Davidoff Royalty

This a mild/middle of the road English (in terms of fullness of taste and nicotine) - my favorite category of pipe tobacco! There is just enough Latakia to provide a HINT of smokiness but not so much that tasting food afterward becomes difficult. The room note is pleasant enough that this could be smoked indoors without complaint. Liked it so much I bought a second tin to age.

It is worth repeating what others have mentioned: smoke it a LITTLE slower than a typical heavy English - there are more Virginias in this one might expect from this type of blend and I got bit of tongue bite this first time I tried it. I brief drying out before smoking helps to keep it lit and lessons the aforementioned bite.

As far as the complaints about high price - yeah it's true, but I would say the quality of this particular product is on par with what GL Pease produces at a similar cost. This is great "every-once-in-a-while" luxury smoke!

How to describe this blend without raising false expectations? It is an english/oriental blend, for there is latakia/oriental present- not much though. But when we hear english we often think of a whole other type of tobacco. We think, EMP, nightcap and 965 and so on. No, royalty is not that. The key to this blend are the virginia's. Sip it like a VA (and forget it's Englishness). Use your VA technique. Notice the roundness, the sweetness and the subtelty. And then BANG you get it! The VA's are complemented with the oriental leaf which give the natural sweetness of the VA a nutty/woody/smoky edge. The oriental smokiness here is not a goal in itself. In fact the components blend into each other so finely, it is hard to say where one ends and the other begins. Royalty is then another way of smoking VA. VA's tend IMHO (and I seem to remember comments of Mr Dunhill stating the same) to be subtle (and in the worst case, well..bland). So sometimes they are topped to give it some extra flavour, this is an alternative where the va is complemented with oriental as condimental leaf for this litte "extra" taste. As for the room note: last time I lit up a bowl of this, my wife came into my smoking den and stayed for quite a while *without* making ANY complaint.

The only real drawback to this blend is that in all its brightness, mildness and roundness, it has not realy enough body to be a good after dinner smoke.

The best of Davidoff pipe tobaccos - or should one say the only one of Davidoff pipe tobaccos worth the bother? Royalty is a very elegant, understated mixture. The virginias and orientals are top quality, and the Latakia is discreetly applied - like rubbing a salad bowl lightly with garlic. I have smoked it with pleasure at all times of the day. The room note is a delight to come back to.

If some reviewers are amazed about the price of this tin, I don't really agree, because hear you get a real good English leaf. It's worth every penny like most of Dunhill English Tabaccos.

In my oppinion it has it all: packs simply, lights well and burns really cooool (the proof of great quality).

It's got a nutty + woody taste which is always present. The top virginas give it a wonderful creamy taste - somehow you might think of something earthy....

In many ways it reminds me of smoking a good quality cigar, since many flavours of Royalty also exist in a "hand rolled" cigar.

It's top ranked in my English bar (I only smoke English tabaccos) and it has the stuff to become an all day smoke.

This is a rich, heavy oriental blend. I'm not an expert in English blends, but I do know Dunhill's Durbar and I thought Royalty was aiming at the same thing, only succeeding even better. There is more oriental flavour in this than there is in Durbar, but the price is far higher. Since I don't go through a lot of English I don't mind, but this isn't a tobacco to smoke if you're on a budget.