Rattray Black Virginia

Short black ribbons with a vague prune aroma, once lit BV is lightweight in nicotine and mildly sweet with a faint fruity note without any variation of flavors. Not bad but boring after a while and, despite the blandness, room note is quite stale and a bit tarry. Fresh from the can it is too moist but when dried it burns effortless without bites, indeed it is useful on blending (e.g. to tame too strongly flavoured and/or biting aromatics) but good things end there. I ain’t gonna buy it again.

It does need a little more attention to keep it going, and the rewards are not really worth the effort. Although certainly entirely uncased, there is a natural liquorice- like flavour to Black Virginia, but other than that, it's a bit tedious. I find it draining on both the palate and general constitution. Next morning, my mouth felt very ‘ashy', so the smoke on this must be very heavy. Besides the widely noted extra effort in keeping it alight, the actual smoking is not unpleasant (for one bowlful when otherwise feeling fit and up for anything), but it's not very inspiring either.

The only way I would ever smoke this again is mixed with something else. I'm trying a blend of 5 parts Samuel Gawith's ‘Golden Glow' (aka Medium Virginia Flake) to 2 parts Black Virginia (by weight). The hay/grassy light quality of the GG is not on the face of it an obvious match for the liquorice of the BV, but it works quite nicely. I like the ‘Black & Gold' concept that comes with this blending, and the light and dark flavours makes for a smoke of greater dimensions than offered by either tobacco unmixed. This is my first go at blending, and I wonder whether a dash of perique might make it something more heroic. I'd be interested to hear of other blends by other smokers here using Black Virginia.

On its own, this is a two star tobacco - in my GG blend, it's an interesting three star (my blend is, of course, four star).

As Black Mallory, I've tried this one only in bulk.

I'm sure it's a nice tobacco, the only disadvantage is that it took way too long to smoke a pipeful, and a small one, that is.

Smoked unmixed, this bakkie requires a lot of attention to remain lit and smoked way too slow for my own preferences. But the taste was very pleasant, full and just a bit sweet.

Smoked mixed with something else, it doesn't really stick out but rather stays in the background.

Too bad, the tin aroma was nice, a bit of dried figs and semi bitter chocalate, with the aroma of pure aged VA.

If you like to spend hors smoking a pipeful, and solely pay attention to your pipeful, this bakkie is for you.

A shame, and a pity. I will try it with a different mixture and review again.

This is difficult for me to smoke. The stoving leaves an oily residue that stains the fingers and presents problems with trying to keep it lit while not getting tongue bite that Virginia leaf is notorious for. It mixes favorably with Hal 'O the Wynd without excessive taste clashing. The only way I can appreciate smoking it is to let it dry for a couple of days outside the can. I guess I've learned that I'm not a zealot for stoved tobacco.

Meerschaum Man Smoking an old noname Meer

This is a nice tobacco but a little strong for me. I like stoved virginias but this one didn't have any of the sweetness usually found in a stoved virgina. This one wouldn't be good for a beginner smoker or someone starting out with virgina tobaccos. It would be good for someone looking for a full bodied virgina. It might be better with about 10 years of age on it. But just not my idea of a every day smoke. It burned good and never got harsh. I liked everything about this tobacco except the strength.

I agree completely with Beer on this one. I will note that I opened a 100-gram tin at least two years ago, and it is still a bit damp for smoking. In that time, I have smoked about 50 grams of the tobacco. I suspect I will continue to nibble at this tobacco for few more years, mostly out of curiosity to see if it ever dries out.

I found the start of this bowl better than the midway or finish. It is top quality leaf which emits a nutty, tangy taste to start. This gradually develops notes of cigarette, mustiness, and a hint of chestnut.

This is a good tobacco, but out of all the dark stove blends I've tried, I don't think this rates as highly as Stonehaven or Dark Star.

It is a different leaf - erring more on the side of strong, straight tobacco flavor than the other two mentioned offerings.

Towards the end I detect a bitterness not unlike a burley blend. Though I don't find this bad, this isn't really the experience I am looking for when smoking stoved VA.

Good. I'd smoke it again, but I don't plan to stock up.