Just finishing my first bowl of Hal o' the Wynd, and I'm impressed. I bought the tin a few months ago at a B&M because the lid was well yellowed and I figured it had a bit of age on it. I'm a big fan of Marlin Flake, so I wanted to try another Rattray Virginia. A lot of the reviews I read suggested it's fairly strong, but I'm not really noticing that, and I think my palate has always been more for lighter blends. It is, however, full flavored. The perique is front and center, but in flavor I get way more fruitiness with the spice on the retrohale and a little zip in the back of my throat. No harshness at all, in fact very smooth. I'm not a fan of too much Kentucky, and in this blend it's maintaining a very well-behaved earthiness. The virginias are sweet and tangy, with plenty of that note from the reds I can only describe as malty. But it's the perique that's really doing it for me with a nice round fruitiness. This pipe has a tall bowl of medium diameter (Savinelli 707 ks), but I think this blend might be better in a pot, so maybe I'll try that later tonight. Oh well, yet another blend to put on the cellar list.