Dan Tobacco Roper's Roundels

Do to it's scarcity in local shops, I had no contact with this blend up to the time I became aware it could be ordered from suppliers. By smoking it, I have now gone round robin with all six commonly available Vaper/Cavendish spun cuts: Orlik Bulls Eye, Peter Stokkeby Bulls Eye, Davidoff Flake Medallions, Four Square Circles, Hearth and Home Red Eye and Dan Roper's Roundels. Of these six, I found RR to be the mildest. It started with the tin opening, as I thought it appeared somewhat lighter in color than the other five blends. The tin aroma had more hay-like notes than I remember the other five having and, this, I associate with Virginias. Although the Perique was noticeable, it seemed subdued compared to the other five blends. Finally, and contributing to the impression of overall lighter color, was the ruddy brown disk of "black" Cavendish. This was the least dark center disk of any of the six blends and had no noticeable aromatic aroma when isolated and crushed. So, finally, we light up this blend and puff away. From top to bottom, it smoked on the same curve as the other five blends - only lighter. My assessment is, RR is a typical spun cut Vaper with Cavendish center that is more Virginia forward and less Perique forward than it's stable mates. Now, there is naught wrong with any of this, as a lot of readers would welcome a Virginia forward blend like Roper's Roundels. But, I share a sentiment with reviewer Pipestud that I like my pipe tobaccos to slap me around a little bit - three stars.

This is very close to paul olson's My Blend Dark Pearl. Made in the same factory for Dan Tobacco. This is not a knock. Its a very good version of Davidoff Medallions or Luxury Bull's Eye flake by Stokkebye. It is the same general recipe. A bit of sweet black cavendish surrounded by stoved virginia and perique. The only difference is the relative amounts of each ingredient. I love all the above blends. If there is any difference its that perhaps the Davidoff is a bit sweeter...but slightly. And the LBF is like all stokkebye a bit young and benefits from aging. The Olson is perhaps a bit heavier on perique but honestly its hard to tell. Its a good solid version of this venerable idea. 3 and a half stars.

Tin note is intense and sweet, smelling of black raisins and molasses with a note of pungent fermentation aromas. Quite enticing and seeming natural enough as though coming from the processes the tobacco underwent.

The coins can be folded and stuffed or rubbed. Either way I dry them little bit beforehand, otherwise it smokes wet. The smoke is quite flavourful, full and round. Sweet with notes of dried black fruit like raisins and plums and a touch of molasses. What the tin note makes you expect after all. It seems to me the tobacco’s natural sweetness has been somewhat enhanced, but it still tastes quite natural. It is a nice tobacco, smooth, with no tongue bite and an overall taste like the typical Vaper I have in my mind, without much pepperiness though and with an additional sweetness. Nicotine level is medium and satisfying.

It’s a good tobacco especially for those who have an itch for something a little bit sweeter and darker. Could become a little cloying after repeated use but it’s a fine tobacco. Compared to the two other coin cut tobaccos I’ve tasted, it’s more similar to Davidoff’s and less to the sublime Escudo which is more natural tasting and in my opinion is one of the best tobaccos out there.

Based on a half-oz sample, so take this with a grain of salt. I was given this and a half-oz of Stokkebye LBF to compare. They look about the same with the light brown with gold specks on the outside of the coin and a black cavendish inside, also similar to Davidoff Flake Medallions. Heavy hay scent in the bag with just the slightest bit of a sour smell.

In the bowl, this one is slightly softer on the palate than LBF, which exhibited a bit of a rough edge at times. This one is sweeter as well, and the sweetness is "cavendish-y", which makes sense, although LBF has the cavendish center as well. I'm not good at placing artificial flavors in tobacco but this struck me as honey and caramel, while LBF toned these down. The perique was barely noticeable early on, becoming slightly more distinct down the bowl, adding a bit of pepper and sourness but none of the fruitiness I expected. Quite frankly, neither of these are great tobaccos in my view, but they are certainly smokable. There are enough flavor differences to make them distinct, but my guess is that if you enjoy one, you'll enjoy the other.

Postscript: The person that gifted me this asked me if I thought it required more relights than most tobaccos. I've been asked this before, but I always thought the question was a joke, so I gave a flip response. As he was serious, I'll say no, different tobaccos don't require more relights, but different smokers do. If you prep the tobacco properly, monitor your puffing cadence and know when and how to tamp, excessive relighting is a non-starter and not worth mentioning. It's the smoker and not the tobacco. Also, pipe tobacco goes out at times - it's nothing to be concerned about. But if it's going out more often than it should, look inward! Dry your tobacco more. It'll taste better, too!

