Rattray Red Rapparee

A Rapparee was an Irish (not Scottish!) highwayman. I have no idea what a Red Rapparee was (or is). But Red Rapparee pipe tobacco is the flagship blend of Rattray's of Scotland. Rattray's has not been produced in Scotland for many decades and now comes from Kohlhase Kopp and Company in Germany.

In the tin RR comes as a fairly fine short ribbon of varied colors--dark, tan, and light. A base of not particularly sweet Virginia and unsweetened dark Cavendish is enhanced with Turkish/oriental and latakia. The manufacturers assure you that this is a "luxurious quantity" of latakia. It isn't. The latakia lurks in the background of the taste.

The Turkish/oriental is absolutely front and center. The relatively small latakia component allows the room note to be pleasant enough as not to annoy any but the most persnickety of non smokers.

Before burning to a dry, white ash, the mixture exhibits some variance in taste. The orientals are always present. The Virginia/Cavendish varies in intensity. The latakia also varies from clearly perceptible to barely perceptible.

Some veteran pipe smokers grouse that Red Rapparee is a far different tobacco now that it is produced out of Scotland. Although I was a pipe smoker in that era, I never smoked the Scottish version. I have smoked the English produced version that predates the current manufacturer. I detect no great difference between the two that I have smoked. I find this to be a pleasant and rewarding smoke, worthy of full attention while consuming a slow burning pipe full.

RRR was for many years?along with NIGHTCAP?my standard evening choice. Rather Stoic-tasting red Virginia is married to very abundant Latakia by a couch of Turkish condimentals, all flavours providing a very large spectrum of taste. It is a potent tobacco, not for grannies. If your chosen post-prandial drink is Amaretto or Southern Comfort, you will not enjoy RRR. If you like harsh, peaty single-malt whiskeys, or fiery Armagnac, this is your blend: it will keep you from dozing off at the dinner table, that's for sure!

To be perfectly candid, I enjoy extreme tastes, or highly-flavoured food, less than I used to in my [non!]salad days. Eulenburg is much more likely to smoke a Virginia flake washed down by some very smooth cognac nowadays. But this is still One Of The Greats.

Tin note is sweet, tangy Virginia's with smokey Latakia in the background. Stuffing your nose in the tin and breathing there for a minute or 5, you get some spicy and woody orientals. This is one of the most interesting and unique tobacco blends I have encountered. This is best in a large bowl but good in all. I am not sure what I was expecting but this wasn't it. The red VA and Orientals are the stars of this show. There is a tanginess and earthiness the underlie the entire smoke. It is really great. There is also spiciness and bready and malty flavors that are backed by a sweet smokiness from the Latakia. There is something else...a flavor I cannot name, and I have tried, that is there maybe a mustiness almost like good mushrooms that is there especially on the retrohale. A one of a kind blend for Balkan and Oriental lovers alike.

This is a tobacco purchased in 100 gr box and smoked as it came out without drying. I smoke it using Peterson pipes with a 9 mm filter.

I am a not so experienced pipe smoker who prefers the taste of English blends and I usually smoke Dunhill's EMP, MM965, Nightcap, Davidoff's Royalty. I find Red Rapparee having an excellent taste that I find most superior for my taste at least with respect to any other tobacco I have tried. One particular feature that I like is that for some tobacco's I find that I always need to drink something to wash my mouth to prevent that sour tongue feeling after a while. RR is smooth and I find it that I could smoke it without that. The only negative feature that I find is that it burns quite hot or at least hotter than other blends like EMP. I definitely recommend it, it is an excellent tobacco.

The end is not nigh, the end has come. This tobacco is, quite simply, a masterpiece.

The first thing I noticed was the quality and natural sweetness of this blend. The smoke is bright, smooth and bursting with flavour. You can tell from the first sniff of the tin that this smoke is going to be something special, and all the way from the charring light to the dottle, it does not disappoint. There are many different flavours in here, which seem both to sing out as individuals, yet work together as a team. The Latakia is definitely used as a condiment, a spice. It is mild and yet noticeable. I might describe this tobacco as "spicy" in the same way that cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice are spices without being hot. The smoke has a very fine bite, which seems to serve almost as pepper on a meal - to awaken the pallet to the rest of the flavour.

The description mentions a fine cigar, and I know what it means. Especially during the first half of the bowl there is a hint of something resembling the finest Cuban cigar. Not overpowering, little more than a suggestion, and perhaps only in the sidestream smoke.

