James Fox Provost Mixture

Provost is one of those gems that seems to fly under the radar of the pipe world. Made with high quality leaf that arrives a bit too moist. This English blend, like Presbyterian, can have be mistaken for having Latakia however it has none. My tins have a couple of years on them so there may some additional sweetness to an already slightly sweet smokey blend. Provost is rich in flavor and while not a powerhouse, it's not whimpy either. The mix of Virginia's is masterful and the Cavendish is used very smartly, not any easy thing to do in an English blend, but Provost nails it. The hefty dose of quality Virginia's should make this a great blend for aging too. Highly Recommended!

Let me start by saying that Dorisco Mixture is one of my top three or four tobaccos and that I was hoping that anything by Fox would be of the same caliber. But it was not to be, I found Provost Mixture to be flat and bland with no character.

It smells bland in the tin and the taste was just not there, I wanted to find a sweet light English but this is just too mellow for me.

I am afraid that this one is not according to the description given above. Rather, I found this just a typical English blend.

Appearance: After opening the round 50g tin, you are greeted by a medium ribbon cut with all the typical brown's, yellow's, black's of a typical English blend.

Tin Aroma: A mustiness typical to a English, maybe a tad more orientals, I think there might be a pinch of Perique. Moisture is perfect.

Packing: Easy

Lighting: 3-4 lights max, normal.

Initial Flavor: Definitely tilted to the orientals, with the VA and Latakia close behind.

Mid-Bowl: Good English, similar to Squadron Leader, but with a little more Oriental pungency.

End Of Bowl: Some strength build-up, a Perique tartness, very faint though. Ash is grey and dry.

Overall: This is a good blend, but there was nothing outstanding to keep me coming back. It is pricey, $12.50 a tin in So. Cal. I found it to be a little bitey at times, worked best in a group 5 size bowl. Nicotine cont. is med. (which is good for me!) I suppose if there were not so many excellent blends out there, this could be in the rotation. The room note is strong, will definitely disturb the non-smokers.

Rating 3.5 out of 5

I obtained three tins of this blend, Provost Mixture by James J. Fox,, in a 2017 "thin-down" buy out of another pipe smoker. Two tins were older, 2002 and 2007, and one tin was dated 7/9/14; the tin I opened for smoking and reviewing. I promised to open a tin of this blend in my "Similar to" section of my review of Drew Estate Luxury Flake, as both are Cavendish/Virginia blends of current or recent production. After a normal tin opening I found a ribbon-cut blend of relatively dark overall color. Though sealed in a normal appearance, the tobacco inside was surprisingly dry and ready to smoke. Now comes the contested part; lighting this blend up and tasting it. Some feel that there is a Latakia component, some feel that there is a Perique component and some feel that there is a Burley component. I don't. My tin sniff test detected something that was stoved , but nothing smoky. That would be the Cavendish coming through two different Virginias. This blend is much simpler than it is reputed to be and smokes in a no-nonsense manner. The stoved Cavendish and the Virginias play well together and provided me with an above average smoke in that huge category of non-English blends that I have been trying so hard to catch up on after a life of English blend living. On the other hand, I found it to smoke a little inconsistently down each bowl with pleasurable runs of richness punctuated by lesser areas. This was a characteristic of this blend from pipe to pipe. As to the comparison with Luxury Flake, well, there really isn't that much. Provost is much darker in color, more heavily stoved and smokes with a lower register than Luxury Flake. I liked them both about the same and gave each three stars.

The only word to describe this tobacco is "delicious"! It's like smoking a slice of a very high-quality Christmas cake. The Cavendish is the overriding flavour but the sweetness of the Cavendish is brilliantly toned down by the excellent Virginias to a perfect level. You get the occasional smokey touch, reminiscent of Latakia and it smokes out completely. Absolutely no bite. Wonderful!

James Fox - Provost Mixture

Never mind the hokey tin descriptive posted at the top. It was obviously written by an uninformed marketing type. I'll tell you the truth about Provost Mixture:

This is the best pipe tobacco ever made, bar none. Smoking it will cause your wallet to swell, your IQ to double, the calendar to roll back at least ten years on your wife, and your kids to do all the housework. And that's all I got to say about that.

Now that's what the tin descriptive should've said!

Well I'm going to start by saying that this taste like a light Balkan blend to me, in the spirit of Presbyterian mixture , if you read the other reviews there seems to be all kind of crazy theories of how the this cavendish is presssed and they get this flavor or that flavor they only thing I know for sure is that I can smell the Latakia and taste a Basma like flavor, if this was cheaper it could consider as all day kinda blend, be sure to have a lot of pipe cleaners around because it does drip quite a bit, overall it's a solid mystery blend and definetly worth trying.

Bought this one because i was intrigued by the ''toasted cavendish''. Also because the tin was nice looking. But i received the new, white and green tin design, with a huge ''smoking kills'' sticker, over which another sticker had been applied, which stated ''fine pipe tobacco'', courtesy of the fine folks at 4noggins i guess... on to the review. Strangely enough, this blend reminds me of a sweeter version of McClelland's 221b Arcadia mixture. That is, it is sweet, savory, with some BBQ notes. Even the tin note evokes the famous Mc Vinegar, which to me isnt unpleasant at all. Must be something in common in the way they process their virginias... Provost mixture tastes like there is Orientals in the mix, and maybe even a touch of latakia, slightly. The cavendish does indeed seem to be of the ''english'' cavendish type, giving the blend creamy undertones. This kind of cavendish, to me, tastes a bit like sweetened milk, or sweetened cardboard, with a hint of maple syrup... The room note of this blend, to me, is very pleasant, not overly sweet, yet not as pungent as a Lat blend. Overall, my impressions are the same than for Arcadia: this blend won't knock your socks off, but it will certainly scratch that itch. I cant see how this blend could offend, and it could be an all-day smoke.

2017-03-15 UPDATE: truly a chameleon blend. Every time i convince myself its rather smoky, i find it sweet. And every time i convince myself its sweet, well, the next time i smoke it im surprised by how smoky it is. I guess its a testimony to how well balanced this tobacco is. There are no obvious high notes, just a savory, umami, meat like and full bodied impression. In turn, this means it is not a tobacco which i find myself craving often, it is too neutral. But i think this would make a great blend to introduce new pipe smokers because it is well behaved, satisfying and not intimidating in its taste profile, while giving a glimpse of both the sweetness and the spiciness that can be found in pipe tobacco.

This tobacco is magic. At first it appears like a light VA with an almost oriental tinge, but it also has a dry woody depth. It can create a gentle tingle in the mouth, with the cavendish lending a soft whisper of Dunhill MM965 (as others have noted). The balance of flavours is very subtle, but this is the blend's strength. It centres upon the softer side of things that can be lost in a stronger blend. That's not to say that fuller blends can't be subtle -but this is like a water colour in a gallery full of oil paintings.