Brown & Williamson - Sir Walter Raleigh pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 129 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
craig	05/01/2013	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable
Hello guys so todays review is an american classic sir walter raleigh Opening the pouch the cut reminded me of another classic otc available in england..condor and the aromas make me think it is laced with alcohol particularly mulled wine Fed into my cob it packs very well And smoking it tastes not to dissimilar to carter hall a good nutty chocolately burley that i could smoke all day long It is a beautiful smoke and just a good honest bowl of tobacco which leads me to wonder why it isnt imported to england but ce la vie Highly recommended for anyone looking for something straight foreward and simple I can see why it has such a loyal following
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SmokeKing David	03/20/2013	Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable
It's OK, but better options abound. I prefer any of the MacBaren or Cornell & Diehl burleys. Govern Yourself Accordingly.
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Shoog	03/13/2013	Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
SWR gravity fed into a cob is one of life's simple pleasures. Starts off slightly sweet kind of chocolaty. The sweetness burns off pretty quick and it turns into a pretty good mild straight burley smoke.
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Roy Odhner	03/03/2013	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
Sir Walter Raleigh (SWR) is my go to tobacco, and I guess I smoke at least three bowls of it per day in my trusty Falcon or a cob. Why? Cuz I prefer burley blends, I can walk right down the road to my local grocery store an pick up a pouch or about $5USD, and it is pleasantly simple smoke. It's been around since 1927 for good reason - it's a good burley blend. If you're a Latakia or Lakelands fiend then you're probably not gonna like it cuz it will be way too tame for you. If you fancy yourself a discriminating pipe smoker and only go for expensive tinned blends, then you won't like it cuz it's not pedigreed enough. But if all you want is an honest bowl of tobacco, then I think you might just like it. When you open the pouch, you'll be greeted by a kind of funky cut of tobacco. It's oft described as looking like granola, and I think that is an apt enough description. Your nose will be greeted with a hint of chocolate, but that's just the burley tobaccos used in the blend. When you light up, you'll be greeted with a nutty, chocolate flavor - again, that's just the burley. There is a slight sour note to it, and also anise and molasis well, that's what I get)... that's the flavoring, which is applied with a very light hand. The room note is, well, pipe-like. Sir Walter Raleigh is an old school American burley blend, or OTC. It is not complicated. Just scoop your pipe in the pouch, fill, tamp, char, tamp again, and then light. Do not puff on it light a freight train when lighting, because that will cause it to taste acrid for a few seconds. Just softly puff when lighting, then sip on it the rest of the time. Also, don't strain to find the flavor - let it come to you. OTC's were blended to just casually enjoy without embarking on a nuance trek. If you just let the flavor come on it's own, you will be rewarded with the flavor previously described. To me, a pipe is meant to be savored and enjoyed. I want nothing more than just a relaxing bowl of tobacco. No nuance, no explosion of flavors, and no epiphany causing journey - just a nice smoke. For me, SWR delivers the goods. If all you want is just an honest bowl of burley, then there are few blends that can beat it.
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MrPiper	02/15/2013	Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant
This tobacco is the elephant in the room. Everyone looks over it because it's a drugstore blend but most who deride it have never actually tried it. I know, because I was one of them. Sir Walter was the ONLY tobacco smoked by a dear friend for over 25 years. I always liked the room note but never tried a bowl from his ever present tin in his office. I spent those 25 years smoking 1 tin after another in the quest for the next great tobacco. He just continued to savor his pipe day after day after year and always seemed content. SWR Smells like a rich chocolate liqueur from the pouch or tin. It seems a little too dry, but it packs and smokes really well. Further, if it is a bit dry verses other drug store blends, then you just get more tobacco and less water per pound so that's another plus. The taste is very smooth. The chocolate is present with a sort of raisen back flavor. Smokes nicely down with rarely a relight and so far, never a bite. I quit whenever it goes out after I'm past 1/2 bowl. Usually about 1/8th bowl left unsmoked dottle. It just keeps smoking nicely with a rich cloud of smoke and a very pleasant aroma. I wish I had tried this many years ago. I have wasted a lot of time and effort on higher cost, lesser flavor tobaccos. I certainly endores SWR Regular.
