Here's my reviews of Russ Ouellette's RO series.
RO Series Acadian English:
The various Virginias offer a big burst of tangy, fermented citrus with a mild malty tartness, a fair amount of grass and hay, some sugar, a very light dark fruitiness, wood and earth, a slight floral and bare spice note, and a few drops of honey and bread. The smoky, musty, woody sweet Cyprian latakia is a supporting player, and mitigates the sweetness of the Virginias just a mite. The unflavored black cavendish adds a touch of smooth sugar way in the background. The strength and taste levels just make the medium mark. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, and has no dull or rough moments. Burns cool, clean, at slightly less than a moderate pace with a very consistent, rich flavor all the way to the end. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant lightly lingering sweet, mild campfire after taste. Can be an all day smoke. Three and a half stars.
RO Series Acadian Gold:
The various Virginias offer a big burst of tangy, fermented citrus with a mild malty tartness, a fair amount of grass and hay, some sugar, a very light dark fruitiness, wood and earth, a slight floral and bare spice note, and a few drops of honey and bread. The strength level is just past the center of mild to medium, while the taste is a step past that mark. The nic-hit is a tad below the strength threshold. No chance of bite or harshness, and has no rough edges. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a very consistent, deep flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a very pleasant, lightly lingering after taste and room note. Can be an all day smoke, or a mixer if you’re so inclined.
RO Series Acadian VaPer:
The various Virginias offer a big burst of tangy, fermented citrus with a mild malty tartness, a fair amount of grass and hay, some sugar, a very light dark fruitiness, wood and earth, a slight floral and bare spice note, and a few drops of honey and bread. The plummy, raisiny, very mildly spicy acadian perique also has a touch of stewed fruit in a support role. The strength and taste levels are a hair past the medium threshold. The nic-hit is slightly past the center of mild to medium. No chance of bite, harshness, or roughness. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a mostly consistent, rich flavor from start to finish, and easily burns to ash. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasantly lingering fruity sweet and mildly spicy after taste. It’s almost an all day smoke, and experienced VaPer aficionados may well consider it to be one.
RO Perique Series Blend B-41:
The golden Virginia provides some tangy citrus, grass and hay, with a light toastiness, and forms the base of the blend. The Belmont perique is spicy, buttery, and earthy with a slight stewed, fermented fruit note as a supporting player. The woody, dry, spicy, smoky, savory dark fired Kentucky rises just above being a condiment, and is evident in every puff. The strength and taste levels start out as medium and gets to the the center of medium to strong by the half way point. The nic-hit is closer to medium than it is to mild. Won’t bite or get harsh, but the Kentucky does have a hint of a rough edge. Burns cool, clean and being a shag cut, a little fast. The mildly sweet and more woody, smoky, spicy savory, complex, well balanced flavors are consistent from start to finish, easily burning to ash with few relights. Has a lingering after taste that’s a bit filling. Not an all day smoke, and I recommend a small bowl for this one.
RO Fire Storm:
The tangy, dark fruit sweet Virginias also have a touch of earth. The fire-cured mahogany Kentucky is a little woody with some spice and mild nuttiness. The perique is plum and pepper with some raisin notes. The spice flavor reminds me of cinnamon (it isn’t), though it’s more noticeable in the first half of the smoke much of the time, you will feel its presence to the finish. The sweetness seems more obvious in the first half as well. I don’t think I’d say this blend gets peppery in the second half of the bowl as the description says so much as it seems to be a little less sweeter, which allows the spice to appear to be more prominent. Burns cool and clean with no dull or harsh spots and a consistent taste. Has a nice after taste. Won’t bite or get harsh, and you'll likely enjoy the spice tingle from beginning to end. Three and a half stars.
RO Perique Blend GP-11:
The lightly grassy and tangy, very citrusy bright Virginia forms the base of the blend. The earthy, fairly nutty, woody, toasty, double toasted burley also has quite a bit of cocoa in a competitive role, and at times, takes a light lead. The raisiny, plumy, spicy perique is a important complimentary addition, and is noticeable in every puff. It also sports a slight essence of wine. You can taste most of the inherent characteristics of the tobaccos in every puff, though at times, some nuances peek out a tad more than the others. The strength is a shade closer to medium than it is to mild. The taste level starts out just below medium and by the time you’re at the last third of the bowl, reaches the medium threshold. Won’t bite or get harsh. The tobaccos are rather dry, so this blend burns a little fast, cool and clean with a rich, deep, complex, moderately consistent and smooth flavor from start to finish as it easily burns to ash. Leaves virtually no moisture in the bowl, and requires few relights. Has a very pleasant, tangy sweet, woody, slightly smoky after taste. Can be an all day smoke.
