James Fox The Banker's Mixture

A classy pipe tobacco that really is part english,part good cigar. The aroma is nice and unique in that it does smell cigar-y but pipe-y too. The "Havana" leaf is really good along with the Latakia,and cavendish. It produces a really good silky smoke.

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.

This is a fine tobacco. It is rich in taste, flavourful, yet smooth and elegant. Basically a straight matured Virginia with an added creaminess from the Havana cigar leaf (and probably with some unsweetened Black Cavendish), its overall structure is somewhat similar to the bygone Sobranie's Virginia Reserve. It smokes cool and easily, and once you let it air out overnight it should not be difficult to pack and light. Medium strength (though not advisable for beginners), this mixture can be enjoyed after a good, hearty meal (let's say after a juicy New York steak, washed down with a glass or two of Montepulciano D'Abruzzo) and should be a delight to both cigar and pipe smokers.

In the tin the tobacco comes rather moist for my taste (something that is common to the Fox's blends I've tried). Thin ribbon cut, it presents attractive hues of browns together with small, jet black strands. It has a strong yet inviting aroma, as if an entire tobacco shop was condensed in the tin. Because of its richness I don't find this a constant or an all day smoke (unless you have a strong Freudian-G.Marxian-Castrean complex, and smoke cigars all the time!), but as an after lunch-dinner companion it is absolutely splendid. Great stuff.

The blender's notes say that this blend contains some Havana cigar leaf and my first thought was - why put cigar leaf in a pipe tobacco? If you want to taste cigars buy a King Edward. However in the search for the holy grail I decided to try this blend anyway, and I'm really glad I did. It might not be the holy grail, but this is a very tasty and satisfying blend indeed. On opening the tin the first aroma to tickle the old olfactory membranes is Latakia, but a wonderfully subdued and soft latakia that mingles with a winey fermented aroma reminiscent of Virginia/Perique. The latakia is not at all dominant, not at all in your face. The blend packs and lights easily, due I think to the fine ribbon cut. Again the initial taste is Latakia, and again it is a subdued and subtle Latakia. The smoke is rich and creamy, the taste medium, its the sort of tobacco that causes me to roll my tongue round my mouth to get more of it. The Havana mentioned at the start is barely noticeable. This is pipe tobacco of the finest sort. The havana is just about noticeable in the room note, but there is no doubt that a pipe is being smoked - not a cigar. If you want a good relaxing smoke try this one. Smooth, cool, no bite, just a rather sublime smoking experience. Recommended