Peterson The Royal Yacht

This is a review of the old Murray's version, so I don't know how it compares to the newer European incarnations.

The comparison to 1792 may be valid: strong Virginias with a tonka bean casing. But it is a lighter casing, and there are other flavors as well, perhaps honey. 1792, however, is overwhelmed by its heavy dousing in tonka. With Royal Yacht, the tonka becomes more evident only as one gets deeper into the bowl. Want to know what tonka tastes like? Then try 1792. With Royal Yacht, you get more tobacco flavor, and it is a little less sweet. 1792 knocks you off your feet with nicotine from the first light. Murray's Royal Yacht is strong, but takes longer for the nicotine to hit.

Burns hot, so avoid nosewarmers. A longer stem gives the smoke more time to cool.

My wife gives it a thumbs down for room note.

Overall, I don't recommend the older version, simply because it's not worth the premium price to buy vintage tins.

I just had a few bowls of the "new" The Royal Yacht Mixture by Dunhill, which is now produced by Kohlhase and Kopp in Germany.

The 50g tin cost me 12,25 EUR (April 2014 in Germany). It is one of the more high priced tobaccos.

Opening the thin, I expected a fruity aroma. But I only smelled strong tobacco, almost like opening a carton of cigars -- nothing more, nothing less.

It is a standard mixture. Loading the pipe, one match, maybe two, and you're good to go. No problems there. If you puff slowly, you always get a cool smoke throughout the whole bowl.

The tase is, at least in my opinion, very very similar to the J. F. Germain & Son Brown Flake pipe tobacco. There is only a very, amost undetectable sweetness in the background. It is much more earthy, tart, dry almost bitter, even smoked with discipline very cool (just to keep it glowing). Personally, I miss depth, and of course a bit more of sweetness and also the considered fruity aroma (btw I dindn't expect an aromatic here!).

The roomnote is strong and considered by non-smokers as "Oh no, you smoke this one only outside!!!".

It is a good quality tobacco. I guess if you like e.g. Germain's Brown Flake or maybe Peterson's Irish Flake, you definitely should try this one. If you're more a friend of matured sweet virginias with a slight aroma of apricots, plums or raisins, this tobacco is maybe not the right one for you.

This review is for the Peterson RY . I read it is the same recipe , made in the same factory with the same tin art . Opening the tin the smell is Virginia and a fruity topping . The cut is like a fully rubbed out flake . It’s not fluffy like most other dunhill ribbon cuts . This is strong tobacco , i would say past the medium mark ! It lights and burns great right out of the tin . High quality tobacco . The plum taste for the topping is more than mild IMO . It overpowers the tobacco Sometimes . If you love the taste it is probably 3-4 stars . I don’t really love it , but it is okay . Won’t buy it again . 2 1/2 stars for me . Too many great Virginias out there .

I first tried this blend somewhere in the late Eighties. I must say I did not understand it. This was as close to a straight Virginia as I had ever come, and found the experience daunting (Dunhill's own Light Flake would entirely change this perception more or less at the same time). I did not mind the taste or aroma of RY as such, but the structure of the blend was just too enervating. Not even my first encounter with My Mixture 965 produced such giddiness!. As it happens, time and experience modify our perspective on a given tobacco. I smoked it again many years later and found it intriguing and interesting, but not to the extent of making it a regular smoke.

This Virginia is dense and strong. I believe the intention of the added aroma is to lessen the effects of the rather potent leaf if left in its natural state. The smoke is a cool one and the cut is probably intended for outdoor use. IMO there are many other Virginias out there, some of them as strong as RY but less pungent, that are more amiable and palatable than this Dunhill. Then again it must have something, for I know a number of pipe smokers who thoroughly enjoy Royal Yacht . A strong Virginia with a sweetened twist?. For the brave of heart!

(Note, this is the "new" 2016 version. I've not sampled earlier offerings.) Being somewhat impulsive lately, I bought this blend thinking that an aromatic Dunhill offering would be interesting. Coming back to read the reviews more carefully, I realize that this blend isn't exactly what I'd imagined.

On first opening the tin, the tin aroma is bizarre. I couldn't begin to describe what it smelled like. It didn't smell "like" anything I could describe, nor was I sure if I liked or disliked it. A complete mystery to me. After breathing for a day, however, the tin aroma seems to have settled into something faintly resembling malt whiskey and light chocolate, or something in between. However, this aroma is very ghostly, only very faintly survives burning, and is only very faintly detectable in the room note.

The predominant note of this tobacco is just that - tobacco. I wouldn't say this is quite a matured virginia, since it is quite on the "green" side. In fact, I would venture to say that it's for this reason that so many people report unfavorable opinions of the room note from bystanders. If you don't like pure, unflavored, green tobacco, you won't like this room note. I wouldn't describe this blend as sweet by any means. It leaves the mouth quite dry, and leaves the scent of cigarette/rolling tobacco on the fingers (it's good - I keep smelling my fingers). The moisture was perfect on opening the tin, the blend lit perfectly and stayed lit well.

Since I hadn't read the review, I didn't realize how strong this blend is in terms of nicotine content. I promptly loaded a size 4 billiard and was taken aback. In my opinion this blend is best in slightly smaller, chimney billiards like those I use for my favorite virginias. Larger, wider bowls just burn too hotly, don't concentrate the flavors enough, and make the nicotine overwhelming. I think this might be why some reviewers find the blend rather dimensionless, but I believe the shape of the pipe ought to be adjusted to the blend accordingly.

