Rattray - Hal O' the Wynd pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 139 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
vinnie799	07/27/2010	Medium	Medium	Very Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I'm just about finished my first 100gram tin of this tobacco. I recieved a sample of this from a friend and after a few bowls decided that it's pretty nice stuff. It is written as having "an unusual share of strength and will quickly perk you up". Ok, so I smoke on through and find that it is rather moist and being a VA sometimes they need to dry a bit for that VA Sweet to come through. It did come through but still I haven't seen much strength like is written on the tin and in other reviews. Strength to me is a good nicotine hit. I didn't find it much here although there is some. For a novice piper it may be fine. It is a nice cut but like I said before i find it better handling and smoking with some drying time, like 15-20 min under a desk lamp or just sit a pouchful out for a few good hours. Makes fo better lighting and smokeing as you won't have to relight it much. HOTW will try to bite if not careful so smoke 'er slowly. 'Breath Smoking' helps find a little sweetness in it too. After about 3/4 of the way through the 100gm tin I started to feel like, Ah, it's really not all that, nothing to write home about. I'd suggest purchasing a 50gm tin once in a while at best. HOTW, bein's it's a stoved Red VA is in fact a little sharper that a regular bright VA. I'm not complaining just reviewing a tobacco. I do recommend it to one who smoke straight VA regularly for a pleasant change of pace just don't be looking for a much strength, its' a stoved Red VA that's all. I'm giving it three Good stars because objectively speaking it's pretty a pretty good VA tobacco. I guess I was expecting something more like Haddo's Delight.
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Claudius Stradivarius	07/25/2010	Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Very Strong
This is similar to Astley's 44 in terms of taste and tin aroma. But Rattray's HOTW is no 44 on steroids. This was strong, yes, but so harsh it became unpleasant. And the smoke proved harassing to my nostrils. Maybe a bit of aging will address the problem.
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meerkat	07/02/2010	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
To me this stuff smells like wet hay and malt extract in the tin and has a similar rich but subtle sweetness under the match. I could believe that it contains Kentucky leaf because of the strength and richness of the flavour, because of the slight spicy edge I could also buy that it's got some perique but the tin says not so I wont argue. Smooth and tasty all the way down to the bottom of the bowl, gathering a little momentum towards the end. I always want to repack and relight as soon as I've finished a pipeful of Hal o' the Wynd just to make the pleasure continue but then I'm greedy, especially with really nice things! Great tobacco.
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jhenley	06/08/2010	Medium to Strong	None detected	Full	Very Pleasant
I love this stuff. It smells a little funkier out of the tin than most other Virginias, but it smokes so nicely. Just a little moist out of the tin, but smokes very easily, stays lit and burns to a pretty white ash. This to ME is one of the most naturally fragrant tobaccos I have smoked. It has got a very straight forward sweet taste and aroma to me. I roll my windows up in my jeep after I get out of my car from smoking this stuff so that I can smell it again later! I'm not so sure about the consistency of this blend from tin to tin though. The first tin I smoked seemed a little more heavenly than the last tin I just bought. I wished they put the canning date on the tin like McClelland does. I would also like to try an old tin of this stuff someday. I guess I will age some. I love to smoke this blend when I know I want a more sweeter smoke. It's not that sharp, but really mellow in a full-bodied way. Kind of a toasty smoke.
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Pseudo Nim	04/21/2010	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable
Not a bad virginia at all, prhaps the strongest of the trio, Old Gowrie, Marlin Flake and Hal O' The Wynd bringing up the rear. My main problem with this otherwise very fine tobacco, is that I can only get it to work if I let it air for 24 hours on a sheet of newspaper, put it back in the can, then leave it for a further month. This seems to smooth it out for me as it can be a little steamy straight from the can with a mild tendency to try to bite. However, having prepared accordingly, a smooth and tasty evening smoke for the summertime follows.
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Tom Servo	04/19/2010	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Open tin smells like warm fig cookies in an old hay loft, perfectly rubbed flake packs well and burns great. Bowl starts with dry grass notes and light VA sweetness. Develops subtle but amazing complexity - hay and old lumber, raw grains, bread dough, pancake batter, sweet malt, hot buttered Cream of Wheat - the second half of the bowl mixes in saddle-soaped leather and whispers of spanish cedar that remind me of aged Dominican cigars. Despite the description on this site, I don’t think there is any Kentucky or Perique in there. I suspect the description on the tin is correct - full Red Virginia flake. This stuff has more than a little age on it already, but I imagine more age in the tin would make this stuff incredible. I smoked a pipe-full with my favorite single-malt scotch “Highland Park” - 12 Year Old. The malt syrup, canned fruit, leather and cigar box flavors of the whisky complemented this tobacco brilliantly.
