Dunhill Three Year Matured Virginia

Here lies my last Dunhill review, last of the purchasable tins before the dinosaur migration. I am not a huge Virginia fan. I chock up most of them to smelling like the State Fair animal pens (musty hay smell), this stuff was a bit different. It still had a natural sweet smell, but with some added sour bits. Defiantly not an aromatic, but some flavor had to be added to this one.

The ribbon was nicely shredded, and the moisture was perfect for an immediate tin to bowl fire up. A very pleasant few puffs arose that stayed mildly sweet and interesting throughout. It felt like a classic smoke without much bite. It was just above mild in the nicotine category and was easily smoke-able all day. The misses also enjoyed the room note.

It was a good smoke that could easily be 3 stars for a Virginia fan wanting to relax.

If there is truth to this being aged three years, I would submit the aging did indeed affect the flavor profile by brightening it up.

My tin date is Oct. 4, 2015. I waited three years to pop the tin, so by then really already a six year matured Virginia. But it sure didn’t taste like it. I mean I age Virginias and blending tobaccos all the time, but maybe these weren’t particularly high grade tobaccos to begin with. Which is maybe why it needed three years to be palatable. Anyway, I never had the original, but this re-release didn’t impress. Jarred and waited another five years – now almost eight years in total. Here’s what I get:

Tin note when first opened was like old weathered hay and some rustic dark oat bread. After sitting in the jar undisturbed for five years the aroma has changed to a distinctive rye and pumpernickel bread. I may have perceived some slight dried apricot when I first tried it, but now I find no trace of the fruity top note that others mention. What I get is rather dry and woody and the red Virginias just don’t seem of a quality sort.

Still warrants two stars, because I reserve one star for blends that are faulty or obviously imbalanced. This is just a thankless chore getting through a bowl when I know I have so many better choices waiting for me in the cupboard. Like regular old Dunhill Flake, even without any aging. But, as they say, you mileage may vary.

Tin note of hay/vegetation, mild citrus and spices. Tobacco is tan, light brown, brown ribbon cut with a little dark brown mixed in. Moisture content is great. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is mild to medium, with notes of Plum and Citrus. Flavoring is upfront in the 1st 1/4, then moves to the background. Plum fades to nothing at the 1/2-way point, leaving the lemony citrus alone in the background. Taste is mild to medium and mostly consistent, with notes of plum, spice, bread, acidic, rich wood, very earthy, cigarette, leather, floral, dry, herbal, orange peel/zest, slight bitterness, citrus, fermented sour, a lemony grassy background note, and a peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Oriental/Turkish and Flavoring supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is good.

Couldn't get past the awful flavoring of this one but I wasn't too disappointed with this Dunhill blend. The tin aroma produced a fruity-like essence. I wasn't crazy about the flavor but the strength was fairly respectable. However, the aftertaste is where this one is lacking. I didn't like it & this roll was the aged Murray's version. The flavoring left an oily, intrusive taste on my palate that detracted from the overall smoking experience.

I thought after wasting $$ on a roll of the original Murray's awful tasting stuff, why would I suffer a chance on the newer Mac Baren's mixture? Not a palate pleaser for this piper. Not too awfully bad but certainly not good! However, I can understand why many find this blend to their liking & why many dislike it. I've never suffered another tin nor do I ever intend to. It wasn't a totally pleasing bell ringer type experience that I was anticipating. Not all Dunhill blends befit the name &/or quality... especially this one & a few others. I found a buyer who loved it and unloaded it on him.

During the last couple of weeks, I have smoked one tin each of these three blends. At the end, I’m pretty torn about which is the correct rating they deserve. And will go for the two stars.

All of them have a beautiful cut and the most correct dampness. All of them smoke cool and I’ve not experienced any biting. All of them need a dose of attention, just because the rushed smoke cause some undistinct or even bitter flavour.

These three virginias form a sort of scale, where Ready Rubbed is the mild-to-medium step, TYMV the medium, YOS the medium-to-strong. RR shows a well behaved fruity character. TYMV shows a milder fruit counterbalanced by a spicy tone. YOS shows a drier and mildly woody/cigarish tone. This latter is the one I prefer over the other couple.

I have never smoked their predecessors, and don’t want to sing the same old song of how Dunhill’s were in the days of yore. In my opinion, today the basic elements are just average quality, sure no boutique baccy. If they were sold at average prices, I would for sure smoke them often, because they are easy and pleasant. But that is not, therefore my choice goes elsewhere (Gawiths, just to make one name).

Will the production of Dunhill’s tobaccos cease ? I don’t see what’s to mourn about, but the memory of my smoker’s youth.

Not bad tobacco, burns well,smokes well, if puffing to fast some tongue bite may appear. Leaving some moisture in the bowl. Worth to try it, but not to buy again, it's a lot better alternatives around

A strange cookie.

The Murray produced tin displayed a strong casing aroma.

Beautiful dark broken flakes.

The taste was rather overwhelming, in a negative sense. Too much casing and not enough tobacco taste, I would suppose.

This blend starts out as a rather harsh basically virginia blend that is then aged about three years. It's not an unpleasant blend but it takes some getting used to. It's better then Dunhill's royal yaht by far. It's somewhat strong but mild's out with time like most Dunhill blends, a fresh opened tin bite knock the socks off your tastebuds in a bad way but one that's been opened a few times and allowed to air out will provide a nice long satisfying smoke. This is one the first Dunhill blends I ever tried, and after having a bad experience with Royal Yaht this was definately a move upwards. It has a nutty almost smoky flavour that comes through noticable the whole way down. I do recommend it but take your time deciding if it's for you or not...

Not very fond of this one at all. I've had far worse, but thankfully, I have had far better.