I believe I've figured this blend out. This stuff is remarkably similar to Captain Earle's virginia component. Very strong and grassy. Reminded me of Honor Blend without the condimental tobaccos. I like Captain Earle's, so I am slowly warming up to Royal Yacht, but it isn't something I would smoke regularly. Only while sitting, puffing very slowly, and preferentially indoors where the subtleties of the blend are best appreciated without being carried off by the wind.

Back in my pipe smoking heyday, in the eighties, there were many fellow pipe smokers around who were outright advocates of this blend. I never tried Royal Yacht back in the day, but now, at long last, I can say I've tried it.

I can see what everyone was clamoring about then, this is truly a unique blend; an old school tobacco of great refinement, full of flavor, and, unfortunately, like just about all the other Dunhill blends I've tried over the years, very full and strong (my head was swimming with nicotine). I absolutely loved the snork on this one, very flavorful; a 4 star snorker, to be sure, but, I didn't particularly enjoy the rank taste that developed in my mouth—for me, this blend smoked very wet and the awful tasting backwash somewhat ruined the overall experience.

Today, I seek blends that are less heady. Royal Yacht, as unique as it is, doesn't fulfill this bill. I like to be comfortable when I smoke, and, as much as I like the snork, this blend is way to strong for me. If only I could figure a way to reduce the nicotine level, I'd give Royal Yacht the highest of marks.

Dunhill blends are always skilfully blended, but, I think the pipe smoking world is beginning to pass them by. If you like a FULL blend, packed with nicotine, don't pass on this one. Everyone should try this smoke at least once; I'm glad I did. I'll give it a strong two stars (no pun intended).

Keep on Piping!

This is a strong, full blend (at least for me).

The aroma in the tin is sweet and reminds me of well fermented long cut chewing tobacco with a hint of raisin.

The room note was tolerable (but not preferred) by bystanders. I find the taste to be mostly a sweet, strong tobacco flavor. This is not a bad thing, as long as you are looking for this.

This tobacco burns very well and creates mountains of dense smoke, even smoked slowly, which I like.

A decent blend, but not recommended for beginners or those who, say, could not take down a medium/full power cigar.

Edit: After aging a month, I tried this again to see if it was any better. It was not. If fact, I noticed how really one dimensional it is. This could be a good tobacco to blend with some other tobacco to add a little more body, but life is too short to smoke this by itself.

Dunhill's Royal Yacht (new Orlik version) is a very smooth smoking VA/PER, without the Perique! It comes as aged, apparently pressed, fermented slightly, then ribboned tobacco.

Upon popping the lid on the 50g tin, I get nasal quaffs reminiscent of dried figs and raisins, with a sweet spiciness. The color is an even, uniform dark brown (not black), with very little if any hint of lighter ribbons, as might be detected in other VA/PER blends. Upon charing a strong sweet taste develops, and at mid-bowl, one has comfortaby settled in for a sweet Virginia smoke. No Latakia here.

Although reviewers mention some sort of casing, I detected none, and instead was reminded on simple, pure un-adultered Virginia tobaccos. The Burley is also detectable, brining a "brightness" to the deep sweetness of the Virginias. I do think some fermentation went into this, and although it states flavoring as "Coffee, Brandy and Plum", my take on this is that these are volatiles that are developed during the short fermentation.

In many respects, this tobacco reminds me of Escudo, put out by Peter Stokkebye, although that comes in coin form, and involves Perique as a condiment. The smoke is on the high side regarding nicotine, and as such was a bit much for me. Not that I am a wimp in these matters, but I think its a bit on the edge.

I would rate this 2 out of 4 stars, reserving 3 for Escudo, and 4 for my best English and Balkan blends. I used to love VA/PERs but over the years have started to prefer the inherent complexities of Latakia, that I miss when smoking VA/PERs.

Also, the high N content for me brought it down for me. Nightcap also has a high N content, but Royal Yacht has for me about twice the content. And after a bowl, I am seeing stars!

Lastly, as is the case with so many of these latest Dunhill reincarnations by Orlick, there is a chemical taste that I can't quite place, but it seems to be present in a great many of the Orlick re-issues of Dunhill (only it Early Morning Pipe and London Mixture it seems to be absent). Perhaps its a Burley additive to generate bulk in the blends, or its some sort of anti-fungal or preservative of some sort, but whatever it is, for my palate it is really discernible.

What with all the fine blends available from GL Pease, Russ Ouellette of Hearth & Home, not to mention Cornell & Diehl,Gawith Hoggarth & Co., Esoterica, McClelland etc. I simply can not bring myself to allocate 4 stars for these Orlick DK re-issues of the once famed Dunhill brand. Sorry, but that's my two cents. See my review on Dunhill MM 965 for more along these lines.

Anyhoo, happy smoking to one and all.

The aftertaste of Royal Yacht is exquisite. I find myself wanting to smoke it simply for the couple hours of enjoyment AFTER smoking.

Tin note is a pleasant plummy/pruney/raisiny fragrance.

However, the smoking itself is good, not great. Flavor is okay, but I'm not blown away by it. Interestingly, I did get a touch of Lakeland essence now and again, but only rarely and subtly. It largely tastes like a solid Virginia with a fair infusion of the tin note plum flavor. Most disappointing for me, within the first couple of puffs I felt an irritation at the back of my throat that I normally only get when smoking inferior aromatics, and this continued throughout the smoke. If this were a cheap OTC tobacco, this might not bother me as much. But for a tin I had to pay nearly $30 for once including taxes in Utah, I felt a bit cheated.

Edit (January 7, 2023): Having returned to The Royal Yacht multiple times over the last year, I continue to get the harshness on the back of my throat and nostrils. Resultingly, I'm dropping my rating down to 2 stars. I don't see myself purchasing another tin.