Boswell Pipes & Tobacco Boswell's Best

Re-packaged 1-Q? It smells like 1Q in the pouch, it tasted like 1Q and the room aroma was like 1Q. That left me wondering if there was some truth to Morley's accusations. I mean, surely no one would defend a tobacconist taking credit for someone else's blend, right?

But the more I smoked, the more I thought something was different. I couldn't place it and I tried and tried. I ruled out the aroma right away as the difference. Having some 1Q on hand, I finally did two back-to-back comparisons. Sure enough, the Boswell's tasted like 1Q but there was *something* different. The Boswell's smoked... drier, somehow. I realized I had missed what should be obvious when smoking an aromatic - the number of pipecleaners one has to use during the smoke and the amount of wet goo in the heel of the pipe afterward.

So what did Boswell do to the moisture content??? The blend is nicely moist but smokes dry! How'd they do that??? Is it my imagination? I'll have to try some more and see. But if Captain Black Royal is the "pool" of 1Q and 1Q is drier but still a bit too moist, Boswell's Best is like your lawn 10 minutes after a gentle summer rain. The moisture got in and then got zapped out. But it's still IN there somehow; it just doesn't come out in the smoke. I repeat: How'd they DO that???

As others have stated, this is in the same genre as 1Q and Captain Black. However, I didn’t get the headache that I sometimes get from the CB line of tobaccos. I don’t believe that Boswell’s Best is 1Q, BB has more chocolate and less vanilla to my palate. Overall I enjoyed this blend and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys vanilla/cavendish style blends.

The first pipe tobacco I smoked - 10 years ago.

This isn’t my favorite tobacco, but you you never forget your first love. When I quit smoking cigarettes, I would still enjoy the occasional cigar when fishing or barbequeing on the patio. I was lucky enough to live a short drive from Boswell’s wonderful shop, and I would frequently browse their well stocked humidor. After a few months of patronage, I could no longer ignore the wonderful smell coming from their tobacco counter. After striking up a conversation with the friendly proprietor J.M. (shared while petting the equally friendly husky that seemed to be a staple of the shop at the time), I walked out of the store with my first pipe (a Boswell) and a free sample of Boswell’s best. The tobacco is a smooth aromatic vanilla cavendish, with a citrusy Virginia backdrop. This is a perfect beginner blend, and one I still occasionally enjoy (in the same ‘ol pipe) after a decade of pipe smoking.

Sadly, I moved away from the Chambersburg area soon after picking up the pipe, but I do my best to stop by the shop when visiting family. The Boswell’s are good people offering great products.

This is a quite decent "vanilla" smoke but tends to leave a lingering aftertaste of which I'm not particularly fond. Nonetheless, to others this might not be the case. Boswell's (hands down) certainly produces several very fine Aromatic & Natural blends. Albeit this one is not my particular cup of tea (yet several other Boswell blends certainly are) I'd still recommend that it's worth a try. This is mild enough to be an all day smoke for sure. I hope to be fortunate enough to visit Bowell's brick & mortar someday in the near future. These B&M's are becoming rare given today's economic situation where many folks predominately shop only on-line. In my opinion these stores are a memento to an era less-hurried and more often than not "easier times" ... which I fondly remember while smoking a pipe.

I frame this review of Boswell's Best (BB) in comparison to Lane 1Q since smokers of the latter will find a welcome substitute or change of puff with the former. Contrary to an earlier (and somewhat provocative) review, this is not Lane 1Q. It may be similar in its recipe and choice of tobacco ingredients, but the burning characteristics separate this from the Lane standard. Unlike 1Q, Boswell's Best burns to a nice ash at the bottom of the bowl, regardless of the pace of the puff, and the flavor remains consistent relative to the Lane. 1Q tends to burn wet with a faster puff and tends to become sour through the process.

The room note is also similar to 1Q, but the Lane tends to provide a slightly sweeter note than BB. Like the 1Q, I tend to smoke BB while I am working and writing. I do understand why committed VaPer and/or Latakia smokers would find this blend rather bland, but for the person like me who needs a pleasant but discreet blend for working/thinking, BB fulfills that purpose nicely. I tend to enjoy a VaPer or Latakia blend after the work, when I can enjoy the subtle complexity of the tobaccos.

I alternate between the two blends, although I do prefer the BB for its better burning characteristics, especially when fast typing and intense thinking are involved.

My first voyage into Boswell Tobacco was a pleasant journey. I could smoke this one all day. The tobacco does not hide behind the casing as in so many vanilla cav's, but takes the lead with a nice vanilla and spice taste as a support. Easy, cool burn with few relights. Enough said - I need to order more!

Boswells best is a very mild but yet simple vanilla aromatic. The smell of this tobacco is pretty straight forward with a vanilla smell. This tobacco is very easy to work with and no issues lighting this stuff it burns well. This is another solid aromatic by boswells and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys smoking pipe tobacco. Also will not bite and the room note is nice.

Opening a 1 year 7 month old jar revealed thin ribbons of tobacco in shades of creamy browns with black. There were smells of vanilla with a hint of cocoa present. The moisture level was just about right for me and a little on the dry side. An unlit sip after loading a bowl brought vanilla cream and a light milk chocolate flavor to my tongue.

On the initial light a very light vanilla cream taste was pretty consistent with this blend. Overall it tasted of vanilla cream with a light milk chocolate every now and then. At times a pronounced sour taste would appear after the sweetness dissipated. I thought it might just be a sour pipe at first, but it happened in several different briars, so I'm chalking it up to the tobacco. It wasn't a bad sour taste, just not something I cared for. All in all this blend was pretty bland to me. The room note was pleasant and toasty, and the finish left a musty and sour taste on the tongue for quite some time.

There was nothing at all wrong with this blend if you like vanilla aromatics, it just didn't ring any bells for me. I think if wasn't so burned out on the vanilla flavor I may have enjoyed it more since it did not seem to burn too hot with my smoking style. I would recommend Boswell's Best for anyone who likes a light vanilla aromatic that doesn't seem to overheat too easily.

Before I saw the reviews for Boswells Best, the number of stars I would of awarded would of been 3. Low and Behold I share something in common with other smokers. BB is a smooth smoke with a wonderful sweet aroma out of the bag. I could easily make this my everyday smoke and can see why this is a likable blend but for me it lacked something.I do recommend this however. Its not called Boswells Best for no reason. For me,3 stars.