.gif)
I have received a batch of Robert McConnel baccy about a week or so ago, and the soonest I got a chance I opened the Royal Island, I being a huge fan of the deceased Royal Yacht. Well guys ... it's not the same. I will be reviewing the blend in itself, but for now this post is meant to be just a quick comparison. What am I looking for over here? Well I am quite acquainted with Royal Yacht, so any substitute MUST have the plum topping and the sweetness in just the right amount. The plum and the virginia sweetness must be on a sort of equilibrium that I simply cannot explain, but which I expect to be so to the most precise detail. I guess the expectation is something you develop from smoking tin after tin of Royal Yacht. This being said, Royal Island does not meet the expectation. First of all the plum is hardly there. You can feel the nose, the nose is plumish but on a somewhat darker, smokier, note with an artificial sweet presence. The aspect, well ... it's not the neat ribbon one expects from Dunhill, this one is much more crude. The ribbon feels a bit coarse to the touch, but it packs well none the less. Once lit, the plum becomes very faint. Somewhere after the second half of the bowl the blend starts resembling Royal Yacht a bit more, but all the way to the end it is not Royal Yacht. It is a sweet tobacco, good Virginia, no doubt - but that above mentioned equilibrium that I have a hard time to explain is not there. I guess there is a matter of proportion between the topping and the used virginias that Robert McConnel didn't wish to copy from the previous recipe, if they even have access to the original recipe. Over all, it must do, since I only have two tins of Royal Yacht left, and I do not plan on opening them any time soon. It's a decent substitute, but as they say ... "close, but no cigar". Will follow up with a more detailed review of this, after all fine, blend once I experiment some more. I have written this as a first impression, just as I am finishing my first bowl since opening the tin. Pipe used: the same as the one I usually use for RY: Rossi 320, with Vauen 9 mm filter.
