Bengal Slices White Tobacco Review
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Kyle Weiss - Nov 12, 2019
- 6 min read
I joked with a cigar appreciator friend that daylight savings time is like this: one clips an inch of the cap from the head of the cigar, affixes it to the foot and expects the smoke to last longer. Pipes on the other hand, you just keep adding a little if necessary — therefore, clearly it wasn’t a pipe guy who invented or maintains the silliness of daylight savings time. He told me I was full of shit, I told him the same thing; we smoked, we drank, and had a good time. Even if we “lost” an hour.
The man knows his cigars, but never was a fan of Latakia, and I swear I didn’t bring in Bengal Slices White to annoy him. There wasn’t much left in the tin at this point, and I knew my written gibberish and notes needed to be compiled into a more publishable and readable format. So I sat, compiling on my laptop, waiting for him to refer to the smell of Latakia as a “dumpster fire” as usual. To my surprise, he complimented me.
“That stuff isn’t half bad, it smells kind of like bacon — what is that?” he inquires.
“You’re not going to like me, but it’s Bengal Slices White, and yes, it has a bit of Latakia in it,” I sheepishly admit.
He was mildly impressed. He’s also not the sort that tries some exotic food and keeps eating it so long as he doesn’t know what it is. There’s a backbone in this man. Becoming unstuck from your ways to admit you like something you normally wouldn’t or dislike something you are a complete blubbering fanboy about says a lot about a person.
Moving recently to an overpriced and underwhelming apartment in Reno provided me with one thing: a tiny little porch that overlooks a nearby basalt and sagebrush covered hill. I sold or threw out half of my nostalgic anchors and had to choose that I deemed necessary. Naturally, pipes and tobacco made the cut, but I had no idea where any of it was. Fortunately a little box containing Bengal Slices White was within easy reach, and it became a welcome if not my only choice amid the chaos. It’s described as lighter version of the Bengal Slices family, a group of Balkan or Balkan-inspired tobaccos that has a long and rich history.
Inside a tin of Bengal Slices White you’ll find a brownie-sized square of crumble cake which seems a bit overpackaged by such a large, round tin. The smell is nice, just a warm greeting of your everyday Cyprian Latakia. There’s a little background of treacle and meatiness there, but descriptors also mentioned BSW isn’t topped with a scent or flavoring. The crumble cake breaks apart easily and the large chunks load and pack decently into various tobacco chambers without much fuss. Lighting the tobacco could be a little bit of a chore since it is genuinely compressed in certain spots and carries with it a bit of moisture.
The first quarter or so of the bowl is a little less mute on Latakia flavor (and scent, apparently) than I was expecting. The smoke has a thinner mouth-feel than a lot of Balkans, as well. What I notice first is a warm, toasted bread quality that makes me think they used very little if any Burley tobacco and favored a mellow orange or even red Virginia. The savory smoke is subtle, distantly basil-like and pleasant. Have no fear, the Latakia is in here, it simply isn’t a freight train like the dying fad of overpowering Lat-bombs we all got sucked into the last decade or so. Latakia is becoming enjoyable again, it seems.
About past the halfway mark, the oriental components, be they Turkish or simply the Latakia taking its time, spice things up. This is one of the things I look forward to as a standard in any Balkan mixture: where does the spice tickle the nose? How much tongue-tingling do I get? Is it a sharp sensation or more fuzzy? Under-appreciated is the way the senses are affected in a tactile way in lieu of simply searching for the flavors. The mouth, like any part of the body, likes to be comfortable as well, and it’s okay to get a little picky. It seems the only time most of us notice how our mouth really feels is when there’s tongue bite or burn. With Bengal Slices White, it’s not a particularly rich or full smoke, it has a thin but pleasant body, and the oriental provides a warming, capsicum spice very gently both on the nose and upper palate. The Latakia is still smoky and meaty, but never overwhelming. I would have liked a little more dynamic herb-like qualities to carry over to this point, but that is a matter of minor concern.
The end of the bowl of BSW slows down just as pleasantly. There is no rich or powerful compounding of flavors or tars. This is unique to this genre tobacco, something I don’t come across very often. If I’m to use a comparison, Billy Budd, one of my staples when I’m not exploring something new, has both quite a bit of Latakia and cigar leaf. It accumulates at the bottom of a pipe like the pot liquor of a batch of collard greens. It’s good stuff, a broth, an aspic—left over and ignored by some; savored and used by others. Balkan Slices White’s version of this is not as present, but no less delicious. It’s a clean finish that leaves the mouth wanting a little more of the main dish.
