Davidoff Royalty

From my experience with tobacco, the word Royal lives in infamy. I have never tried a "Royal" blend and was satisfied, except for Royal Yacht of course. So, I was quite conservative while trying this out. It was under a scrutinizing test. And it delivered, hugely. Starting with the elegant, minimal tin art and description. When opening, you're welcomed by a lovely, strong, demanding aroma of orientals. The tobacco itself looks beautiful.. Fine ribbons of golden and green Virginias, dark orientals and perfect black Latakia. The cut is great.. Mostly long ribbons and shorter ones. Which makes packing it a breeze.. The tin is a bit on the moist side, but absolutely smokeable. Lighting it takes a few tries - probably because of the moisture - but when it lights, it stays lit and burns quite well. Star of the show here are the orientals. Smokey, spicy and rich. They have a prominent taste, aroma and leave an after taste. This is supported by a dark, earthy Virginia and a hint of smokiness from the Latakia, though it's most of a background tone. I asked non smokers and most think its aroma is tolerable, but not "Good".. It's mostly a nice all day smoke. Nothing special or unique.. But one of the best Balkans I have tried

This tobbacco is very sweet. As you can expect from an english mixture. When you open the tin, you can smell the latakia. But when you light it, it's not overwhelming. It's sweet. I used to smoke it after long work days. You can be relaxed for sure. I highly recommend this blend for whom like english blends, and of course latakia...

Nothing phenomenal. A good all round English blend with no surprises. Good sweetness from the Orientals and Virginias and a hint of smokiness from the small addition of Latakia. A great smoke for someone trying an English blend for the first time, but should be aware this is a very light Blend compared to other more robust English blends. All in all I'de be happy to smoke this anytime when not looking for a specifically strong English blend not trying to pick out idiosyncrasies of flavours. A blend for hanging out on the patio puffing away at a BBQ not worrying to much about the details of what I'm smoking.

That's not an english mixture. A kind of a simulation. That's all. Wont buy again this blend. Even wont buy again any Davidoff products.

I was always curious about this one... Never really was too excited about trying a Davidoff blend as it seems to me a bit overpriced stuff. Nonetheless I have found this at a local tobacconist here at a relatively okay price (for brazilian high taxation standards) and I thought I would just give the tin a try. Turned out the stuff is quit quite good. Good presentation, cardboard foil over the contents is pretty decent and covers well the tobacco preserving it's moisture level, which is pretty decent and good to be smoked just right off the bat...Cut is very fine, packs easily... Colors - Golden red virginias predominate without any doubt and a 5-10% max of latakia leaf intermingle with black hues. A natural sweet aroma from the VAs with a smoky latakia scent is what you get when whaffing out the molecules evaporating from the blend inside the tin, waitinmg there to be packed into your pipe. Loaded one of my marvelous Stanwells and charred the first stroke of ignition to it, making the tobacck expand... First draw gave me a salty, slightly smokey sensation, with upfront Virginia flavours entranced. The bowl evolutes without bite to a better predominancy of the latakia flavours... I love latakia and wish the could maybe double the contenst of the leaf here... but overall this is a pretty good and not overpowering baccie to the English mixture puffer. Resembles me of the Dunhill Early Morning pipe beloved blend. only downturn here is really the brand's price...

More a VA mix than a proper English, with literally maybe only 5% or less latakia, I was pleasantly surprised by Royalty. It's smooth, creamy, smokable at any time of day, good N levels and burns very cleanly. In fact it's so much more a VA mixture that I smoke it in my VA dedicated pipe to give my much abused English mix pipe a rest. Have smoked a tin of this in 4 days flat, almost to the exclusion of everything else. Have another tin waiting and will buy some more at the weekend. A solid, quality daily smoke for VA lovers and English converts.

A very "easy" tocacco to light , to keep smoking , and pleasant to those around you. Yet, in my opinion, it does not compare favourably to Dunhhil blends , even to mild ones . Very subtle, but not memorable, Latakia flavor . The real players of the blend are the VA / Orientals, but again nothing out of the ordinary . Expensive for an average rating .

If you draw a square and place Early Morning Pipe, London Mixture, MyMixture 965 and Standard Mixture in one of the corners, and take the intersection of what is the best characteristic of each blend you will get Davidoff Royalty.

To me this is the quintessential English Mixture.

I imagine that good tobaccos in the early 20th century London must have tasted like this.

I give a review of this tobacco after about 8 months I have smoked several tins, so this review is an update on Feb. 2023. Davidoff Royalty is one of the finest English blends, the Virginia is sweet, the Latakia on the background, a very well-balanced combination of Virginias, orientals and Latakia, with a dominance of Virginia-orientals. It burns very cool, there is no chance of the bowl to heat, and no chance of bite. With proper packing (it does work well to pack the tobacco dense in the bowl), it will burn slowly and relatively clean, and it also helps, when you break in a new pipe, to build the sidewall cake. I enjoy this blend a lot recently in a savinelli 673, i do enjoy it anyways also in other pipes. Generally, I enjoy the blend more in non-filter pipes or removing completely the filter from pipes like savinelli or 9mm filter pipe. Highly recommended mild-to-medium blend for English lovers, perhaps one of the very best option of new starters into English blends or generally pipe smoking. It is one of those that could get full four starts in my view.