James B. Russell Bengal Slices

Alas, another great blend which for sometime has gone the way of the Dodo bird.

A dear elderly neighbour and friend who was the former proprietor of the best tobacco shop for many miles around. A very wise man indeed, he amassed a spectacular inventory of his favourite pipe tobacco and cigars to see him through until his final departure; yet to arrive.

I had the pleasure of receiving six tins of the British made original, approximately 35 years old. I really enjoyed the aroma and the contents were in impeccable condition. I found this to be a truly fantastic blend, cool burning, complex but not too demanding, very creamy mouth feel with dense blue smoke greasily hanging in the air.

It is certainly true that this was the flake/slice version of the famed Balkan Sobranie with a soapy floral Lakeland essence. I actually prefer the Sobranie in this form. The last decade or so, I have had a strong preference for slices and pressed tobacco. I really like the richness of a slice and the exceedingly complex flavours. Many folks complain about the packability and combustion, both of which do not bother me in the least.

Of the blends of today, it would be sort of somewhere between Esoterica Penzance and J.F. Germain Special Latakia Flake. I have tried ageing these slices together and then smoking them in the same bowl and the result is sort of close and a most pleasant smoke.

I wholeheartedly recommend the Bengal Slices, a true luxury and exceedingly rare.

- Tabaco

Bengal Slices.

When I opened the tin I found one of the most unique looking blends I've had. I'd expected some neatly presented dark flakes, going on the list of ingredients and the cut specification. Instead, what I found was a tin of, what I can only describe as, 5 thin Krumble Kakes. The tin-note implies a more formidable English flavour than what I actually get.

As the tobacco's thicker than the usual 'flakes', it can be crumbled into rather chunky pieces: this gives an incredibly cool smoke. Igniting B.S. is, due to the moisture, easy peasy. And then the flavour of the smoke is a very 'smooth' English one. Forgetting the Black Cavendish for one second, the Latakia, Oriental, and Virginia taste as would be expected for this type of blend: smoky, woody, with a slight grass quality. The Black Cavendish is what totally adjusts the scenario: this gives a nice vanilla-cream attribute and changes the smoke quite a lot in comparison to the normal English blends.

The nicotine's not much higher than mild: to become anywhere near medium it needs a big puff, and to be honest the room-note's about the only thing I'm not a fan of: pleasant to tolerable at best.

This is a definite four star blend:

Highly recommended.

I was given some of this from an unopened tin from the 1990's. I have the newer version but have yet to compare it. All I can say is WOW. I feel pretty fortunate to have tried a tobacco of this vintage. The flake rubbed out easily and packed well. It took flame right away. I was afraid it would burn a bit too hot being as dense as it was, but it burned just fine. I love the way this stuff tastes! Smooth, but bold and full of rich tobacco flavor. It had no mustiness to it at all, which I was afraid of based on the initial tin note. This stuff put out clouds and clouds of smoke - each puff being as flavorful as the first. It is rather monochromatic and didn't change a whole lot throughout the bowl, but with as good as it tastes initially, who would want that?? If you can still find it (currently going for about $100+ per tin), make sure you treat yourself as a pipe smoker and grab it up.

This flake was awesome, the black Cavendish brought a nice contrast to the latakia. A dark mixture, it was still easy to smoke and I have thouroughly liked all the tins I had purchased. If I would have known it would end up discontinued, I would have stocked up.

Thick,creamy,greasy smoke wish it was still around

Smoking this in a Castello and enjoying every puff, I've had this tin unopen for well over 10 yrs and finally cracked it open. This is a fine tobacco, it get's better as you move down the bowl. It burns well and is easily rubbed out to your liking. The latakia comes through at the mid point and continues to get better, it reminds me of good Virginia flakes that just get richer as your nearing the end of the bowl. As all good blends you don't want it to end, a fine blend that I wish I could still get.

This tobacco consists of virginia pressed with cyprian latakia (and my throat tells me that at least some of that black is cavendish), and sliced into flake form. While it lacks the layered complexity of some other english-style blends, Bengal Slices is nonetheless a superbly balanced tobacco, with a nice modestly sweet underpinning from the virginias, and a smoky, fairly spicy topping from the latakia.



Both the virginias and the latakia are surprisingly restrained in this blend, with none of the tongue-dissolving acidity of many other virginia-heavy blends (mcclellands) or the overwhelming smokiness of many english blends, I suspect because of the cavendish. While I'm not generally a fan of cavendish, its presence here seems to mellow out the blend nicely.



The room aroma is a straightforward smokiness, and doesn't seem to generate any complaints.

Tin Aroma: This blend smells heavily of molasses or caramel mingled with Latakia. A wonderful mix of smoky and sweet notes make for a tobacco scent unlike any other.

Physical Characteristics: Very dark sliced of pressed latakia, cavendish and stoved virginias. These slices are slightly smaller than most virginia flakes. The rub out to a chunky broken flake, but are too small to fold and roll, as is popular to do with virginia flakes. Burns slowly and smoothly to a fluffy white ash. I do find this blend slightly too moist upon first opening a tin, but after a day or two, it normalizes to a nicely smokability.

Notes: This is a very full-flavored mixture, suitable as an after dinner or evening smoke. The molasses and caramel notes I detected in the aroma are present in the flavor as well. I very much enjoy this sweet note, and so do not accompany this blend with any alchoholic drink, as they all seem to overpower the sweet note. Tea does seem to go well with it, I particularly like it with a Lapsong Suchong!