Rattray Highland Targe

Gorgeous tin aroma and nice presentation. Dull, flat flavor. Absollutely nothing sticks out about this. I found it akin to drawing on an empty pipe.

This could be a complex blend. However, I cannot tell. The orientals are sour and should have a wonderful sweet/sour play with the VA. However, I only get a sour/sour bitterness that runs down the center of my tongue and stays. Additionally, I get a metallic aftertaste (think about the taste you get when eating a can of peaches straight out of a tin) that also lingers. Maybe this should be stored in a jar instead of the tin of you are aging it? Finally, it bites just a little which also seems rather odd as few blends get to me now. At any rate, take these things into consideration. The Lat. is light, which is fine. I often like a lighter blend as we move into spring/summer. But the other issues are to great to overcome. I cannot finish the tin.

It is an abomination that THIS version of Rattray's Highland Targe is even remembered in the same context as the original blend. This is NOTHING like the original Highland Targe, and what a shame that is. There is nothing wrong with the new HT, but it has become essentially a blending tobacco. It is bland and has virtually no character. The original HT was a rich, boisterous blend that produced a room smell of a wonderful burning fireplace in a ski lodge. I was warned by some friends not to get my hopes up with the new stuff. Let's just say that the new blenders not only aren't using the old recipe, but they obviously aren't using the same tobacco either. Why not let the old name and label rest in piece and call this something else? Aren't there enough bland rip-off blends already?

A blend that promised a pronounced flavour of latakia. Someone got the wires crossed on this . Not much to go on but a slight almost floral quailty on a mild backgroud. Again a blend that is different from the usual . But not one I would want to go back to. A bit stringy.