In summary, my new little porch was a great place to try something as interesting as Bengal Slices White. For me, it isn’t a tobacco that is trying to buck a trend or become a groundbreaking entry into the market. In fact, I have to pity it in a way, as it does what a lot of tobaccos with history do: follow in footsteps and shadows of another “glory day” tobacco that the original form is wrapped up in nostalgia and impossible shoes to fill. I have never tried the original, and perhaps never need to. The product compared to itself is a good one. It has a classic approach and is made with care and good ingredients. It has enough to satisfy those looking to explore what tobacco might have been like many decades ago, and is modern enough to be readily available and smoked easily by any curious enough to indulge. Nicotine levels are barely moderate, and I enjoyed gin drinks, earl grey teas and red wine all with great success when paired with Bengal Slices White. It smokes cool, is easy to prepare and smolders forgivingly.
The easygoing nature, clean operation and success bringing a celebrated classic is what stands out as a winner with Bengal Slices White. It’s rare to have these qualities in a Balkan style tobacco, let alone having the task of being compared as a mere reboot of something that doesn’t exist anymore. Hell, it even was welcomed by a known, outspoken critic of the room note of Latakia.
Clocks change, places and times right along with it.
- Editor Rating
- Rated 5 stars
- Spectacular
- Bengal Slices White Tobacco Review
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From SmokingPipes.com: Similar to the original Bengal Slices, Bengal Slices White is a blend of ribbon cut Latakia, Virginia, and Orientals that has been pressed into a crumble cake. A little lighter in body and without the top note found in the original, this blend can be enjoyed all day without tiring the palette.
Written by Kyle Weiss
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Warren Ertle. Warren is an extremely accomplished musician with a PhD in music. He started early as a percussionist in sixth grade. Later his grandmother got him a cheap Casio keyboard which he taught himself to play. He started playing in blues bands in high school, and has been a pianist with jazz big bands for years. Even though he was already a professional musician, he took his first real piano lesson when he enrolled in college with his studies in classical music. He is of course a pipe smoker. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Soon now, supposedly, our neighborhoods will shift from grinning pumpkins, skeletons in various assortments, and zombies dashing about to pretty reindeer, angels, and flashing lights illuminating homes with sparkling stars and laughing, scurrying Santas. But, lest we forget, there is the turkey season, fancy pie aromas wafting from kitchens, and a national pardon of a big Tom Turkey. Remember, now, that only one of these holiday personalities is a pipe smoker. And that is the hefty, bearded fellow in a bright red suit sitting in a sleigh with a herd of deer hitched up and ready to streak across the globe, bringing tidings of joy and many presents. Ok, the scene is set for the next couple of months, right? So, before we get too far off the beaten path, let’s just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. That’s better, isn’t it? What’s got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. Or the wild turkeys gobbling in the backwoods or all the fuss and feathers over the big one—Christmas. No, it is that we might need to take note of all the little things that mean so much to us. Like a good sunrise (seriously, Pundit has not gone all Pollyanna.) Mayhaps we need to appreciate more of what we have than what we have not. Or something like that. Like, a good pipe in the morning with coffee as the dawn brings us coolish weather now that we have flipped the calendar to autumn. But it also brings beautiful leaves that have become a spectacle of technicolor in the wind. It is the little things. The rereading of an enjoyable book and finding something you did not see or learn in the first go-round. Or a stunning phrase you commit to memory with the re-read, while smoking that favorite pipe. And you notice a superior puff that just seems to be different. It’s in the air and the seasons of meaningful little things. It’s aromatic! 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A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
Well there’s nothing like a touch of the plague to usher in the changing season. Leaving the airport just when the first advertisements for all things pumpkin spice began to appear—lattes, muffins, shampoos, trash bags, and myriad other concoctions—so, too, my ability to breathe freely disappeared. The unfortunate side effect of losing one’s sense of taste and smell for weeks is the utter inability to enjoy tobacco. Not that I consider myself an expert on anything but my own tastes, but be forewarned that this review was made with mildly impugned sensory equipment. Just when a comforting pipe was most needed, its comfort was denied. Be that as it may, the road to recovery found me limping along on one lung this past month, trying to wrest the particulars of two blends on offer from Sutliff: the latest 175th Anniversary blend, Silver Quarter, as well as their spooky seasonal Maple Shadows II. Silver Quarter is a new style on offer from Sutliff, their first coin-cut blend. 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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 632. Our featured guest on tonight’s show is the host of the Pipe & Tamper Podcast, Mike Murphy. Brian and Mike will have an extended chat revolving around the days before, during and after the Las Vegas International Pipe Show. We will hear about their travels to the show and the anxiety of Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida at the same time while running a show and not knowing if your house is going to be there when you get home. In the end, the show went great and our homes survived, although many others in Florida were not so lucky. We’ll have clips from the show, and shoutouts to other podcasts and vlogs that were broadcasting from the pipe show.
