Rattray Sir William

(2.67)
Notes: Sir William is a ready rubbed loose cut. The main ingredients are various selected Virginias, which are responsible for the round taste. Fired Kentucky, cured Indian and aromatic Thailand burley are then added, and topped by a light whiskey flavor. But in the end only requires one word to describe this blend aptly: a record! -edited quote from HU-Tobacco.

Details

Brand Rattray
Series British Collection
Blended By Kohlhase & Kopp
Manufactured By Kohlhase & Kopp
Blend Type Aromatic
Contents Burley, Kentucky, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia
Flavoring Whiskey
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 100 grams tin
Country Germany
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.67 / 4
1

6

5

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Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 12 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 01, 2017 Mild to Medium Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
Very small ribbons - small in both length and girth, with a tin aroma of... coconut? Or something along those lines. I guess it could be construed as a booze topping, which is what it actually is, but it smells more coconutty to me. Underneath the topping is a rich, deep tobacco scent.

This is billed as predominately Virginia but it smokes more like a burley-in-front blend, with the Kentucky and Virginia alternating in the shotgun position. The flavoring is evident in each puff and tastes more like booze than it smelled but it's sweeter than any whiskey I've ever tasted, including bourbon (which, as a scotch aficionado I find too sweet to drink). The sweetness here isn't over the top at all, but instead lends a nice balance to the dry earthiness of the tobacco. This is a well done aromatic that skirts the line between aro and non without going to far afield into the sauce realm. More of a Euro-aro, which makes sense, of course. The flavor in the top half of the bowl is sweet without being sickening and melds well with the tobacco. Unfortunately things go south in the last half - or really the last third. The flavoring becomes more faint and the tobacco takes over. Sadly the tobacco doesn't taste quite up to par. It gets a bit rambunctious and over-dry with a too quick finish. Not harsh but a little bitter. This might age well but my new tin was too youthful and reminded me of the green stuff coming out of a formerly well received but now less than ordinary U.S blending house (which shall remain nameless). Two and a half stars upgraded to three, not because it deserves three but because this has the potential to be a three star blend. I smoked two of the four oz in the tin and I'm going to let the other two sit for awhile, and then revisit this review.
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 08, 2014 Medium to Strong Mild to Medium Medium Pleasant
I am surprised that there are no other reviews yet of this blend. This is a first impressions review.

Cracking open the the tin, reveals an almost cloyingly sweet aroma of an excessive flavoring, and I anticipate a hot, biting aromatic. The ribbon cut is loose and almost the perfect dryness for immediately loading into my Patriot cob.

Upon lighting, the sweetness prevails but quickly recedes from it's dominance. Despite the tin stating that VAs are the main component, to me the blend smokes as though it is a Kentucky/burley blend with VAs detectable only in the background.

With every puff, where I expect bite to arise, it never does. Instead of a single dominant component, there is a striated experience of Kentucky, burley, VA and the whiskey all at once. As the bowl goes on, this develops into a rhythm of Kentucky followed by burley followed by a slightly sweet endnote. The room note is quite pleasant due to the flavoring. It does not taste like a whiskey flavoring per se (what whiskey is that sweet?), but it admittedly plays well off of the other components.

Halfway into the bowl, I think this is very pleasant but perhaps not outstanding - there is no drama here. But further into the bowl, puffing away, I suddenly realize that the nicotine level has snuck up on me and yet there is a subtle deliciousness that keeps me from slowing down. (Considering that I am used to blends like GH Dark Flake and 1792, I'm a bit surprised at its strength.) Warm, toasty, friendly and inviting with that slight sweetness at the end of each puff, I finish the bowl feeling quite satisfied and yet still wanting more.

Rattray marks the tin as: Flavoring 2/5, Strength 4/5 and Room note 3/5. I daresay they are spot on. This is a quite enjoyable blend, and if I had any complaints it would be that the ribbon cut allows it to burn a bit too fast to enjoy at a slower pace. With some age on it, I think this will be quite impressive. All in all, a very delightful and tasty blend.

Edit 1/2/2015: This continues to be a great blend after many bowls. Very satisfying combination of flavor and strength.
Pipe Used: Patriot cob
PurchasedFrom: Mars Cigars
Age When Smoked: New
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 11, 2016 Mild to Medium Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Rattray - Sir William.

