Rattray 7 Reserve

A decent lightweight inoffensive English, gathers body and spice as it progresses down the bowl, but always creamy and tasty. Similar purpose but very different in execution to Dunhill's EMP in my mind. Less English, but smoother, milder, sweeter but not artificially so. Recommended as a morning smoke or for recent English converts.

This is the perfect start for someone curious about the English Mixture.

Not too mild, not too strong. Just right!

"Smooth milk chocolate with a little refreshing mint" would be a good analogy.

I found Red Rapparee boring. The different flavours blended together to one, too compact for my taste. Not so with 7 Reserve. I'm not much for Cavendish, but it's held back here and the Virginia and Oriental stands out more. Just enough Latakia to give this blend a refreshing coolness, without owerpowering the other tobaccos.

I'm not a big Latakia man, but I found this to be solid, a light 'English' is often an under-appreciated thing, this blend fits that suit very well.

I really enjoy Red Rapparee so I had high hopes for 7 Reserve. I found it to be somewhat bland. I enjoy latakia, but not in large doses so 7 Reserve's lack of flavor wasn't a result of a light dose of Latikia. I found to to be a nice ribbon cut with a pleasant tin aroma, but that's where my interest ended. I'll finish or blend the rest of the 100 gram tin, but I won't buy any more. Two stars as it may be a good intro English for some smokers.

As usual rattray uses top notch tobacco in no 7. As a smoker who prefers virginia blends I like no 7 as a change of pace. Just enough latakia to give me a pleasant change of pace without over doing it.

I think other reviewers have missed the point on No. 7. If you want a strong latakia go for a stronger blend. No. 7 delivers exactly what it promises- an english blend but mellowed for all day smoking. Rattrays always delivers expert blending and the best tobacco.

This is a classic, simple and satisfying English mixture. Very easy to pack and smoke. You can puff it all day long if you like. Gentle and tasty.

If you look for a stronger blend this one can dissapoint you. The latakia addition seems to be subtile here. The overall blend is nicely proportioned for my taste. As the other English blends I prefer it to smoke occasionaly.

Very nice mild English blend that can be smoked all day. Reminded me of Rattray's Professional Blend (haven't tried Red Rapparee. Can not say what was different than Professional since it was a while back but did detect the similarity from my memory) Very moist when I opened the tin. Very nice burn with a white ash. Did not experience a tongue bit as some reviews indicate. Is a good change from a full latakia when needing a change or when one wants a bit more spice and oriental from a straight Virginian. Can qualify as a regular for me.

On my second tin now and decided to add to the review. This is always a delight to smoke. It is a tobacco that qualitifes as an all day smoke. If I had to pick one blend and brand (which I never have to do since I keep a selection for different times,,,the joys of pipe smoking...but if I had to do this and was stranded on an island, this would be the one. I never tire of the taste and nothing sticks out to make it so special...just consistant and nice!

This review should be read in conjunction with my experiences with Red Rapparee. I have taken the liberty of pasting that review with my update for better clarification

Somebody on the Red Rapparee page commented on this tobacco as being "like Presbyterian Mixture without the plum taste". They were spot on and to be congratulated, it was the plum note in PM which stopped that tobacco becoming my number one regular smoke. Red Rapparee from Rattray's is the answer to my long search. I have always liked English mixtures, Dunhill 965 was always my regular smoke, until that is, it became unavailable here in the UK. I have tried most of the other Rattray's offerings and find most of them very even tempered, nothing to write home about buy OK. RR is all together different.

This is an update- I read reviews on 7 Reserve Medium and as you will note RR has the same constituents as 7 Reserve but 7 Reserve is blended for the all day smoker. I have tried 7 Reserve in the past but although agreeable and mild mannered it lacked something- the solution- blend it 60% 7 Reserve 40% RR. Perfect an all day smoke with a little more oomph. With regard to tongue bite, yes it can bite a bit if smoked thoughtlessly but given due respect I noted no bite, also good room note and decent outdoor performance- very highly recommended