Rattray - Black Mallory pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 94 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
Passion	05/13/2013	Mild	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I've tried all 3 versions of this and the original rattray's blend wins hands down. That blend is absolutely superb with a great aged mellowness and the oriental at the forefront. An absolutely sublime smoke. Unfortunately the McConnel and K&K blends fall way short and are nothing to write home about. My club and I detected a top note of some sort in these two versions. It was smokeable, but nothing really stood out about this blend. If you can't get the original rattrays from the 60s or 70s, skip it. There are better orientals out there.
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don1688	05/04/2013	Mild	None detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong
I had not written a review of this until I read Reiny's review today. I have to agree. It was harsh. I like forward Latakia blends, but this was just bitter in a negative way. I tried it in many pipes and with varying degrees of drying- still found it harsh. Nicotine was not pronounced. I was very much looking forward to this, but if in 6 months I can't make it work, I have to believe its not for me.
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Reiny	05/04/2013	Extremely Mild	Medium	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable
Should be Flavoring: harsh, Taste and Strength: none detected. I hope to God the rest of the Rattrays line are better than this because this is absolutely awful. Tinder dry, flat, harsh and tasteless and absolutely no nicotine to speak of, if you puff hard enough on it you might eventually be rewarded with the flavour of your own cooking toungue. Avoid.
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Bigdadz	01/13/2013	Mild	Mild	Mild	Tolerable
This tobacco came highly recommended by my local tobacconist. I got myself a 100 gram tin and sadly, I couldn't smoke more than 4 bowls before giving it away. While it is quality leaf no doubt, I find it too mild and it has a slight sweet casing that I find disconcerting. Like frog morton on the town, I would recommend this tobacco to an aromatic smoker that wants to make a gradual transition to english blends.
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sirchud68	12/27/2012	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable
Top notch stuff. I bought a tin of this and a tin of SG Squadron Leader and, though they are two different tobaccos, I really love this blend. I keep reaching for this tin when I have the two setting out on my bar. I enjoy S.L. as well, but will be stocking up on more Mallory! A nice mild all day smoke.
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pipelovingcalvinist	12/06/2012	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
Not a bad English but not my favorite. Depending on the pipe, it would shine though. Sometimes a nice Kingsford charcoal briquette taste would dominate...but not all the time. Worth a try. Soli Deo gloria!
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Scamp	08/22/2012	Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
I've been smoking pipes for a good few years now, I have a tendancy to go for latakia blends, especially ones with a dose of oriental. I didn't know quite what to expect from this blend knowing that it has black cavendish in it. I normally tend to associate black cavendish with more aromatic blends. However, Mr Rattray must've known what he was doing all those years ago when he perfected this one as it seems to complement the rest of the tobaccos seemlessly. It has the typical metallic/smoky flavour from the latakia, but is very well rounded by the VA's and orientals, burns brilliantly right from initial lighting without any drying out prior to smoking, an excellent smoke all round, four stars!
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Unsal	07/28/2012	Medium	Very Mild	Mild	Tolerable
An excellent tobacco. Highly Recommended.
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brogreggblues	07/01/2012	Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I can echo BriarBurner's sentiments here. Black Mallory is my go-to summertime English blend. It's got my favorite combination of tobaccos: VA, Lat, and Oriental, just like my all-time favorite blend, C&D's Good Morning. Black Mallory is rich, mellow, well-balanced, and works well in every pipe I've smoked it in. Mild for an English, with low Nick strength. Perfect entry-level English, easy to enjoy when a heavy English blend is just TOO heavy. Recommended.
