Rattray Red Rapparee

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.

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.

This blend in the tin reminds me of Black Mallory but a step lighter in color than the previous. One can smell less latakia as well, though it's definitely present. More red virginia sweetness entices the nose from the tin with this blend as well, giving hints of bread, earth, with a bit of hay and tang.

Packed very easily into the pipe and lit well. It remained lit and behaved itself wonderfully. Flavors of smokiness and earth tones balanced against the spice of orientals and natural sweetness for the first 1/4 of the bowl. After that the latakia dies down and the virginias, cavendish, and orientals take center stage. Flavors of natural sweetness, not overpowering, with some bread and earth with the balance of spice and incense, but ever so subtle.

This blend doesn't bite and has a wonderful finish. I'm a fan. It reminds me of a mid-day smoke similar to Meridian (since both have red va's and less latakia as their other sibling (Black-Mallory & Quiet Nights). An enticing and enjoyable blend that I will keep around for years to come.

Red Rapparee, at least the only version I have smoked (K, K, and Co) comes in proper uniform fine ribbons. This alone endears it to me. The cut makes the tobacco extremely easy to work with. It is a good mixture, which means it has lots of diverse flavors that are pleasing because they both contrast and support one another.

If I were to posit that English mixtures contain four basic flavor elements present in some particular character, strength, and proportion to one another (coffee stout, campfire, cinnamon/spice, and incense), AND that Dunhill's London Mixture has these four in precisely equal proportion, then I would also say that Red Rapparee is balanced heavily to the coffee stout and campfire points of the compass in comparison. It is rich, sweet, and complex, with chocolate, coffee, and woodsmoke flavors dominating, although there is a little spicy twang detectable. I think this flavor profile is common to most of the blends that have the word "Balkan" associated with them.

I'll get right to the point: This is a remarkably pleasant tobacco with a full oriental flavour without the slightest hint of harshness, even if smoked quick and hot . It really is quite extraordinary and has become my favorite blend after only a month of smoking it.

The can I bought is brand new, fresh packed by Kohlhase und Kopp. So if you would go out and buy a can of Red Rapparee right now, this is what you would get.