Captain Black Pipe Tobacco

### Captain Black Pipe Tobacco

There are certain names in the pipe tobacco trade that have been around for so long they feel like part of the furniture. Captain Black is one of them. That familiar sailing ship on the pouch has been a fixture on tobacconists' shelves for decades, and there's a fair chance anyone who's spent much time around pipe smokers will have encountered it.

**Captain Black** made its name with aromatic pipe tobaccos, particularly blends combining Virginia and Burley with carefully selected flavourings. The brand became enormously popular in America during the 1970s, helped along by its approachable character and distinctive aroma. It was the sort of tobacco that people remembered smelling long before they ever considered taking up a pipe themselves.

The original Captain Black White remains perhaps the best-known of the range, but there's rather more to the Captain's wardrobe than one white pouch. Royal offers a different aromatic character, Gold places greater emphasis on the natural sweetness of Virginia tobacco, while Cherry brings a familiar fruit-flavoured variation. Dark caters for those who prefer a richer aromatic style.

I've always found aromatic tobaccos interesting because the smell from the pouch and the flavour in the pipe can be two quite different things. A tobacco might smell like the inside of a confectioner's shop, yet deliver something considerably more restrained once lit. It's one reason I encourage people to judge a blend by the way it smokes rather than how enthusiastically it announces itself when the packet is opened.

Captain Black's lasting appeal lies partly in its variety. The range offers several interpretations of aromatic pipe tobacco, from lighter, sweeter mixtures to darker blends with a fuller character. As ever, choosing between them comes down to individual taste, the pipe being used and what sort of tobacco the smoker already enjoys.

**Explore our Captain Black pipe tobacco collection** to find the different blends available at Black Swan Shoppe. Whether you're returning to an old favourite or comparing the varieties, it's a brand with a substantial place in modern pipe-smoking history.

And after all these years, the Captain is still sailing. Not bad going for a chap who's spent most of his career printed on a tobacco pouch.