Rattray Black Virginia

This is the type of Virginia tobacco that I really enjoy: dark, flavorful, and sweet. It compares nicely to Dark Star by McClelland, though DS is more complex and flavorful. With a bit of caution to avoid tongue bite, the only problem I notice is some moisture while smoking. The smell in the tin is sweet and "dark", not really musty at all. The leaf is very dark, a shiny jet black with a small amount of dark brown providing visual contrast. The cut is varying, short to medium with several unrubbed chunks mixed in. It is a dry tobacco, somewhere between GL Pease and Cornell & Diehl on the moisture scale. It packs very easily and lights fairly well, burning with an average number of relights needed once lit. In the first third of the bowl, the taste is sweet and smooth and the smoke is cool. There is some bite, though, right from the beginning, requiring care in smoking. The Virginia flavor, while not very complex, is nevertheless dark and good, an excellent compliment to the natural sweetness present. That sweetness is also balanced by a background note of sourness. There are some minor moisture problems at the end of this third, but a pipe cleaner takes care of them. In the second third, the sweetness is not as quite strong, and I don't notice the sourness anymore. The Virginia flavor is fairly dark and rich, but still not overly full or complex. This is not a bad thing, since the overall taste is very good and far from one-dimensional; it reminds me a lot of McClelland's Dark Star, though not as full. The fairly minor bite from the first third seems to have vanished here, and the smoke remains smooth, though there is still some moisture gurgle. In the final 1/3 of the bowl, the flavor stays pretty much the same, sweet and dark. There is some additional complexity present here, especially if DGT is used. This blend isn't as full or complex as Dark Star, but it is very good in its own right. There is also not much moisture left in the bottom of the bowl after smoking. Overall, I enjoyed smoking this and I will continue to do so in the future. This has almost everything I love in a Virginia tobacco, lacking only a bit of complexity which would put it into the "outstanding" category. The only problem I see with this blend is the moisture during the smoke, though it isn't excessive. An excellent tobacco!

Another very good product from Rattray. Some might find this one a bit boring with no real fireworks being preformed on your taste buds. A very good blend for what it is. It lights very easily and stays lit easily as well. This burns down to a nice ash at the bottom of the bowl. The moisture level upon popping the tin is just right for me, YMMV. All in all, a recommended blend.

Rattray's BV is a very special tobacco which needs a lot of attention when smoking. Filling the pipe is easy, when it is not to new in the tin, you can stick it heavy in the pipe. You need this to get it lit for longer than 3 minutes. It burns cool but to heavy sucking on your bit will end in a good tongue bite. My experience is that it burn totally into light grey ashes. So it's very helpfull to smoke in a new pipe. There are no or little problems with moisture in the stem. When you like a very light sweet tobacco taste, it's a fantastic tobacco when smoked wright.

Despite its extremely dark colour there is no roughness but a pleasant tang - just the thing for an early morning smoke with a cup of coffee.

This one is good, but the taste is somewhat ethereal. Through the wisps of smoke, an occasional tangy sweetness dances at the edge of the palate. Never as much as I want, but always enough to keep me coming back for another try. My tin dried out fairly quickly.

Upon openning the can I found the deepest black Virginia with very little to no aroma. I have had three bowls of this delightful but yet very mild tobacco, but I find it smokes better in a smaller bowl than a large bowl.

I could not detect but maybe a hint of a tangy aroma when I lit a match to the tobacco as I'm use to smoking aromatics with Vanilla cases. As a smoker of pipe tobaccos who enjoys a good Virginia I had to try this tobacco, I found really no tongue bite but I did notice a bit of dry mouth as I kept ice water close by and this may have been the result of the 108 degree tempatures we have been experiencing.

There is one thing, this is a Virginia and has to be smoked as such; Very Slow, as I did notice my Peterson getting a bit warm. Very enjoyable will keep this on hand.

Rattray's Dark Virginia is an interesting change of pace. The tobacco is jet black and quite dry (compared to other Rattrays) and has a sweet tangy tin aroma, though very subtle. It packs very easily and lights well. The flavor is rather one dimensional but it is quite enjoyable being sweet with a tangy citrus quality. It's not very hearty in the nicotine department but is an enjoyable smoek, though I could not imagine it as an all day smoker. It burns very cool and leaves a nice ash.

Some friends and I have made our own Half & Half mixture using Black Virginia and Cyprian latakia which we call Black Lung. I am curious to see how Black virgina responds to aging and I have two tins put aside for just that purpose. I'll re-review it in a few years I guess. 🙂