The first thing I noticed, and also felt a bit perplexed by, was the tin-note: there's only a hint of whisky, the majority of the smell is like nougat; strange!

The mixture's dark brown in colour and has a spot on moisture quantity. The best way to describe the build, rather than just using the catchall term 'Ready Rubbed', I think is 'fairly delicate ribbons'; not chunky, or broken flake like, but well rubbed out.

The smoke? I quite like the taste of this; I find the Burley/Kentucky flavour to be more prominent than the Virginia's are, with the Oriental/Turkish falling midway between the two. The actual tobacco flavour's rather full and fairly well rounded.

I don't get a great deal of topping (unlike the tin-note); and in the smoke there's far less sweetness and more whisky, albeit not too heavy.

One of the lower points for me is the heat of the smoke; it's generated by a very consistent and even burn, but it's just too warm for me; this always abates my rating.

The room-note's okay: it's not bad, not good, not heavy, and not light; I'm indifferent to it.

Sir William's alright, but sadly alright can also constitute 'Boring'. I feel it's a solid two star blend.

Somewhat recommended.
Pipe Used: Peterson Christmas 2015
PurchasedFrom: My Smoking Shop
Age When Smoked: Two months
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 18, 2018 Medium Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The unburnt tobacco's aroma isn't reminding of Whiskey AT ALL...it's hard to pin-point to be quite honest, but I've read someone mentioning "something along the lines of Coconut" and this comes as close as you might get. Yet the flavorings seems mildly applied and also in smoke I wouldn't identify as an "Aromatic" per se. It's somewhere along the lines of Petersons 3P's or ST. Bruno, which I consider "semi-aromatics", where the tobacco has enough room to play.

The flake is rubbed out very finely and almost ribbon-ish, and therefor easy to handle, pack and light. In the pipe the flavoring again isn't too whiskey-ish, but more floral and somewhat "exotic" (think pina colada maybe). Yet I'll grant it a mild malty quality that might remind of Whiskey. The main attraction are the tobaccos in here, which harmonize very well with the flavoring. Slightly smoky, pleasantly spicy and earthy, with only minor sweetness to it. They harmonize vrey well with the described flavoring aroma and are more present than the flavoring is.

Not too shaby I'd have to admit! It's totally NOT what I was expecting... but it's an OK smoke, that I enjoyed smoking and of which I can easily see people having pleasure with this blend. So 2,5 stars, more of a 3 stars tendency, as I'd "recommend" this.

Update: As I've grown to have smoked more Whiskey flavored blends and flavored blends in general, I'll downrate to 2-stars, as this is average, but nothing fancy! 😉
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 26, 2016 Medium Very Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
StevieB sent me this as part of a trade. I like it a little better than he did. Thanks for this one Steve.

Led by the Kentucky and Burley with the Virginias picking up the rear. It's earthy and nutty with hints of smoke and fruit. The topping is a very mild whisky and, I think, a touch of sugar. The overall flavor is very nice. It does burn just a little warm, possibly due to the sugar. The good news is that it maintains it's flavor perfectly so a little extra warmth doesn't bother me too much. All in all a very nice smoke.

Medium in body and taste. Flavoring is very mild. Burns very well.
Pipe Used: MM Marcus, Country Gentleman, Mark Twain
PurchasedFrom: acquired in trade (Thanks Steve)
Age When Smoked: unknown
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 25, 2020 Medium Mild Mild to Medium Tolerable
Cracked open this yellow beer can and was greeted with a soft cocoa aroma sprinkled over a light leather oil mix, which sort of morphed into a sweet caramel Whiskey topping. Nothing overly sprayed, sticky, or overtly Aromatic here, just a natural pile of tobaccos with some sugar.

The medium brown ready rub, left little to rub out (just a springy ribbon cut here), packed tightly, and fired up with ease. The initial puff has a decent nicotine hit without being overpowering the now dialed back flavor, making for a mild Aromatic without much froo froo and some Whiskey residue in tow.