RO Perique Series Blend P-37:
The various Virginias offer some tangy citrus with a fair amount of grass and hay, and forms the base of the blend. The spicy, woody, earthy, lightly smoky and sour Paulina perique also has very mild plum and coffee characteristics as an important supporting player. The sugar from the unflavored black cavendish adds a smoothing quality in the background. The strength and taste levels are just short of medium. The nic-hit is a hair below the mild to medium threshold. Won’t bite or get harsh, but has a hint of a rough edge here and there. Burns cool, clean, slightly fast with a very consistent mildly sweet and savory, peppery, well balanced flavor which translates to the after taste. Easily burns to ash. Leaves little moisture in the bowl. Needs an average number of relights. Not quite an all day smoke, but experienced VaPer smokers may consider it to be one. Three and a half stars.
RO Perique Series Blend SV-23:
The fairly tangy, citrusy Virginias also offer a bit of grass and hay with a touch of toast and honey. They form the base of the blend. The very noticeable South Vacherie perique provides a bit of white pepper, and is a tad leathery with coffee undertones, and its potency belies the amount used in this mixture. I consider it to be a second lead. The tingly white pepper does seem to get lightly stronger as you go along. This perique is a little less sweeter than what most smokers are used to. The nutty, very woody, earthy, toasty and light cocoa aspects of the burley have a modicum of sweetness in a support role. The strength is medium, while the taste level is just past that threshold. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, and has no rough edges. Burns cool, clean, and slightly fast with a mostly consistent, rich, well balanced flavor all the way through the experience as it easily burns to ash. Has a lot of depth and body. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a lingering peppery, woody, mildly sweet after taste. Not quite an all day smoke, but it’s certainly repeatable.
RO Series Acadian English:
The various Virginias offer a big burst of tangy, fermented citrus with a mild malty tartness, a fair amount of grass and hay, some sugar, a very light dark fruitiness, wood and earth, a slight floral and bare spice note, and a few drops of honey and bread. The smoky, musty, woody sweet Cyprian latakia is a supporting player, and mitigates the sweetness of the Virginias just a mite. The unflavored black cavendish adds a touch of smooth sugar way in the background. The strength and taste levels just make the medium mark. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, and has no dull or rough moments. Burns cool, clean, at slightly less than a moderate pace with a very consistent, rich flavor all the way to the end. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant lightly lingering sweet, mild campfire after taste. Can be an all day smoke. Three and a half stars.
RO Series Acadian Gold:
The various Virginias offer a big burst of tangy, fermented citrus with a mild malty tartness, a fair amount of grass and hay, some sugar, a very light dark fruitiness, wood and earth, a slight floral and bare spice note, and a few drops of honey and bread. The strength level is just past the center of mild to medium, while the taste is a step past that mark. The nic-hit is a tad below the strength threshold. No chance of bite or harshness, and has no rough edges. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a very consistent, deep flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a very pleasant, lightly lingering after taste and room note. Can be an all day smoke, or a mixer if you’re so inclined.
RO Series Acadian VaPer:
The various Virginias offer a big burst of tangy, fermented citrus with a mild malty tartness, a fair amount of grass and hay, some sugar, a very light dark fruitiness, wood and earth, a slight floral and bare spice note, and a few drops of honey and bread. The plummy, raisiny, very mildly spicy acadian perique also has a touch of stewed fruit in a support role. The strength and taste levels are a hair past the medium threshold. The nic-hit is slightly past the center of mild to medium. No chance of bite, harshness, or roughness. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a mostly consistent, rich flavor from start to finish, and easily burns to ash. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasantly lingering fruity sweet and mildly spicy after taste. It’s almost an all day smoke, and experienced VaPer aficionados may well consider it to be one.
