Rattray Black Mallory

I too found an oyster taste throughout my many bowls, a slight sea salt briny taste mixed with sweet and good deep all tobacco flavors but please don't let that deter you from at least trying this, its really quite tasty. Try this blend with hoegaarden beer.

Red Rapparee & Black Mallory.

As a change of pace from my usual tobacco diet - which is almost non-Latakian - I'm working through RR & BM at the same time.

I'm old enough to have met both of them say twenty years ago, at the beginning of the sunset of the UK made brands (BSOM, BS759 and BSVa10 passing from tins to pouches), and they were absolutely top EM's.

My current tins have been waiting me unsealed almost one whole year. The inner discs are still semi-wet, but tobaccos have just dried out the heck of their exaggerate moisture (the heaven knows how much PG they put in…).

Anyway, they stuffed fine into a couple of Dunhill's group 5 bents and have to say they light & burn very easily.

They are brothers, out of any doubt.

RR is offering a supremely smooth-like-silk smoke, sweet & spicy & biscuity. The Orientals take the main seat, perfectly accomplished by the Virginias (light & red). Just a trace of Latakia in the very background, and some almost-non-flavoured Black Cavendish to round off the edges. Strength is medium, body a bit over that. Intriguing and savoury, I may completely understand the smoker who chooses RR as his all-day smoke.

Where RR is more Oriental forward, BM is more on the Latakia instead. A drier but still sweet blend, darker, mustier and stronger than RR. More on the interplay between Virginias and Latakia. Again, the Black Cavendish does its job. The room note is of course less acceptable by the wife… In my memory BM used to be a truly fuller EM than nowadays.

The brothers are pleasant and satisfactory, that's for sure. What retains me from giving 4* is the PG soaking treatment, which causes the smoke being a bit aggressive to my palate.

A nice change of pace is what springs to mind, an English mixture with some Black Cavendish thrown in to subdue it.

A litttle air time and your ready to load, smokes without a bite down to a grey ash and all flavours playing nicely together.

Not as tasty as Red Rapparee, but worth the purchase of the odd tin here and there.

My sample of Black Mallory was packed tight into a tin estimated at 3-5 years old. The contents uniformly black, with scattered dark brown leaf, the smell pungent with deep smokey notes. Not particularly moist but far from dry, the upper layer of tobacco showed whitish tinged ribbon leaf, a clear mark of aging. The texture of the ribbon was standard, not too stringy, nor a rough cut. It packed well into the couple of pipes I smoked with the blend, a medium sized Stanwell and a larger Peterson. I packed the tobacco tight, in all instances, as I prefer a restrained draw. There were no problems with moisture or wetness, even as I tamped regularly.

Some have noted a subdued Latakia element in Black Mallory, while I found the leaf to be in the front at all times. I'm not accustomed to Cavendish in an English mixture, but I did note a creaminess similar to that of 965, which also contains the leaf (Black Mallory contains the black variety, while 965 Cavendish is brown. There is no mention whether the Cavendish is Burley or Virginia based, or whether sweeteners have been added in either instance). There is a slight nuttiness here, perhaps owing to the Burley based Cavendish. It works, and adds a nice depth to the sweetness of the Virginias. I've stated before my inability to single out the Turkish/Oriental leaf, and I will say the same here.

This is a full mixture, beyond that of something like Westminster yet more restrained than Nightcap. I found myself smoking back to back bowls of Westminster and Black Mallory in an attempt at comparison, and found that I favored Black Mallory in complexity and strength.

I had no problems with relights, as an aggressive smoker who likes to tamp frequently. The burn rate was exceptional.

Black Mallory finishes strong, building toward the end of the bowl and imparting a strong taste on the palate. I wouldn't suggest smoking this in the company of others, as it can be overwhelming to the senses. To those who enjoy strong, full English mixtures, I believe you will find Black Mallory an exceptional blend, one in which the Cavendish provides a unique element to the standard English. I plan to keep this in my rotation, and confess to almost smoking this religiously upon cracking the tin. I can picture a daily rotation of FVF, Black Mallory, and University Flake.

Recommended.

Well, I like this.

