Rattray Old Gowrie

This is a top natural mixture. No casing and an extremely mild top dressing or maybe vice versa. Pay attention: this is not a Virginia/Perique mixture. This is misleading. There is a little bit of Perique and you can taste it but it is not prominent and – anyway - it is not in a leading role. This is a Virginia/Kentucky mixture. The Virginia is predominant at the beginning; subsequently the Kentucky appears with its unmistakable flavor. The taste is an ideal combination between Virginia and Kentucky, a quite perfect marriage with Perique as a witness. In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 8 and three stars.

At first taste, a milder Hal o' the Wynd; over time it becomes more distinctive. Slightly woodsy over the VA and light Perique, the N might be medium but the taste is still fairly full. The cut seems divided between average and thicker strands. The thinner strands keep it going nicely while the thick strands give this some staying power in the bowl.

This is not a 'wow' blend; this is a solid smoke, easily well-worth repeating if you smoke more than once a day. However, if you only smoke once in a while, you might want something a bit more distinctive. 3 1/2 stars.

Finally ready for a review. I was excited about this tin but the first several bowls were a disappointment. I couldnt figure out what everyone else was liking about it. I put it away to come back to later. I now see how wet this blend is right out of the 3.5 oz tin, and i dont know why i didnt see that before. Its like soggy moss and reminded me of seaweed. I finally had the time to space it out on paper and let it air out all morning. NOW I get it. Great flavor combo of that sweet va rattray flavor with just a touch of per to give it a subtle pop. Slow burning. Tasty. A winner! Im looking forward to future bowls.

March 24, 2014 addition to my review. Old Gowrie has become one of my favorite blends and found a way into my permenant rotation. The unique flavor packs a punch and accompanies a decent nick kick. Love it!

This is a very nice blend. The Virginias are outstanding. A little more body and this would be a 4 star blend for me.

I recently tried three of the Virginia blends (Marlin Flake, Hal O' The Wynd and Old Gowrie) from Rattray as they tend to get lumped together and I wanted to know what seperated them.

OG was right in the middle for me in terms of strength and preference.

Virginia, Kentucky, Perique all feel as though they're present and in that order, I'd say. Flavour/aroma was of dusty books and buttered toast.

Not as strong or malty-sweet as Hal not as tangy or steamy-soft as MF.

A good tobacco which will probably bring me back at some point but I'd choose HOTW over it. For whatever that's worth.

Nice all day smoke, Virginia is the leader, Kentucky and Perique in a support role. No chance of bite, smoke is cool and dry. Taste - honey, hay, dry fruits, figs with touch of spiciness. Simply good, natural tobacco. Recommended.

A fairly straight Virginia, I suspect there might be some Burley in here somewhere, of mid to dark brown broken flakes. The tin note gives some dark sugar aromas, a hint of chocolate and cinnamon and something that reminds me a little of plasticine.

Is a little moist straight from a fresh tin, but isn't particularly difficult to manage in the pipe.

A very sweet, and lightly spice-like smoke. It is uncomplicated, clean and linear. With these boxes ticked along with a good price point, it makes for a good all day smoke. My wife objected to this one, perhaps because it is somewhat cigarette like.

After reading some of the reviews, I was expecting OG to really be something special. While it's not "bad" by any stretch of the imagination, I was was disappointed when I found it be a fairly pedestrian blend.

The tin note is what you would expect from a VA with a hint of perique - semi-sweet citrus from the VA, a bit of earthiness from the KY, and just a bit of fig/raisin from the little perique that is present. The cut is a broken flake, with the tobacco cut length-wise rather than in chunks. So far, so good!

The tobacco is a bit too moist straight from the tin - rubbed out and given a few hours to dry out helped things along, but being left out overnight really worked wonders for the burn rate and kept things nice and cool.

The smoke itself was not bad, provided enough drying time was given. Smoked straight from the tin or without rubbing out left things slightly-acrid up front and muddy/ashy by mid-bowl. Dried out, it could be a worthwhile blend, as that's really the only way to experience what OG has to offer.

There are some pretty significant pros - first, the VA is top notch. This IS NOT a blend designed to blow your socks off with in-your-face VA sweetness. It is a very mellow blend that can only really be appreciated by smoking low and slow. I was a bit surprised by the fact that I could more readily taste the earthy Kentuckys more readily than the spicy/fruity perique, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This isn't a tangy VaPer at all - it's a non-intrusive, relaxed sort of blend.

There are some drawbacks though, and they are worth noting. First, this can get very monochromatic, very quickly. To my personal tastes, I expect this an appreciate this in a Virginia-only or Burley-forward blend...in a blend like OG that includes KY as well as Perique, I would have hoped for a little more nuance, and for the smoke to change a bit throughout the bowl. This may not be a problem for most, but it does keep it out of 4-star territory in my book. As mentioned, the tin-moisture is also a bit of a drawback - not because the drying time is a problem in and of itself. For me a truly "great" blend is great out of the tin and out-of-this-world with a bit of drying/moisture to correct the levels. OG requires drying time to go from smokeable to very good.

Given proper drying time and the expectations of a straightforward, consistent smoke, this could be something that is really, really enjoyable. It's worth the muss and fuss, though, and certainly worth recommending to someone looking for a mellow VA to spend some time with.

EDIT 5/31/2016

It has been nearly four years since I reviewed this one. I bought 500g of this based on my first experience. When I first smoked this (I had only been smoking for 9 months when I first reviewed this) I lacked a lot of knowledge that comes in handy now.

To start with, the tin I first bought had a lot of age on it and it wasn't till later that I learned that Virginias intensify in sweetness with age, thus my first experience was overwhelmingly a sweet Virginia taste.

I just recently finished up about 7 ounces that I jarred and will say that it was not the same fresh as it was aged. It was still good, but very different from what I reviewed. Smoking it fresh, the Kentucky and perique were more apparent, albeit, still lightly applied to my taster. I still like this blend, but am taking a star off of it as there are too many with this flavor profile I would choose before this one. I do look forward to seeing how the remaining containers I have aging will taste after they get a few more years on them.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 7-19-2012

A wonderful VaPer or rather something in between a VaPer and a straight VA. Perique is light, but still noticeable. I highly recommend it and need to get some more soon.