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SteelCowboy	05/20/2012	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I used to smoke Black Mallory often and for whatever reason stopped about three years ago. I came across some from 2010 and after a couple of pipes I remembered why. BM is a good quality medium English blend that in some ways reminds me (distantly) of some of the Dunhill blends. It has richness to it, maybe from the addition of the Cavendish, but I’m not sure. It packs with ease, smokes cleanly and offers a solid English taste that any English lover would enjoy. BM is a little lower on the “N” scale than the Dunhill blends. It has a little complexity, but in the current world filled with more English blends than ever, it doesn’t stand out for me. Will I buy more? Yes. Is it worth my daily rotation? No. Give it a try; it’s worth a tin, especially with the reduced quality 965 that is now on the market. Recommended. UPDATE: I was lucky enough to get my hands on a tin of the original BM from the late 60's/early 70's and it was just EXCELLECT! Although the flavor has changed with time, it offered a chance to get an idea of what the original blender intended. If the rare tin comes your way, GRAB IT!!!
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Ecdycis	04/30/2012	Extremely Mild	None detected	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is a tobacco perfect for a hot summer evening. I enjoy it when I am going to smoke multiple bowls, especially when smoking food out in the back yard. The tin smell is of soured ketchup, but once lit the smell is that of grilled sweet corn. My buddy thinks it smells like model plane fuel (and he likes it lol,) I have no idea what he is talking about on this one. The flavor is very mild. It is a very cool, smooth smoking tobacco, and it is fairly simple in flavors. Virginias on the light, but after that it is just a mild mixture of everything but the latakia. The latakia only comes through in the mouth feel. It has a sweet, wheat like quality, and a slight tartness towards the end. I actually detect a slight burley character even though it is not listed in the ingredients. I find that I enjoyed it exponentially more the first week or so of smoking it but after that I started wanting something more. Still, I will have this on hand every summer.
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BriarBurner	04/29/2012	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
A good presentation of a mild-medium English.It combines 3 of my favorite tobacs..i.e.virginia, latakia & orientals.With the addition of Black Cavendish, along with the virginia, a sweetness is added to the taste.I find no individual tobac to dominate this blend but instead a rich & creamy well rounded taste with NO bite. If you have been wanting to rest those aromatics of yours for a while this is a good entry into English Blends.Time to go burn some briar.
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machinebacon	03/31/2012	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
A real "Scottish" mixture, as it contains Cavendish - and a surprisingly mild, mellow, creamy, sweet and especially cool smoke. Absolutely no bite even if you abuse it. Haven't tried other Rattray (K&K) blends, but this one is much better than I originally thought. Tastes like incense, Latakia is prominent, Black Cavendish adds some roundness. Tolerable room note for a Latmix. I often prefer it over Dunhill's Nightcap (which is excellent but quite a bomb!) - but these two are completely different animals, anyway. Especially in N content, this mixture is way lower. I'm giving it 4 of 5 stars, absolutely nothing wrong with Black Mallory :)
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Cochon74	01/18/2012	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
I have to say, I love latakia blends, but this one just did not do it for me. The only thing I can chalk it up to is the Black Cavendish. I started pipe smoking on a strict diet of Latakia, Virginias, Orientals, Burley and Perique. My English experiences have all been Lat/VA/Oriental -only. The addition of Cavendish to this blend must be what turned me off. Out of the tin, it smells wonderful - full, smoky, promises of a wonderful smoke. IT packed well, lit well and smoked nicely. A well-behaved tobacco, to be sure. However, I just found the flavor "cheapened" somehow by the Cavendish. The latakia was punchy and present, the Orientals (while subtler than to my liking) were also present. I didn't get much from the VA's and the Cavendish somehow brought everything down by rearing it's mundane, indistinct head. I wanted to like this tobacco and smoked the entire 2oz tin. It improved slightly the longer the tin was open, but honestly, I was disappointed. I'd heard so much about Rattray's and BM in particular... and it obviously has a following, judging by the reviews. But I won't be revisiting it anytime soon... unremarkable and certainly not as well-made as Gawith, Pease or Esoterica offerings of this type.
