Rattray Professional Mixture

First impressions in the tin are of raisins, dates & port wine. The weed itself comprises golden ribbon (Va), a little brown leaf & a good sprinkling of black leaf (Orientals). It?s described as a mixture that stimulates & soothes (oh brother). The pipe?s a Mastro de Paja bulldog. First few draws to get it going & the fruit comes through together with the Turkish. It?s pleasant, but the flavours don?t meld into one. There?s a spiciness in this that belies the ingredients. A third of the way down the bowl & it?s gone flat ? little spice, but the flavour has just flattened out completely. Ho hum. There?s a mustiness instead. Halfway through & the spiciness has transformed into a mild sting ? not unpleasant though - & the smoke is turning a little bitter. Further down, & its even more bitter ? it?s the Turkish, I?m sure, because in the background I can taste the Va?s which are mellowing out quite nicely, like whipped cream. Now three-quarters of the way into this smoke & the bitterness has almost subsided. It?s not a pipe thing, I?ve experienced this on every smoke ? not just this review. The sting has backed down into spiciness again & a richness has unfolded. Not bad. But not a complex smoking experience. Last quarter & it does improve, but it was never a remarkable experience.

I won?t be buying another tin of Professional Mixture. I found it disappointing, not in the league of what I?ve come to expect from Rattrays.

I have been told that Rattray's blends are some classic mixtures, but after my sixth bowl, I'm not impressed. I was looking to find a well balanced latakia blend, and this is not it. All I could taste was virginas, and that was brief after my tongue began to sizzle. I'm sorry but this tin will be my last, it smokes wet, gurggles, and man does it bite. I think my mouth deserves some ice cream. By the way WHERE IN THIS BLEND IS THE LATAKIA? There are a few errant black strips in this, that hardly constitutes a blend. Nasty stuff in my opinion, almost up there with Carter Hall, my opinion is my own however. To all others who enjoy, I'm glad you do. Sorry, but only one star worthy in my opinion, take it for what its worth.

New to Rattray and only tried because the local tobaccoist said it was a good choice. Well, I tried it and was not pleased. When I first lit my pipe I said this was not a wise decision to buy. It nearly burnt the nose hair right out of my head. Sorry try again.

After having tried all the range of the Rattray's latakia mixtures, I certainly wasn't holding my breath: I like Red Rapparee and Black Mallory, but I loathe all their other offerings. It seems to me that Accountant Mixture, Highland Targe, Jocks Mixture, 3 Noggins and 7 Reserve (the "best" of these five) are all slight variations on the theme of dullness: one is a bit tastier, one has some more orientals, one has the added sweetness and tonguebite of black cavendish... but they all are examples of very uninspiring tobaccos. They have little taste, they leave a grey sensation in the mouth, they are BORING. Perhaps when Mr. Rattray used to make them himself, they were subtle and delicious tobaccos, but today they are made in Germany by Kohlhase & Kopp and they often plain suck. As you can guess, my hopes for Professional were not high: a lighter version of the bland Accountant MIxture? Wow, that surely must be a feat! Indeed it is milder, with more bright virginias and less red ones, and less orientals and latakia. And, in spite of my low expectations, it still managed to disappoint me! The cut is finer than averagem and it burns quite well (probably because it's drier than many Rattrays too). The flavor is bland to the point of boredom (in spite of an intriguingly fruity tin aroma, which reminds of pears), absolutely monochromatic and reminding of burning paper. Cigarettish, if I may say so. Definitely a letdown of a blend: try GLPease Piccadilly instead if you want a light English which is MUCH better than this!