Rattray Dark Fragrant

The flavour of this very dark, shag-like leaf "hardly registers as smoke". While not exactly in the "warm air" category?there is a very light, English Cavendish-style savouriness to this, particularly on a virgin palate?I would recommend Dark Fragrant to aromatics aficionados who want something very mild and discreet, minus the gunk. Dare I suggest that this might be a good blend for the ladies?

Nice, interesting tobacco. Pure dark Virginia, mild in strength, with a tangy?almost sour/sweet?flavour quality. The tobacco seems to be broken flake, in very short crimp cut dark (stoved)pieces. This feature makes it difficult to pack, because you cannot rub it out any further and at least I tend to clog the upper half of the bowl, allowing too much hot air on the lower half. Then, when I tamper it, the lower half tends to clog, making it very hard to get a good, nice draw, thus keeping it lit. Otherwise, the taste is very nice but it can be a bit harsh on the tongue and palate. After a bowlful of Dark Fragrant you?ll need a glass of water! I read somewhere that this is a tobacco for those who wish to settle down with a pipe. Due to the time it takes packing it, keeping it lit, tampering it and relightening, there is no chance of doing anything else but paying attention to the pipe. I enjoyed its zesty flavour, the sharp spiciness, and, at times, the mellow sweetness it achieves. However, IMO, it is too difficult a tobacco to deal with (i.e., the exact opposite of Golden Sliced).

Rattray's Dark Fragrant is a very pleasant tobacco for those who enjoy blackened, cavendish treated Virginias. The downside of Dark Fragrant is that it lacks complexity and becomes a bit boring in the course of smoking a full pipe.

This tobacco is slightly sweetened in addition to the Virginia sweetness. The room note is a very pleasant natural tobacco smell that will offend only the most demanding non smokers.

The perique note is subdued, although there is enough there to rule out smoking by the perique haters. Based on an earlier top description which mentioned orientals, the previous reviews include many objections to listing this as a component. These reviewers were correct. This is a darkened Virginia with just a tab of perique, no oriental included.

The ribbon cut is fine with me. I do prefer to dry this out a bit by opening the can about three days before I start smoking it.

I have given Dark Fragrant only two stars. Actually I could go with three stars in terms of the way that I smoke it--only a half pipe full at a time. That way I don't tire of its simplicity.

I normally don't enjoy Cavendish in any form, but my husband had a 100g tin that was several years old that he recommended I try. At first light, I found Dark Fragrant's flavor to be very unpleasant. To my taste it was almost soapy, but not in a Lakeland way. I managed to continue on and the flavor settled down a little bit for the better. DK became more pleasant deeper into the bowl and It doesn't bite and it is somewhat mild. But in the end, even as the flavor improves, the aftertaste that it leaves in my mouth is almost metallic and for that reason it isn't a blend I will be revisiting any time soon.

Rattrays Dark Fragrant - I have never been a fan of black cavendish or the brown cavendish in Dunhill 965 . I do sometimes enjoy stoved Virginias in some blends though . Anyway I wanted to sample a couple of these types of black Virginias . This Dark Fragrant is not bad . No bite and burns well with not many relights . It is fruity and sweet and fairly smooth . The flavor is ok and worth trying . Not much nicotine at all . I may use it as a blender down the road . Better than expected but I wouldn’t buy it again . 2 1/2

The overall taste is dark prune, colored by something almost zesty, like lemon grass. Prune, prune, and more prune -- all the way to the bottom of the bowl. The gentle but unmistakeable sweetness, somewhere in the brown sugar/molasses family, is nicely balanced by the shadowy lemon taste; but the dark prune taste is, well, somewhat fatiguing. For me, a small bowl now and then is quite sufficient. I give it 2 stars because it's not for everybody -- but it's not a bad blend.

If I had my say about the "blend type", I would create a new category: Stoved Virginia. It's sufficiently unlike other types of Virginia used as the foundation in pipe blends.

Tin note is nice, like raisins and fruitcakes. The tobacco is very dark, and looks like little ribbons with waves. Very nice looking and aroma wise. Not much nicotine, smokes very smooth and mild. I really wanted to like this alot, it has a very nice appeal, but alas, it is just so mellow you forget about it after awhile and about mid-way through a big bowl, you wonder why you didn't pack one of the more livlier blends you have.

It really does have some moments but not as many as you'd like for the price of the tin. It doesn't give off to much perique either so don't think you are going to get a spice on the tongue alot, you won't. Not bad, but not great, though good effort for nice looking tobacco.

Dark stoved Virginia, very similar to Robert McConnell's Rich Dark Madouro. This one is, on the contrary, actually possible to keep lit.

Dark fragrant has a pungent sweet 'n sour aroma. People around me said that it smelled as if i had never cleaned my pipe, (read: sour) It is indeed hard to smoke this one dry.

The cut is uneven and DF is hard to pack and keep lit, but if you let it dry for some time and smoke it slowly, DF will reward you with an unusual topping that is quite delicious.

A nice change of pace if you like pungent and long for something PUNGENT.

Jakob Kiilerich, Denmark

Black and dark brown ribbons. I had thoroughly dried out the tobacco before smoking. It packed and burned well. There is the very subtle flavor of dark pressed English flake lurking in the background. However, this tobacco offers more of a smoking sensation rather than outright flavor. I think the Va. flavor has been hammered out of this tobacco in the processing. Toward the bottom half of the bowl it smooths out very nicely. I will have little difficulty finishing the tin, but I will not be keeping DF on hand. Paddy.