James Fox The Banker's Mixture

This is a wonderful blend which I've just recently discovered, devouring a tin in less than a week.

It is a medium English mixture, with a decent but not large amount of Latakia and a very nice VA base to which real Havana tobacco is added. I don't know for sure but all my taste detectors tell me this is the genunine thing, not chopped up White Owls or shredded Garcia Vegas; there is the unmistakable taste of the world's finest (cigar) leaf, albeit probably floor sweepings. I've had a Cuban cigarette before and it had the same taste component as I find here, but in an artfully made pipe tobacco it tastes much better of course.

It is not like smoking a Cohiba at all, not as heavy, though smoking in a larger diameter bowl will increase the body a bit and intensify the experience. Rather this is an incredibly smooth English mixture (one of the smoothest I've had) with an extra component of creaminess and strength from the cigar leaf. So this provides a good kick for those who look for such things.

I haven't had the orginal so I have nothing to complain about. I don't detect any humectant, my tin dried out nicely (drying is needed otherwise it does taste bland. The proper amount of drying will change the strength from med to med-full imho). The cons: it's expensive and not available everywhere.

This is a truly excellent blend. I echo all above, adding only that The Bankers is very fine from match to dottle, developing nicely but not getting too acrid or sour near the bottom of the bowl. It is smooth, full but not at all overwhelming.

One curious detail is that I've had my current tin open for 3 months or so, and it shows absolutely no sign of drying out, leading me to wonder if there is some type of casing or humectant in there somewhere ... but no matter. And besides, I find it a bit annoying to rehydrate a tin, that's just a quirk of mine. Now granted, I do keep my tins (most of the time) sealed in relatively airtight sandwich baggies, but even with that treatment an opened tin will dry out over time.

About a year ago, I embarked on a search for a pipe blend containing cigar leaf. After a few duds (Dunhill's "Cuba" should probably remain in Cuba, or in London at the very least), I found and settled upon Fox's 'The Bankers'--perfect for those moments that cry out for the subtle orchestration of a fine English blend combined with the bold edge of cigar leaf--or just about anytime a bold-yet-smooth smoke is desired.

Life is good. This tobacco is incredible! There are certain milestones one encounters along the pathway of any endeavour. In my smoking experiences I might rate my first bowl of a newly opened tin of Penzance, the first time I matched the right pipe and the proper technique to understand a Virginia like Marlin Flake, the first half of nearly any bowl of Bob's Chocolate Flake, realizing that Dunhill's were cheap as well as astonishingly fine (well, MOST of 'em), knowing enough that when I once discovered six tins of 2000 Samarra at a small tobacco shop...I snatched 'em all! Well, the list would go on - and it would include this superb blend - The Bankers. Yes, it's deep...yes, it's wide...yes, it's delightful. The flavor, the aroma, the light, the main bowl, the denoument...etc. are best left to others of greater descriptive subtlety. I will simply supply you with a directive of hopefully sufficient strength to motivate you to act: If you know your bowl from a hole in the ground (ahem!) then you will immediately obtain and smoke this tobacco. You will then revaluate your past five years (or so) as wasted time and effort...lamenting that you can not relive them with this in your bowl at least once a day...but you will be bouyed up by the expectation that you have at least the next five years to make up for it (of course, I wish you far longer). You will then buy more...much more. Men will fear you...women will want you. You will find large pipes too small...and buy new pipes to dedicate...name children for it...grandchildren...well, you get the drift.