Sweet, aromatic, dynamic and captivating. This is not just a tobacco, it is a dance. It is a symphony. In terms of 'mixtures', this is the grail.

Summary: a Scottish mixture closer to Balkan levels of Orientals, this blend provides a depth of flavor.

A solid Scottish blend -- an English with Cavendish added -- presents a spicy gingerbread flavor, like "My Mixture 965," but by upping the Orientals and Latakia, "Red Rapparee" delivers a stronger and darker take on the English more like "Nightcap." As with most of these, the Latakia flares first at the touch of the flame, but then the strong Virginia flavor comes out, but the Orientals balance it and the unflavored Cavendish flattens it out, making a blend that has no single identifiable dominating flavor. Instead, like a Hieronymous Bosch triptych, this blend delivers a solid note of Virginia-Latakia with details constant emerging and interacting. The Orientals give it a spicy undertone and the Cavendish imparts an almost floral quality. Like most of the Kohlhase & Kopp production, it has added sugars and is cut to a fine ribbon following the Dunhill model, which makes for a nice easy burn. It came slightly wet out of the tin, but lights perfectly at that moisture level and provides a great deal of flavor without letting the Latakia clobber everything else.

I was walking and browsing my local pipe shop one day and saw a tin of Red Rapparee on the shelf and based on all the good stuff I had heard about it recently I decided to give it a try. I always look up tobacco reviews when I get a new tin of anything so I was pleased to find that this was a Scottish Mixture, which means it is Virginia forward, which is what I love about Draquer and Son's Blaorgowrie. I've heard it said that Scottish mixtures are VA forward, English Mixtures are Latakia forward, and Balkans are Oriental forward and that is the definition I mostly accept. The world of Latakia is broad and doesn't always stick to standard definitions.

The tin is very old timey and simple. There isn't much of a tin description either. When I first opened my tin I found a nice ribbon cut tobacco with a good mix of blacks and browns. The tobacco came moist enough for my liking without being drowned. The tin note smells of sweet, hay-like Virginias, tangy, herbal Orientals, and soft, leathery and smokey Latakia. It has a very nice aroma to it. This blend is easy to pack, and easy to light. It keeps its light fairly well.

The smell transfers into the taste in some very appealing ways. The Virginias are up front giving me a delicate sweetness, citrus, and grassiness. The Orientals follow, with herbal, floral, and incense notes. The application of Latakia is light but effective, adding smoked leather, and creaminess to the experience. Sweet and herbal, grassy and smokey, a good example of what a Scottish Mixture can be.

The taste is a medium. There isn't anything here that wants to overpower you. The strength is a solid medium, great for a cool or a warm day. This tastes lovely in a large bowled pipe. The room note is typical of an English blend, but it sort of reminds me of the smell of Presbyterian Mixture.

Yes, Rattray always makes the best Scottish Blend in the world.

It teaches mediocre American blenders how to add the Black Cavendish.

Old classic legend, solid four stars.

Mixed cut, mostly red and black ribbons with a few pieces of broken flakes and some brighter ribbons which are rather long, so while packing is generally easy, some care must be taken for these longer ribbons. Aroma from the tin is smoky and woodsy – typical English -with a light fruity note perhaps from the Turkish tobaccos. Moisture is just a little bit higher than perfect, so I’d recommend an approximately fifteen minute taking out of the tin and spreading before jarring.

Latakia is definitely present – sweet and woodsy - but here center stage is held by the naturally fragrant Turkish tobaccos. I guess more than one leaf is used, as I sense sweet (could also be the Cavendish), fruity and sour/tangy/salty Turkish tobaccos at the same time. This to me is a Turkish forward (Balkan one might call it…) blend par excellence. Especially until at least mid-bowl. Then on the taste becomes more toasty/bready like the red Virginias becoming more prominent.

Strength is on the mild side of medium with good burning behavior. I find Red Rapparee delicious. It is a complex blend with its interplay of sourness and tanginess from Turkish with woodsy smokiness of the Latakia upon a sweet Virginia/Cavendish base and what’s more it develops while smoking at least in medium to larger bowls.

If I had to characterize Red Rapparee with one word it would be its Turkish tanginess which I really love. On the minus I could count the (subjective) fact that in some pipes (not all) it is a little sharp and produces (to me at least) a minor tongue bite. Also it burns a little fast. However it’s one of the tastiest Turkish-forward English blends I have ever smoked.