Rattray Hal O' the Wynd

Bought this on the overwhelming recommendations of the guys here. I'm not usually a smoker of straight Virginia pipe tobacco, but thought I would give it a go. If everyone says something is good, it must be, right? Even Cavendish lovers like me must be able to appeciate it...

Out of the tin, the smell is one of maturing fruit cake or raisins maybe. Not too strong, but noticeable. Colours are an attractive Autumnal mottling - leaves in the Fall. Easy to pack, light and maintain burning. The only relights needed are if the nicotine gets a bit much and I let it die deliberately. Even then, the relight carries no discernible yak.

As far as taste is concerned, I am still a little undecided. I think it depends on the size of the bowl I use, but it tends to hover between a cool and citrus taste (light lemons?) tending toward a fairly harsh and 'lively' smoke. 'Perky' may not be descriptive enough. I am not sure I would want to smoke this on an empty stomach - particularly when the train carrying the nicotine pulls in to the station. Hard puffing not recommended! Not a great deal of taste variation as the bowl runs out, but the increase in nicotine is fairly intense. I've never been a cigarette smoker, but my wife reckons it smells as though I am slipping a sly one if she comes in after I have had a bowl of this.

As for the residue, white ash without wetness.

Am I converted to straight VA? Not yet.

In the Tin: This is a rubbed out flake that has a slightly sweet slightly sour aroma as one would expect of a matured Virginia.

Packing and Lighting: I packed my Dunhill bent bulldog with the tobacco as it comes out of the can, a coarse ribbon or partially rubbed flake, depending on how you like to classify it. Took longer both for the char and the final light than average. But once lit stayed lit.

Taste: Pretty pure Virginia taste, weaker in the beginning of the bowl and more pronounced at the end. Produces wonderful billows of rich smoke. From such smoke I expected a richer flavor than I found. Perhaps this would be better if I rubbed it out more for packing.

For me this was a modest dissapointment. I found this a kind of limp Virginia. Given the great number of excellent Virginia blends out there I don't see why one would buy this in preference to one of GLPease's Virginias or even Dunhill's Royal Yacht.

Rattray’s
Hal O’ The Wynd

Blend notes: “ ‘A pure Virginian tobacco of a most unusual share of strength’This is a strong, sharp aged red Virginia blend that will perk you up quickly. New tin description = Hal O' The Wynd is an unusually strong Virginia-based mixture. Fire-cured Kentucky is added to a base of a variety of Virginias and Perique completes this mixture. It is then pressed and finally rubbed by hand.”

The Virginias provide a mild tart citrus and ripe and dried dark fruit. I get almost no grass or hay. There is little to no discernible sweetness. The Dark-Fired Kentucky (burley) brings nicotine and some structure but virtually none of the smokiness one might expect from Kentucky. The bit of Perique brings some sourness, but none of the jam or fig or raisin type of Perique.

The blend stays lit easily. It’s decent tobacco. It feels like they used the same Virginia backbone as in their Old Gowrie but Hal O’ The Wynd lacks the sweetness of OG. When one reads reviews of Old Gowrie, it suggests it contains Perique but only as a mild condiment. Here, with HOTW, the Perique is clearly stronger.

So, I get a sour tasting Virginia with some background DF Kentucky but otherwise not much flavor — or not much flavor my palate can taste. I don’t taste much fruit and, as I mentioned, virtually no sweetness.

I love OG but this blend, not so much. I would give this a rating of 2.5 stars rounded down, out of 4.

Aged a tin 2.5 years before trying. Smelled amazing in the tin - stewed fruits. But the taste, I' m not a fan. To me the combination of the quantity of Kentucky and perique make this blend a bit harsh. It did mellow a bit, but it took well into the second third of the bowl. It's certainly quality, and I'll see what happens in another year of aging, but I won't be adding more to my cellar.

I really enjoy marlin flake I just could not warm up to this one good tobacco just not for me.

I really wanted to like this blend being part of Rattray's "Holy Trinity" along with Old Gowrie and Marlin Flake. Bought a 100g tin five years ago loaded up a bowl and yuck! Fast forward to present day. I dug this out of my cellar and it was still fairly moist but a little on the dry side. I rehydrated this blend for two days and got it to the right moisture level. I loaded up a bowl and found it more tolerable but not very enjoyable. I did finish the bowl out of respect to those who enjoy this legendary blend but to me it tastes like a good quality cigarette. Love the name but not the blend. If your curious about this blend, I do recomend you give it a try. Out of the three, Marlin Flake by far is my favorite.

Makin' my wife rich one bowl at a time.

I found very little sweetness in this blend but more savory spicy flavors. Smooth and fairly satisfying, though it does burn quite hot. Deepening in flavor and strength as I smoke down the bowl with no bite. Going to buy 2 or 3 cans for aging.

====Update====

working on my 3rd bowl in a row, half way through it I can taste lots more sweet coming through in the smoke like burnt sugar, the Perique has stayed throughout but moved more to the shadows. I find it a grassy hay like finish.

Tin: Sharp, funky aroma of dried fruit, wet hay, malt extract. Mostly dark red-brown hue. Mostly ribbon form with an occasional thicker chunk, all quite flexible, supple, due to ample moisture.

Packing & Burning: Due to the moderate suppleness, the tobacco will almost stay stuck together in a ball when rolled between the fingers. This tells you to be careful and not overstuff the pipe or it will not draw. Pack it firm but so that it is springy.

Taste & Aroma: HOTW is not nearly as sharp and pungent as the tin aroma. Top of bowl had a malted pancake aroma mixed with metallic wet straw taste. Towards the bottom, there was a mixture of earthy malt or old lumber aromas.

Nicotine: Definite queesiness that lingered for 3 hours

Room Note: Good bowl: combination of bread dough and hay.

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Bad bowl: smoky and slightly acrid

Overall: The original disagreeable taste, of the first bowl, ceased with the next few, which were like Tom Servo described. After that, it transitioned into a consistently mild charcoal burnt grass taste.

I'm sticking by my initial assessment of the first bowl, even though it may have been due to the pipes. It seems that the tobacco changes, after the tin has been unsealed for a while.

Still supple, after the tin was unsealed four weeks, speaks on the use of humectant(likewise for MF and OG), and a possible source of that initial odd taste.

This is similar to Astley's 44 in terms of taste and tin aroma.

But Rattray's HOTW is no 44 on steroids.

This was strong, yes, but so harsh it became unpleasant. And the smoke proved harassing to my nostrils.

Maybe a bit of aging will address the problem.