Dunhill Ready Rubbed

First of all, this tobacco is absolutely unsmokeable when first opened. It?s too moist and worse, the casing kicks you like a cheap vodka hangover. I bought a tin of it and was horrified at the frou-frou, Smurf-berry casing that attacked me when I first opened it. I was shocked. I was so disappointed. I was almost insulted ? Dunhill, makers of two of the greatest blends of all time (Nightcap and 965), had made resorted to making lollypops, I thought. Still, something in me whispered, "Don't write off old Alfred so easily." I left it out to air for a week or more, then tried it again. Better, but still nothing memorable: a nice, sweet Cavendish with a noticeable Virginia presence. I closed it up and forgot about it.

Time passed.

Rummaging in the tobacco cupboard for something light and non-English, I found the long-lost tin of Ready Rubbed. Nothing special the first time, I thought, but I?ll give it a shot. I took the lid off only to discover I hadn?t adequately closed it. The leaf was as dry as could be, and the odor of the casing had all but disappeared. Maybe, I thought. . .

I loaded up a medium Sasieni and struck a match.

Flame met leaf and, to my shock and pleasure, I was in heaven. I sat in a deep armchair and listened closely to the blend, and I knew, by some quark, I?d finally found it: a truly amazing aromatic. A Cavendish aromatic with a true Virginia base, a subdued topping, rounded off with a late whisper of surprising Turkish.

And it's the Turkish that keeps this, an aromatic, in my, generally an English smoker's, semi-regular rotation. It's there. It's a quiet note. But when you concentrate on it, its sharp tickle makes this a memorable blend ? good for a lazy morning with a cup of tea or mid-afternoon break from heavier blends.

Now, I buy a tin (when I can find it ? it's increasingly scarce here in Poland), pop it open, break it up a bit, and don't touch it for at least three weeks, though a full month or more produces best results. Sounds like an exaggeration ? overkill, even. But it's worth it.

It's not available in the States, but if you have a tin of it from E-bay and were initially a little disappointed it in, air the hell out of it and give it another shot.

a VERY confusing tobacco. You think it's an aromatic , but the topping is so gentle that it doesn't really jump out at you with a distinct flavor. Maybe it\'s honey .. maybe figs.. maybe apricot .. damn if I know.

The presentation is solid... old-school tin art looks like something you could put down on a table when you attend a members-only club in London .. it's just classy. The ribbon cut is uniform and I didn't get bigger chunks or stems.

Tin note is basically sweetness and virginia ... that's it. Orientals are very faint.

Flavour solid virginia forward with incensey and floral orientals in the background. The virginias give you good grass and yeast, not a lot of citruses for me.

Mechanics. Really easy blend to smoke. The moisture level was fine out of the tin. Packing wasn't an issue. Lighting was quick, no relights were needed up until the end. Be aware, if pushed it will burn hot and will bite due to the topping. You need to pace yourself and sip.

For me, this is a summer tobacco you can smoke while strolling in the park. The room note is pleasant, so people won't be giving you the stink-eye.

Solid stuff and hard to come by now. Three stars all the way

I got my tin of this as a freebie with the purchase of a new estate pipe. The tin was missing the bottom half and the tobacco had dried out in the paper round. Still, the seller didn’t have to give me anything extra, and I grateful that I have this to sample. The tobacco is bone-dry, as I say, and mostly shaken out to a chunky ribbon now. If aging is not responsible for the darkness of its appearance, I make the blend mostly comprised of brown Virginias. I load up the bowl of my Brian Ruthenberg canted dublin and get a little moisture back into the leaf by breathing into the unlit tobacco through the pipe for a few minutes. Takes a match well and gives off a flavor of dried leaves, grass and a very mild fruit— stewed fruit. The flavor is fairly mild and remains consistent down the bowl. There is the slightest hint of vanilla or custard, and the overall taste is bringing back memories of the stewed fruit and custard I used to eat at this retreat center. Every night, we had the same dinner: French fries, burgers, and for dessert, stewed fruit and custard. The stewed fruit also reminds me of the taste of the late, lamented Blackwoods Flake, my all-time favorite tobacco. Not as refined or natural tasting, but in the same vein. The secondary notes of grass and dry leaves hang in the background, not enough to be a counterpoint, but adding a bit of interest. I don’t get either a nicotine hit or any tongue bite, but there is a little drying effect on my soft palate which becomes unpleasant if I puff too hard. Sip this one. This Ruthenberg has a wide-open draw, and that underscores the need for a measured cadence. The taste of the retrohale is the same as the flavor in the mouth, underlining how consistent this tobacco is.

It is a very nice blend. Soft and warm, sweet and comfortable. If I had more of a predilection for sweet blends, I could see this quickly making its way into regular rotation. I’m certainly interested in trying a fresher tin of the re-release, and will happily smoke all of this half-tin down. A more natural sweet tobacco, or a more aromatic natural tobacco: either is apt, and if you like either or both of those styles, you’ll like Ready Rubbed. I know I do.

Wow. I smoked my first tin of this, the re-released version of RR, about a year ago. However, I mixed most of that tin with Elizabethan Mixture to dilute the substantial nicotine wallop of EM. I will smoke this tin neat, without any mixing.

The tin note is delicious. Fruity with a hint of sweetness. I can't put my finger on the topping. It takes a few applications of flame to get it going, but once lit it is delightful. It is somewhat similar to Drew Estate Gatsby Luxury Flake in fully rubbed-out form. I like it.

I can't describe this tobacco better than Black Seamus did. I'll make his review my own.

A joy for the refinate palate. Great stuff.