Rattray Buckingham

A very sweet, fruit-flavoured blend which is a soft, mouth-watering delight on the tongue and will certainly make you new friends with its appetising caramel/vanilla aroma. As soon as I took the first sip on my just-lit pipe, I knew this had to be a German confection by Planta or Kohlhase & Kopp. When I searched for information about it here on this site the secret was revealed; it is indeed a K&K blend.

I smoked a 50 g tin about 6 years ago. Given this blend has not changed since then, the notes I wrote back then should still apply.

"Upon opening the tin, it smells a bit wooden and nutty. The tobacco itself is mixture cut, mostly brown for burley with some bright streaks of virginia.

Easy to light even when fresh from the tin. Taste is mostly nutty, with a bit of vanilla. About mid-bowl, a bit of cinnamon came into play. Overall, the flavours are soft and subtle throughout the bowl. Without taking over completely, they rather stay in the background to enhance the flavours of the tobaccos used.

This is not an aromatic that goes brick-to-head with some synthetic fruit flavour or try to pretend that it is actually a cake, fruit salad or anything else but tobacco."

It looks like a 'normal' tobacco mixture, rather than an aromatic. An attractive combination of ribbon, chopped leaf and cubes which I found encouraging.

Tin note - pleasant but not outstanding. I got fruit/vanilla and tobacco but no cinnamon or alcohol notes. There was also a fragrance I could not identify, I assume this is hickory nut.

Moisture level - absolutely perfect and ready to smoke without drying, which for an aromatic was a very pleasant surprise.

A char light, a true light, and that was it until the end of the bowl, apart from some tamping. It is quite a dry smoke, with a good balance between the tobaccos and the toppings. I got a vanilla, and nutty/floral taste but absolutely no hint of cinnamon. I did occasionally and faintly taste Baileys Irish Cream, which might have been the alcohol topping at work. I enjoyed the second half of the bowl more than the first as the fruit notes became subdued and the tobaccos asserted themselves.

It never bit and provided a pleasurable and relaxing smoke without ever threatening anything special. Nonetheless, it is the only aromatic that I have smoked so far which I would consider buying again. On a summers day, outdoors, in non smoking company, I think it would go down well.

Recommended for smokers on their way out of the morass of heavy aromatics, for those who want approval from non smokers and for those smokers of mild standard blends.

I cannot see this interesting those who favour stronger tasting tobaccos, nor those who like a noticeable nic hit. They would be barking up the wrong tree here.

A pleasant, moderately aromatic clean burning mixture -- the flavorings take the top billing but don't completely hide the Burleys, and the VAs show through now and again. There is quite the mixture of flavors here, but the top two are vanilla and the nut. The cinnamon and bourbon really just gave the blend a bit of sharpness rather than any distinct flavor of either for me.

This aromatic blend is nice and elegant. Includes very black cavendish as very pale virginias. Eventhough this has nothing to do with the "classic" Rattray's blends, it is a very high quality tobacco mixture. It is a mild and, yes, very fragant recipe, but with the right amount of nicotine. If you want a reference, I think the original Black Diamond was very similar, although this is a little more humid mixture. For the aromatic lovers this is a very interesting proposal. You might want to use an "aromatic" pipe with this, as I think a later detected the scent on a later smoke - for me this is not a scandal.

I smoked old iron sides from DTM and my better half wanted to exile me because of the smell, so ordered a 100 g tin just for her sake and boy, that was a good choice!

The tin note is very sweet, fruity, nutty. you could eat it up right there. No dry time needed, just pack and smoke.
The smoke was a surprise for me. I was a bit afraid, that it would be too artificial, but no. You can feel the nutty burley, some hay form the Virginians and of course, the leader, the toasty and sweet Black Cavendish. The toppings do not dominate, but support the natural tobacco taste.
A very well done aromatic. Pleases the non smokers and the wife!
4 stars