Jack's Tobacco 12th Anniversary

The spicy, woody, earthy, smoky, herbal, vegetative, very floral, buttery sweet and sour Orientals mostly take the lead. The smoky, woody, earthy, floral, musty, wine-like, incense-like Syrian Latakia is more of a strong supporting player than it is a lead component, but there are times it takes a very small step ahead of the Orientals. The spicy, woody, earthy, plumy, raisiny Louisiana perique is also a supporting player, although its effect varies during the experience. Both the red and brighter Virginias are just above being condiments. They provide tangy ripe dark fruit, some tart and tangy citrus, very tart lemon, grass, earth, wood, light bread, and a small floral note. I detect an extremely mild creamy sweet topping in the mix. The strength and nic-hit are a slot short of medium. The taste is medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, but the spice content is high enough to possibly tingle the tongue of a fast puffer. Has a few small rough edges. Burns clean and fairly cool at a moderate pace with a complex, inconsistent, deeply rich, sweet and savory, floral, spicy campfire flavor that translates to the pleasantly lingering after taste, and slightly stronger room note. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Not an all day smoke, but it certainly is repeatable. I would give four stars for the taste, but the variances noted reduce it to three stars.

-JimInks

Based on only 5 bowls, I would describe this as primarily a Va/Perique with orientals and Syrian latakia as background. Smoking this sure puts me in the Perique Zone, that land of stewed fruit, lemon and chocolate, with the occasional barb of Perique, like one of cupid's arrows, puncturing my palate.

What really sets this and the other Jack's tobaccos apart, to echo some other reviews, is the quality of the Virginias--very sweet, rich and woody. This is a tobacco to think about and savor, not smoke on autopilot. It wakes up the palate and can make other English blends seem dull by comparison.

12th Anniversary. April 2004. I just finished another bowl of 12th,making it four in all. And I have to say without doubt,that I'm most impressed. 12th Anniversary is not as strong as Oddyysey, Penzance or Dunhills Night Cap. But still first class in a slightly milder sweeter way. Reminds me very much of Aperitif with a little less saltiness. So if your looking for an excellent latakia blend that offers just a little sweetness along with perique,virginia and turkish.Then this is it,without doubt. Thoroughly delicious,fresh,but with a little aging my guess would be'even better' Smooth and easy to light,leaving a nice clean ash without anything gooey or bitterness. A definite winner and very well done. 4 out of 4 stars,in its class. As we Aussies say 'Goodonya' Joe.You really deserve high accolades for this one.

When I first tried 12th Anniversary, I din't really like it. I found it to be too mild. I have revisited it, and I'm glad I did.

12th is a visually appealing blend. Kind of a short ribbon-cut with some dark cube-cut thrown in. It's very well mixed. Primarily a medium brown with light highlights and some brown-black cube.

Moisture content seemed fine to me. On opening the outer package, I got a strong smell of Latakia. When I opened the actual bag that the tobacco was in, I found a light 'earthy' smell. You can smell the Perique.

Now that it's not wintertime any more, I decided to try a lighter blend. So I loaded up a bowl of 12th. It packed very easily into a mid-sized bowl due to the short cut, and lit easily and evenly.

At the start, the Perique is apparent, but not overpowering. Blends well with the Turkish. As the bowl goes on, the Virginia makes a bit more of a statement. At times the sweet Va actually takes over for a few puffs, then the other flavors rejoin it. The Perique is very well behaved throughout. There is a spicy sweetness to 12th that I find quite enjoyable. Surprisingly enough, the Latakia stays in the background. I really didn't expect that. Even when the other tobaccos are 'center stage', they're hardly ever on the stage alone. This is a very well balanced blend.

The 'official' description calls this blend "Robust". I think "lively" would be more like it. It displays a good deal of complexity and I believe it would take a long time to ever get tired of 12th even as an all-day smoke.

The burn was very even and dry. Very little dottle - the least I have ever seen from this particular pipe. The only time it ever went out on me was when I let it go out to get an idea of room note.

The room note is light and clean smelling. A little sweet, and with something that reminded me a bit of a very mild cigar.

In summary, it's good pipe-weed. Pat yourself on the back for a job well-done Joe!

A very nice blend with an absolutely delicious and complex pouch aroma. Has a nice, subdued zesty-ness from the perique and Orientals early on, then settles into a smooth, nutty smoke for the rest of the bowl. Dominant flavors are the Orientals and Syrian Latakia, with enough of the former that this should probably be called a Balkan (and, if so, it is probably my favorite Balkan that I?ve tried thus far). There is a wonderful sweetness to this blend, but in a much more natural way than in any aromatic or even English crossover blend. The Orientals and Virginias in this blend possess an absolutely wonderful sweetness that I have yet to find in any other blend.

You really have to give this a try.