Rattray Bagpiper's Dream

I must say after reading the reviews here I was really looking forward to smoking some of this blend. This review is completely a first impression, so take it with a grain of salt.

Bagpiper's Dream is reputed to be flavored with cognac. I've had a number of VSOPs in my day, but none that resembled the sweet, cloying slightly vomitous odor that popped out when I broke the seal on the can. The tobacco was rather moist so I let it dry out about an hour and loaded up.

It lit well and after a charring, stayed lit if I was attentive to the pipe. The sickly odor did not come through in the smoke. I thought it burned consistently, though on the hot side and I did get gurgle twice. I'm willing to put the blame for that on my Comoy Apple - it has never really behaved well. I will definitely give this another shot in two other pipes.

I set the pipe aside about ten minutes ago and while the taste in my mouth is not bad, it's nothing to make me say "Yum!" The room note right now is reminiscent of maybe sour apricot? Not pleasant.

There are aromatics I truly love: IRC Three Star Royal and Nording's Retriever for two. I think, however, you have to be an aromatic fanatic to love this one. Will update if further smokes change my opinion.

I bought a 100g tube of this stuff a couple of months back, and to be honest, I still haven't made my mind up as to whether or not I like it. Although I do have a tendancy to go for latakia blends, I do enjoy a good aromatic. When I read the reviews on here, I thought: this is it, an aromatic with a dose of nicotine! But when I tried it I was some-what disappointed, I don't want to piss on anyone's bonfire here as I can see from previous reviews that I'm in a minority, but I found this somewhat lacking. The smell from the tub was amazing, and the initial lighting gave me a wonderful myriad of flavours, including the tobacco tastes from the cavendish and virginia, as well as the casing. But as I smoked it down the bowl, it became more and more bitter and I became less enthusiastic about smoking it. I don't know, per-haps I haven't given up on it yet, but it's not as good as I was expecting, thats for sure!

A good aromatic. Strong Congnac flavoring that is actually quite pleasant. A bit one dimensional but a nice change of pace when a sweet aro is required. Another quality tobacco from Rattray.

Preparation & Burn: 10/10 No preparation required. Just pack and light. Beautiful spongey/springy feel. Burns cool, no bite, good speed. Stays lit. Few re-lights required at all!

Taste: 8/20 Flowery fruity boozy and balanced. Nice toppings but mild tobacco flavor. Wish the tobacco was more obvious though.

Mildness: 10/10 My idea of a good smoke is a relaxing, low nicotine session. Therefore, the milder the better. I barely detect any nicotine here. Perfect!

Total: 28/40

Some years back, I went on a misbegotten nostalgia kick for the no longer available Borkum Riff Cognac blend. I tried Tobacco Galleria's Simplicity and got nothing from it. Around the same time I purchased a tin of Bagpiper's Dream and have been trying to formulate an opinion of it ever since.

Bagpiper's Dream certainly exudes an aroma of cognac upon opening the tin (or jar, where it now resides). The flavor of cognac is there the whole smoke, backed up by the sweetness of the Virginias. The burn is flawless and cool. There's enough Vitamin N to keep me interested and none of the horrible traits of many American aromatics (goopiness, vile juices, bite, etc.). There is a floral taste, which some reviewers have attributed to the Virginias, but I get a similar floral flavor from many cognacs--maybe it's just me. But...

I get overpowered by the flavors in Bagpiper's Dream. I don't know what it is for sure. Perhaps it is some of the other flavorings that have been added. I don't find myself reaching for it very often. Maybe I'm just not attuned to the many flavors in a quality tobacco. Maybe I just have simpler tastes. I find myself so overwhelmed that I have to put the pipe down and rest a while before I can continue.

This is not to say that Bagpiper's Dream isn't a quality blend, or that no one should try it. It's just not one of my favorites.

The search continues. Somewhat recommended.

BAGPIPER’S DREAM: According to my personal taste it is not a dream. Not at all. I like aromatics and flavored blends but in this expensive mixture I can not find what makes the difference. Where is the kick in it? On the whole this is a classic flavored blend: there is casing and there is topping. And there isn’t only Cognac in this blend, but many more seasoning ingredients. Perhaps it will be a dream for aromatic blends’ lovers but in my opinion this is nothing special and honestly I find it hard to find the difference between this tobacco and a simple Danish aromatic sold in pouch. Very expensive, it is a pleasant tobacco, mild, but nothing more. So, in my opinion and in my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 6 and two stars.

It seems to me that the blenders have tried to create a new style of aromatic by merging Danish and British (Lakeland) aromatic traditions. If that sounds appealing to you, give it a shot. Not my cuppa tea.

Medium cut, mixture of browns and black. Taste - mild and pleasant, but nothing exceptional.

Tin note: orange liqueur (triple sec)

Very pleasant room note. Tastes like orange liqueur, but can taste sometimes little bit chemically. It definitely doesn't smell and taste like cognac - it is way more sweet and fruity. Underlying tobacco tastes like sweet breads and woods.

This is a pretty good aromatic tobacco, but quite mild for my taste. The flavoring can taste little bit off sometimes. I'd still somewhat recommend this blend if you like sweet fruity booze.

Edit: the aromatics in the tobacco are less prominent after some time and the chemical taste is gone! You get more tobacco taste, which is pretty good. Sweet wood notes. Aroma is still really nice though. Leaving 2 stars, because it should be good from the start and not requiring months. I will smoke it all, but will not buy next time.