Boswell Pipes & Tobacco Boswell's Premium Burley

One of the best burley blends I have smoked. Nutty Burley with some sweet Cavendish. Has a touch of coco and honey flavor as well. Pouch more and taste match up well. Not a big nicotine blend but it is sufficient to my taste. Packs well and requires few if any re-lights. Flavor profile remains consistent throughout the smoke with no dull or harsh spots. All in all another exceptional blend from Boswell.

This is one of my favorite aromatics, second only to Boswells Christmas Cookie. This tobacco is obviously blended primarily with Burley, with only a small bit of black Cavendish sprinkled in, less than 10%. The casing is light and is what I like to call a "brown sweet" flavor. Reminds me of mixture of molasses/maple/brown sugar. It compliments the natural flavor of the burley and does not overpower it. That's what makes a class A aromatic.

If you live within a days drive of Boswell's, make the trip. JM, Gail, Dan, and Julie showed me tremendous hospitality taking time to chat and answer my questions. Their selection of pipes, house and tinned blends, and accessories was one stop shopping for this pipester.

For anyone that likes Burley, this is a must try. First, this blend is quality leaf. This blend contains larger pieces that burn cooler and slower than any OTC Burley. I am consistently left with only fine ash to dump after a bowl that burns at an even pace.

Second, and most importantly, the cavendish and any flavoring component is deftly added. Just enough to add some smoothness and sweetness. Not too much to kill good burley tobacco flavor. A similar blend following this concept is PipesandCigars Butternut Burley - a good blend, but one where I find the flavoring drowns the Burley too much. Boswell Premium Burley is superior in this regard, and also that it remains biteless and doesn't goop or sour and stays in the flavor zone all the way down. Relights never harsh.

I give all tobaccos a little air time before smoking, this is no different. A previous reviewer said pouch aroma reminded him of a peppermint pattie. I get a similar nasal vibe of a chocolate covered candy. Smoke flavor is burley tobacco nuttiness with a cocoa or choc. milk essence on nasal exhale. Smoke feels full and dense in the mouth.

All in all, one of the best Burleys I have tried.

I am quite new to pipe smoking. I have only sampled eight blends-- all but one of them from Boswell's. I tried to get small samples of a range of varieties. Boswell's Premium Burley was my representative from the realm of Burley.

By the numbers: Taste:3.5/4 Burn: 3.5/4 Room Note: 4/4 Value: 3.5 Average: 3.625 = ****

I certainly cannot call myself an aficionado of any blend or any blend style at this point. But, I can say what I like. And I really like Boswell's Premium Burley.

One of the challenges I have had as a new pipe smoker is a failure to detect much flavor other than just a generic tobacco taste. Initially I thought the same thing about this blend. But, once I cycled through my samples and came back to this one, something special happened. I genuinely enjoyed it as something unique from my other samples.

The bag note is very sweet. More than my other blend samples, this one carries the bag note of tobaccos that I used to sniff at the drug store-- back when they just left bags of cheap pipe tobacco out where kids can get a hold of them. This one, however, is more subtle.

The blend packs nicely and stays lit well.

Upon smoking, my untrained palette actually picks up on two things. First, there is a unique flavor and mouth-feel as compared to my non-Burley blends. For lack of a better word, I would say "nutty." There is also just a hint of sweetness on the lips and tongue. The dominant flavor is, of course, tobacco. But, there is something riding along side it that is something akin to a good hazelnut coffee. But, the novice (like me) might not pick up on it at first.

As for the room note, this blend lends a warm, sweet aroma that is what you classically think of as pipe smoke.

My third or fourth bowl of this blend was a special experience for me. It was the first time I smoked my pipe and just quietly enjoyed it without thinking about it. It was just good and comfortable. It was the first time I actually felt like a pipe smoker.

In short, this is a "happy" tobacco. It is content to be simply enjoyed for what it is-- a pleasant, slightly nutty, slightly sweet companion to whatever else you are doing. I highly recommend this one to the newbie.

A mild, sweet not to cased, aromatic burley. Reminds me of barbary coast by glp, but a lot milder. Solid baccy taste, doesn't get too bitter at the end. Top mild burley from a top American blender.

Just received a pipe back from Boswell after having been fitted with a new stem. Included with it was a sample of Boswell Burley. As a burley smoker I was anxious to try this blend and was quite pleased. Mild is the word-no tongue bite whatsoever. Excellent room note and great taste. Highly recommended.

This might be the first Boswell pipe tobacco I have tried. In short, I’d say this is light American “codger” burley meets a bit of vanilla black cavendish. It’s not a ribbon or chunky cut, I’d call it a rough cut. Burns cool and clean and easily without many relights. Fairly light in body for a burley (this is no C&D Burley Flake). No nicotine punch. Zero bite. It has a nutty earthy burley taste but I can also taste and smell the vanilla black cavendish. I am not much of a black cavendish fan, but I do like this tobacco because the vanilla flavoring is subtle - although make no mistake the light vanilla background flavor is there for the duration. I’d say this is a good light burley blend for an aromatic smoker, or for a burley smoker looking for a bit more sweetness than say, a more traditional burley like Sir Walter Raleigh, Prince Albert or Granger. Definitely worth a try.

This is one special leaf! I had long thought I did not care much for burleys at all. I was basing my prejudice on personal experience, having found little to like in burley-forward blends in the past. That I eventually came upon Boswell's interpretation proves yet again that one should keep an open palate and revisit old favorites and disappointments alike.

Boswell's Premium Burley is a beautiful leaf of comfortable cut and perfect moisture content in the 1oz bag that I had ordered (this review is thus based on the bulk version only). Filling the pipe is hardly a chore and the bowl takes the match on first light, forcing you to put down the pipe to allow for the usual charring ritual. From the first puffs, a pleasantly nutty sweetness develops, that remains throughout the bowl. It is a comforting mixture, for sure, but I would disagree with those who claim it lacks complexity. Every single pipeful of Boswell's Premium I have smoked to date has kept my interest till the last, to the point where reaching the (dry) heel catches me off guard. I have tried this in several of my Ferndowns with varying shapes and sizes and the results have been consistent and highly enjoyable.

My warmest recommendation for this quality leaf. Grab a book, fill a bowl, and simply enjoy the moment.

A really enjoyable Burley blend, with a definite nutty, creamy, and peripherally sweet taste. Seems to me to get more tasty at the end of the bowl, and more enjoyable. A keeper, and a blend that I compare other Burleys to.