So here are the results of after smoking the Boswell:
I filled it with Boswell's No Bite Delight using the Frank method, and seated in my cave, opened a book, and proceeded to puff away. The pipe is somewhat large, as is typical of Boswell's pipes, so I was at it for one hour and forty-five minutes.
I did violate one rule: I was smoking a new tobacco in a new pipe, so I wasn't able to factor out the pipe alone, but here's what I discovered: The tobacco appeared to be moister than most tobaccos I smoke, but I understand this to be typical of many of Boswell's blends--they seem to hold together well, feel moist, but don't dry out if you let them sit a while.
The tobacco took an easy light from a match, with none of the resistance that one might expect from a moist blend. After a few minutes, I noticed that the top of the bowl felt somewhat hot to the touch. This seemed strange, as I was puffing rather slowly. I'll attribute this to the newness of the pipe, and I'll check this out over time. My usual rule is to smoke a pipe so that the outside remains comfortably warm to the touch, or, as I tell novices, so that if you hold it against a baby's skin, the baby will smile at the pleasant warmth.
But here's the odd thing, despite the fact that the top of the bowl felt hot for the first half hour or so, the tobacco felt cool. In fact, I don't think I've ever smoked a tobacco that smoked as cool as this one did, probably due to the Latakia in the blend. I didn't detect the caramel sweetness that so many have written of concerning this tobacco; in fact, I'm really not certain what the dominant flavor was, but it was an easy, cool and pleasant smoke all the way to the bottom. I'm going to attribute my inability to tease out the different flavors to the fact that it was a new pipe, and I'll know more about this in a few days.
And so it went for the next hour and three quarters, with just a few relights. I thought I would experience difficulty as I got to the bottom, but that never occurred. When the pipe finally went cold, I was left with a very fine grey ash, and a dottle consisting of four pieces of shag.
Overall, remarkable pleasant, easy smoking. I'm going to let the pipe rest for a few days, and then I'll give it another go, but I'm looking forward to many enjoyable hours spent with this pipe.
