James Fox Provost Mixture

I bought this one thinking of a light aromatic, and surprisingly found an "almost natural" tobacco mixture. Cavendish here has nothing to do with the Scandinavian version we commonly know, resembling a "Scotish mixture" with very light casing. Smooth, no tongue bite, perfect moisture level, cool burning. That said, a bit pricey among its kind.

Appearance is a sticky dark brown rough ribbon. Tin smells of dried fruits with a fish sauce and soy sauce note. Tastes lightly sweet with savory notes. This is a red labelled tin.

The reviews of blends we dislike and blends we love are easy to write. Provost Mixture presents more difficulty. This blend is between a like and a love. One might expect a Virginia and Cavendish blend to be simple, but Provost Mixture is more complex than you might imagine. On opening the tin I get a slight whiff of something similar to Esoterica's Margate- a savoury smell, something akin to a soy and fish sauce, perhaps even Roman garum. It does need a little drying time out of the tin. The first part of the bowl may lead one to think this is boring, but press on. Lovely notes emerge, and Provost is medium strength as the smoke progresses.

The initial aroma out of the tin (described by one reviewer as raisins and rum) reminds me of the brandy soaked fruit cakes my Grandma made for Christmas. Rich, heady (almost wine-like), dried and candied fruit, gingerbread, then the grain and straw scents of the Virginia “comes creeping on little cat feet“. By the scent, at first there seems to be some sort of very light casing or sweetening going on, but it doesn't interfere with the soft but full tobacco aromas.

Another note, my tin has a different label than the one shown, It has a very plain one of those EU type labels with the huge health warning taking up half the label. It has no blend description other than, “Fine Smoking Mixture”. (I guess that's because they had to squeeze all the rest of the label text into the top half, above the huge legal health warning.)

Upon lighting I caught only the slightest hint of the out-of-place sweetness from the light casing I had noticed in the tin aroma. Mostly what I tasted was the lovely sweet & tart Bright Virginia leaf. Whatever else is in the blend, it seems to spotlight and cool down the sugary, spicy, delicious, bright leaf.

I like it, I love Virginia tobacco, and I really enjoyed this stuff. It's not as complex as one might hope, but still good. Smooth, sweet and cool. However, the price is too high. It's pretty good, but there are too many better tobaccos out there with lower prices.

I give it 3 stars.

Casper is on to something with his Cavendish comments. There's no shortage of blends that involve Cav, but everyone seems to pay attention to a mixture's Va/Lat/Burley content.

I'm no exception. I don't know what to call this aside from a Cav/Va.

Pure Va smokers won't love this. I don't love this. But I like it a lot, and it has a role in my rotation. After I've had a bowl or two of Va in a day, and I want a change of pace, this is exactly what I want. There's good Va flavor, and also something dark and earthy.

While I am pleased the last three reviewers enjoyed this blend, I have to say that they really don't know their arses from a hole in the ground. This Tobacco has Latakia in it, and if Fox says it doesn't, then they are Lying. It has enough that I can pick it out with my fingers. This is a good tobacco blend though, very mellow, leathery, smokey. Fox produces some outstanding blends, and Provost is great.

Update 08-04-09 I had to write an updated review for provost mixture because of the original verbiage that I used. My how my tastes and experiences have changed. I look at my statements concerning the possibility that this blend contained latakia. HAHa! Back then I knew so little. The truth is still that this is one of my all time favorites. I still view the craftsmanship and quality in provost as top notch. I value this blend heavily now that 965 is gone. The twangy, mild-edginess, of the orientals are so provocative. They are full on the palate and intriguing in the nose. The orientals don't come of as spicy. In a freshly opened tin, the moisture is quite high. The excess moisture seems to cloy the combination of flavors, yet with a slight amount of drying, the orientals begin to "pop" against the smoky sweetness of the cavendish. I really can't say enough for this blend and its level of refined elegance. I can't think of another quite like it in composition and matching depth, given the ingredient list. The cut and quality is everything that I lost when the dunhill stuff went bye-bye.(whining,groaning) Provost is a must try for those who love english/oriental blends. It is a mainstay for me.

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I must say that like the others who have reviewed this blend, cavendish is not what comes to mind. Unless J. Foxes concept of cavendish is tobacco painstakenly cured under a smokey fire of cedar. I'm sorry, but the characteristic charred cedar essence of smokey latakia is just too evident in this blend to pass it off as cavendish. I do believe that there is a trace amount of cavendish present but, not so much as to take this blends flavor away from the beautiful essence of the English style. There are so many likenesses found in many of the great english blends that I have to say that to deny latakia would almost be blasphemy. Oh... but don't let me be the expert, (because I'm not) I'm just going by what my nose and taste buds tell me. Upon opening a tin of Provost I'm met with the wonderful essence of smoked red meat and tangy worchestershire sauce, the same aroma the left me hopelessly addicted to Dunhill's 965. All in all whether or not this blend is complimented by cavendish, latakia, or both, I could really care less. I let the true guruhs debate the topic and, the blender know the truth. This a blend for the ages and is ultimately classic in its composition and quality. Get your self a few tins and be enthralled.