C’mon man, you know that stuff is like riding a scooter.......fun to ride but you damn sure don’t want your friends to see you on it?
Royal Yacht, A Short-Short Review
- Thread starter mso489
- Start date
What? Yet, you like that stale potato chip flavor of Velvet? ?
Nah man! Vespas all the way! Mods vs Rockers!
On a serious note, what IS the chicken taste? We can only preface with the word "like", as you did, and speak in metaphors. Taste is an experience and all experiences are individualistic. We have some agreed upon "paint brush" terms as I call them like sweet and sour, bitter, spicy (but what spice?), harsh, hot...etc. Hence, we sample, try, experiment and become more experienced. But, that experience is as individual as your fingerprint.
My subjective experience is that the flavoring, plum or whatever it is, is decidedly subordinate, supporting the good Virginia leaf but not overreaching. It is, to me, tobacco forward, which is how I like my aromatics. Clearly, others don't taste it this way at all, but that's how taste works, I guess.
I’m with you on that 100%. Plus it’s one of the few tobaccos that I can push and push and it never bites or gets harsh even in a hot pipe.
I'd consider it a Virginia with a topping. Personally, I don't think its more aggressively flavored than many VAs that don't advertise any added flavorings. Obviously, YMMV, and maybe I got a mellowed tin. I was expecting something very strongly flavored and for me, RY just tasted like a VaPer. I should revisit it, though, as it's been several years since I had any.
I’m sure it was a fluke. I’ll order another tub or three to be absolutely sure. Maybe a dozen.
As a rule of thumb (and there are exceptions as there are a number of VA types, even depending on where grown - soil conditions, weather, etc. - its similar to wine) VA leaf, especially Bright is flue cured. The heat from the wood fired flues kills the leaf quickly setting the sugars and keeping starch from forming. This is unlike Burley which is air cured. Consequently, Burley is more absorbent then VA and can be heavily flavored. Because of the sugar in VA leaf, especially Bright, it must be processed into cakes, steamed, aged - fermented - to make it smokable otherwise it will burn your tongue and palette. If flavored its usually a light, alcohol based natural flavoring, like whisky or vanilla, etc. In the UK its against the law to adulterate tobacco with anything artificial, like glycol, nitrates or any chemicals (preservatives). Tobacco falls under the spice laws passed by Parliament in the 17th C. Remember, London was the spice processing capital of the world for centuries. More exploration was done by HM ships for spices then gold. When ships came into port unscrupulous importers could easily add anything to the spices or tobacco, especially hay or straw to add weight. This is why they gravitated to the vacuum tin; I don't know, but this too may have been a Dunhill innovation; they certainly were the first to vacuum tin cigarettes.
But its also why American drug store varieties were/are mostly Burley based blends, heavily flavored and adulterated with glycol and preservatives to increase shelf life by keeping it moist.
Very similar. Before Peterson's reissue of the Dunhill blends, RY was only available from resellers for very inflated prices. When McConnell put out its line of Dunhill "clones", I was delighted to find Paddington hitting all the familiar notes that RY did. Since Peterson re-released RY, I've had them back to back and find them very close. Peterson's version, to me, has a bit more richness/depth in the underlying Virginias but it is interesting to see how much influence marketing/branding has. Load a bowl of each in a blind taste test and let that be your guide...
One of my favorites. I bought about 50 tins when I heard Dunhill wasn’t going to be in the tobacco business anymore. Overreaction in hindsight I guess since the Peterson version is the same.
I had bought a tin of Dunhill Royal Yacht a few years ago at a cigar shop. I was there buying a basket pipe which I do once in a while. I tied it and absolutely hated it. The taste was horrible and it made me sick from the nicotine hit. I ended up gifting it to a friend. Fast forward to a few months ago it was on sale at pipesandcigars so I wanted to try it again since I fell in love with Gawith Hoggarth blends. Now I love Royal Yacht. I pulled it out of the tin and put it in a mason jar. I let it set in the jar for 30 days now it is very sweet with a nice tingly peppery note and smells kinda sweet and apricoty/dark fruit or stewed fruit. That has to be from the lemony zesty Virginia's. During the day I'm primarily a Codger Burley smoker but after supper I smoke the stronger Va/bur blends. A nice strong tobacco at night with some nite time tea puts me right out.
I really like this blend now. I couldn't stand it when I was smoking just aros. Ever since I started liking Sammy Gawith and Gawith Hoggarth blends I wanted to try it again. Now I'm digging it!
I think I'll re-visit RY at some stage but since trying University Flake (yes a VaBur) I find it to be beefed up version with a very similar topping.
Of course, with Burley - but I find if RY didn't float your boat then UF may be a compromise.
Of course, with Burley - but I find if RY didn't float your boat then UF may be a compromise.
I dislike RY. But I don’t think it has anything to do with the topping. I’m just not a Virginia person. I wish there were something similar for the burley aficionado: a true straight burley that has a real nic hit , lightly topped with something that compliments the tobacco.
It’s one the those acquired taste blends. Years ago I was in the yuck camp, but then slowly warmed up to it. Jarring definitely makes it more enjoyable IMO