Revisiting ‘Royal Yacht’

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Swiss Army Knife

Can't Leave
Jul 12, 2021
488
1,436
North Carolina
Wet cigarette-tasting blend? OK. The "wetness" dried out by the time that I smoked it.

Did you ever try many Latakia-strong blends?

To be fair to RY I'm pretty sure I smoked it one, maybe two, times when I was just starting out. So I almost certainly overheated it, burnt my tongue and then naively blamed the tobacco.

I'm actually the same way. I can go for a condimental amount of lat, Chelsea Morning is about perfect, but don't really like latakia bombs all that much.
 
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FLDRD

Lifer
Oct 13, 2021
2,735
11,594
Arkansas
Out of curiosity, I dug into my oldest tub of tins and found at least 2 RY.
Don't think I'll be opening them for myself after working through the other one... I have other stuff.
They could be purchased. About 2020 production.
Wonder what the "ideal" age would be on them?
 
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rakovsky

Can't Leave
Nov 28, 2024
440
470
To be fair to RY I'm pretty sure I smoked it one, maybe two, times when I was just starting out. So I almost certainly overheated it, burnt my tongue and then naively blamed the tobacco.

I'm actually the same way. I can go for a condimental amount of lat, Chelsea Morning is about perfect, but don't really like latakia bombs all that much.
If your problem was just that you burned your tongue because you were a beginner, then it makes sense that the problem wasn't the blend: I didn't have that particular problem with it.

If you'd already had a range of blends like VA, Aromatics, Englishes, and Royal Yacht, and didn't like Royal Yacht, then it wouldn't sound like a beginner issue.

I already had Aromatics, OTC burleys and barnstall house Englishes by the time I had Royal Yacht. The house Englishes I didn't like, and most I don't because they are like a barnstall or like old leather on a horse. R.Yacht was like having a beer that was on the dark side plus a lemon or citrus fruit flavor in the beer. Erinmore Flake was alittle like Royal Yacht in that way.

One reason why I'm curious about the idea of Royal Yacht smelling bad is because of how some pipers think that it was the brand that Dunhill gave Stalin. A British comedy in the 1980's showed a British actress (played by a real life British actress) giving Stalin a tin of Royal Yacht, and his face lighting up when he saw it. One theory is that the comedy picked Royal Yacht because it's a bad-smelling brand, and that the comedy used it to make fun of Stalin. Then it gave the public the idea that the brand that Stalin got in real life was Royal Yacht. That theory sounds plausible, and I wasn't able to find out for sure what Dunhill blend Stalin smoked.
 

BayouGhost

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 10, 2024
290
3,399
Louisiana
I should probably buy a tin someday for the hell of it. Not sure I'd like it though, based on some of the descriptions here 😂
I did this and did not care for it at first try. I let it sit a few months and tried it again and I must have got one of the bad batches because all I could taste was bland ash and chemical plum flavoring. It was one of my very rare "dump it in the trash" auditions. Maybe this one is hit or miss per batch. Who knows. I'd rather get plum notes from real tobacco than from it being sprayed with snow cone syrup. Not here to judge folks who like it, but it was not for me.
 
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Aug 11, 2022
2,884
22,636
Cedar Rapids, IA
I should probably buy a tin someday for the hell of it. Not sure I'd like it though, based on some of the descriptions here 😂
I've tried it at least twice over the years, wasn't a fan either time. I think I was expecting it to be sweeter and the unexpected nicotine hit might have turned me off. But I have a third tin waiting, because all that could have been user error!
 
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khiddy

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 21, 2024
643
3,028
South Bend, Indiana
blog.hallenius.org
While the Yacht burned the heck out of my tongue the first time I smoked it, that was very early on in my pipe smoking, and I learned to chalk that up to being inexperienced and trying to puff everything quickly. It has since taken its place as one of my top 10 blends out of the several hundred I've smoked.

