Rattray Old Gowrie

A rather nice blend that I purchased based on this sites reviews. I think it is almost like Frog Morton's "On the Town" but a little drier. Very enjoyable and provides a nice long smoke with little re-lighting required. The touch of Perique keeps the smoke cooler and reduces the bite.

A nicely presented, fairly light-coloured broken flake, which I rub out a bit before filling.

Burns quite slowly and evenly, and is little trouble even in small-bowled clays.

Maybe a little damp straight from the tin for some, personally I find no need to dry it before lighting. The dampness isn't enough to cause tongue-bite.

Taste-wise it's very honest, nicely blanced, undemanding and clean. There's a hint of spice with with the Virginia very much to the fore and the perique adding a little extra depth, tang and zing as you get lower in the bowl. VA is very much the dominant partner, but the Per would be missed if it wasn't there.

I particularly like this in the morning, when I want a tobacco that complements strong French/Italian coffee blends (so no latikia) and without head-spinning levels of nicotine, though it's good at any time of day when I don't want the depth and richness of a full-on English or Balkan blend.

Nicotine is present, but without the kind of kick some of the fuller English blends or stronger VAs have.

My roll-up (Golden Virginia) smoking wife reckons OG has little to no room note at all (though OG has much more flavour than Golden Virginia, or any of the modern cigarette tobaccos). It's a good choice when in the presence of cigarette/mild cigar smokers as they're less likely to complain about the smell.

Maybe not the greatest tobacco in the world, if it were a wine it's more of a more of a good everyday/all-day French Cabernet than a heavy claret, but who would want to drink heavy wines all the time?

Might also make a good introduction to "real" tobacco for aromatic smokers, and a good introduction to this kind of blend to the inexperienced.

I agree with all the positive comments from other reviewers. This is quality tobacco.

While this is a very mild blend, overall, there is "something" unique to this blend that keeps me coming back that I can not put my finger on.

I'd never tried this one and on a trip to the local B&M decided to purchase a tin. The HOTW big brother is one of my favorite virginia experiences, and had read so much about OG that I could not imagine not liking it. I was not let down.

The 100gr. tin delivers a broken flake that still needs some work if you choose to rub it out completely. I have decided that I like loading the broken flake as it is and not rubbing it out. The cut is a nice thin ribbon that is so popular with european tobacco houses. I have become a fan of this cut and think that the smoking is made easier by it. The color of the tobacco is that of a very well done Sticky Toffee Pudding. The tin aroma even suggests a dark sweet treat.

Moisture level is about right and can be mitigated with the briefest of time out of the tin. Lighting is easy after the char and stays lit unless you let it go out. Burns dry to the bottom of the bowl. Very little dottle.

The flavors start in that light grassy, bright high note. It soon turns darker and hints at molasses, brown bread, caramel, cashews and coffee. Mid bowl this all deepens once again to a level that delivers chocolate, warm spices and more yeast bread.

I have to say that after smoking Old Gowrie, I think I may prefer it to HOTW. But, sweet is the life that has those choices to make. Cheers!

One thing I have to hand to Rattray's ( and Mac Barens also), their tobacco's come with the perfect moisture content right out of the tin, you're not paying for water weight. Upon opening the tin you can smell a fig/ prune aroma more than a Virginia hay sent. The tobacco took a light easy and settled into a very smooth, mild, Virginia out front type smoke. Not as young as Orliks Golden Sliced (red) , not as bright as Mac B Virginia #1. After about a 1/3 of the bowl the Perique just starts to show itself, a little raisin spice more like McC 5100 Red Cake Virginia , not overly sweet. I still don't have my kick of "N" yet but the flavor is more Kentucky showing , similar to Solani's 660 Silver Flake but a touch milder. Wow, if I can get 660 at 1/2 the price, I'm happy ( can you tell I'm on a fixed income). No Bite , but I'm trying to get my "N" and puffing harder, this is bringing a little bitterness about 1/2 way. Now the Kentucky & Perique are out front , very little Virginia sweetness. Needed a relight at about 2/3 bowl, I let it cool for a few minutes and relit , now the sweeter Virginias are back and no bitterness ( I was probably puffing to hard) finally got my "N" in the last 1/3 bowl. Final evaluation: More of a Virginia Kentucky, similar to a mild Solani 660, not what I'd consider a VaPer . I'd buy again