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Buster Bluth	02/03/2013	Mild	Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant
Great OTC Burley experience. Good balanced nuttiness all the way through. Perhaps my smoking style, but my old favorite Carter Hall tends to go into a burning overdrive mid bowl, and dottle at the end. This matches my rhythm and burns perfectly. The coarse cubes are granola like as others mention. All pouches I've sampled have been perfect moisture for smoking right away and the cut has been consistent. I detect minimal flavoring or additives. I am left with a fine ash. I don't know any other tobacco I've encountered that has great flavor and smoking characteristics at this price point. I feel like I tried every burley out there, but wondering how I missed trying this great one. 4 stars
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Mac	01/25/2013	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
Probably the best Drug Store blend i have tried from the United States.CH,PA and Granger are all top smokes in my humble opinion but SWR is a cut above with the exception of Sugar Barrel which i would place on the same level. A great pity its not available here in Australia as its become a firm favourite.
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slashes	01/02/2013	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
A nice burley blend ,nutty with a sweet taste ,it burns cool and doesnt bite.Smoke's great in a corncob!
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vespa	12/09/2012	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I now know why my Grandfather smoked SWR his whole adult life. This is just a damn good, yet simple burly blend. SWR smokes clean, dry and without any bite. Yes it's a tad sweet but it burns off quickly and your off to burly land. I like my burlies BLB, Age Burly Flake just to name a few. But for the $$ SWR cant be beat IMHO. I've been smoking out of a 14oz tin for the past week and have enjoyed every bowl that I packed. So if you like burly like I do dont turn your nose up the next time your at the drug store or the local pump-and-munch and see SWR sitting on the self like some kind of Red-Headed Step-Child. Pick up a pouch or a tin and just sit back & relax. This is just a good unpretentious no-brainer tobacco that has stood the test of time. Your Brother In Smoke 5/5
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athurber	11/29/2012	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
When I first opened a pouch of this stuff I had thought I received a dried-out, bad batch. When I went online to see other reviews talk about the cut of the tobacco I just said alright and went with it. Very interesting granola-like cut that feels and seems like it would be too dry to do anything with. Very wrong! This has now become my absolute favorite OTC pipe tobacco! And here's why: * Easy to pack (I use the scoop and pack method on this stuff.) * Nice nutty/sweet flavor * The aroma is pleasant, sweet, and reminds me of fresh baked cookies. This is also a crowd-pleaser because of this aroma. * Creates a lot of smoke (which I like.) * It burns all the way down to a nice grey ash with just one light. * It's just a plain old good tasting, good smelling, good burning tobacco. I don't go through too much tobacco. I've been at this for a little over a year and have collected many quality blends and have yet to actually finish an entire tin/pouch of tobacco (I smoke maybe 1-2 bowls per week) but I've been smoking SWR every morning on my way to work so far to keep my cold hands warm and I absolutely love the stuff. The cut makes it such an easy tobacco when I'm on the go because I can simply scoop a pipe into the pouch, tamp a little bit, scoop again and tamp just slightly harder and be set. Highly recommend this.
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Karl Childers	10/22/2012	Mild to Medium	None detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant
I like OTC blends, but this one is unsmokable. Literally. It won't burn. I try this tobacco about once every decade and it's always the same. Perhaps it's just me, but I don't have this problem with anything else. After about 40 relights,there is some grey ash, but it's surrounded by black bits that haven't ignited, and the taste becomes a bit nasty, like smoking a cigar butt in your pipe. This has an incredibly bland taste at first, so much so that I can taste the pipe itself more than the tobacco. I don't think I will even use this for cutting too-aromatic blends, as you can do with PA and some others. In short, I'm just gonna toss it. Again. As a side note, nowhere on the pouch I have does it give the name of the manufacturer. Strange. Beneath the image of Walt it does say "Ever Fresh," which to me means that it's loaded to the gills with propylene glycol. I have had a pouch lying wide open for about three weeks and it shows absolutely no signs of drying out. Maybe that's why it won't burn.
