In the case of the Double Down, I didn't need to relight once; the Jackpot seems to have more moisture in the pouch and require a couple relights before burning down to a fine dry ash.

Nicotine: The Jackpot surprised me, as I was expecting low nicotine (I was under the mistaken impression that the Jackpot is an aero... I don't think it is. Whatever topping has been used in the component blends has been lightly applied. The nicotine in Jackpot is a stout medium. The Double Down yields only slightly less nicotine. The Boneyard compares in nic level to Dunhill's Nightcap.

At around a buck an ounce (plus shipping), all three of these are a steal. The tobaccos are of high quality. Careful smoking cadence with both Jackpot and Double Down virtually eliminates any chance of tongue bite; I'm a bit of a Hoover when I smoke, and I didn't get bitten once. Mouth feel for both Double Down and Jackpot is great. There's nothing shisha-like or vaporous for any of the three blends, all of which yield a great mouth feel and clouds of smoke. Aroma according to my wife for both JP and DD is lovely...and she dislikes most of the tobaccos I smoke, even the sweet aeros.

It would be easy to compare both Jackpot and Double Down to O.T.C. blends; Jackpot reminded me of Carter Hall in room note, behavior in the pipe, sweetness and nicotine. Keep in mind that Carter Hall in my local shops costs nearly $4.57 per ounce...while Jackpot is around $1.08/ounce. As the tobacco is of a superior quality to my beloved CH, the "luxury pouch" may have seen its last with me. No reason to buy overpriced O.T.C. blends when this is available and has much less propylene glycol humectant added than do O.T.C. blends.

Batches will vary; the next purchase may contain a slightly different mix of constituent tobaccos. However, the quality is nothing about which I would complain, especially at the price. 3 stars; it doesn't merit 4, as neither blend (Jackpot nor Double Down) is particularly remarkable and are a bit generic. It does satisfy, and at the price is a bargain. Will I bbuy again? A hearty "yes" for all three current allsorts blends.