For me, it was a miss, as I generally like more candy in my Aromatics, but for those of you whom appreciate the taste of Burley (the Virginia and Oriental are way in the rear), give this one a try.
PurchasedFrom: tobaccopipes.com
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 31, 2019 Medium to Strong Mild to Medium Medium Tolerable
SIR WILLIAM: Particular, a special one. A robust and satisfying mixture. There is not only whisky in this blend, but much more. I mean there is some sweet casing and this is without any doubt a flavored blend. Anyway not a strong but a mild flavoring. Above all this mixture has the great virtue of being able to please both lovers of aromatic blends and lovers of natural tobacco. It is strong enough and you never get tired of it. A pleasant surprise. Give it a try! In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 8 and three complete stars.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 09, 2023 Medium to Strong Extra Strong Medium Very Pleasant
This tobacco blew my mind a bit... It's very surprising in many ways. For background I like English mixtures, Virginias +/- Perique and occasionally the British style "scented" tobaccos such as those from the Lake District, but don't have much time for heavily sweetened Cavendish aromatics. I find them overly wet, steamy and lacking in flavour. I understand that this blend was Petersons "Irish Whiskey" when it was blended by K&K, then rebadged and possibly tweaked when Petersons production moved elsewhere. I've never tried Petersons Irish Whiskey but probably should in the interests of science.

The surprises started when I cracked the tin: I was immediately assailed by a powerful aroma. Coconut! Powerful sweet waves of coconut entirely abolish any tobacco aroma in the tin. The tobacco is a mix of medium and dark brown ribbon and ready rubbed. I was next surprised to find it quite dry even fresh from the tin: the aroma suggested a sticky Cavendish and I expected it to be wet.

I selected a rarely used pipe which I was prepared to risk ghosting (a large billiard) and got my next surprise. At the match, the flavour was earthy and woody, with dry Kentucky and Burley, with barely any taste from the topping, although it's aroma was detectable in the side stream. As the bowl progressed the sweetness and coconut came into the flavour, the sidestream aroma became more representative of the tobacco and I came to appreciate that surprisingly this tobacco was actually quite strong! Towards the end of the bowl the spiciness of the Kentucky developed into a very slight harshness at the back of the throat, similar to very strong tobaccos such as Brown Bogie. It burned to a tiny pinch of dry dottle with a few relights, leaving my nicotine levels quite high!

Now I don't tend to go for anything this sweet, and it is very artificially sweet. But my next surprise was the next day, when I wanted more of it... It's flavour has now pervaded this pipe, so the coconut sweetness of the topping is immediately there from the light, the tobacco flavours are further relegated to the background despite being quite rich Kentucky. I find it goes well with coffee, in the same way that a piece of baklava does.

I suspect that most smokers of Cavendish aromatics don't go for this on account of its strength, nor do most smokers of more "natural" types of pipe tobacco, on account of its utterly pervasive topping. It's available at a reduced price on a certain tobacco vendors website, suggesting that they can't get rid of it... I bought another tin...
Pipe Used: Briar Billiard
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 11, 2023 Medium Medium Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
Let it sit and it will reward your patience!! The reviews thus far have put this as a burley and kentucky forward blend, even though it is marketed as a virginia blend. When I first purchased it that truly was the case. I did not particularly care for it at the time so I chunked it in the back of my cellar and forgot about it. Fast forward three years and I am building a new smoking cabinet to house my cellar and pipes and I run back across this blend and take a quick whiff. Wow! Virginia sweetness of dried island fruits and dark rum! I am swept away to Barbados in pure Virginia bliss. Deep, sweet, contemplative and complex. Charles Rattray does not produce junk so I had a feeling this would happen if I let it sit. This should be a cellar series more than a british series tobacco because its true nature takes time to develop. Buy now and cellar for a few years and you can thank me for it later. - Fox
Pipe Used: Peterson Aran Oom Paul, Crown monarch, Kaywoodie
PurchasedFrom: Smoking pipes
Age When Smoked: 3 years
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 15, 2023 Medium Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
This a strong aromatic. It packs a respectable nic hit. The whisky flavouring also offers vanilla, which comes through the smoke. The Virginias are supported by the nutty burleys and the smoky Kentucky which gives a whisky barrel note to the blend. The flavouring burns off quick, which is fine because the Virginias are of solid quality.

3/4 an aromatic with a respectable nic hit is hard to come by.
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