Robert McConnell Regent Street

The 50-gram vacuum-sealed tin I got my hands on had a Q2 2019 excise stamp, and that was the only date indication to guide me. Since the last batch of this tobacco came with 2021 excise stamps, and the previous batch hit the market in late 2020, I suspect that the tobacco was released around mid-2020. Certainly, in terms of aging, 2 years for Virginia-Perique blends is a very short time, but it's plenty long enough to appreciate the flavor and quality of the tobacco.

An exceptionally even cut of dark, milk chocolate colored Virginia with sparse, slightly darker specks of perique. On the whole, the tobacco is almost monochromatic. The tobacco has a very high quality, almost no veins or sticks.

The flavor from the can is a dense bread note, figs, sweet raisins, and prunes in the foreground. Hay and a light spicy scent with a slight hint of sea salt.

Taste - rye bread, bitter chocolate with a peppery note - quite bright, but very soft, supported by boiled fruit. At the end of the first third of the pipe, the pepper spice almost completely disappears, leaving only a mild spiciness. A slight taste of herbs and dark honey appears, as if a very small drop was dropped on the bread. The tobacco gets a very balanced taste of a good blend of Virginia and perique. There is very little sugar in it, but the sweetness of the tobacco builds as you smoke. By the end of the pipe there is only a bread note and a slight sweetness. Due to the small amount of perique and quite weak Virginia, its strength is not too great. The tobacco burns evenly and cool enough, burning out in a fine light gray ash and leaving a small amount of moisture in the mouthpiece. There is no moisture left in the bowl. The aftertaste from the tobacco is woody-sweet, as if you're drinking birch sap straight from the tree.

The smoke from the tobacco has a grassy-spicy scent. The smoke itself is very light and dissipates quickly.

What's the bottom line? It's hard for me to say how closely Regent Street resembles the original Dunhill blend. I smoked it a long time ago, not having the current experience as a "taster". But from memory, I would venture to say that it is still quite an independent recipe. At first glance it seems to have more perique than the original. However, the low strength of the tobacco and how quickly the spice and spiciness disappears, says rather the opposite. Most likely, the Germans were not able to pinpoint the exact perique used in the original. But I can't say that the blend loses out. It is very high quality. I have enough other blends of this type on my shelf, but on occasion I will purchase a tin or two and put them away for a long time. I suspect it will only improve the contents.