Rattray Exotic Orange (a.k.a. Exotic Passion)

So this is the blend you smoke if you're craving a citrusy Virginia Flake but you have company and want to have an aromatic room note.

The taste is very reminiscent of a Virginia flake.

This blend hit me in the following way. There is something a bit cloying about the casing. For one thing, the tin note and room note is rather off putting; it smells like Orange Tang crystals. Do you remember that fake orange drink Tang that you used to mix up in water? Well that's the sort of smell it has, and from what I can tell it comes out in the room note. Not exactly nice in my estimation, and not a natural citrus smell.

Taste wise, it comes off better, but I'd rather just have the Virginia flake if I want that citrusy taste -- one that is more natural -- and there are plenty of better aromatics out there.

For those who are in a hurry, the thumbnail version of the following review of Rattray’s Exotic Passion is: OK tobacco swamped by not OK topping. If you’re still there, this (apparently) sought after blend from the Storied Marque comes in an un-sealed plastic bag inside an attractive, colorful, unsealed metal box. The blend consists of moist ribbons ‘n chunks that range from golden tan, to light, reddish brown, to black. The tin note is quite a burst initially, but it eventually settles down to a tropical version of one of those plug-in air fresheners, orange-ish and passion fruit-ish, with vanillin. It handles, loads, lights and smokes down with no problems after a little air time. The topping takes and holds the lead through the smoke. I prefer a light snork to the tastes I get because this blend oils my mouth right away, probably due to my old nemesis, propylene glycol, but possibly due to chemicals used as aromatics and flavorings. The tobacco, way down there, is meadow grassy and nutty, and mildly floral, and it might get three stars on its own; but it certainly is not on its own. Strength is medium, with scant nicotine. Tastes rise past medium. Room note is not awful, but it’s somewhat insipid. Aftertaste lingers, starting out as icky, combusted chemicals and morphing into a nice VA/Bur afterword as it trails off.

What can I say? I own the PG problem that really kills this for me. But, truth be told, I couldn’t give this more than 2 stars apart from the PG because I just don’t care for the topping. Taken as a whole, I can’t recommend it.

This one seems to be a "love it or hate it" blend. I love it! I was intrigued by the concept of an orange blend - so after a year of searching, I found a tin and ordered it. A very complex blend that smokes with a consistent taste to the bottom of the bowl. The orange and floral are the primary elements of the taste, but I also detected mango and a touch of vanilla. The Virginia's are a fine host to the toppings. The tobacco slowly burns to a fine ash with no moisture in the bowl. An all-day smoke. I have heeded the advice of other reviews and dedicated a pipe (a Forseti with an orange stem) to this to negate ghosting

This is a heavy aromatic with orange and floral notes dominating the aroma. No tobacco notes can be detected behind the aromatics. The orange flavorings leave a strong chemical aftertaste that coats the inside of your mouth.

Ahhh this is a great aromatic! A kaleidoscope of aromas reaches your nose as you smell the tin and a festival of mainly fruity flavors stimulate your taste buds as you smoke it, but you can also taste a bit the tabacco underlying the topping. A bowl of this tobacco is really a joy for my soul and the obvious orange flavor makes me remind of the winter time and the Christmas Eve... Wonderful and highly recommended!

Tin note: orange with vanilla, smells almost like some aromatic winter black tea

Needs a lot of relights, I had trouble keeping it lit. Taste wise it's a lot of vanilla, little bit of orange and a lot of "burnt" taste. Sometimes I got a little bit hope, when I tasted nutty flavors, but most of the time it just tastes burnt. Mind you, this tasted burnt when my smoke was cool, so I think it is not due to my smoking skills. I smoked it in cob with a filter (like always). I can only imagine how horrid this must be for those smoking it from unfiltered briar. I suspect the problem is the orange somewhat chemical aroma, so maybe leaving it to dry would solve this problem.

Room note is very pleasant, one of the best room notes I smelled.

Wife approves.

I would recommend this to someone who doesn't mind what he is smoking and just wants to bring a really nice aroma to other people.

Exotic Orange is one of the best aromatic blends that I have smoked. I can taste both the tobacco and the topping. I really like the mixture of orange with a little maple syrupy sweetness. It is a unique blend and bites less than the run-of-the-mill aromatic.

I was finally able to find some in stock, so I decided to have a fruit showdown with some other blends I was meaning to try (Sillem's Red and Reiner's Professional) - who will reign supreme?

After tossing aside the useless, yet decorative tin, I tore the bag open to find a bounty of fruit and spicy flavors, all competing for your nose's attention. It reminded me of a floral tea. There was of course plenty of fruit in there, but nothing overly obnoxious or chemical.

The mix was light and bouncy to pack, without any sticky topping, and fired up without issue. The smoke was complex in that I couldn't place the individual flavors, and unique for an Aromatic, as it left a sweet finish (again, like sipping a floral tea). It's pretty mild, so you 'could' smoke successive bowls, but like any good dessert wine, it would overpower the buds.

For those seeking a full throttle Orange experience, no one tops Planta's Anno MMXIII, but for those who want to smoke some incense (and I mean that in a good way here), Exotic Passion can't be beat.

A very nice friend gave me this and this is one of his favorite baccas. He also gave me the pipe I smoked this in. A huge thank you to my friend cloudbear.

Black Cavendish, Burley and Virginia as well a very nice topping make up this blend.Opening the bag I was greeted by a excellent combination of wonderful aromas that started with a pleasant orange aroma, mild earthy, light sweet smelling grass with pleasant aromas in the background consisting of mild nuttiness, light vanilla and a very mild floral that really came together perfectly in a wonderful and pleasing combination. This is a ribbon cut that came out just a touch moist, was dried on a paper towel for a half hour, and packed very well. The Charring light was pleasant when the true light came there were very, few re-lights. This burned medium , the smoke was medium and disappeared quickly. There was no tongue bite although if puffed a few rough edges do appear. Burned very consistently with a wonderful flavor that stayed lightly creamy and very consistent till the end, Left moisture in the bowl. Burned to dark ash. Each re-light was full of rich orange flavor. The sweet aftertaste stayed throughout the smoke and for almost an hour after the smoke. Can be an all day smoke. As many warn, this does ghost a pipe a briar!!!

Lighting the bowl the first thing I was greeted by was a rich slightly tangy orange flavor. Very pleasing and refreshing. As I was writing down the flavors I kept thinking this is familiar. Then it dawned on me. This tastes like Orange Pekoe Tea. Sure enough after several sips it was and with the orange pekoe tea were added the following flavors that all dances joyfully in the background of this very light and airy tea with the background flavors of a mild earthy, sweet grassy, light nutty, touch of vanilla, light floral and about a 1/4 of the way into the bowl in danced some very light brown sugar flavor. Along the way I kept getting a hint of coconut, but there is no coconut listed on this but I had this flavor doing a zip dance in and out so I only would get a hint of what it was and it seemed like a hint of coconut. the flavors played well together and made this a wonderful smoking experience. More on the Room note, it is very pleasant with a Orange aroma that smells a lot like Orange Pekoe tea brewing. Very pleasant with a hint of brown sugar and a very, very faint hint of coconut.

I enjoyed this smoke very much. It is a delightful change from the everyday and one comes away refreshed from this smoking adventure. This is complex enough to keep one's attention, but it is very consistent with no flavor changes other than a quick and almost missed appearance of what I believe is a touch of coconut. This is not my style to be an everyday smoke but I like it very much. I will buy it and keep it around for special occasions. This receives a 3.7 stars out of 4 stars. Give it a try for it is a refreshing smoke!