Ashton Rainy Day

Because Dunhill decided to cut down on UK smokers I had to order some NC, EMP and few others from Germany. Along with ordered tins I received sample of Ashton's Rainy Day and pack of jellies 🙂

Everybody knows haribo's so I'll concentrate on Rainy Day. Aroma was very intense coconut/tropical fruits really hit your nosebuds underlined by hint of tobaccos - they shoud put this into air fresheners.

Packs well, lightning is surprisingly easy considering thickness of ribbon cut, stays lit very well. Only the very first puff tastes ok , it instantly turns into tonguebite mayhem. I must say I'm not really fan of heavy aromatics I prefer pure tobacco like virginia flavoured by orientals, perique or cavendish additions. Almost undetectable nicotine level. This is just not it!

I don't think I sway the Ashton way.

The closed tin already very strongly smells of what is to come. When you open the tin the entire room is filled with a *very* strong smell of undefined fruit, some alcohol note and sadly some slight chemical note.

Packing is easy as can be. Lighting is incredibly easy and the tobacco burns on its own for a very long time. Its rare that, without aiming for it, i can smoke a tobacco down to the very end of the bowl without relighting even once.

Sadly the taste is something you have tasted a dozen times before: fruit, hickory and again some slight alcohol note. Its just nothing special although nothing bad or boring either. And if you are amongst the lucky ones not getting tongue bite from it, it is even good.

*But*: it causes mad tongue burn and has a clear tendency to smoke hot, no matter how slow and gentle you puff away. I was stuck with this blend on a hike in the mountains for a couple of days, else i would have tossed it out after half a dozen bowls for the reasons above. It is halfway bearable if you let it dry out alot and use charcoal filters. But still not pleasurable.

It burns down to a very fine ash and the room note is very strong also, smelling like any whiskey laced tobacco.

I am guessing that this tobacco is treated with combustion agents, which causes the incredible burning properties as well as the tongue bite alot people experience. But i do not know that.

I really wanted to like this tobacco but for its evil properties and its commonplace taste i only can give it one star.

Do i recommend this blend? I *do* recommend this blend *if* it does not cause your tongue leaving the body due to pain. So please, by all means, get a sample first before buying a tin or you just might regret it!

An anecdote on the side: we where in the woods and i was packing a pipe as i was ahead of my group. From afar (100m or so) they already where smelling my pipe and strongly too, but i have not even fired it up. That is how strong the tin note is!

Couldn’t wait get home and try this. Pouring rain outside, freezing cold. Looking forward to a pipe and strong coffee. Upon opening the tin the blend looked very much like Solani Festival 333, smells ok, hard to pin down the exact aroma, fruity, liqueur kinda smell. Filled a bowl and lit up. That’s were the pleasure ended, within a few puffs my tongue was on fire! No way hot coffee! A couple of more puffs then the pleasant taste tasted acrid and my bowl was burning hot. Had to lay the pipe down. I tried different packing techniques and different pipes but the results were the same each time. Bought a 50g tin and as a canny Scotsman it’s not going to waste! Will blend it with some sweet black cavendish and smoke when drunk! Ha ha ha. The only other Ashton I’ve tried was “Guilty Pleasures” and I didn’t rate that either. We live and learn. Off now to suck an ice cube!! Happy puffing folks.

Although most Ashton blends are quite good, I found this blend almost vile. Over cased and over flavored. Not a positive smoking experience even for aromatic fans.

This leaves a film feeling in my mouth and the last half of the bowl has tastes of motor oil.After tin was opened some time the tobacco was still wet/moist but the fruit aroma was disappearing rather fast .

Picked up a 50g tin at the tea store in town. Because there's no other store carrying pipe tobacco on main street I thought I'd offer my patronage and buy something. Tobacco is extremely expensive in Sweden! Opening the tin I took a big wiff and my eyes almost started watering. Not in a good way either but rather like putting your head down in a freshly filled mop bucket. I soldered on and filled my pipe. Upon lighting the first light it reminded me of the first and last time I cussed at my Mom as a little boy. Soap isn't a pleasant memory there. By now you'd think I'd put an end to the abuse. I'm cheap and stubborn. I soldered on hoping for a miraculous change. It never came. You could draw a picture of tobacco on A4 printing paper then dip it in washing detergent, rip it in pieces and stuff your pipe. At least then you'd save some money. no tobacco taste and will never buy any Ashton product again. Period.

Ashton
Rainy Day

Rainy Day is supposed to be an aromatic.

Now it may be that my palate is not receptive to the “marvelous aroma of tropical fruit and hickory nuts” promised on the tin. So a reader should understand I am not now speaking for someone else.

I simply don’t get this tobacco. On my personal seven point scale, this blend is at the bottom. I think it shares this dead last spot with one other blend.

I have a generally slow smoking cadence. Even so, Rainy Day tends to bite the tongue. It tastes bad and doesn’t smell good. It’s Virginia and Burley as you’d expect in an aromatic with the addition of ‘velvet Black Cavendish’ which of course is a process not a tobacco.

I’ve tried it over and over and get the same result. Not pleasant.

1 out if 4 stars.

Rainy Day: I tried it new and now with 3 years age. The good; burns even and easy to keep lit. The tin I got wasn’t wet and was smokable right out of the tin. It is moist though and could have some drying time if you so choose. The smell: great tin note. Fruity, nutty, and the undertone of tobacco is in there. I had high expectations when I smelled the tin note because it really is pleasant. The taste is even all the way through the bowl and room note is pleasant. It has a lovely taste. I used cobs every time for fear of a poltergeist that never came. Theres no chemical flavor.

The bad: unfortunately, there is one con that has caused me to just toss this tin and give it a poor review. It bites. And bites, and bites, and bites some more. I’m pretty sure Ashton loaded this tobacco with 1,000 angry Chihuahuas to attack my mouthparts. Even when sipped, and I mean sipped, you have to be careful. It demands to be sipped: which is fine, that’s how you get the best flavor from tobacco, right? But if you take one puff of this witches brew not to the Chihuahuas liking, they unfurl a barrage of nasty on your tongue that will soon have you reaching for water. This tobacco actually kept me humble. I smoke vapers….I know how to sip and avoid bite and harshness. The only way this tobacco didn’t burn your mouth off was if it was 1/2 second away from extinguished.

It’s also harsh and painful on the retrohale, even after 3 years (I put it on the shelf for this reason). I love to retrohale tobacco as that offers more flavor and nuisance. The Chihuahuas do not want to go through your nose. Again, I had to concentrate on trying not to get punished by this tobacco. I was constantly at odds with it.

I do enjoy a good aromatic but it shouldn’t be painful to smoke it. And Rainy Day is. I use cobs with filters, didn’t matter. Without filters, didn’t matter. I questioned my pipe packing, smoking cadence techniques because it was so harsh and bitey. So I did my snail slow cadence, breath method, it helped (but even then it wanted to bite) but there is no retrohaling this tobacco. It straight up burns. Now maybe it’s my body chemistry but this tobacco has a harshness about it I actually have never experienced, After finishing my last bowl yesterday, I gave up on the tobacco. Had to decide if it goes back to the shelf or just in the garbage. I threw it out despite the many good things this aromatic offers. The taste is good but there’s too many good aromatics out there to smoke that aren’t painful like this one.