Rattray Brown Clunee

This is a smooth and delicate Virginia, medium brown in colour, flecked with lighter-colored bits. Opening the tin, the tobacco has been rubbed out from a flake into decent sized strips, with small, tinder-like, mini-strips available here and there. The tobacco is moist and springy, moist without being terribly wet. The smell within the tin is a dark, hearty, raisin-y sweetness. The smell was so good, I wanted to just sniff it for a while (or better yet chew on it). As I mentioned, it comes ready rubbed, which I have found makes it very easy to pack, and (as someone else wisely noted in a review of a ribbon-cut tobacco, Dark Birdseye, I believe) easy to overpack. For smoking, I chose a no-name billiard I use for experimenting with new Virginias. I packed it loosely, reserving some of the tinder-type strips for the top. The charring light took a few attempts to take, perhaps in part because of the moistness I mentioned earlier. This tobacco would probably beneift from some drying, but was not too troubling to smoke as is. Upon lighting up, one is greeted with an easy sweetness from the Viriginias; the usual caution against puffing too quickly applies. The first third of the bowl is all mellow Virginia sweetness, not aggressive or cloying, merely present, like a warm piece of toast off a loaf of good warm bread. There is just the slightest hint of complexity lurking away in the distance, but nothing one could put one's finger on directly. Most of all, it is just the middle-note of sweet Virginia, the smoke a greyish-white. As the bowl develops into the second third (gosh I hate phrasing it that way), I begin to detect some of the nicotine creeping out more explicitly -- nothing overwhelmingly assertive, but a definite presence. At this point, I set the bowl down and let it extinguish to DGT . Upon relight the next morning, there is that pleasant sweetness again, this time accompanied with the hint of sourness, not unpleasant in the slightest, and acting as a foil to some of the sweeter elements. It is possible this is another development of some of the complexity I mentioned earlier. It doesn't develop any further, but continues to provide a quite enjoyable taste. This continues for the remainder of the bowl, which produced a fluffy, greyish-white ash and no discernible moisture. Overall, a very pleasant Virgina that smokes smoothly and burns nicely. I would have no qualms about recommending it to those who enjoy the lighter Virginias, or as an entree for novices to the world of ready-rubbed tobaccos.

Tin note: dried fruit, hay, some kind of casing, smells like caramel

Taste: Sweet woods, nuts, dried fruit. Little bit spicy. Smokes well, no bite. Similar to Hal o Wynd, but I get more perique and less strength.

The basic taste of Brown Clunee is that of an excellent pure Virginia tobacco. In this sense it reminds me of Ashton Gold Rush or Amphora Virginia. The powerful aroma added by the Kentucky makes this a truly exceptional mixture. Its taste is a very good combination of the purity of a natural but moderately spicy Virginia with a decent pinch of smokiness from the Kentucky. I didn´t experience any tongue bite, harshness or acidity. Full recommendation

Tin note of dried Rasins, spices, and ripe plums. Tobacco is dark brown, brown and tan Broken Flake. Moisture content is ok, some may need to dry it a bit. Large pieces may also need to be rubbed out. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is mild to medium and mostly consistent, with notes of toasted bread, Rasin, wood, spice, nuts, leather, dry hay, rich earth, floral, mildly acidic, mildly spicy, citrus, creamy, herbal, orange peel/zest, tangy savory, a fermented slightly sour vegetation background note, and a very peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Kentucky and Perique supporting. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is great.

I am rewriting my review as I have decided this is the best of what I keep. It starts ot clean, fresh, light and slowly reveals itself one layer at a time. It progresses to a spicey VA like a stoved, aged variety. In a large pipe it will progress furthur to compete with the likes of Dark Star. It is not difficult, or fickle, opening the tin has little effects on the taste, The 'Proffessor sates it best on www.pipes.priss.org, or is it www.priss.pipes.org? ah, heres what he wrote and be sure to check out his site, there's a man who has smoked quite a bit!! Brown Clunee BROWN CLUNEE Body: 6/10 Nicotine Strength: 7/10 Flavour Depth: 8/10 Flavour?sweetness: 6/10 Flavour?fruitiness: 4/10 Flavour?floweriness: 3/10 Flavour?smokiness: 2/10 Flavour?mustiness: 2/10 Flavour?nuttiness: 1/10 Bite: 6/10 Room Aroma: Sweet-musty This comes as dark, reddish-brown, broken flake with a few nearly black patches. Much of it has been pulled-apart to the point that you might think of it as ribbon-cut rather than as broken flake. The scent in the tin is a complex mélange of light and rich. I smell some of that sour, wine-like aroma that many aged red Virginias offer, notes of cinnamon and spice, and the faintly sweet and grassy wafting of a flowering meadow. As I light up, my nose says that some of the sidestream smoke smells simply like good, clean, no-frills tobacco. It comes off as fresh-tasting and a little sharp, but as quite neutral. Nothing is jumping out to wow me?yet. Hmmm... a nice, light, natural sweetness is definitely attracting my attention though. Very subtle... I do like this. After another five or ten minutes of gentle puffing, I'm finding this almost as spicy as it is sweet. The spiciness whispers to me that puffing with any amount of vigour would be an error, so I puff onward carefully, but deliberately. Another ten minutes or so and it seems spicier than sweet. In fact, I'd now say that this is downright rich-tasting, though I could not have said that at first. Somewhere around the half-way mark, I start to taste the flavour equivalent of that complex range of scents that I smelled in the tin. This didn't strike me as a strong tobacco at first, but I've suddenly attained that wonderful zone of relaxation that only pipe smoking can provide. What a fine evolution to complex flavour this has been! In the lower depths of the bowl, the flavour is unexpectedly dense and a little woodsy even. It's much smoother as well, though it still has a distinct drying effect on the palate. Puffed as slow as possible, it keeps improving. Brown Clunee occupies a special place for me. I love its taste and it has provided a few of the most memorable smokes I've ever had. I like it enough to have carried it in my pouch from time to time, but it never satisfies as well as when I sit down at home to properly appreciate the singular experience it offers. It burns well to a fine, light-grey ash, but the broken-flake cut keeps it from burning hot. If you're not used to smoking Virginias, you might find that this bites (I can't smoke this too often), but it's such a rewarding tobacco that it's well worth exploring. Smoking this leaves an aroma that is fairly plain and a little sweet and musty. '01

Ps: As this is really drying on the palate-it is fantastic with tea. It is 'the lemon' in my tea so to speak.

SPICY, STEAK SAUCE

Fantastic Virginia, starts mild and easy- builds to a rich almost spicy sweet. Deserves a home in your cellar. Almost meaty spicyness,smooth.Cant smoke it daily.

A little sweeter and yeastier than Old Gowerie or HOTW.. Overall a very good tobacco, but I miss the sharper flavors of the other Rattray virginias.

I'm very surprised at the one star ratings given by the knowledgeable reviewers listed here. Perhaps they experience what happenned to me.

I packed Brown Clunee into a favorite VA pipe and found what can best be described as "unremarkable." I experienced the same results with two other pipes. And then...I found a smoke equal to Rattray's Hol o' the Wind, Marlin Flake and Old Gowrie.

This one deserves your attention if you like Virginia's.

Herbs, grass, spices, butterscotch notes. Hints of flowers and toffee. Try this with Cragganmore 12.