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Morgoth	04/18/2010	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
Not as endearing, to me, as Rattray’s Old Gowrie or Marlin Flake...and not as sweet as I would have liked. Finding that Hal O’ The Wynd was slightly more sharp and bitter than I generally prefer...I committed the sacrilege of mixing in another constituent tobacco. I employed the outer edges of MacBaren’s Club Blend curlies (tossing the Cavendish cores into the trash)...enough to comprise approximately 10% of the final blend. The end result, for me, was extremely pleasant, and allowed me to enjoy both blends...otherwise, I would not find either singular blend overly satisfying. A companion infusion: a Belgian Witbier (wheat beer with orange) like Rickard’s White or Blue Moon. UPDATE: 04/25/10 Leaving the tobacco out to dry much longer and employing "breath" smoking at a very slow cadence has brought out the sweetness and removed all instances of it being sharp and bitter. Increasing my recommendation rating accordingly.
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Fellow traveler	03/22/2010	Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable
Good and strong by itself, if you like virginas. I smoke it once every few months by itself and chop and add it to other stuff to perk them up. Its a virginia, smoke it slow and by the way: Taking more of this medication than recommended may cause serious breathing problems. Do not take alcoholic beverages while taking this medication. May cause drowsiness. Alcohol may intensify this effect. Use care when operating a car or dangerous machinery.
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Michael	03/21/2010	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
A fuller, stronger version of its sister blend, Old Gowrie, HOTW is not as sweet and complex (it's a bit grassy), but I find it more satisfying, as it gradually gains potency with zero bite or bitterness. However, the tin language about it containing Virginia tobacco "of a most unusual share of strength" is a bit of hyperbole -- although it's also a cool literary allusion to a character in The Fair Maid of Perth. It looks and smells nearly identical to OG and the texture of the Red Virginia ready- rubbed flakes is the same (a thing of beauty). If there's perique in here as reported, it doesn't tip the scales, nor do I see any printed reference of it on the auxiliary label at the bottom of the tin as stated in one of the reviews. I'm not a pure Virginia lover, so take my review with a grain of salt. I smoke this as a change of pace.
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Susanna Hoffs	03/16/2010	Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable
HOTW is another nice addition to my favoured VA tastes. That said, I do prefer it's stablemate OG. I'll also smoke FVF for when I want a richer and fuller experience, but that's not to take anything away from HOTW. I find HOTW is less sweet tasting than the other two mentioned, and has a very slight peppery feel to it. Albiet a very mild one.. All in all a quality tobacco that comes in a lovely tin!
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Tortuga	03/14/2010	Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
A love it or leave it blend from Rattray's a la K&K, I fall in the "love it" category. A friend sent me a generous sample and I dove right in, not having had any Rattray tobaccos yet. There really isn't much tin aroma to speak of. It's pretty neutral before lighting. Smoking reveals a flavorful Va with probably a little dark fired burley, and it wouldn't surprise me if there was a hint of perique as well. The red va is assertive and one needs to calibrate their cadence to make it work. Think of it as slow dancing with a beautiful woman -- whose gown is covered in razor blades. Get a little over-eager and you may regret it. The first time I smoked it, I didn't realize it had bitten until an hour or so after finishing. It hasn't bitten since then, and I'm not sure what I'm doing differently other than not over-puffing on light- up. I love the flavor. There is an agent used, I think, to give it some additional taste. I don't know what it is and I am dreadful at making food analogies, but it absolutely works. I especially like the room note and that dense aroma that presents itself at the top of the burning bowl. The cut is a very thin, ready rubbed flake that is easy to load and burns well. I could highly recommend this blend, but can't guarantee which camp you'll fall in. Love it, or Leave it be. How well will it age? I will tell you in five years.
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Gnarlly	01/21/2010	Extremely Mild	None detected	Very Mild	Tolerable
Not a bad pure VA blend, though the description on the label can be misleading: "of a most unusual share of strength." I guess that phrase could be interpreted several ways, but I expected a stronger, fuller flavor from this blend. It is very mild in my opinion. The scent from the tin is like a bag of dried fruits; nice indeed. Moisture content was high with my fresh 100 gram tin, so it may be best to let it dry for a bit before packing, or you may get a fair amount of moisture in your pipe or possiby need to relight. Otherwise, it smokes very well down to the bottom of the pipe. The taste is pure, very mild VA. A mellow and relaxing tobacco, without very complex flavors. Nice amount of nicotine. A little bland for my tastes, but still recommended for when you want a more simple, pleasant smoke. Personally, I prefer Samuel Gawith's Full Virginia Flake for a sweeter, more complex taste, But Hal O' The Wynd is nice for a quick smoke, without the need to rub out flakes.
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Slow Draw	01/21/2010	Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant
This tobacco is a master piece. The presentation is a chunky straw like ribbon cut. I will either rub the ribbons out further, or ball them up and insert, depending on the bowl shape. Drying time is needed before smoking, and the results in flavor are drastic. Deep caramel and earth. Hay dipped in honey. Pancakes with butter. Burns very well once lit. If you love virginias, this is a MUST TRY. A great tobacco for the long term cellar as well.
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31z40	01/16/2010	Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
This blend is a full Red Virginia Flake that impressed my from the first puff, after the first few bowls I'm hooked. Medium strength with a full taste without the bite or harsh taste of tobacco. I found it to burn slow and smooth down to the bottom of the bowl without the bowl getting hot in a Bjarne Bent Brandy.
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Tripjoker	12/20/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant
I have read reviews of this blend for some time now and have always meant to try it. The problem is that I have tried other Rattrays that I have not been all that fond of (accountants, dark fragrant, seven reserve) and really didn't want to get shaved for anoher handful of dollars to be let down again. Well, my nature got the best of me and I plunked down another $14 to get a can of HOTW. Man, am I glad I did. This stuff is amazing! If all the Rattrays were this good, I would have tried it long before now. A little drying time is necessary fo me, but after that it's off to the races. This is one you will get the most out of by smoking it slowly and sipping the bowl. I will not even try to describe the flavors as it is impossible. Suffice it to say that I have found what I believe to be one of the all time best va blends out there. This gets 5 stars!!
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dogwood	11/28/2009	Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
4 stars. This is a fantastic tobacco. I prefer OG to this but Hal is also a must for the virginia lover. It produces sweeter smoke and a definate nicotine punch compared to OG. It's smooth and balanced. It's not as pungent as a red ribbon and more refined. The strength refers to nicotine content of which Hal has a very hight amount.
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dryfly11	11/21/2009	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
Very good stuff! I like to smoke HOTW in the evening, enough nicotine for the end of the day. Dried out properly you get a tasteful VaPer with a special hint (Kentucky). I guess it's the Kentucky which sets HOTW apart from other VaPers. Everything is said about quality, flavor and taste of this baccy! 4 stars! Period!
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Coskun	11/17/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I am a big fan Old Gowrie...Take to old gowrie add some nicotine you ll find HOTW... Mostly dark brown and red Va, broken flake easy to fill... For me its need 30min to dry...Than easy to lit and smoke perfect... Generally i use group3 bowl...Its perfect match...If you like Va and nicotine use HOTW...Another winner from Rattray's...
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mrmcmc	11/02/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant
Hello All; I have not been happy with most Rattray's blends, and after my recent experiences with Marlin Flake, I was ready to give up on this House of Tobacco. After perusing the many reviews of Hal O' The Wynd, the vast majority four stars, I decided to give it a try. I purchased 2 100 gram tins, one which will age a bit, one I am smoking now. The tobacco appeared moist fresh out of the tin, thus I allow it to dry a bit before smoking. Tobacco quality appears to be excellent, and chosen carefully. I find this to be a nice blend, with good Virginia Tobacco sweetness through the bowl, with a hint of spice added for complexity. I do not find this to be an extraordinarily full tobacco, nor do I find it to have any more than a medium nicotine content, if that. The taste is nice gaining depth through the bowl, but not necessarily gaining complexity, and somewhat on the monotone side of flavors, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I am not crazy over this tobacco, thus I rate it a solid three stars. Don't get me wrong, this is a good tobacco, and I like it well enough, that being said: I am not certain this will make my everyday rotation yet, but it could, time will tell. Pending smoking an aged tin, this rating may move to four stars. My current, and all-time favorite, and I would give it 5 stars if I could, is Solani Aged Burley Flake. To me, the Aged Burley Flake is what tobacco is all about. Happy Smoking, and Happy Holidays!!
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Lars	10/27/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
I really like Virginia's, but this is a disappointment. Kind of flat, two dimensional. Lacks that sweet and herbal character that I like in VA's, It's quite peppery though. Not really strong, if you compare it with a strong tobacco it's a medium. A bit to twiggy. Burns slow and cool. I've tried about 6 pure va's so far, this one is the most boring. Works god if you don't have any other VA at hand.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 139 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >