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Hal O' the Wynd

Brand: Rattray
Blender: Kohlhase, Kopp und Co. KG
Tin Description: "A pure Virginian tobacco of a most unusual share of strength". This is a strong, sharp aged red Virginia blend that will perk you up quickly.
Country of Origin: DE
Curing Group: Air Cured
Contents:
Kentucky
Virginia
Perique
Cut: Broken Flake
Packaging: 50g Tin, 100g Tin
Blend Notes: The homepage Kohlhase & Kopp says "Kentucky- Virginia-Perique". Flake rubbed by hand.

Images are temporarily disabled.



Average Ratings
Strength: Medium to Strong
Flavoring: Extremely Mild
Taste: Medium to Full
Room Note: Pleasant to Tolerable
Recommendation: Recommended


The Reviews  

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Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 181 reviews of this tobacco
Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Sir Walter Smiley 05/09/2013 Medium to Strong None detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable highly recommended
I didn't know this had perique from smoking it, yet there it is in the description. The Kentucky leaf adds strength in nicotine, but the taste is just virginia. A damn good virginia. This now is my favorite virginia blend, just in front of McClelland's Blackwoods Flake. My top vaper is still Blakeney's Best Bayou Slices(also McClelland). I have always loved the flavor of virginia leaf, yet virginia lacks a heavy mouth feel(like a full bodied cigar) and strength. This delivers those two things. It will burn hot, so smoke slow.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
RonPiper 03/31/2013 Medium to Strong Medium to Strong Medium to Full Tolerable somewhat recommended
I really wanted to like this blend being part of Rattray's "Holy Trinity" along with Old Gowrie and Marlin Flake. Bought a 100g tin five years ago loaded up a bowl and yuck! Fast forward to present day. I dug this out of my cellar and it was still fairly moist but a little on the dry side. I rehydrated this blend for two days and got it to the right moisture level. I loaded up a bowl and found it more tolerable but not very enjoyable. I did finish the bowl out of respect to those who enjoy this legendary blend but to me it tastes like a good quality cigarette. Love the name but not the blend. If your curious about this blend, I do recomend you give it a try. Out of the three, Marlin Flake by far is my favorite.

Makin' my wife rich one bowl at a time.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
William H. Hardy 03/22/2013 Medium to Strong None detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong highly recommended
This is some good stuff. I lean towards Virginias and VA/Pers and this may be one of the best, in my opinion. I had tried Marlin Flake in the past and I'm not sure which I like more.

The tobacco in Hal is a nice blend of mostly red Virginias, a little burley, and a bit of perique. The flavor is a mainly tobacco that's a bit on the sweet side with a little perique wang to it. Thant being said, it's not for everyone (like all tobacco). It's not going to knock your socks off or change your perception on the universe. As a matter of fact, the tobaccos that have had that "knocked my socks off" the first time I smoked them usually end up being one that I don't reorder.

This is a contemplative tobacco that, many times, becomes a "nivana" smoke for me. Very few Full English or Oriental blends do that for me. Of course, this is just my opinion... I could be wrong. :-)


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
o3Ho3 03/18/2013 Mild None detected Very Mild Pleasant to Tolerable not recommended
I'm rarely against any kind of tobacco... (not true). This one is, for me, one of the most flat, disgraceful and useless tobacco I ever tasted. I tried with a full tin (100gr) and give my all tolerance... but... Sorry guys, whatever I tried and even mixture with whatever I have (and I have) is incredible bad. Sry again. I really tried....


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Blue Bayou 02/23/2013 Medium to Strong Extremely Mild Medium to Full Tolerable recommended
High quality tobacco, biteless.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Perique 01/25/2013 Strong None detected Full Tolerable recommended
A strong, stout Va/Per, heavy on red Virginia. Beware! Sip this one or suffer the consequences. Very rewarding for the experienced VA/Per or VA smoker, but not the best choice as an introduction to the genre. A niche blend. Good nicotine content - recovering cigarette smokers will like this one.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Mr. Big 12/11/2012 Mild to Medium None detected Medium Tolerable somewhat recommended
This is a nice VaPer but not one on the top of my list. The cut is fairly fine and tends to burn a little fast and hot. My style of being a faster Vaper puffer doesn't help. I also find this on the milder side and one dimensional. If I had a choice, I think Marlin Flake has more interest and Old Gowrie is smoother. Most would consider this a solid 3 star blend, but under MY rating system, it only gets a 2. I won't buy again, not because it is bad , but only because I like other VaPers better.