RO Perique Series Blend B-41:
The golden Virginia provides some tangy citrus, grass and hay, with a light toastiness, and forms the base of the blend. The Belmont perique is spicy, buttery, and earthy with a slight stewed, fermented fruit note as a supporting player. The woody, dry, spicy, smoky, savory dark fired Kentucky rises just above being a condiment, and is evident in every puff. The strength and taste levels start out as medium and gets to the the center of medium to strong by the half way point. The nic-hit is closer to medium than it is to mild. Won’t bite or get harsh, but the Kentucky does have a hint of a rough edge. Burns cool, clean and being a shag cut, a little fast. The mildly sweet and more woody, smoky, spicy savory, complex, well balanced flavors are consistent from start to finish, easily burning to ash with few relights. Has a lingering after taste that’s a bit filling. Not an all day smoke, and I recommend a small bowl for this one.
RO Fire Storm:
The tangy, dark fruit sweet Virginias also have a touch of earth. The fire-cured mahogany Kentucky is a little woody with some spice and mild nuttiness. The perique is plum and pepper with some raisin notes. The spice flavor reminds me of cinnamon (it isn’t), though it’s more noticeable in the first half of the smoke much of the time, you will feel its presence to the finish. The sweetness seems more obvious in the first half as well. I don’t think I’d say this blend gets peppery in the second half of the bowl as the description says so much as it seems to be a little less sweeter, which allows the spice to appear to be more prominent. Burns cool and clean with no dull or harsh spots and a consistent taste. Has a nice after taste. Won’t bite or get harsh, and you'll likely enjoy the spice tingle from beginning to end. Three and a half stars.
RO Perique Blend GP-11:
The lightly grassy and tangy, very citrusy bright Virginia forms the base of the blend. The earthy, fairly nutty, woody, toasty, double toasted burley also has quite a bit of cocoa in a competitive role, and at times, takes a light lead. The raisiny, plumy, spicy perique is a important complimentary addition, and is noticeable in every puff. It also sports a slight essence of wine. You can taste most of the inherent characteristics of the tobaccos in every puff, though at times, some nuances peek out a tad more than the others. The strength is a shade closer to medium than it is to mild. The taste level starts out just below medium and by the time you’re at the last third of the bowl, reaches the medium threshold. Won’t bite or get harsh. The tobaccos are rather dry, so this blend burns a little fast, cool and clean with a rich, deep, complex, moderately consistent and smooth flavor from start to finish as it easily burns to ash. Leaves virtually no moisture in the bowl, and requires few relights. Has a very pleasant, tangy sweet, woody, slightly smoky after taste. Can be an all day smoke.
RO Perique Series Blend P-37:
The various Virginias offer some tangy citrus with a fair amount of grass and hay, and forms the base of the blend. The spicy, woody, earthy, lightly smoky and sour Paulina perique also has very mild plum and coffee characteristics as an important supporting player. The sugar from the unflavored black cavendish adds a smoothing quality in the background. The strength and taste levels are just short of medium. The nic-hit is a hair below the mild to medium threshold. Won’t bite or get harsh, but has a hint of a rough edge here and there. Burns cool, clean, slightly fast with a very consistent mildly sweet and savory, peppery, well balanced flavor which translates to the after taste. Easily burns to ash. Leaves little moisture in the bowl. Needs an average number of relights. Not quite an all day smoke, but experienced VaPer smokers may consider it to be one. Three and a half stars.
RO Perique Series Blend SV-23:
The fairly tangy, citrusy Virginias also offer a bit of grass and hay with a touch of toast and honey. They form the base of the blend. The very noticeable South Vacherie perique provides a bit of white pepper, and is a tad leathery with coffee undertones, and its potency belies the amount used in this mixture. I consider it to be a second lead. The tingly white pepper does seem to get lightly stronger as you go along. This perique is a little less sweeter than what most smokers are used to. The nutty, very woody, earthy, toasty and light cocoa aspects of the burley have a modicum of sweetness in a support role. The strength is medium, while the taste level is just past that threshold. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, and has no rough edges. Burns cool, clean, and slightly fast with a mostly consistent, rich, well balanced flavor all the way through the experience as it easily burns to ash. Has a lot of depth and body. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a lingering peppery, woody, mildly sweet after taste. Not quite an all day smoke, but it’s certainly repeatable.
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