Welcome back to another episode of Tasting Notes. In this installment, I take a closer look at another one of the most recent additions to the Savinelli tobacco portfolio: Jupiter. Tune in for my full review of the blend, or snag a tin for yourself today.

[Shane Ireland]: Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Tasting Notes. Today, I'm talking about another one of the latest additions to the Savinelli line of pipe tobaccos: Jupiter.

So, Jupiter, much like its sister blends, Janus and Juno, is part of an ongoing collaboration between Jeremy Reeves of Cornell and Diehl and Savinelli. That started with the Savinelli 140th Anniversary blend, which is really interesting, really engaging, and has developed quite the cult following. So, when we knew that they were working together on a new project, I was really interested to see how that turned out, and it has not been disappointing. Much like Janus and Juno, Jupiter is a flake that is primarily geared towards those of us that are really into, sort of the pure tobacco experience, really, traditionalists.

Components

So, this blend is called an Antique Burley, again, as sort of a nod to the traditional components and the traditional make-up of the blend. Jupiter is made up of primarily Burley, along with a little bit of Virginia leaf, and a touch of Dark Fired Kentucky.

Packaging & Tin Note

So, let's get into the tin note here real quick. Since I opened this tin for the first time, it has changed a little bit, but I will say that as soon as I smelled this tobacco, it had a very rich, engaging tin note. It also is comforting and familiar; definitely, fans of Burley are gonna be interested in this, and I'll get back into that in a second. But beautiful flakes, mostly dark chestnut in color, and they're really supple, really easy to work with. The first thing that I noticed, aside from a traditional, sort of Burley-like chocolate and molasses kind of a thing, was something like a spiced rum, like a dark spiced rum. Aside from that, there are some leathery notes, some brown sugar, dark chocolate, and a really earthy undertone. So the kind of flavors that typical Burley enthusiasts are gonna be excited about and interested in. It is a really comforting aroma straight out of the tin. And a lot of those flavors translate to the smoke for sure.

Initial light

At first light, honestly, I could feel the strength almost immediately. Perhaps it's because it's relatively early in the morning over here now, and it's my first pipe of the day, but it's got some strength to it. So again, Burley lovers, this is definitely in that perfect medium to full range in terms of both flavor and strength. It behaves really well in the pipe, producing tons and tons of smoke. I think right off the bat, the Dark Fired Kentucky element, like that spice, kinda hit me right away. It does fade into the background throughout the smoke, but it's definitely always there.

Strength & Body

Since there's a lot of smoke and a lot of volume here, I would say that the weight of this is really full and heavy on the palate. Although it's not a spice bomb, there is some spice there. It is definitely more of that typical nutty and chocolatey kind of a flavor for a Burley. The spice is really interesting and really intriguing, and I've been sort of chasing it throughout the smokes that I've had. But, the warming spices and the sort of molasses and rum, cane sugar kind of sweetness is definitely there, too. It's not a cloying blend by any stretch. And I really really like the way that the boozy and molasses kinds of sweetness interact with the earthier notes here from the Dark Fired and from the Burleys themselves. Again, there is a little bit of that leathery character, definitely some of that bitter dark chocolate. There are things about smoking this that remind me of the satisfaction of smoking a really good middle-of-the-road cigar. You know, nothing terribly complex in terms of the cigar side of things, but just that feeling, that fullness, and that real pure tobacco flavor.

Overall Flavor

If you're already a fan of Wessex's Burley-sliced, Solani Aged Burley flake, or some of the Burley flakes by C&D, this is gonna be a real winner for you. But it's also unique. I think the balance of the earthiness and the sweet tones is a little bit distinctive here. It's not exactly what I expect from your sort of Edgeworth style, traditional Burley flakes. But, there is a little bit of added complexity, mainly, I think, from the Dark Fired Leaf, but also a little bit from the Virginias. I do get some grassiness, a little bright flavor intertwined in the midst of all these sort of earthy and dark, sweet flavors. So it's definitely got some complexity, but mostly I just find this to be a very comforting all-day smoke for me personally.

I think that for some folks who may be slightly adverse to higher levels of nicotine, this is probably an evening smoke. But if you like medium to full tobaccos of any kind, you're gonna really dig this, and you can definitely start smoking it first thing in the morning. This will be great with a cup of coffee. I also think this is particularly well-suited to outdoor smoking. Just the flavor is not commanding in the sense that it's gonna pull your attention away from whatever you're doing, but it can definitely hold up to being smoked outdoors, and maybe a little bit of wind or whatever. So situations where the flavor of something lighter is typically muted, this one is gonna work for sure. Nobody does Burley blends like Cornell and Diehl, and this definitely has a little bit of that character that I'm familiar with, and that I want out of a Burley blend produced by them. But they've come up with something unique for the Savinelli line of tobaccos here.

Aging Potential

So this one's definitely going to make it into my rotation. I will also say that the myth that Burleys don't age as well as Virginias, I think, is problematic. I personally don't agree with it. We can talk about that at a later date, but I will say that as far as a Burley blend goes, this one has long legs for sure, so I would definitely cellar this one deep. I think after a little bit of time in the tin, this is gonna be just ambrosia. Just amazing. Lots of sweet flavors, lots of spice to balance them out, and a really interesting traditional tobacco for those of us that like bold and rich flavors.

So Savinelli's Jupiter Antique Burley is definitely a modern classic from where I'm sitting. A really engaging Burley blend with a little something extra that I think is going to hold your attention for sure. Thanks, guys. See ya next time.