I think that reviewer, "TW 08/01/2012 " , might be correct in that experimenting with the pipe and packing could greatly improve this blend.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Virginia lover 12/08/2012 Medium None detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable recommended
Kohlhase & Kopp has nailed it with this one. The three tobaccos have a good thing going on, the Kentucky is nicely complemented by the Perique and the Virginia. Nice dry fig smell off the tin, burns well with plenty of smoke. A dry, cold smoke with woodsy and spicy tones better enjoyed in the evening or at any time in winter.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
ThePuffingLibrarian 12/01/2012 Strong Very Mild Overwhelming Strong somewhat recommended
One of the reasons I switched from cigarettes to pipe smoking is because I was tired of the inherent acridity in cigarette tobacco and I wanted to experience the other tastes present in tobacco. Well, this blend is like licking the bottom of an ashtray. Acrid all the way. However, it is constant and it will burn nicely from bowl to bowl. You will get use to the taste in the end but don’t look for too much subtlety in this one.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
ynrozturk 10/17/2012 Medium None detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable highly recommended
Oh man, I just want to live inside this bowl..


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
alfa 09/17/2012 Mild to Medium Medium Medium Pleasant to Tolerable recommended


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
donmartinthree 09/14/2012 Medium to Strong None detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable recommended
the tin aroma is very vinegar-like; very sour with a slight sweetness to it. it might sound disgusting but I love it. you can definitely smell that this contains perique. I'm wondering, however, if my tin might not have some age on it. I haven't read any other review stating a metallic or vinegar-like sourness in the aroma AND there's sugar crystals all over the flake chunks. who knows...

taste is amazing. great sweetness, some spiciness in the background and a slight (very pleasant!) bitterness. a bitterness that isn't harsh but good-tasting. this blend is delicious and CREAMY. perfect moisture out of the tin (at least for me, but I prefer my tobacco to be a little on the moist side... it's not dripping wet or anything. maybe sort of like a plug when freshly cut.) slow burning and cool to my palate... this tastes so good I wish I could eat it at times.

love it! recommended!


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Jakob Kiilerich 09/06/2012 Medium None detected Mild to Medium Pleasant highly recommended
Aaahhh.... Hal O The Wynd!

Some of Kohlhase's attemtps on Rattray's are bland and boring, and I guess alot of reviewers think the same. But others are on the other hand powerful, delightful and rather sophisticated. This one is truly one of the latter.

The Wynd might just be one of the best red/brown VAs I've ever had - german made, mind you.

The leaf is of superior quality, but does not reveal much upon opening the tin. As always, Rattray's blends seem rather bland at first sniff in the tin, but upon lighting loads of thick sweet creamy and musty smoke will caress your olfactory system and tickle your taste buds.

The Wynd packs quite a wallop in the nicotine department, and that is something i do enjoy quite alot. Combined with the velvet-like soft- and sweetness, It's the perfect all-day smoke for me. It's worth every cent even though it is way overpriced compared to other good leaf.

- Jakob Kiilerich, Denmark -


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
pipelovingcalvinist 08/22/2012 Medium None detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable recommended
I was gifted a sample of this and have tried it in briar, meer, and clay, each pipe allowing for different intricacies. I wasn't bowled over by this blend but still liked it quite a bit. I found that an orange/citrus tastes would come through especially in the meer, that was to my liking. At other times more of a toast flavor would dominate. Overall a good blend. Recommended.

Soli Deo gloria!


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
TW 08/01/2012 Medium None detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable recommended
Having smoked my way through several 100gm tins of this now I've a few thoughts about it I feel might be worth adding to the many reviews already here.

Tastewise, I find it pretty flavourful for a blend that stresses the Virginia/Kentucky (I don't mean to insult VA blends, merely that a Latikia-heavy blend will always have a more pronounced flavour than a blend such as HOTW). The Perique adds a depth I find straight VAs lack.

