D & R Tobacco Ramback Regular

From my favorite online tobacconist I placed an order which included Rimboche SJ. When I opened the package I found they had instead sent me a tin of RAMBACK the blend that rams you back™. No prob, I like turkish too.

The tin note smells like a freshly cracked pack of Camels and is also faintly ketchupy. The leaf inside is various shades of golden brown and very dry. This is neither a leathery nor minty oriental but rather a delicately sweet, "kitchen spice" type oriental. I find the taste to be reminiscent of McClelland's Yenidje Supreme but somehow bolder. This blend has a brother called Ramback Gold who admits to having a percentage of virginia -- this Ramback claims to have none, yet occasionally I catch that creamy hay like virginia taste. Also I consistantly find some measure of that back of the mouth spice a la perique but the liner note still claims 100% turkish, and there is no dark leaf present in the tin. There does seem to be a detectable amount of vitamin N here. Seems like a good price-to-value ratio. IMO this would make a good all day tobacc, which is exactly what I plan to do with it.

My thoughts on Ramback Regular are almost identical to JimInks. The moisture content is pipe ready. Due to the cut, it should be packed smoked with care. It has a woody flavor and was a bit sweeter than I had expected. There are no harsh spots and it’s monochromatic. It could easily be a “set it and forget it” type of all-day smoke for some although I would likely opt to use this as an additive to other blends. As a similar blend, I do prefer Stokkebye’s Turkish Export to this blend. Ramback isn’t quite a three star blend for me, especially in the later stages of the bowl, but it closer to three than two so three it is.

The cut is a chopped slightly irregular narrow ribbon. It arrives dry, and given experience with other D&R smokes I have been smoking it packed a little firmly in various pots. I have not hydrated it any and doubt I will try that. It is a good smoke as delivered.

There is a subtle spicy thing going on in the taste. It has a sour edge when puffed and presents as a slightly fuller "earthy" when sipped. In general, this is a good Oriental and a pleasant smoke. It is not what I would call hearty, and the flavor is not especially complex. It burned a little quickly and was not a challenge to keep lit or smoke to the bottom of the bowl. I found the strength to be mild->med.

This is a pleasant smoke, and I find it easy to repeat. It is something you should try if you like Orientals.

A pretty good 100% turkish blend. Second best in the Ramback line behind Ramback Balkan, but certainly not a blend I would turn away from if offered.

Back in my days of cigarette smoking (1990s) I was a big fan of Camel cigarettes. They were always advertised (Joe Camel anyone) as being made with Turkish tobacco.

I picked up a bag of Ramback Gold trying to recreate the experience which I had back then. The lead in this blend to me are the orientals which give it a spicy smoke. The tobacco is dryer than normal (similar to the other D&R blends I've tried) which I believe is to make it suitable for RYO cigs. I find that a few breathes into the bowl before lighting gives it enough moisture to burn a little slower. Produces a decent amount of moisture while smoking, I use a few pipe cleaners during a bowl to keep it down.

If sipped slowly, its a very spicy treat. The ribbon cut means that it will burn well in most bowl shapes and it seems to really do well in my radiators and cobs.

This is not a pipe blend I would have chosen but, having received a two ounce sample at out recent show, I got a chance to try it. I have smoked straight Turkish before on rare occasions and was never impressed nor satisfied with the smoke. Monochromatic and limited in range, I always thought of it as a blending tobacco and have used it as such. So, I took down a nice big pipe and had a go. The top third seemed confused as to what it was trying to do and the smoke was somewhat thin and cigarette-like; more a Euro-cigarette than domestic. However, going into the middle third things got better and more flavorful. At this point, the blend smoked more pipe tobacco like than cigarette like and I was happier. In the bottom third it strengthened and went back to a cigarette-like profile that reminded me of an old unfiltered Camel from the 1950's. One down side is how it can roughen the tongue if pulled on too hard. This is unfortunate, as I found the tobacco more flavorful if heated up. Pulling on it harder is the classic way of heating a blend up but, here, it could lead to trouble. All in all, an interesting smoke that I am using in blending successfully and can recommend Ramback at three stars.