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juvat	10/21/2012	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
In the OTC category of tobaccos I always preferred Prince Albert to the others such as Carter Hall and Half&Half. Thats all changed now that I've smoked Sir Walter Raleigh. I've always seen Sir Walter on the shelf next to the others but never bothered to try it. The package looked outdated and in my neck of the woods, didn't seem to have the same pedigree as Prince Albert. I finally decided to stop judging a book by it cover and bought a pouch. Holy hell I'm glad I did!!! I like Prince Albert. I LOVE Sir Walter Raleigh! Its very similar to PA but slightly sweeter and nuttier. Not a fake sweetness mind you, but its definitely noticeable. Its extremely dry in the pouch and has the feel of crunchy granola, but it didnt seem to affect anything and burned well in the bowel. This isn't going to replace any of my tinned tobaccos anytime soon. Nor will I be smoking this with any regularity. But I will be keeping a pouch in truck as a "stuck in traffic" smoke or when the mood strikes while I'm working in the yard and want to puff on something.
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RipePipe	10/20/2012	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
It is the standard pipe tobacco but when you smoke it you do not feel cheap. A sweetness that keeps you smoking and a somewhat pleasant room note. if you need a cheap tobacco, this is the exception. This is a pipe tobacco that is always reliable.
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Calam	10/10/2012	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
For all the OTC's I've tried, this is my favorite. It's a very simple, pleasant tobacco taste--nothing complicated. Some people find it boring, but most of the time I find the simplicity comforting. It's the 'go to' when I don't really know what I want. It's mildly sweet and nutty, and doesn't leave that ashy taste or smell that Carter Hall does. It's just good plain tobacco.
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JimInks	09/14/2012	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
After nearly 40 years of pipe smoking, I finally decided to try this blend. Except for my occasional SWRA forays, my reluctance for smoking OTCs was hard to break. I like the slightly nutty, very slight chocolate taste, more than I had expected. By the time I finished the first pouch, I found I liked it more each time I smoked a bowl. It burns evenly, doesn't need to be relit much, packs very easily, with a pleasant aftertaste. It goes well with any drink you choose. It will never be more than a change of pace smoke for me, but sometimes I need a break from heavier, fuller blends. This is a good choice for that. Don't expect more than it's meant to be, and you will enjoy it.
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Thbg	08/22/2012	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is burley tobacco with a light casing of some kind of general sweetness. Pouch smells nutty and maybe some chocolate notes, but very subtle. The room note is good and the blend goes great with morning coffee. It is also good to bring a pipe back to neutral after smoking aromatics or heavy latakia blends in it.
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Puffingthebriar	08/13/2012	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant
Why as it taken me so long to try this tobacco, i have put it of for yrs thinking because it was a over the counter blend it would be poor,How wrong can one be, this will be in my rotation from now on, great all day smoke at a very good price 14oz tin and im ordering more right now, 5***** from me.
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brogreggblues	07/17/2012	Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
SWR: Aroma in bag: Not bad, nutty/coffee. Super bone dry, despite the cello-wrapped pouch. Loaded easily into my Peterson blast bulldog. Lit up fast, copious clouds of smoke, burned fast, possibly due to dryness. Cool, creamy, nutty, no bite. Stayed lit, stayed dry. Would be perfect for the beginner, or in a cob. Not as cased as PA, not as flowery as Kentucky Club Mild. Not as monochromatic as Granger, not as boring as Carter Hall. Doesn't bite like a steel trap, as does MacBaren London Burley. Doesn't kick like a mule, as does Old Joe Krantz. I'm hesitant to give this blend a full four stars, but a STRONG three stars for this tasty, smooth, nutty blend. Oh, heck. I'll give it a fourth star for the low price. Get yourself some.
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mnadz	07/07/2012	Very Mild	Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
All I could think about as i worked through the pouch is "why am I still smoking this". Only answer I had was "it is tobacco and I am not wasting money". At least (unlike Sail Green) I did not throw it out. Just seemed like there was nothing there for me. Not much flavor, not much nicotine, not much in the way of aroma for my wife. I can not recommend this to anyone. Sorry to those that enjoy it.
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PremiumAlexander	06/27/2012	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant
In the few 2-3 years that I have been a fan of most tobacco products, such as cigarettes and chews, pipe smoking is my most favorite, and since I have not been a pipe smoker for very long, I can't give much of a professional input, but I can say, if you are in an area of knowledge like me, this pipe tobacco has a slightly heavier than mild strength it gives off to the senses, from flavoring to the smell. Out of all the tobaccos I have tasted over the few years from cigarettes to chews, this one is definitely the most pleasant I have had.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 129 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >