It has been thoroughly rubbed out, which means it is a mixture of short and broken ribbons that are surprisingly dry (good!) and tend to crumble to, well, crumbs by the end of the tin. (Buy the smaller tin!) This is all very convincing.

In the pipe it starts off very lightly, not with sweetness but with tannic tanginess. Other qualities elude this smoker for about the first third of the bowl until a sweetness begins to emerge with a bit of floral fruitiness which hit its peak at about mid-bowl. Until this occurs I always have to ask myself if this is really something I want to smoke. It is not particularly enjoyable, but then... the tannins subside as the fruity sweetness becomes more and more apparent. This sweetness thens give way to a delicious earthiness which gains in depth and strength until the end of the bowl. It is in the last third of the bowl that this tobacco shows what it can do. And, yes, there is some nicotine here, as slowly becomes apparent.

Kudos to DTM for this one! Will I smoke this often? No, but I am very grateful to the manufacturers for this lesson in Virginas. This is one instructive smoke, and it burns very well without producing much moisture, leaving the mouth feeling dry and clean with a slightly herbal earthiness lingering on. What started off as a light, tannic, nondescript smoke, becomes substantial and robust; an honest, no- nonsense smoke, that is all about the development in the pipe.

Summary: Has lots of wonderful qualities, but is too much trouble for what it gives back.

If you want to learn about Virginias, this is a must! If not, better steer clear. Two stars, since it really is not for everyone. Four stars for anyone looking to learn more about Virginias. I wish there were more tobaccoes out there without, or with this few, additional flavorings. Recommended.

However, I'm coming back to add a voice over the other two, hereunder, cheering this blend that I found to be extraordinary, thus not sure about a couple of issues: This blend is a subtly aromatic one, flavoured with nuts, figs, something alcoholic (brandy?) and a hint of vanilla; I couldn't say it is purely natural matured only virginias. It's true that is rather a dry blend, ready to fill and light, even if freshly packed. Since then I smoked more than a dozen tins and tobacco was always without an excess of humidity --at least one doesn't have to pay for water content! I found out it's aroma becomes much better and taste more "round" if, on the opening of the tin, loose tobacco rests exposed to open air for half an hour, then put back to its original tin and waiting for a couple of days to give the first light. Burns very well till 4/5 of the bowl bottom, then some more lighting requires to burn the rest. Has no tongue bite if smoked properly, but is prone to burn out the walls of the bowl if puffing too frequently. (I was amazed to see my Dunhill Chestnut sweat on the outside of the bowl!) Anyway, has a sweet taste inviting to give an extra puff from time to time. Delicious tickle of nostrils, that tiny line of smoke escaping from bowl during smoking, gives. I highly recommend this blend also for newbies.

UPDATE 11/30/2009: I found this additional informations on the web site of a retailer: "... Ready rubbed flake composed of bright and brown Virginias from Zambia. Natural aromatic without flavoring"

ORIGINAL REVIEW: I bought this tobacco by chance: I came from a tobacco store to look for other tobacco products that were not available at this dealer, so looking at the various tobacco exposed in one corner of the shelf I noticed a single tin of this blend. Instinctively, I thought it was a remaining balance and I remember reading a good review here I bought The Mellow Mallard. At home, my intuition has proved well founded: opening the tin the tobacco was almost dry (IMHO I think that this tin is more than two years old ...) with a very soft and gentle aroma of figs, and hay, no doubt: classic Virginia absolutely natural. The cut is a thin ready rubbed probably made from a soft pressed cake, at the touch has an elasticity slightly woody almost looks like a Cavendish but this is due to dryness, luckily the scent and color tell another story: anything chocolate / hazel nor faded-washed color, only pure and REAL tobacco. TMM promises little but keeps everything: easy and stable ignition, strength mild, no gurgle, no bite to the tongue, no surprises about taste only good Virginia and nothing else completely unflavored and one-dimensional with the classic tanginess and a bit sharpy,sweet but not too sweet, it can somewhat remember Rattray's Brown Clunee but much more mature, refined and sincere, never sour nor bitter. Personally I could give four stars to this product but this affects my personal taste, objectively not a masterpiece but an enjoyable all-day, very solid three stars. My congratulations and my thanks to Gunnar for his review without which I would have lost this tobacco that I think (IMHO) is really underestimated, what a pity! ..... I went with TMM with a glass of sumptuous Sciacchetrà Cinqueterre, nothing less for give a little justice to this tobacco.

I must say, this is not a lame duck! It is a nice and natural broken VA flake of medium strength, but it smokes very smooth and cool and, surprising for a flake of this strength, without any tongue bite.

This is a good one for breaking in a new pipe. Anyway you should smoke it in a very clean pipe to be able to detect the subtle aromas.

All in all an average, good VA flake, but nothing special. If you'd like to experience natural VA taste but are afraid of tongue bite, this one might be worth a try for you.