D & R Tobacco Raccoon's Accent

The mildly tangy Acadian bright Virginia is processed in the perique style, and is fruity sweet and grassy as a major component. The double toasted burley is toasty, nutty, woody, and earthy with minor rough and sour, spice notes in a support role. The floral, woody, earthy, herbal, lightly sweet and sour yenidje also has a dry “unflavored soda” essence, and ably competes for attention with the other tobaccos. The nic-hit is almost medium. The strength and taste levels are medium. Won’t bite, and has no dull or harsh moments. The tobacco is a little dry, and I recommend a light hydration. Well blended with some complexity, you’ll notice most every aspect of the tobaccos in every puff. Mildly complex, this mixed cut product burns at a reasonable rate if hydrated, cool and clean with a very consistent sweet and savory flavor from start to finish. Requires few relights, and barely leaves a trace of dampness in the bowl. The after taste is pleasant, and the room note is stronger. Both do linger just a mite. Not an all day smoke for the novice, but experienced smokers may consider it to be one.

-JimInks

The cut ranges from very thin chopped ribbon to large pieces of fish flake. colors range from light yellowish tan to a dark brown. The pouch note is slightly agricultural. Mine came very dry. I hydrated it a little before smoking.

To my palate this is an Oriental forward blend. I get a little tart fruit from the Virginia and the burley gives a woody foundation. There is a mild spiciness to this, and it is hard for me to know if that is the Oriental leaf or the processing on the Virginia. The spiciness provides some tickle when snorked. Perhaps the best comparison is to a dry white wine. It is fairly light and has a subtle but pleasant taste. Puffing brings out some sour.

I had decided to give this a 2 on the rating, but it is really a 2.5. It has grown on me a little. It is different. I am unlikely to buy more, but I can imagine it might punch the right buttons for another smoker. It is worth trying.

This is a nice smoke. The Acadian Virginias are a little tart and fruity with a very mild spice and a hint of fermentation. The Yenidje is a little difficult for my old taste buds to pick up, but I get a sour note that I assume is from them. The Burley is mostly nutty and in the background, but does increase in influence just a little as the bowl progresses. It's a cool burning tobacco with just a small edge to it.

On a side note, it's a bit difficult to get a full sense of the Acadian Virginia when it's in a mix such as this. I bought two six ounce tubs of it from Cup O' Joes (D&R's Blenders Bench Series). I've smoked a lot of it straight and find it very pleasant. I think it taste somewhat like a tart citrus brandy with just a touch of spice. My buddy D says it taste like grapefruit. Go figure. We definitely all taste things differently.

Back to the blend. Mild to medium in body and taste. No added flavoring. Burns very well.

Despite the blend description there wasn't much character other than a pleasant and mild oriental tobacco that one would think of for blending purposes. The yenidje leaf seems almost a hybrid between a very mild golden virginia and a subtle oriental/turkish. The other leaf elements didn't seem to present themselves but I would have to assume contributed to rounding out the blend so, it's a barely sturdy enough smoke on it's own. I'm not getting any residual perique elements in this blend from how the virginias are said to be processed so, the net results of such effort unfortunately seems pointless to me.

D & R Tobacco - Raccoon's Accent.

As I looked through my tobaccos this morning, still tired and bleary eyed, I spotted this and thought 'Raccoon's Accent? What the hell!'. The name doesn't exactly imply what type of blend it is! Wrongly, I guessed it as an aromatic. But opened it anyway!

My blend has the appearance of a simple, medium brown, ribbon. I wouldn't call it a Mixture. As I remember most of the D & R blends I've had have been too dry, but this is faultless.

I'm not a fan of the smoke. Objectively speaking, the Oriental and Virginia match each other well. They both have a sharp, piquant, character, and the similar traits work nicely together. The Burley gives the least, I can identify it, but it isn't a forerunner in the smoke. Subjectively speaking now: I find the general flavour too vinegar like. I'd wager this comes from the perique process and it taints the experience, for me. Something else to abate the rating is the burn. Too fast, too warm, and I get a bit of bite from the smoke.

Nicotine: medium, maybe a speck above. Room-note: not nice.

Raccoon's Accent? Sorry, not something I'd recommend:

One star.

I actually found this a good blend. I like Orientals and blends with Yenidje. There is a presence of the unique Virginias and Burley. Mostly forming a foundation of deeper flavors with the Oriental popping in and out. A savory smoke, barely sweet, with musty aromas from Turkish. I also think this quite good considering most ho-hum pipe blends from D&R. I grabbed two more tins since I read they were stopping production.