Robert McConnell Red Virginia

This is another hand blend from Kohlhase & Kopp in Germany and quite typical of their work with toppings that enhance but don't dominate the smoke. The tin aroma was quite sweet but the taste more of natural tobacco but with a honeydew presence. I've been smoking some hi test blends recently, and I didn't sense the Perique influence. Packing, lighting, moisture content were fine and an even burn resulted in all bowl sizes. This blend was too mild for my taste as a regular but could certainly be enjoyed in the future.

I agree with some of the above descriptions. This is a good straight ahead virginia with a dash of perique and some ? top dressing that is mild. definitely shows some spiciness but not nearly as much as some other perique blends. The tobacco flavors come through very well. This is very good and tasty. Smooth without bite. Burns nicely and easy to load up again after being done. 4 stars

If I could give stars for the quality of a blend, and not just the frequency that I choose it, beyond a doubt McConnell's Red Virginia would merit all four stars, with clusters to boot.

A medium strength, and coloured, broken flake honeydew, it has been given a wonderful and subtle topping. Whoever formulated this blend in the bygone years truly merits recognition and accolades. I feel rather grateful that it is still available, no matter where it's from.

It is not at all strong, so wouldn't be my first choice for a cold windy day. But neither is the tobacco meek, counting on mere additives to save the day. Rather it is subtle, sure of itself, and if I had to choose one word to describe it, "clear" would be it. I'm ashamed to admit that the perique doesn't jump out...has too much "Escudo" ruined me?

It is not always my first pick, but whenever I light a bowl of this blend I think to myself: "this is why I smoke a pipe!"

Perique is present in small amounts and peppers it from time to time. This blend burns slowly and is semi-sweet with nice but discrete aroma.
Virginia is star here, very tacky, excitingly dark, earthy, woody, sugary red Virginia. Touch of chocolate from a topping but not very dominant. All day smoke, but in small puffs, it can bite if too aggressive, it can leave a little moisture at the end of bowl.

Interesting blend. I got flavors of hay, straw, figs, rasins, berries a very natural taste. The Perique is there but hard to detect i did get some spicy top note but not much. All in all its a good natural Va/per perfect for me

This is an interesting offering.

Red VAs are richer, stronger, sweeter and spicier than regular VAs.

With a bit of Périque, this mixture becomes something any pipe smoker would like to try.

I will rebuy!

I am not generally a lover of Virginia blends, but tried this based on Dubinthedam's recommendation on youtube. This blend may change my mind about virginias. It is quite lovely. As Dub said it has a kind of hay taste. It seems to smell of rasberry in the can, but upon smoking it is a very light taste. This is no gloopy drug store aromatic or cigar store sticky house blend aromatic. This is a very high quality tasting tin aromatic. I was reminded of my visits to my grandmothers ranch as a child, the smell of the hay there. It brought back nice memories. Nice flavor and a feeling of very high quality tobacco. If you like virginias, you will probably love this subtle blend. If you don't like virginias give this one a try. It changed my view of virginias.

The very well packing and easy to lit tobacco. Leaving a clean soft ash.

Too much fruity and very mild for my taste. After finishing every bowl, I looked to smoke something else with a rich tobacco taste.

And where is the perique in this blend? I didn't detect it. Sorry, I can not recommend for real tobacco taste seekers. Maybe would be a pace for aromatic fans.

A very good blend, solid 3.5 stars. I'm tightening up on my ratings and only give 4 stars to my top 5 blends that are in my core rotation of tobaccos. Those at this date are Escudo, Penzance, University Flake, Churchill & still deciding what the 5th will be.