Boswell Pipes & Tobacco Northwoods

My go to English, for me the best smoky, Latakia blend around, nothing comes close, well not much, love the sweetness that is not overpowering, it is smooth, flavoursome and never bites, its just a grand smoke, I could smoke it and nothing else to be honest.

If I don't have any in stock, I get edgy. Most I have let sample it, love it, originally suggested to me by the infamous OMS (One Man Smoke) and oddly enough, at that time, some years back, I hated it, left it to store, my pallet changed from aromatics (but I still love my aros) and now would not be without this superb blend.

The good:

This blend packs easily, burns slow and cool, does not bite at all, and has a fantastic room note.

The not so good:

This blend seems to be topped with PG, and will require countless relights if not allowed to dry considerably before smoking. It is extremely mild both in flavor and nicotene, and is very one dimensional, at least in a small bowled pipe. Rather than building in intensity, it seems to get milder throughout the bowl. I was expecting a much fuller flavor based on the descriptions I have read. In my experience with this blend, the Cavendish dominates the blend to the point of muting the other flavors. The Aromatic topping or casing, that to me tastes like Vanilla, is the prominent flavor.

For this reason , I would classify this blend as an aromatic rather than a proper English. If you are expecting a full English like I was, you may be disappointed.

Don't get me wrong, this blend has it's own thing going and is good in its own way, but it is in no way a full English blend, at least in my experience. I can see this being a good choice for me on certain occasions, but it is not really what I was expecting.

Bottom line, if you like aromatics, you might like this blend a lot, however, if you're expecting a full English, this will let you down.

Just my 2¢.

First off, I'm primarily an aromatic smoker. But I was wanting something different and decided to venture into the non-aromatic arena. I reviewed alot of tobaccos before purchasing and Boswell's Northwoods seemed to be a good choice. So, I decided to buy a couple of ounces to give it a try, along with the new Boswell pipe I ordered.

I was impressed. This could quite possibly be the blend that opens the door for me into English tobaccos. I've had a couple of blends that were heavy on Latakia for my taste ( but are 5 star blends by many other reviewers ). I didn't get that from Northwoods. Indeed it is noticeable, but it's not overpowering.

And since I smoked this in a new pipe, I didn't get any residual side effects from the aromatics i smoke.

For someone who likes aromatics, this is an English blend that I will be smoking and ordering more of. Very impressed and a nice change of pace. Highly recommend.

Slight fragrance of campfire in the jar. A bit moist so I spread some out to dry for a few minutes. It took a couple of relights, but once I got it going it stayed lit fairly well and there were gobs and gobs of creamy, cool, dry smoke. A large bowl lasted a full hour. It has a subtle, natural tasting sweetness but no casing or flavorings that I detect, and not overpowering at all. This one just tastes like tobacco - high quality tobacco.

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.

Excellent service from Dan and his staff, great folks and thank you.

Although there's a sweet cavendish aromatic which I tend to stay away from it works a treat in this blend which has a great buttery smooth mouthfeel. The room note is one of the best, aromas of High Mass Frankincense when the aromatic and Latakia combine.

This blend is English/Latakia forward and quite full with some aromatic, I would not say it's a true crossover although by definition it is. Not an overly complex blend there are some nice notes on the retrohale and the creamy rich smooth mouthfeel is just great. I also like the slow burning properties which it has, never any bite and it does not tire my palate out, consecutive bowls can be enjoyed anytime of the day or evening and it has enough power to enjoyed as a nightcap after an evening of Scotch and cigars.

Highly recommended and a nice change of pace; Latakia with a twist and cellar worthy.

I recently received a generous sample of this from an acquaintance at a pipe meet up here in Raleigh. He’d ordered his second pipe from Boswell and got a complementary pouch of Northwoods with it. I was very impressed by the pipe, and with Boswell sending their blend along with the pipe. Classy move Boswell!

I’m not sure whether this tobacco was stoved or aired-out prior to my getting hold of it. I’m assuming it was as it came from Boswell because it was still fairly moist. That being said, it smoked great and I would not do anything to it. Nice cool, dry smoke, no bite, clean white ash when finished and no doddle.

I’ve been smoking this in a Falcon and I was surprised at how little residue I found in the base of the pipe.

I don’t get any of the “pine” taste that a few reviewers mentioned. The Latakia has the expected campfire smoke flavor, but it’s by no means piney. I get more of a pleasant moss and oak flavor, which was pleasingly consistent throughout the whole bowl. Northwoods reminds me a lot of the Frog Morton’s blends (some of my favorites). The Black Cavendish is a great little condiment in this blend. The Virginia gives a subtle sweetness which was pleasant and keeps the blend smoking with little need for relighting.

I could see this being an all day smoker and intend to order up a few ounces very soon!

Just a review for those aromatic smokers who want to try Northwoods. I was so impressed with the 4 star reviews how could I go wrong with this blend? To me it was like stuffing my pipe full of pine needles and lighting it up. I am traditionally an aromatic smoker and tend not to like english blends. Boswell's is a great tobacconist and I have enjoyed some of their other blends. For a traditional aromatic smoker Northwoods may be to strong to try as your first english blend.

I just realized that readers, while hopefully taking everything not only that I write but what every other reviewer writes with a grain of salt (opinions being what they are!), they should take special note of my grading in the Room Note category. I'm not married and I grade this not on how others feel but how I feel about the room note. 🙂 This one smells good!

This is a very nice heavy English blend. I know that Dunill Nightcap, another heavy english, has a large following but I have to say that, for me, this Boswell blend succeeded where Nightcap failed. It's a full flavored blend with a harmonious exchange between the latakia and the other tobaccos. Everything melded very well and the flavor was sharper, not dulled by the "infighting" I find with Nightcap.

As others have mentioned, there was a nice sweetness amidst its very masculine powerful taste. This may be an offensive lineman of a blend but it can also put on a tux and act refined and elegant. If you like a lot of latakia flavor but don't want your tongue melted and confused, try this one. Boswell really nailed what I believe they were going after. So why 3 stars instead of 4? Well, what I think they were trying to achieve is not "quite" what I seek in a blend. Durn close, though! But not close enough to replace the main English blends in my rotation. On the other hand, I'll be buying more of this, albeit in smaller batches.

A decent “Aromatic” that has English elements. I wouldn’t call this a straight up English blend as it is very Cavendish forward to me.

It’s a great crossover blend for beginner English smokers who want to wean themselves off of aromatics. Similarly it’s a good blend for those devoted English smokers who want a sweet change of pace.

If you enjoy this blend, I recommend Boswell’s Countryside as it has a bit more body and depth. If you want to take it a step further into full on English territory, then smoke 965 if you haven’t already. These are all what I would consider similar, “brother blends”.

Happy smokes. - Toto