Robert McConnell Regent Street

I am reviewing this with no meaningful comparison to Elizabethan Mixture. I was sent a sample by a friend in Germany, and I have enjoyed it.

The cut is a narrow medium-length ribbon, and it is a mix of black, dark brown and light brown tobaccos. Pouch note is hay and a little earth. Moisture level was good for smoking as delivered.

The initial light is slightly sweeter than might be expected, and here may be a mild topping to give the Virginias a boost. The flavor is very good. There is a little citrus and some hay with a bread note every now and then. The perique presents as plum with some pepper when puffed. There is a peppery tickle when snorked. It burned well, and did not require an unusual number of relights. strength may have picked up slightly in the last half of the bowl to put it on the medium end of the medium-mild range. There was a certain smooth quality to this blend with no harsh edge. Taste was very consistent.

Overall this was a very pleasant smoke, and it is easy to recommend.

This is a well balanced Va/Per, where no one flavour overpowers the others. There is hefty dose of perique, but this is not a perique bomb by any means. The Virginias are tart and grassy with a hint of sweet dark fruit that pairs nicely with the figgy notes from the perique. There is of course a lovely spiciness present. This comes ready to smoke straight from the tin and burns smoothly — easily an all day smoke. I enjoy a lot of Va/Pers and I must note that this one has a pleasant roomnote that is less likely to offend others. This doesn't make it to my favourite Va/Pers list, but it's a joy to have a jar of this ready to smoke.

Like most Dunhill clones this is a bit far away from the original but made " in the spirit of". The cut is a bit stringy and the tobacco is a little moist causing some of it to get stuck on the cardboard top piece . The tin note is inviting , mild hay and some prunes . This blend looks and tastes a lot like Astley #2 , also made by K & K. Judging it on it's own merits I found it quite pleasing . A mild hit of perique brings out the taste of this virginia forward blend. The cut provides an excellent burn , very easy to smoke the bowl right down to the bottom . Though not complex , Regent Street delivers a slightly sweet taste with hints of figs and prunes . Excellent to smoke out doors on a windy day because of the excellent cut . A real nice smoke when a lite perique is called for .

I was looking for a match for the Elizabethan mixture by Dunhill. And I have heard about Regent Street. It is not same blend, obviously. But is it a good VaPer to fill a gap after Elizabethan? I think yes. At least for me. It is not so full in body and taste, it is more gentle and less sweet. I think there is more perique in Regent street, you can taste those mild plumy and figgy taste by perique, Virginias are bready. But not too much dark like in Elizabethan. Overall, it is a gentle cool smoke with a pleasant taste. Don't haste on this leaf, it has that tendency to be harsh sometimes. Give it some drying time and pack lightly.

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.