How to describe it? Its flavors are very light, but its texture feels rather more substantial. Another reviewer called it "luxurious," and that word may be apt. It's well-heeled, restrained, silky smooth, forgiving, obliging, and agreeable.

The Latakia is apparent in the tin, but is harder to detect once a match brings it to life. The Latakia quietly provides a round, full texture, but only in the background.

It's smooth, easy, and an agreeable companion. Other than a notable taste of citrus, no flavor cries out for attention. Leaves a sort of waxy aftertaste that, while odd, isn't off-putting.

I like it.

This may or may not be all that helpful. . . But this review is based on a 1991 tin -- so it has some age on it -- opened in May of 2009. (I was planning to cellar this longer, but the can started swelling, I wanted to try it before it burst open on its own.)

Because so much has already been posted here -- and I'm not sure my report has much bearing on what a fresh tin would taste like -- I'll just say that this is a well-made, medium-weight English with sturdy and spicy orientals and a dash of cavendish. Being a lover of English, oriental, and Balkan blends, I enjoyed it.

I must add, though, that it reminded me a bit of Margate, which I actually prefer somewhat. Although I rarely smoke English with cavendish added to it, if I'm going to do it I want it to be something special; there's something about Margate that really sets it apart for me. Black Mallory is good, but it never reaches that higher level of pleasure for me like Margate does consistently.

This, for me, is what an English blend should be like.. An excellent interplay between virginia, latakia, and oriental.. not as much latakia as some of the balkans out there but enough to keep things interesting.. This is a balanced smoke all the way.. deffinately good for contmplative times.. more of an evening smoke than early in the day.. this is up in my top 5 latakia blends alongside the great squadron leader.

update.. I have had a hard time getting through the 100 grams I bought of this stuff about a year ago.. It is great stuff.. but for some reason I am finding it is not my thing. This is just a personal preference.. I am finding I like balkans a little more for latakia.. also it is a constant battle of drying and rehydrating.. which I haven't experienced with other tobaccos.. I have gone through about 100 grams of rattray's old gowrie in the same amount of time it took me to go through a quarter of this blend.

Another decent one by Rattray. It strikes me as a little light on Orientals and makes a fine Latakia Delivery System. Very damp in the tin and very tightly wound long ribbons. My personal preference is to shorten them a bit, and dry them a lot. The Frank method works especially well for me in billiard/Canadian shapes, but takes well to a layered fill in bent bulldog/author shapes.

Pretty to look at, especially the Virginias' contrasting colors. Great tin aroma that smells just like...really nice tobacco.

A bit sharp at light up, but settles down quickly to a nice balance of spice, smoke and sweetness. No gurgle in four different briars and burns cleanly all the way to the bottom of the bowl.

Well, after reading glowing reviews here, especially by such respected reviewers giving it such high marks, I finally tried this very popular blend. Although I can't say that there was anything bad about BM, I was just a bit disappointed. What really turns me on is a really rich tasting baccy that gives me a little nico' zing and holds my attention throughout the bowl with interesting flavors. I guess my expectations were running in high gear and I expected too much.

My first experience was that I tried it the first time right out of the bag; big mistake. Although it felt about right - way too much moisture. Could not keep it lit beyond the first half of the bowl and after a lot of tamping to keep it going, it finally turned into a hard gob that I had to toss out. Spread it out and let it dry overnight until I thought it was just too dry but tried it anyhow and it packed and lit well and burned OK.

BM turned out to be, against my expectations, A little ho-hum. It came on with only mild to medium strength, flavoring was only mild, and the room note was unspectacular also. In it's favor, this baccy does not burn hot, I experienced NO tendency to bite, and it went to the bottom of the bowl without a whimper, mostly tasting like it started. The balance between Virginia and Latakia was perfect and the taste (for a mild tobacco) was as well balanced as I could expect for a very English blend. I cannot fault it and will happily finish what is on hand and probably order more when it is gone. I just can't put it on my favorites list (yet).

I have a feeling that some of my slight disappointment may be in the batch that I received. Against the descriptions I have seen here, the blend was not very dark and there was not even a hint of visual oiliness. I have come to recognize an appreciation of strength and richness for blends expressed by guys like pipestud and It occurs to me that I may have had a somewhat weakened blend. I will certainly be accountable for a revision of this review if another batch presents itself differently.