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TEO	12/18/2011	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant
I smoked this straight out of the tin and it was rather wet, I had to relight it too much times, especially during the first third of the bowl. Taste is rather light, throughout the whole bowl. The first third is toasty and smokey but I sense a subtle but tangy flavouring coming out in the second third; maybe cavendish shows itself a little more. I do taste an overall Oriental flavour surrounding a good latakia background. Recommended mixture.
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brotherofbriar	08/29/2011	Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable
Ah, the mightily oceanic Black Mallory. In many ways this is the big brother to Red Rapparee. Whilst the later may be likened to a small pleasure boat out on an afternoons cruise, Black Mallory is a pirate ship bristling with guns, swash and buckle. The big difference between the two is of course the latakia. For my money, I can't even detect it in Red Rapparee (this may be because my palate had become jaded by one to many latakia bombs) but it's here in spades in Black Mallory. Dense white smoke, oily and heavy with tar. Leather notes too, yes, and certainly a saltiness that keeps one thinking of the sea. A perfect smoke for a foggy or rainy afternoon inside by the fireside with a cup of sweet tea or an Islay malt whiskey. Delicious with a decent dose of vitamin N. Avast! Sip this fine smoke like nectar, and dream of the oceans deep.
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GSTQ	08/04/2011	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant
Appearance is a dark brown rough ribbon. Tin smells medium sweet, very light smoke, a bit musty. Tastes lightly sweet, dry, and lightly smoky. Black Mallory is based on Red Rapparee, with the addition of more latakia. Rattray said "While it looks heavy, it pleases the eye, surprises the palate, and tastes fragrant and sweet". It does taste lightly sweet, but there are dry notes that take away from the sweetness. It almost rates a medium-to-strong for strength, like Red Rapparee. Black Mallory is of the same high quality, but I prefer Red Rapparee for its deeper and less dry smoke.
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Mr. Big	07/28/2011	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
Updated 2/6/2012- I've had this cellared away for about 6 months as my initial try with this blend encountered some hot spice ??? . I don't want to sound too negative ,but ....., this blend doesn't bring anything, typical muting of flavors with the Cavendish tobacco additions. It packs well and burns well and I don't detect any major bite , but it just says" BLAH". It is light on all components, it's not heavy Latakia, I can't really taste the Orientals and it's not real sweet ( as a matter of fact I detect some bitterness), Red Rap is much more interesting. You want something for mindless smoking while in the garden ? well you could burn this stuff. I totally agree with reviewer above ," COCHON74 01/18/2012" Updated 7/16/12- Another few months in the cellar and more drying and this has improved slightly. This is still spicy and could bite if smoked all day. To me there are some similarites to McC, Ringlow Syrian Reserve, only this is not as smooth. both I find salty and sour without much sweetness. 8/3/12 A few more weeks of this breathing and it has gained in flavor and smoothness , 3 stars.
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arclight	07/15/2011	Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
This is a good straight smoke. The ribbon cut makes it easy to pack. I did not notice an oyster taste...but I could smell it upon cleaning... The Latakia is very mild in the blend. This would be a good tobacco for people wanting to try a Latakia mix but are unsure about it. This is an excellent mixture, I recomend it with a strong ale. It burns down to a nice grey ash.
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The German	04/19/2011	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I had not intended to review this blend at this time. But, after visiting friends and returning, I found a tin of this blend in my smoking supplies box when unpacking. I had not put it in there, but there it was, so I owe my friends a tin of tobacco. They shall get it. Meanwhile, I got this one. Nose in tin: Latakia and VA, with BC notes in the background. Ribbon cut good for small and medium bowls. Accordingly, packing and lighting is easy. Once lit, the Black Cavendish takes a few moments to assert itself over the Latakia, but once it does, the taste is creamy-smooth, the room note is quite a bit better than what I usually expect from anything containing Latakia, and after all is smoked and puffed, there remains nothing but an even grey ash. Cleaning the pipe afterwards is remarkably easy, with extremely little condensation to be cleared out. Overall, good tobacco.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 94 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >