Rona Black Gold Special

A strong tobacco for my taste, manly, rugged. The room note is tolerable. It used to be the chosen tobacco for the 2009 pipe smoking competition. I smoke it as a daily tobacco, since I got a big box of it. You need to be careful, you may get a bad taste if you are greedy, however with a good drink it makes a good adventure. The sweetness of the Cavendish is not overwhelming, it lacks the sauciness of aromatics, to my delight. It is important to dry prior smoking, since it may go out otherwise.

This Hungarian tobacco is still in production as in 2020. Produced by Róna LTD., Debrecen, Hungary. This is a blend of Virginia and Cavendish tobaccos, aromatic. Opening the pouch you can feel the nice smell of the cake " Gerbeaud"; walnuts, apricot jam and dark chocolate. It considered to be the best Hungarian tobacco according the Hungarian smokers. Using a small pipe and smoking slowly it can make the dinner perfect. Quite a strong blend, you can feel the nicotine kick pretty fast. Some malty taste resides later. Easy to lit and burning very well (Burley?). My wife can tolerate it and can recognize the "Gerbeaud" cake. Good stuff, something unusual, I want to enjoy it now and then. (I am not an aromatic smoker.)

It is difficult to get good pipe tobacco in Hungary, but fortunately the domestic manufacturer, Róna, has hit a home run with this blend. I have to concur with the other reviewer who mentioned that this blend smells like the famous Hungarian confectionary, Café Gerbeaud. There is a wonder pastry and a cake scent coming from the Cavendish. Some of that flavour comes through when smoked as well, but also paired with a rugged earthy tobacco taste, and a walloping dose of nicotine that is detectible in the smoke. The feel of the smoke reminds me of Warhorse Bar, and I am very grateful for this because it's hard to get that blend in Europe. This blend feels extremely vintage, it doesn't strive to be refined — but instead a good tasting and very strong blend. I imagine that the earliest cavendish blends may have had a similar character. It's a wonderful smoke for the winter when you want to get the most out of a small bowl.

3.5/4 - Rounded up. It's hard to find good strong blends like this that can kick like a mule.

When I purchased this blend i expected something completely different! By opening the pouch a intense aroma of chocolate and cocoa emerged so I was looking for a smooth cavendish aromatic but I was totally wrong! This mixture is no aromatic but a strong and manly tobacco composed of burley ,virgina and cavendish. As all Rona Blends the base tobacco is very strong and rough kind of landtabak, the added cavendish adds a smooth note while the burley gives it a lot of nuttiness. Out of the pouch the mixture is dry as sand so you have to smoke it extra carefull to avoid getting it too hot, because in that case it even becomes stronger. If you manage to tame it however you will be surprised by the compexity of tastes Black Gold offers. I highly recomend to smoke this blend in a filtered pipe!

Smell: Dark Chocolate,Cherry,Cognac Taste:The taste is pleasant,nutty. Strongness:You need to smoke it really slow because its a quite strong blend.The nicotine kicks in pretty fast. I recommend it but its not a must have tobacco.If you passing by in Hungary its worth a try though.