Dan Tobacco Rainer Barbi

Dan Tobacco - Rainer Barbi.

Firstly, it isn't a ribbon, it's a coarse cut/mixture; some cubes, chunks, as well as large ribbons. The aroma's sweet, and a little rustic. On the low side mine arrived a touch too dry. It's made up mostly of browns, dark and medium, with a few specks of yellow.

When I first lit a bowl I was impressed. But, a quarter in I felt the bite! That aside, the flavour's nice. Sweet, but not 'sticky'. The cavendish supersedes the Virginia, so don't expect a 'grass-fest'! Although the Cav' rules, it isn't a heavy flavour; quite sprightly! There's just enough caramel to embellish the natural sweetness, without causing it to be gloopy. Again, on the low side, it takes on a 'dusty' flavour toward the end; this reduces the rating. I'm not impressed by the speed, either, and it can creep high in temperature.

Nicotine: below medium. Room-note: not great.

Rainer Barbi? All things considered I think it deserves two stars:

Somewhat recommended.

This tobacco perplexes me. It’s not really aromatic at all yet not just plain tobacco. The tin note to me is of unsweetened cocoa powder. They say caramel but I detect no caramel? It also has a light spice to it and a cigar like note that pops up every so often. It’s some type of in-between tobacco that is neither aromatic or not. The room note is a little stale sweet and not particularly good or bad. It’s honestly hard for me to form an opinion on it besides that I don’t particularly enjoy it and I don’t really dislike it. It’s at least quality tobacco although I’m fairly sure there was a complete tobacco stem in my tin. Definitely expected better from DTM and I will not purchase it again. If there was pipe tobacco in purgatory this might be it.

As another reviewer mentioned: this blend tasted like it landed between an aromatic and maybe an English tobacco. Its loosely packed in the "can", as opposed to the tuna tin packing of the typical tins. I liked the fact that it wasn't another wet gooey blend and found it actually just a tad on the dry side, but not a game changer. As others mentioned already, it truly can burn hot if your a novice or trying to rush the smoke time. This is also because its a dryer blend. I personally found no unreasonable tongue bite if smoked with a normal cadence. I found the taste both enjoyable and the room notes semi-tolerable. I would highly recommend this for the person that finds the taste of English wonderful; but enjoys the room and taste notes of an aromatic.

Glad I tried it prior to reading the "BROBS" review of this product... with appropriate regard for difference of pipe smoker taste preference of course. I found the subtle "fruit" (plumb? pear?) overtones sublime -- albeit not entirely consistent with each and every pipeful. Its moisture level is good: minimal re-lights, but satisfactorily cool-smoking. Medium-to-mild in character/strength; favorable "room note" and ambience; best smoked not too quickly... even if it means an additional re-light or two. In all, one of my personal favorite and most distinctively pleasant pipe tobaccos, particularly in the morning, but great ANY time. And yes: "thoughtful" too... in the best sense of the word. The only criticisms I have are: 1) It burns ju-u-u-ust a tad too fast; and b) I would prefer to have this pipe tobacco available in BULK. If there is any brand resembling (or a "match" of) this tobacco, I'd surely want to know... and where it would be available, as well as its combination/proportion of tobaccos.

Having been in the packaging and marketing business, I know that often 75-90+% of product price is often due to packaging or container, product processing, labeling costs (including design, artwork, lettering, etc.)... as well as marketing, advertising and other overhead. This metal can however, is a much more practical container than the usual "shoe polish" size pipe tobacco enclosure. BRAVO!