Boswell Pipes & Tobacco Hunter's Choice

The burleys are nutty with some earth and molasses. The gold Virginias are citrus sweet with some grass and a light honey essence. The black cavendish offers a very mild vanilla and brown sugar in the background. The toppings do sublimate the tobaccos, though you’ll still notice them. The nuts and beans toppings have a little syrupiness to them, but it’s not overly distracting. There’s a light caramel and possibly a few drops of rum present as well. The nic-hit is mild. Won’t bite and has no harsh spots. Burns at a reasonable pace, relatively cool and smooth with a fairly consistent flavor, though I do notice the tobaccos just a tad more in the last quarter of the experience. Requires few relights, and leaves some moisture in the bowl, but no goop or dottle. Leaves a decent after taste. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

As always, in the aromatic department, Boswells delivers big time. I am a huge fan of all their blends, but somehow this one eluded me forever. I just recently picked some up. I am convinced J.M. Boswell has formulated a one-of-a-kind casing which he uses on many of his aromatic blends. Quite a few of them have the same base flavor, as does this one. The good thing is, it's a incredibly delicious flavor. Describing this blend as "nutty", isn't quite right. While is could be described as very slightly nutty, it plainly just Burley flavor. Think Burley, brown sugar/maple, a touch of sweet Virginia, and a pinch of spiced rum. Excellent. Obviously blended by a true master of his craft.

A little preface, I always recommend smoking Boswell blends fresh. They do not hold their topping/casing more than a few weeks. Which tells me they aren't loaded with synthetic ingredients. Kudos to Boswell!

Pouch aroma: Almost chocolate cherry cordial, with a hit of alcohol. I personally do not detect much nuttiness, except maybe a very faint hazelnut.

Appearance: Comprised of three prominent shades of tobacco, thick ribbon cuts that do not appear to ever have been a broken flake as stated. Moisture content perfect, as most Boswell blends are.

Packing/lighting/smoking: Packs nice with a bit of spring, initial light swells past the rim. Tamp and relight, your ready to settle in. very minimal relights needed throughout the entire bowl.

Flavors are mostly flavored burley, with Va's in the background. the Cavendish doesn't offer much natural sweetness, but it helps round off the sharp burley flavor. The chocolate cherry aroma transfers to the smoke. Some Hazelnut peeks through, but the natural tobacco flavor makes up most of the palate on this tobacco. This would be a great tobacco for burley smokers looking to please a crowd. Never hints at biting, and doesn't get harsh at the end. puffed at a moderate pace, this tobacco stay true until the end. Due to it requiring very little attention, this would be a great tobacco choice for road trips where you need to be paying attention to the road, not your pipe.

Just remember smoke this fresh. If your an occasional aromatic smoker like I am, consider buying the minimum 2 ozs.

Given as a gift, and I liked it so much I ordered more. It is mild, with a nice room note, great flavor, is pleasant to smoke, and there is not bite. Well worth trying. This is one of my favorite Boswell blends along with Christmas Cookies, Pipers Pleasure, no Bite Delight, and Chocolate Cream which is my all time number one.

This blend is decent. It smells fantastic but the flavor is nearly undetectable. It smells of nuts and sweetness, and i thought i would really enjoy it. Upon lighting however, it tastes virtually like warm air, and a little chemically, which will most likely disappear if left open for a night.

Yes, not a very thorough or technical review, but i dont have much to say. It doesnt taste bad, and is somewhat enjoyable at times. Try it if you wish, but dont expect anything bursting with flavor.

I think it would be gret if the same topping was lightly added to a straight burley blend, That would be nice to try.

UPDATE - 11/23/09:

I am going to bump this to 4-stars. This is probably the best aromatic out there. I would call it the quintessential american burley blend. If you're looking for that "aromatic for non-aromatic smokers," this may be it. Not fruity, not goopy, plenty of tobacco taste. I finished my first 2oz and ordered 6oz more. This will be a staple smoke for me.

Original review:

Hunter's choice has a delightful aroma, sweet and nutty but still with an excellent pure tobacco smell. The moisture seems about right, however, this may vary person to person since this is a loose blend and is shipped in a plastic baggy.

One of the things I most enjoy about this blend, almost as much as the taste, is simply getting some whiffs of smoke coming from the pipe -- a lovely room note, I suppose, however I have never smoked it indoors. Complex, mild and slightly nutty, maybe some chocolate if you're looking. I will occasionally stop smoking it in order to simply let the smoke from the bowl waft under my nose.

Lights easily, smokes well. Definitely the coolest smoking blend I have tried so far. No tongue bite whatsoever. Being an ex-cigarette smoker and trying to avoid anything with Burley in it, I was surprised to find myself completely enjoying the flavor of the Burley as it occasionally burst through the light sweetness of the Black Cavendish and the VA, this despite my now being almost revolted by the smell of cigarette smoke. It tastes as well as it smells lit and unlit. Nutty, golden, sweet, but with plenty of mild tobacco goodness. It's definitely not full-flavored, but the subtleness and complexity of this blend keeps it extremely interesting to me. I have smoked 6 bowls so far and have yet to find it boring. I will definitely continue to smoke this where I normally smoke my pipe, believe it or not, while hunting. With rabbit season soon on its way, I will probably need to order several more ounces.

I tried this blend in a new pipe I picked up at JM's shop last week...it's a delightful change of pace tobacco from my diet of straight VA's, VaPer's and English blends. Each member of this blend provides its distinctive tastes and complimentary flavors from the Burley and Cavendish AND then, just as you relax with the smoke, the sweet taste of Virginia comes curling through periodically as a surprise. Lites easily, easy on the tongue, and remains lit without re-lites and burns with a dry, clean ash.

I forgot about this blend in my cupboard and found it today as I wanted something a little more sweeter in my pipe. It's been a long time since I've smoked this blend, quite a few years actually and it was still in very good condition in the jar, maybe a little drier than when bought but I prefer my tobaccos on the drier side. It certainly did not need any rehydration and packed perfectly in my Cavicchi pipe.

With the initial light I got hit with a lot of sweetness but not overpowering at all. Second light definitely not as much but it was definitely still there, a burnt sugar, toffee, caramelized flavour but with it a good foundation of nutty tobacco. Not wet or sickly. With this I got spiciness as well, most probably from the virginia. Remember I've had this blend jarred several years without touching it so I presume the virginia in this blend matured resulting in the spice. As the smoke progressed the sweetness reduced and the virginia and nutty burley tobacco took precedence.

This blend smoked to a fine grey ash, had plenty of smoke and kept lit easily. No tongue bite what soever and smoked cool through out. I highly recommend this tobacco to beginners and more experienced smokers. Enjoy this blend in good health.

Another good blend from the Boswell family. This was tried immediately from the package over the 2014/ 2015 holiday season. Came a bit moist so drying time is recommended for best results, as this was experienced over the last few months. Out of the package the blend has a nutty/ caramel scent that transfers over in the taste department. IMO, it's similar to Half and Half if not a bit sweeter and slightly less nutty. No bite but i treated the blend gently in the pipe. Leaves dootle so air it out for a better experience. Not my favorite blend from Boswells but likable and will buy more in the future. Recommended!

Not too strong nor is it too weak.Lighted very easy and so far have not had any re-lights.I found it has a very well balanced yet nutty flavor.The burley and cavendish seem to pop but neither are over-powering.The wife doesn't mind me smoking this while we watch the tube which is a plus. I would highly recommend this blend to anyone.I will be ordering alot more very soon.