Vegas Baby The show started out strong on the 14th floor hospitality suites hosted by the Vegas Pipe Show and Smoking Pipes as well as room hopping to carvers, estate sellers, and vendors to pre-game for the festivities. If you’re interested in what that looks like I’ll refer you to last years pipe show round up. I circled with Brian Levine to get the totals in comparison to last year: This year’s show numbers: 108 Exhibitor tables, 445 attendees, 3,250 Raffle Tickets, 100ish dinners, 172 Rooms in the Hotel. Last year, by comparison, 107 exhibitor tables, 425 attendees, 2,200 raffle tickets, 104 dinners, and 175 rooms on Friday and Saturday nights. We were at capacity, basically, when it came to vendor tables and the dinner, so there is no physical room for growth at this point except for attendees. That said, we filled that smoking lounge to the brim. New Carvers Spotlight Garret Woo (Pipes by Woo) How long have you been carving? 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James: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen at this show? Garret: The first thing that comes to mind is the table over there with C-Pipes with the shapes and the size and petiteness and the intricate details they did. You can check out what Garret is working on by going to his Instagram. Stefan Cashwell James: how long have you been carving? Stefan: about 3 years. James: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at the show? Stefan: The Adam Davidson pipe with the clear shape and the bamboo—I don’t know if it’s 3D printed or what, but it’s amazing. James: What’s your favorite shape to do? Stefan: That’s a tough question. I think they’re all the same shape, but what’s fascinating is that Dublin, volcano, and blowfish are all the same depending on how you turn them. Playing with that, with all its variations, is a lot of fun. My favorite accent to use is also horn; it’s finicky, but it’s a great accent on pipes. You can check out Stefan’s work on his Instagram. Science: Meet Pipes I chatted with Chris from the San Diego Pipe Club; he started off doing stem replacements for estate pipes but also improved the airflow. James: How are you doing 3d printing? What is the thought process? Chris: It’s a 3D-printed pipe with a briar insert. The design is a calabash meets a Peterson system meets a metal Falcon/Kirsten radiator style. It is a bottom draft smoking bowl like a radiator like those metal pipes. The inside chamber is a calabash. The stummel and accent rings in the stems are all 3d printed. The insert is briar, olive wood, or I have the potential to use meerschaum as well. This idea came about through the San Diego Pipe Club, wanting to see if we could 3D print a pipe and being curious about the technology; I have a printer and design ability, so here we are. James: What’s the type of plastic you’re using? Chris: It’s all PLA plastic, a renewable potato starch plastic that is food-safe. The stummels are printed with a plastic that has wood in it 40% wood fiber, bamboo, rosewood, ebony, redwood, and walnut are the woods I’m printing. For the accent rings I just got a new material that I’m printing that has 40% copper, so its real metal that you can sand, and polish the same as wood filament. The stems are 3d printed as well. The concept is renewable and cheap from a production standpoint, with the ability to make a very high quality smoking pipe based on the experience. By combining the calabash system pipe and bottom draft hole and using 3d simulations to see airflow, I can see where I’m having eddies and ripples in my current, and see where my moisture and all the particles are dropping back out from a vapor to a liquid. Most people who have tried these say the stems are clean, and they don’t even have to run a pipe cleaner afterward because everything collects at the bottom. Chris has also been experimenting with color-changing plastics so you can see the hotspots. Chris said he was able to use this to slow down his cadence, which, of course, could mean you could get a slow-smoke training pipe to teach yourself to perform better. If you’re interested in learning more or want to check one out, you can contact him on Instagram: Copper Beard Pipe Works The Negative Space The show was buzzing about one specific pipe, which had everyone guessing how it was made. I chatted with Adam Davidson briefly about it. James: How did this idea come to fruition? Adam Davidson: Smokingpipes.com had an expo back in August open to all of the makers they carry. The theme was to make a pipe utilizing bamboo. Given that the last time we had the expo I made a smooth Almond with three bamboo shanks, […]
Great review!
Awesome review Kyle ! I’ve never tried this tobacco but you’ve made me feel as though I have !