Rattray Old Gowrie

Very, very, very nice VA/kentucky broken flake!

Hopwever, it lacks some vitamin N. But for the rest, it is very well done!

I predominantly smoke virginias, and enjoy milder examples.

Old Gowrie has some pretty fair reviews below - this is an unpretentious, quality tobacco, easy-smoking, mild but with a pleasant virginia dominant flavour, slightly ashy in the second half of the bowl, and a pronounced sweet and lingering aftertaste.

Smokers that are looking for a "statement" of flavorings will probably find Old Gowrie wanting - there is little apparent topping which suggests it is a plain sugar and vinegar treatment, in good balance, or a light hand indeed in what flavorings have been added. Very little perique, if any, certainly less than some of the best-known Vapers.

This is a bit of purist smoke for the plain, milder virginia smoker looking for nuance rather than bold statement. There is subtlety and pleasure in smoking it dry and slow. I'll cellar a fair amount - it would be an excellent blender with topped blends that are found to overbearing, or could take a pinch or two of latakia or perique in stride. Solid stuff.

Hmmmm...2 stars or 3 stars. This is high quality tobacco for sure. Nice pure tobaccos that don't have as much bite as I have found in other virginias. The only problem is that you really have to like that soapy taste and mouth feel that some tobacco has. I happen to dislike that taste, but I'll still rate it for what it is without my personal bias and just give you fair warning.

Old Gowrie has a wonderful tin aroma, but it's far to wet to smoke straight out of the tin. At the risk of editorializing, I always scratch my head when I read reviews that criticize a tobacco for smoking "too wet"--unless one is dealing with a particularly heavy casing, most condensation and bowl gurgle can usually be dealt with by letting a blend breathe a bit before packing or switching to a higher quality briar (or a corncob, for that matter). But I digress.

OG is grassy, and less sweet than I was expecting from the tin smell. It's well- behaved for a virginia, which is to say it'll still bite easily enough if I get distracted. It has an oat-y note from time to time as well, and a nice, faint clover flourish that shows up once in a while near the end of the bowl.

Maybe I'd "get" OG better if I could afford to dedicate a pipe to it (I do keep my straight virginia pipe pretty clean), but for right now, I'm going to give it three stars. It's good for what it is, and maybe that's all one can ask of any blend, but there are so many other great straight virginias out there--Full Virginia Flake, Best Brown Flake, the McClelland 20's, etc.--that I really don't see what all the fuss is about.

First off let me say that I am a novice pipe smoker and I cant detect every nuance in different tobaccos but I know what I like. As I am still learning which blends i like I bought a tin of 50g of this with 3 other different tobaccos namely Connoisseurs Choice, Old Dublin and Sunset Breeze. I must admit that the number one choice for me was C.C. however this pushed it a close second. In actual fact it was the first of the four tins that I finished. Although that was only because I wanted to prolong my supply of CC until I could get some more. That being said I found this to be a perfectly good smoke. When opening the tin you get a whiff of hay and a sweetness of dried fruit. The sweetness is evident in the smoking too. Obviously I am beginning to identify the sweetness of the Virginia leaf. Half way down the bowl I get a spiciness which does not overpower the smoke and all in all leaves you wanting more. I thought that my better half wouldnt like the smell of this but when I lit up in the car she commented that the smell wasnt unpleasant at all. Which for her was a massice compliment as she dislikes tobacco smoke (cigarettes).

I have added this tobacco to my list of definitely must have again, but for now I am still exploring although apart from Connoisseurs Choice I feel that this tobacco has shown me which area to explore in the future and that will in the direction of good Virginias. Am looking forward to trying Marlin Flake, Petersons University Flake and SGs Best Brown Flake. these should make for interesting comparisons.

Of the others I tried I definitely wont be getting another tin of Old Dublin again (see other review)which was not my cup of tea. Which I guess was due to the smokey quality of the Latakia. which gave me hiccups no matter how slow I smoked. I will also give sunset breeze a miss too especially as Connoisseurs Choice is much more pleasant to my taste.

While the sticker on the bottom of the tin says dark Virginia flake, I found this to be more suitably categorized as a medium Virginia.

The tobacco is similar in texture and taste to Samuel Gawith's Medium Virginia Flake. A little darker in colour than MVF, and a little sweeter as the smoke progresses. Not significantly so, however, and certainly not enough to justify the price difference, in my opinion.

I would certainly reccomend this tobacco for someone experimenting with Virginias, because I believe that there is a Holy Grail of tobaccos for everyone. While this would be a non-offensive daily smoker for me, I really crave the fuller flavoured Virginias-FVF is perfect for me.

When looking for a lighter smoke, I would probably gravitate toward MVF or Golden Glow. They offer the best bang for the buck in this category.

Nice ribbon cut with not too much moisture content. I grab for this is if I don't feel like rubbing out a flake. A nutty, somewhat sweet taste. A little pricey though. I give it it 3 stars for now. It's a nice subdued virginia.

A good unadulterated Virginia, however, I give it three stars because I find SG BBF more satisfying.

Sweet and grassy scent in the bag mouth watering from the start. I rubbed it out a bit and let sit about 15 minutes, used the frank method to pack. Starts out very pleasant and sweet then after about 10 minutes I start to get a little nose tingle and wonder if there?s a bit of perique. Smoking characteristics were the same through the whole bowl and I once caught myself going a bit too fast but the tobacco never punished me for it. Smoked very cool with no bite and the room note was also quite pleasant. It gave me a slight head rush after I was through and there nothing left but beautiful ash. Overall it smoked beautifully and was a very pleasant smoke.