I purchased this since I so enjoy LBF and Davidoff Medallions, so I figured it would not be money wasted. This is one that started to grow on me as I progressed through half of the 100g tin. I think a big reason for that was that it slowly dried out. the weird thing is I would not have characterized the coins as overly moist at all, but I believe this has a lot to do with my slow appreciation of the blend as my best bowls occurred as the coins got crispy dry.

To compare this to the other coins I mentioned, I prefer the other two to this, but it is really splitting hairs. I found LBF to be on the lighter side of things; where I felt this had a fuller Virginia presence. LBF was a little grassier which I tend to enjoy. As to how it compares to my favorite of the trio, I find the Davidoff blend to deliver more sweetness along with that same fuller Virginia taste.

As to how the blend performs, it is very similar to the others. I believe these are all made in the same place so this makes sense. If you have not tried any of these, you should; particularly if you enjoy Virginia Perique blends. The cavendish center in these blends really smooths out the bright Virginia component to make them all relatively easy to smoke. Like most tobaccos though, overpuffing will turn the experience to an ashy tasting hotpot. Slow sipping makes for a tasty sweet treat. Perique is pretty light in all these blends, but adds just enough to create that raisin sweetness that happens when the right amount of perique is paired with Virginia. A final reason is that the coins are cool looking and fun to work with as you can vary the blends taste by popping out the cavendish eye. I tended to just fold and stuff most of the coins, but have experimented with different things with LBF.

I won't buy more of this, but will look forward to smoking the second half of this tin as it continues to age in the cellar. Although I am not buying tobacco anymore, I wouldn't buy more of this if I was. The reason is that it is too expensive compared to its aforementioned siblings and the taste/cost ratio just doesn't make sense to me.

When I open the tin, the aroma it gives off suggests dried red fruits. When I go to pick up one of the medallions, I notice that they are very close together, as is the case with Virginia Slices or Hamborguer Veermaster, also from the Dan Tobacco brand. However, this does not prevent it from igniting and burning well without generating moisture. After lighting, what stands out is the predominance of virginias, dark fruits and hay, with a very discreet participation of the perique, accompanied by the core of black Cavendish that seems to soften the mixture a bit. In fact, I smoke this type of va / per as a substitute for my usual virginia tin on the first pipe of the day. It is a rich, quality tobacco, but it must be smoked slowly to maintain the flavor. It has its own personality, with nuances that differentiate it from similar tobaccos such as Flake Medallions or Luxury Bullseye Flake. Less comparable to Escudo or De Luxe Navy Rolls, for the sole reason that they do not have the central core of black Cavendish. Recommendable.

Pinch of perique? My god! Pepper from perique is dominant taste.

But from beginning. Fresh tobacco smells after fig with nice tarty underlying. Tobacco was at least three years old. All components was dark in nice a bit more moist coins.

Tobacco need at least one hour of drying, but than taste is still full nicely rounded. As mentioned, main taste is pepper- spice. Other ones are cream, sweetness and vanilla.

As I am not big fan of spicy tobaccos, I can recommend this one.

Full disclosure upfront: Va-Pers as a genre aren’t my favorite, and the ones that I do respond to favorably tend to be outliers that aren’t talked about much. I’ve probably tried two dozen different Va-Pers, including all the classics and “reference standards” like Escudo, Dunhill DeLuxe Navy, Davidoff, Rouxgaroux, etc., but they just lack the kind of depth or complexity to interest me. So far the only one that is a regular in my rotation is 4Noggins Prairie Wind. Sutliff Court of St. James (discontinued) was another that I enjoyed now and then, and the verdict is still out on Haddo’s Delight (waiting to see what further aging might do). It is obviously an extremely fine delineation between those that I like and those that I don’t. Roper’s is another that just doesn’t have that something extra that would make me buy more, especially at the price (and figuring how long it took me to even find a tin to buy!).

So my tin had three years of age on it, and now 7 months of age in the jar. I like the Virginia base here better than the grassier Escudo, but while bready, it still lacks a certain weight on the palate for me. I prefer the Virginia formulation in Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake better. The middle eye of Cavendish seems to have a dark honey casing, rather than just sugar or vanilla. Others have compared this with Davidoff, but I found Davidoff boring and the type of Perique used is more muted and less flavorful than either Ropers or LBF.

All things considered I’ll stick with LBF which costs less and seems to be aging nicely for me. I probably should have opted to try Salty Dogs rather than Roper’s, as the dark Virginia base and addition of rum sound more to my taste. A solid three stars for Roper’s, just lacks the wow factor for me.