Quick tobacco reviews thread

[michael69]

another sticky?

Rattray's Hal O' The Wynd


This is a VA ribbon cut which is (some say) one of the three big Rattray's Virginias.

There's also some controversy as to whether or not there's any perique in there (I don't detect it, but some people swear that there is)

The flavour is full, quite rich and strong though certainly not overpowering. there are hints of malty, lemony sweetness overlaying a doughy base to me.

Very nice, though I actually prefer marlin flake

[cohibaIV]

Sticked..

[michael69]

well, seems to be only me hitting the pipe at the moment....

last night, another Rattray's; this time Red Rapparree.

This is an interesting one. main flavour comes from the virginia (red obviously!) but there's some nice spicy notes supplied by orientals. So, sweetness from virginia and cavendish (kind of dried fruit) with a hint of tangyness....

actually, there's something quite cigar like about the flavour in some ways

[baccybert]

I'll stick in a quick Mac Baren Vanilla Cream one in here

Virginias, Cavendish and cut plugs thrown in; upon opening the pouch this blend's Vanilla wafts up and smells delicious.
This aromatic lights and burns well, and maintains its unique sweet flavour until the end. Some may find the signature "Mac Bitey" tongue bite, but only if you smoke it like a trooper, this one is definitely a "sipper" and it's best to take time smoking and really enjoy the blend. Brilliant with a coffee or a nippy sweety, a slight hint of rum in the mix with the vanilla gives a full and more-ish flavour.

To conclude, a nice cool smoke (if approached with a cool head!) and a really pleasant room note, definitely one to enjoy when in company. I'd recommend this high-end aromatic.

Cheers,

Bert

[Smallclub]

last night, another Rattray's; this time Red Rapparree.

Red Rapparee is a good blend, but for my taste it lacks roundness; there are are some edges… I prefer Black Mallory which is slightly fuller (more latakia), sweeter (more detectable cavendish) and more rounded.

[Eddie]

Peterson's university flake

Virginia and burley flake

Once you work out how to smoke this you'll love it. I've found the best way is through my Pete 305, and I "musket ball" it. The fold and stuff method doesn't seem to work for me with this one. If smoked slow it stays lit. Puff too much and it goes out.

Nice and complex without an over bearing casing.

[Andy W]

I have been smoking Dunhill Early Morning Pipe, the blub says "a mellow delicately flavoured smoking mixture made from sweet Oriental tobaccos mixed with bright and red Virginias". I must say as a newbie to pipe smoking I found this a good place to start, mild but with some flavour and easy to smoke especially once the tin has been opened to the air for an hour.

The other tobacco I have been trying is the Thomas Radfords Sundays Fantasy Pipe, "hand-picked Virginia tobacco blended with twice-fermented high quality Black Cavendish.The combination of granulate and wild cuts of the tobacco make for an extremely loose pipe tobacco mixture which has an exquisite natural fruit aroma".
I found this has a great room smell and has a mild flavours of apricot, not a strong tobacco and a good try for a new pipe smoker. This is not a heavily flavoured aromatic it burns easily but is not overly sweet. I can only find this loose in the UK but note that it seems to come in tins in Germany. I would love to get a tin or two of this, so the next time I am across I will put this on my to buy list.

Finally I have recently tried; Orlik Golden Sliced. the blurb says, "A mixture of golden, mature Virginia tobaccos from the traditional tobacco districts in eastern USA. The tobacco is pressed into cakes and matures during storage before it is processed into cut cakes. This blend has a natural sweet flavour and freshness of the finest Virginia tobaccos with a fresh citrus and orange aroma".
I found that the description does not match my findings, I cannot for the life of me taste any citric or orange flavours, great tobacco tastes, easy to load into the pipe, just break a bit off and crumble into the bowl. Takes a few lights to get it going but once going there are no problems. Again another tobacco I would recommend.

I have a few other tins stashed away, a couple I want to age and the rest I will use once I have worked my way through my open tins, I am trying hard not to have more than 3 tobaccos on the go at any one time. I have bought all of these from My Smoking Shop as the do great internet shopping with fast delivery.