Murray Sons & Co, Ltd Murray's 1862 Whitehall

The Virginias offer some grass and citrus with minor dark fruit notes and forms the base of the blend. The very nutty, molasses sweet burleys have a touch of earth and provide an important semi-lead. The brown sugar from the black cavendish adds a bit of creamy smooth sweetness. The smokey, woody Cyprian latakia is a team player that plays well with the other components, and often competes with the burleys for attention. I detect a sweet topping, possibly sugar. The nic-hit is mild. Won’t bite and has no harsh moments. Burns at a slightly more than moderate pace, cool and clean with a fairly smooth, rather consistent flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and hardly needs a relight. Has a pleasant after taste that lightly lingers. An easy going all day semi-sweet English.

-JimInks

Someone attached the great Murray's name to this blend? Say it ain't so! This is nothing like any real Murray's tobacco that I have ever smoked. Fresh tasting Latakia that is woodsy without creamy smokiness and an added flavoring of something that I cannot identify. Not bad though. It burned a little hot, even with slow puffing and left the back of my throat feeling kind of, well, funny. I think it was the Virginia and Virginia black Cavendish that was the culprit. I get that feeling sometimes when smoking fresh Virginia

The nutty Burley leads here with the Lat lending a touch of smoke on the back end. The Black Cav gives a very faint note of toast and a modest sweetness. I can't taste the Virginias. Compared to 1810 Belfast this has less sweetness and complexity. Every time I smoke this I find myself wishing for a little Perique to add that complexity. As is, it's a decent Burley smoke that can get a little boring.

Mild in body. Mild to medium in taste. I don't detect any added flavoring or sweetness. Burns very well.

This is a mild English blend. An entry-level but a pleasant one. The previous reviewers have provided good information. I would like to add some: it smells and tastes, to me, as if Virginias (Cavendish) is dominant with very little Orientals playing in the back. Latakia is there but not the main player. Note that if puffed fast and hard, it burns and makes your mouth sour and give tongue bite. Again, a negative effect of the high content of Virginias.

Based on the tin note, I was expecting this to be a bit more full flavored. Very smoky, with a good amount of sweetness. The flavor is a bit more the other way around.

The Virginia and Burley are more of the focal point, with citrus and nuttiness. The Cavendish and Latakia are really there to just add a bit more sweetness and some smoke.

Happy I picked this up on sale, as it is not likely something I'd pay full price for. Definitely enjoyable, just a bit lacking in overall flavor.

However, if you're just dipping your toes into English blends, this might be a good starting point. Easy going and not particularly challenging.