Dunhill Three Year Matured Virginia

After reading the previous reviews I was expecting casings or even an awful stench, but I was not expecting plain and boring. This Virginia was boring in every way, I cannot say it was unpleasant to smoke, just one-dimensional.

I opened the tin and smelled rich figs and some berry as well, I was thinking the worst, but as I started puffing I tasted no casings at all, but it was clear, that this was a very middle-of the road tobacco. There are too many other Virginias out there to ever visit this again.

The best way to describe this tobacco, in one word, is Beurk. Too bad, the smell is very nice, sweet and very present, the flakes are nice and dark, but I did not smoke more than one third of a bowl and then my mouth, tongue and stomach were screaming for mercy.

Really, my tastebuds are not compatible with that blend. If you like really strong tobacco,and want something flavored, then Three Year Matured VA is for you. But it's not for me.

Notes: I have tried various vintages. In the 1960's (blender: Dunhill), the flavor was superior, but the cut was so stringy it burned unbearbly hot. In the 1990's (blender: Murray's), the flavor was mediocre, but the thicker ribbon cut allowed to burn rather more cool. I found it best in a churchwarden or a tall, thin Danish chimney.

Appearance: A fully rubbed out ribbon, varied thickness depending on the vintage and maker. The color is light tan/green to darker medium brown in mixed proportions.

Aroma: An enticing raspberry/boysenberry topping is prevalent, black cherry, mild hints of frankincense, benzoin, allspice, smoke.

Taste: Of course, there is this berry-flavored topping to deal with, but it is relatively mild, if you can accept its presence. Citrus and berry toppings don't come along too often, so they are a bit disorienting, but if you can accept Royal Yacht, you can deal with this one, too. The berry flavor helps to accentuate the sweetness of the virginias in this blend, and it becomes much less prevalent as the tobacco ages for a few years. Underneath, a decent virginia-oriental mixture. Incense stick, walnuts. The latest iteration is rather dilute in its flavor profile, a bit smoky at times, but for the most part extremely subdued. If you don't pay attention to it, you would say: "It's not good or bad; it's just... there." If you take your time, it is a bit more rewarding. Can certainly burn the tongue if you don't take care.

Comparisons: Not nearly the flavor of the old blend. The bookish, invalid brother of Royal Yacht. The same topping as Dunhill's My Mixture No. 36609, but instead of a rich dark flake, this has a milder oriental-light virginia blend underneath.

Bottom Line: The acme of English-aromatic crossover flavor. For those who find Royal Yacht too strong, but want a mild virginia blend with a berry flavor, this could be ideal. Watch out for tongue bite, though!

I must say that Dunhill threw me a curve ball with this one. I was expecting something so much different. I was shocked by the berry blast that permiated the tin. I love both Dunhill pipes and their tobaccos but, the marketing is really misleading with this line. The name suggests a fine VA with well aged to a level of perfection, so typical of the Dunhill name....but the reality is much different. I must say at first that I'm not really a fan of aromatics or anything heavily cased, yet this blend didn't really yeild an air of disgust. For some reason I found myself unable to make up my mind about this one. It burns well and doesn't bite. The flavor is not nausiating like some aromatics can be. I guess that the best way to put is just as the Recommendation states: "Might try it again, but will not keep it on hand."

In a blind taste test I never would have guessed Dunhill! I find it helps to think of this as a strawberry flavored aromatic. That said this is indeed the same high quality that I have found in all Dunhill blends. The Va's are indeed there but don't seem particularly matured. It brings to mind Cairo by Pease, although I like this blend better. The casing is pleasant, but overall I find this blend a bit boring. I will finish the tin over the summertime easily enough, but probably won't buy more.

Dunhill's Three Year Virginia is kind of a disappointment to me. THis is billed as an aromatic, and I guess to several reviewers it is, but not so to me. I had smoked about half a tin before reading the reviews here and had not picked up on it's aroma standing. Now, I can just perceive it as such now that I know.

The orientals do not sit well with me. They seem to give a bite to the blend w/o adding a lot of spiciness. This blend just seems harsh from the get-go.

Good thing that there are a lot of other Dunhill blends out there that turn my crank.

This blend is not as bad as I have been lead to believe. It definitely has a fruit flavoring which to me is Raspberry. If it is smoked moist, the flavoring is all that I taste. I can take enough out of the tin for a bowlfull. I let this completely dry out until it is bone dry. I then pack a Meerschaum (I would not smoke this in a briar), and rehydrate it by blowing through the bowl until it has the proper moisture. Now I can taste the underlying tobacco with just a hint of the Raspberry. Yet, the room aroma leans towards the Raspberry. The base tobacco is quality, and probably would have been best left alone. For 35 years, when smoking a new blend, I ask my wife what it smells like. The answer is almost always "pipe tobacco". This time it was "fruit". After a heavy meal, smoking this without letting it dry out is like having dessert. The tobacco has a lot less calories than a Raspberry Tart. While this will not be a regular for me, it sure beats goopy aromatics and would be a step up for smokers of those blends.

Update. After a few more bowls, I think that the flavor is more like Black Currant than Raspberry.

Fruit Loops in a can. In fact, the only differences between Three Year Matured Virginia and that beloved Kellogg's cereal are: A) Three Year Matured Virginia burns slightly better than Fruit Loops, and B) Fruit Loops are less dishonestly named. (Seriously, what kind of drugs were the Dunhill folks on when they dreamed up this blend? "Matured" is in particular a misnomer: here's a pipe tobacco for the kid in all of us!)

The Virginia component is, I imagine, of good quality, but for the life of me I can't taste it beneath all the fruity toppings. This might be a good step up for the piper who's accustomed to those godawful "cherry cordial" drugstore blends. Other beware.

That much said, I will freely admit this _is_ a fun tobacco to fire up now and then in a corncob, when I feel like smoking a bowl of Frankenberries.

This blend is interesting because it is so uninteresting. My tin was about two years old when I first opened it, and maybe that was why I did not experience the fruit overload of previous reviewers. Some light raspberry flavor in the tin, very little in the smoke flavor. It wasn't a sweet raspberry. The real lack here is flavor of any kind. It is just smoky, somewhat ashy, as if all flavor had just been sucked out of the leaf. Cut in a cigarette shag format, it might be something a roll your own cigarette person would like, because though it isn't great, it is still a few steps above ciggies. Yawn! Another blend to add to the "trade for anything else" box.