What seems to make a big difference to the flavour is the pipe itself and how it is packed. I smoke clays, which means the bowls are generally not huge, and narrow and deep in proportions. Packed loosley, HOTW is a good, medium flavoured VA/Per type blend, with little variation as the bowl burns down. Rubbed out and packed quite tightly then smoked slowly it gradually develops a very marked and remarkable sweetness that starts around the half way point the nbuilds and builds which compliments the initial spiciness very well.

It's a very deceptive blend. I first found it very basic, montone and simple, but began to appreciate it more as I got the taste for it and experimented with how I pack the pipe. It's a bit like those wines or good-quality beers,ciders and coffees that you don't think are anything particularly outstanding at first but grow on you over time.

If puffed at frantically it can (and will) bite like a starving piranha, but with a little care it's possible to get it to produce large quantities of smoke without biting at all. What you can't do is smoke it absent-mindedly. Not unless you're fond of hot tongue syndrome, anyway.

Overall, as I got the "feel" for HTOW it's raised itself from "OK but nothing that remarkable" to a through the day regular. I prefer Old Gowrie as the "breakfast" pipe with coffee, but then tend to find HOTW suits more later on.

As far as nicotine goes, I'd call it a medium, with Nightcap/Artisan's Blend counting as "High" and the Captain Black aromatics counting as "low". Slightly stronger than Erinmore Balkan Mix or Dunhill Early Morning, perhaps and certainly strong for a blend of this type.

Overall I'd recommend giving it a try, it's an excellent example of its type of blend. Just treat it with a little caution at first unless you're used to VA/Per blends already and be prepared to put in a little patience.

PS.. It will build cake at high speed if you're looking to break in a new briar and, unlike English or aromatics blends is unlikely to cause too much ghosting.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
renwardhoop 07/04/2012 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Extremely Mild (Flat) Unnoticeable not recommended
Much lauded and hard to get blend in the UK.

I'll have to admit to having only a 5g sample, but even so there was little here to inspire a massive purchase of 100g which is - apart from samples - the only size available here.

Oh sure, it's a pleasant enough smoke.

If you like your tobacco tasteless and lacking in any character whatsoever, that is.

Disappointing.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Trippwire 06/30/2012 Medium None detected Medium to Full Tolerable somewhat recommended
Tastes very malty. Pure unadulterated tobacco, reminds me of old england. It's like old gowrie's older cousin, similar but distinctly heavier with a fuller taste. It was a good smoke, but after 100g of this, I've given it a good run and it just didn't grab me. I won't buy more, I'll get Old Gowrie instead.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
Capt 06/28/2012 Medium to Strong None detected Medium to Full Pleasant highly recommended
I'm not sure which I enjoy more, this or Old Gowrie. Sweet fragrant bready/yeast notes that excel if dried for a bit. I rubbed mine out a bit more that packaged, and it burned like a dream. As others have said, easier to obtain than FVF and just as good (if not better).


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
scottyspipesebay 06/15/2012 Medium None detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable recommended
Hal O the Wind: Crack O the can is exquisite. Room note is nice, providing you allow a flow through. 1st light is wonderful. 2nd light is pure soft sweet VA. Flavor is overall good VA. This is a first for me to crack a can; love what I smell; light it up and have the flavor nearly the same as the first impression I get from the fresh, raw, unsmoked note. This is a good morning smoke, with black coffee. I like it best with good strong black iced coffee in the summertime.

The flavor is at first, nutty wood; flowery with the scent of apricot and fresh cut Honduran mahogany. I used to mill wood, so you must allow me olfactory license.

It is easily prepared with very little drying time. It breaks up and stuffs evenly. Lights quickly; stays lite, but burns warm. The flavor stops 2/3 down and leaves a tary dottle, but few blends are perfect.

This is by no means a favorite, but it is very good straight forward red Va with a hint of Parique in the back and has a fair nic kick, that's never overpowering. Give it a shot. It's nice for the price as either a stand alone, or as a MEDIUM blending base to add fullness and mild sweetness.


Reviewed By: Date: Strength: Flavoring: Taste: Room Note: Recommendation:
p4p4 06/06/2012 Medium to Strong None detected Full Tolerable highly recommended
Probably the best straight virginia in the world. The taste is full, and the flavour gets better as the smoke progresses. Aroma: yeast, bread, pure virginia. For virginia lovers.


 
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 181 reviews of this tobacco

 


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