Rattray Hal O' the Wynd

Smell out of the tin: Opening this tin you get a really nice ripe figgy raisiny smell. Anything I get reminds me of a mix of berries and all types of fruits that have rather tangy sweetness to them. Nothing sugary here, if you think of fruits this rather is a blackberry than a melon. Strength: I consider this a pretty strong blend, it won't knock you off your socks, but it will wake you up for sure. No headache or nic hit though, it's not that far on the strong side. Taste: Full it is. The kentucky works wonders with the virginias inside, the perique is not too much, maybe it could even use a bit more, but the blend it's great as it is. The taste is consistent for me throughout the bowl. Room note: I would think it can be hard on non smokers, not much of a room note that could be compared to a pleasent smell for them.

I highly recommend this to all puffers, it's really easy to work with, doesn't require much of drying time or preparation.

If you are interested in this review in a video form, I did a review of it on YouTube as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lULyOwsX0Q8

Update April 2016: After two years of aging and a little bit of experience I unabashedly remove my foot from my mouth and admit, this is good tobacco. It starts out rather mild and then gains a little spice from the perique and kentucky. I would say the first 1/3 of the bowl continues this way right before you're halfway through the pipe then the sharpness comes through producing a nice tart flavor while still interchanging with the earthy Kentucky and spice that was already established. This has turned into a very nice smoke for me; something I like to savor in the morning when I have a fresh palate and have time to reflect on the day, the pipe, the tobacco and the beauty of all that I've been blessed with. Burns to a fine gray/white ash and flavor holds throughout.

March 2014: Eh, meh, Bleh... Briar, cob, Gandalf's pipe, it doesn't matter, this stuff is ho hum. This tobacco was a major disappointment but I'm laboring through it. I wanted to like it, I really did! I wanted to love it, actually, but the flavor is more akin to a bland cigar... I'm not a believer that Virginia's taste like cigarettes and if you are in that boat it may be because you're wasting your time with blends like this one, however, I'll most likely jar the rest of what I got and come back to it several years from now and see what it will become.

The tin aroma of Hal is to die for, which heightened my expectation even more. It is a rather full smoke with some slight spice but nothing too overwhelming. I notice a subtle change from smoke to smoke and I believe I prefer Hal in a cob, if preferred at all. Throughout each bowl there is no discernable sweetness, no zesty tang and not enough spicy perique playing on my tongue to entice me back. I think of this blend as Marlin Flake's older brother that wasnt talented enough to make it to the big show.

Again, disappointed and wanting more, so much more... Bottom line, there are good vapers out there, this Rattrays falls short.

The tin description is, for once, quite accurate, although I do not find the flavour of this classic blend either typical of the usual Rattray virginia flake OR particularly strong, either.

I agree that it could be an "all-day" choice for someone not prone to tongue bite.

The "broken flake" contents in the tin were quite moist upon opening, and the first bowlful seemed bitter?the wrong kind of bitter?in a large bent Peterson ["calabash-shaped"]. After some airing out, and in a small, Vijja dublin, the "red" flavour came through more purely. OK. If you want something like MARLIN FLAKE, only more, this is not it.

Once I got the flavour of my favourite Rattray virginias out of my mind, though, this became pleasant, though not distinctive enough for me to go back to it very often.

Tin note is a sharp tangy fruit, tart, citrus, hay, vaper. I don’t detect any Kentucky in the aroma. Slightly moist but smokes just fine. Great aroma.

The taste at first is pretty spicy perique with some tart citrus hay honey Virginia. The pepper notes are prominent but so are the fruit notes to a lesser extant. Not nearly as tart or citrus tangy as Marlin Flake. The more the bowl smoked the more woody, nutty, and smokey Kentucky came through. It was a nice change as the bowl progressed. The retrohale was wonderful, tart hay, wood. Smoked as find as any vaperky could. The nic hit was past medium to. The Kentucky definitely added some body to it. An enjoyable. Smoked to ash. No bite or harshness.

This is a very nice VA blend with a whisper of dark fired Kentucky and Perique. The tin note is crisp and inviting, a signature VA tin note: sweet grass and hay with some dark fruit notes perhaps from the perique.

I will say straight away that the perique and dark fired are minor contributors to this blend. The Perique is almost not detectable to my palate and I don't even get the nasal tingle on the retrohale (well I do occasionally but not consistently). The Virginia's are sweet and bready with some grassy and lemony notes. The DFK contributes some woody and nutty flavors and even some earthiness to the blend. From the mid point of the bowl on a toasty quality appears that I really like. I detect some kind of top note, but I am not sure what it is (honey? molasses?) but it is very light and enhances the tobacco flavors. Great VA blend although I do not know why the market it as "strong" I dont' get much of a nicotine hit (thank God) and it is a medium flavored blend with some complexity. Good stuff.

Old Gowrie and Hal O’ The Wynd are two very similar blends, with the same characteristics. Not so for Marlin Flake that is completely another mixture. Here I want to speak about the differences between these two blends, from the point of view of Hal O’ The Wynd compared to Old Gowrie. First of all they have the same ingredients (Virginia, Kentucky, Perique) without any casing. But there are three essential differences: 1) HOTW is stronger than OG. It is a more robust smoke. 2) HOTW has more Kentucky and less Virginia compared to OG. Kentucky is really leading. 3) HOTW has more Perique than OG. Both are Virginia based mixtures, but HOTW could also be considered a Perique mixture (not so OG where above all Virginia but also Kentucky are leading and Perique is really a “bit player”). Personally I prefer HOTW but it’s just a matter of taste. Finally, in my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 9 and three and a half stars.

To my relatively inexperienced nose, the tin note seems to be mostly Virginia, with a faint sweet (figs? honey?) scent, and a slightly spicy tang to it.

It seemed slightly moist out of the tin, so I let a small amount air dry for a few minutes before packing a bowl. Packed a full bowl in my Savinelli 310.

Lighting was a bit difficult, and required some extra puffing, along with a few char/tamp/relights. Once it got going, I needed to relight twice before reaching the bottom of the bowl. Next time, I'll let this dry for a little bit longer before smoking.

Taste wise, I found the Virginias to be driving this one, with a light hint of spiciness through the whole bowl. The spice seemed more noticeable in the first half of the bowl, with the second half becoming a notably stronger smoke, which slightly masked these nuances.

I'd say the smoke was somewhere in the medium range. Not too strong, not too light. Just about where I'd like it to be.

Overall, I liked this stuff, but don't think it was really able to show it's truest colors due to the moisture. I look forward to revisiting this one, and to trying to get it just right. Taste was good, just my excecution was lacking I think.

Delicious. Smooth. Buttery. Silky. Consistent. Tasty. Quality. And, not necessarily in that order, to me describes Hal O' the Wynd. I'm impressed with HOTW and I recommend this blend for those who love the taste of the natural tobacco and want a high quality blend. IMHO Smoothest Va-perique out there.

This blends requires air drying time of about 15-30 minutes to reach it's intended flavor purpose.

I'd give this blend 4 stars if not for the casing. Slightly puts me off. Fortunately it fades about a third of the way through the bowl. The rest of the bowl is very nice. I use it as a change of pace blend.