I do slightly prefer Peterson Sherlock Holmes (which I find to have a similar casing/topping), but to my palate both are excellent and are aging gracefully in tall stacks in my cellar.
 

MortarMessiah

Can't Leave
Jan 1, 2025
412
5,092
Florida
It’s been many years since I last tried this mixture; mostly because the prices just kept skyrocketing, and I got fed up with it. Nonetheless, I found myself on a road trip for work w/o tobacco, so I had to make a stop at a shabby little head shop, who just happened to have 1 tin left (from 2022).

Boy, does this take me back. I knew immediately when I broke the seal, I was in for a great smoke.

Those aromas lept out of the tin; like a blast of figs and subtle baking spice.

Upon lighting, the smoke is absolutely fantastic, with a very deep, round flavor that supplies plenty of nutty, sweet tobacco goodness. I get “pops” of white pepper, a very mild oakiness with a characteristically VA tangy undertone. Great flavors. I’ve heard this is topped with a sweet note, but I can’t recall what it is. My own palate detects it as just a mild sweetener, something akin to simple syrup being used in a strong drink. I’ve never detected any distinctive notes such as vanilla/chocolate/anything of that sort whatsoever with this tobacco.

The aroma is quite pleasant, supplying a straight tobacco smokiness reminiscent of some other VA mixtures I used to love smoking. Not sure if it would please others in a room, but my olfactory was happy with it.

Be warned: this one has a fair shot of vitamin ‘N’, as well. Wouldn’t recommend for a brand new pipe smoker. But it’s sure to satisfy a seasoned smoker, if that’s part of your pipe ‘habit’ (as it is mine). I even made a bowl last me through an entire afternoon with a couple relights. Slow-burning, and very easy to smoke. 5 stars for this one. I may have just gotten hooked and reeled back to the Yacht again.
Man, I'm so glad I found and read this one. Very nice write up on the blend. Ive been wanting to try this blend, but because the high price and I've read it had a weird topping. So I got spooked and decided against buying it the other day. After reading this I think I'm definitely gonna get me some. Sounds like something I'd like.
 

rakovsky

Can't Leave
Nov 28, 2024
440
470
Man, I'm so glad I found and read this one. Very nice write up on the blend. Ive been wanting to try this blend, but because the high price and I've read it had a weird topping. So I got spooked and decided against buying it the other day. After reading this I think I'm definitely gonna get me some. Sounds like something I'd like.
Mortar and @gervais ,
I found Royal Yacht and Erinmore Flake to be similar in that they seemed both a little heavy and also had in part a citrus or lemon note. I liked both but liked Royal Yacht more. But they both seemed like how good they would be for my palatte depended on my mood. It's not every day that I would like a dark beer with a citrus or lemon note. That is what those two blends reminded me of.

I want to ask:
Has anyone here tried both Erinmore Flake and Erinmore Mixture?
From what I can tell, they are similar, with one supposedly having a bit more flavor than the other.
One surprising thing for me is that I heard repeatedly that "Erinmore" is a bad tasting blend, but then when I had the flake, I thought it was fine. It makes me expect Erinmore Mixture to be fine too, if we are just talking about a little bit stronger flavor version of Erinmore Flake.

Another thing in their favor is that they don't have Latakia. For my palatte, most Latakia is bad. I don't know if my palatte is too sensitive to Latakia for some quirky reason, or if it's the palates of Latakia fans that are off or not sensitive enough. For me, some Latakia smells like old leather, a D+, or a cow and horse old wood and hay barn stall. The "old leather" Latakia experience is like eating carolina pork hash.

Yet Standard Mixture has at least a little Latakia and it's one of my favorite blends because it's high quality and is so classic. Walnut MATCH and Revelation MATCH are other blends I like a lot with Latakia. In these Latakia blends, by which I mean blends with Latakia, the Latakia is light enough that it adds something positive somehow (diversity? a little heaviness and bitterness?), without dominating the blend for me.
 
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