Rattray Sir William

I am surprised that there are no other reviews yet of this blend. This is a first impressions review.

Cracking open the the tin, reveals an almost cloyingly sweet aroma of an excessive flavoring, and I anticipate a hot, biting aromatic. The ribbon cut is loose and almost the perfect dryness for immediately loading into my Patriot cob.

Upon lighting, the sweetness prevails but quickly recedes from it's dominance. Despite the tin stating that VAs are the main component, to me the blend smokes as though it is a Kentucky/burley blend with VAs detectable only in the background.

With every puff, where I expect bite to arise, it never does. Instead of a single dominant component, there is a striated experience of Kentucky, burley, VA and the whiskey all at once. As the bowl goes on, this develops into a rhythm of Kentucky followed by burley followed by a slightly sweet endnote. The room note is quite pleasant due to the flavoring. It does not taste like a whiskey flavoring per se (what whiskey is that sweet?), but it admittedly plays well off of the other components.

Halfway into the bowl, I think this is very pleasant but perhaps not outstanding - there is no drama here. But further into the bowl, puffing away, I suddenly realize that the nicotine level has snuck up on me and yet there is a subtle deliciousness that keeps me from slowing down. (Considering that I am used to blends like GH Dark Flake and 1792, I'm a bit surprised at its strength.) Warm, toasty, friendly and inviting with that slight sweetness at the end of each puff, I finish the bowl feeling quite satisfied and yet still wanting more.

Rattray marks the tin as: Flavoring 2/5, Strength 4/5 and Room note 3/5. I daresay they are spot on. This is a quite enjoyable blend, and if I had any complaints it would be that the ribbon cut allows it to burn a bit too fast to enjoy at a slower pace. With some age on it, I think this will be quite impressive. All in all, a very delightful and tasty blend.

Edit 1/2/2015: This continues to be a great blend after many bowls. Very satisfying combination of flavor and strength.

StevieB sent me this as part of a trade. I like it a little better than he did. Thanks for this one Steve.

Led by the Kentucky and Burley with the Virginias picking up the rear. It's earthy and nutty with hints of smoke and fruit. The topping is a very mild whisky and, I think, a touch of sugar. The overall flavor is very nice. It does burn just a little warm, possibly due to the sugar. The good news is that it maintains it's flavor perfectly so a little extra warmth doesn't bother me too much. All in all a very nice smoke.

Medium in body and taste. Flavoring is very mild. Burns very well.

SIR WILLIAM: Particular, a special one. A robust and satisfying mixture. There is not only whisky in this blend, but much more. I mean there is some sweet casing and this is without any doubt a flavored blend. Anyway not a strong but a mild flavoring. Above all this mixture has the great virtue of being able to please both lovers of aromatic blends and lovers of natural tobacco. It is strong enough and you never get tired of it. A pleasant surprise. Give it a try! In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 8 and three complete stars.

This tobacco blew my mind a bit... It's very surprising in many ways. For background I like English mixtures, Virginias +/- Perique and occasionally the British style "scented" tobaccos such as those from the Lake District, but don't have much time for heavily sweetened Cavendish aromatics. I find them overly wet, steamy and lacking in flavour. I understand that this blend was Petersons "Irish Whiskey" when it was blended by K&K, then rebadged and possibly tweaked when Petersons production moved elsewhere. I've never tried Petersons Irish Whiskey but probably should in the interests of science.

The surprises started when I cracked the tin: I was immediately assailed by a powerful aroma. Coconut! Powerful sweet waves of coconut entirely abolish any tobacco aroma in the tin. The tobacco is a mix of medium and dark brown ribbon and ready rubbed. I was next surprised to find it quite dry even fresh from the tin: the aroma suggested a sticky Cavendish and I expected it to be wet.

I selected a rarely used pipe which I was prepared to risk ghosting (a large billiard) and got my next surprise. At the match, the flavour was earthy and woody, with dry Kentucky and Burley, with barely any taste from the topping, although it's aroma was detectable in the side stream. As the bowl progressed the sweetness and coconut came into the flavour, the sidestream aroma became more representative of the tobacco and I came to appreciate that surprisingly this tobacco was actually quite strong! Towards the end of the bowl the spiciness of the Kentucky developed into a very slight harshness at the back of the throat, similar to very strong tobaccos such as Brown Bogie. It burned to a tiny pinch of dry dottle with a few relights, leaving my nicotine levels quite high!

Now I don't tend to go for anything this sweet, and it is very artificially sweet. But my next surprise was the next day, when I wanted more of it... It's flavour has now pervaded this pipe, so the coconut sweetness of the topping is immediately there from the light, the tobacco flavours are further relegated to the background despite being quite rich Kentucky. I find it goes well with coffee, in the same way that a piece of baklava does.

I suspect that most smokers of Cavendish aromatics don't go for this on account of its strength, nor do most smokers of more "natural" types of pipe tobacco, on account of its utterly pervasive topping. It's available at a reduced price on a certain tobacco vendors website, suggesting that they can't get rid of it... I bought another tin...

This a strong aromatic. It packs a respectable nic hit. The whisky flavouring also offers vanilla, which comes through the smoke. The Virginias are supported by the nutty burleys and the smoky Kentucky which gives a whisky barrel note to the blend. The flavouring burns off quick, which is fine because the Virginias are of solid quality.

3/4 an aromatic with a respectable nic hit is hard to come by.