Lane Limited BCA

This was one I started out with a long time ago and never get tired of. I have a few dedicated pipes that I smoke aromatics in and this one I smoke in my meerschaum. It is cool, mild, not too sweet and is great during the summertime. I only smoke my pipe when I get off work with coffee or on the weekends but this would be an excellent all-day smoke. There are a lot of black Cavendish pipe tobaccos out there and I like quite a few of them but this one ranks at or near the top. I have also used this to blend with cherry pipe tobacco to cut down on the bite. This kind of reminds me of Captain Black without the Captain if that makes sense.

This tobacco surprised me. As I've stated before, I'm not a big fan of aromatics, I've found so few with any taste over the years, but this one is special. BCA has such a broad range of smells and tastes—berries, nuts, marshmellos, rum (whiskey is claimed, but it tastes more like rum to me), really sweet tastes, and remarkably complex. Of course, I can't think of a blend with more additives than this one, and it will goop up your pipe; but, even so, for me, it's the perfect smoke for when I want to switch gears. I find this blend particularly delightful on a warm summer night. The room note is actually noticeable for once, even outside, and it's a great scent. I've given this blend its own pipe, an old Leonessa Capri, a "beater," and, since I only smoke it every once in awhile, the pipe stays relatively clean. So, in summation, BCA is a great smoke, for what it is—a sweet Black Cavendish. I'll be searching for other Black Cavs in the future, but I will always keep some BCA on hand. Recommended.

A standard black Cavendish, but I felt that the topping was slightly too much for me. I’d like to taste the cabin dish more than the topping. Nonetheless, it’s very nice, with a very good quality tobacco. Wasn’t too moist, and had minimal relights. I still feel the peters Toca be black Cavendish was much more pleasant, but this is still very nice. I’ll definitely grab some more

I would never smoke anything like this by itself. Just too goopy for me. I do recommend it though to toss a pinch into a latakia blend to add an element of sweet. Depending on the latakia blend I add at most 25% BCA for a nice change of pace. I have to really dry out the BCA using my microwave method, almost nuking it crispy.

I started this after recently finding a few ounces of Babylonia from Vegas Smokes, which I believe is gone. This pouch was stored in a mason jar for maybe 20 years and had gotten lost in my cellar. Babylonia was billed as a balkan with some black cavendish. I found it most satisfying, so I began to experiment.

As an aside, in that search through the dark and cobweb covered portion of my cellar I came across a large mason jar that I had not labeled. Clearly had been there untouched for 20 years. Turned out to be stuffed full of Stonehaven, which made me a happy guy cuz I was down to maybe 3 oz of that.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had it on its own, but I remember really liking it because it was the only aromatic that I had tried at the time that didn’t bite me. I have a 50/50 mix of it with 1-Q that I’ve had for 9 years that I’m still trying to finish.

I like the Lane aromatics! I keep a Savinelli Roma Lucite 315, minus the balsa filters, dedicated to aromatics and Lakelands. Big clouds of Rich Cavendish smoke, excellent vanilla flavor... sometimes I do a parfait with this and Lane Dark Red, with a nice plug of Dunhill Royal Yacht on the very top for a little nicotine kick... by doing a parfait it seems like it keeps the aromatic flavor right through the bowl. Only negative here is the fact that the last quarter of the bowl tends to just be black Cavendish flavor. I like to smoke it till it loses its flavor, let it cool, and then flick out that last little plug of flavorless dottle. Very inexpensive in bulk, so I don't feel like I'm wasting tobacco there if I don't finish it straight to the bottom. Like most black Cavendish tobaccos it's definitely a little moist, so a light hand on the pack works best for me.

When I travel, I take a paper bag, the kind you get at the local store when you buy a tall boy of beer, put a handful of this in there, and then sprinkle in some Five Brothers, shake it until well blended, then pour the mix into the travel pouch and roll it up tight. The Five Brothers would pretty much almost vanish after a day or two, soaking up all the black Cavendish flavoring, so I could get a crowd-pleasing aromatic smoke with a touch of nicotine in it! I never used to be much of an aromatic smoker, but I do enjoy them now, relaxing while making big fragrant clouds of mild smoke...

Morning cup of coffee kind of smoke for me.

Mild, cool, slight sweet vanilla flavor. Easy smoking, easy packing, easy on the pallet. Could literally smoke all day it’s that mild.

The pouch has an aroma of mainly vanilla, I smell a chocolate liqueur & probably contains a shot of whiskey. It is a little cloying... in that sense, meaning sweet, a little chocolaty & sticky but not actually drippy, gooey stuff. It does require quite a bit of drying time before it's ready to be stoked but it has a surprisingly good burning rate considering the dampness & stickiness while rubbing it between your fingers.

It smolders really well while when you set your pipe down to cool. This smokes & tastes better if you do that after you get a good burn rate started. In that sense, no relights will be required... just start toking again & you've got fire & could easily win a slow smoking contest with this blend. It would work great for lighting firecrackers or used as kindling to easily start a campfire with a flint rock. If you happen to be out in the sunlight, a magnifying glass from a box of Cracker Jacks will save on matches. BCA doesn't bite in the least & is not harsh but did have a slight bitterness during the charring light only.

It has a sweet flavor & leaves a pleasing aftertaste on the palate & the room note is heavenly. As far a the strength goes, it's probably akin to smoking a mild cigarette. I'm not really that much into aromatics but was surprised by liking this as well as I did. I bought a one ounce sample packet of this & I'm sure most of you are aware that this is now available in fifty gram tins. It smokes cool & mild & after setting my pipe down a good while to cool I picked at it a little and noticed that it was still smoldering.

I've Never encountered anything like this in a tobacco before... or since. This could definitely be an all day smoke for those pipers who like aromatic blends. It didn't produce any condensation & burned down to a dry gray ash. Based solely of the merits of an aromatic blend & my experience evaluating BCA, I'd feel bad about rating this blend with less than anything but three stars. I preferred Lane 1 Q over this & FWIW, my favorite aromatic blend probably will always be Erik Stokkebye's 4th Generation Family Reserve... much more strength & better flavor. If you like aromatics with a little more kick, put some of that in your pipe & smoke it!

---

This blend is another classic it I wish I tried sooner. All black, sticky-sweet Cavendish blends are standards and Lane does a fine job with BCA. This is a major-league SWEET aromatic. The blend is sticky but not goopy. A rich vanilla liquor aroma greeted me when I opened the tin. The blend was smokable right out of the tin but it did benefit from drying. I let it dry just through opening and closing the tin with use. It didn't require having to be aired out on a plate for a while like several Macbaren aromatics I enjoy. Fired up, the blend tasted like sweet vanilla with the classic "burnt nut" or something like that of the Cavendish. The tabicky burned to a fine white ash and I had no problem with ghosting of my bowl or tongue bite. An excellent all black Cavendish and a delight and a go-to blend when you want an SWEET aromatic that delivers...VANILLA!