My second bowl I smoked slower and it was sweeter, however, I did notice a little nip at the tongue

Old Gowrie is a top quality straight Virginia blend, while it taste full and delightful, it is not as good as Hal O' the Wynd

If I have to buy 3 tins of Virginia from Rattray, I would choose 3 tins of Hal O' the Wynd

Marline Flake and Old Gowrie I really dont care about.

It was for a long time that I, for what ever reason had never tried O G I don't know why, I guess I was just satisfied with other brands and decided thay made NO better. Then one day a friend was visiting and I asked him what he was smoking, he did not answer just handed me his pouch, I loaded and lit up , "MAMA MIA, Thatsa soma gooda meatballs"!



From that day forward I believe this is the creme dela creme of VAs. If you have read any of my reviews you are familiar with my take on McCraines red ribbon and Red flake, Folks This blend from Rattrays is on equal footing or slightly surpassing these fine VAs.



The tobacco is a lightly rubbed flake ( not by my difination of fully rubbed) of yellow to reddish color, with No casing, Naturally sweet with NO bite easily packed, a tad too moist but dries out easily. An all day good smoke. BUT I will not smoke it all day for to do that I might become burned out on this blend (pun intended) So I have it in my rotation to smoke a coupla a times a week. it smokes consistant to bottom of bowl with oodles of creamy smoke. Reading the other reviews I am not alone in giving this baccy' 3 and probably a tad more kinda like 3 1/2 stars !

hoo-boy

I've been buying and sampling a lot of different tobacco brands and blends lately and I have to say OG was a great change of pace. Most of the blends I've purchased have contained a lot of latakia and I have to say I'm getting pretty burned out on it. It covers up the taste of the other tobaccos they blend it with and I was pleased to burn a bowl of this and not have to deal with latakia. Old Gowrie is a very pleasent smoke and one of the better Virginia blends I've tried to date. When I first opened the seal on the can the smell reminded me of rasins with a hint of maple. When I lit it I found it's flavor very nice with no throat or tongue burn. It has a nice subtle aroma. I can see where it can be a good all day smoke. It goes well with my first cup of coffee in the morning and glass of whiskey in the evening. I've been smoking my tin of this pretty regular. I don't think I'll buy a large quantity of this but I'll buy another tin of it to stash away for a rainy day.

There are several different versions of Old Gowrie, based upon the period of manufacture. This review is specific to the Old Gowrie manufactured ?for Charles Rattray? circa 1995.

This tobacco arrived in a 100g tin, and is packaged in fairly large flakes. While there are some rubbed out elements, some flakes are as large as 2-3 inches in length by 1/2 inches wide.

I purchased this tin in 1995 and opened it in 2002. I have smoked about five bowls in several different pipes. When I first tried this, I was a bit disappointed at the lack of body, in the way of fullness of flavor. There are nice fruity notes in the initial light of the pipe, which are enjoyable, but which do not really characterize what I look for in a tobacco. However, as the bowl continues, particularly after resting for anywhere from 12 hours to several days, the flavor deepens and becomes much fuller. When smoking this, I am disappointed when I start it, but very disappointed when I finish it. In the first case, I am disappointed with the flavor, while at the end of the bowl, I am disappointed to see it go.

Despite having a rather sensitive mouth, I have experienced no bite out of Old Gowrie. One has to be careful not to push the beginning of the bowl, when there is the temptation to smoke faster due to the frugality of flavor.

A very enjoyable smoke, but not for the beginner as it requires some patience and technique to bring out the fullness of flavor.