Royal Yacht: The Emperor Has No Clothes

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jmatt

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 25, 2014
770
74
Ordered some tobacco a couple days back and it came in the mail today. As a first for me, I included a pouch of Prince Albert and a pouch of Carter Hall because I've never tried the primary old "codger blends" before. So I smoked a bowl of Prince Albert and thought to myself, "this is kind of like eating Cheerios for breakfast." It's a fine smoke. Nothing really objectionable. But nothing really special either. Just kind of plain, right down the middle smoke. I mean - not many people hate Cheerios, and not many would rave that it's the best breakfast cereal ever either. But most of us at one time or another have said "sure - I'll have a bowl of Cheerios.
Then I had a bowl of Carter Hall. Very similar. I dubbed this "Rice Krispies." No one's favorite. But not really anything to hate either. Had a slight fruity note to it. Nothing strong - just something there.
And then the epiphany: My third bowl this evening was Royal Yacht. And it tasted just like Carter Hall. Maybe 50% more fruit notes than Carter Hall, but otherwise.....it's Carter Hall.
So there you have it: I'm officially declaring Royal Yacht to be nothing more than a marginally amped-up codger blend.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,064
Carmel Valley, CA
Well, that's fine, but could you not have found at least a dozen other RY threads to post to?
I am tired of seeing new threads daily on this tobacco. Otherwise, fine post!

 

jmatt

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 25, 2014
770
74
I am tired of seeing new threads daily on this tobacco.

See - that's the catch-22. I agree with you. But in order to not fawn over the blend, I had to create a new thread that wasn't a thread fawning over it. See my conundrum? :puffpipe:

 

maxx

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 10, 2015
709
6
I think RY tastes like someone pissed in my Rice Crispies.

 
Mar 1, 2014
3,646
4,916
Wait a minute, I love Carter Hall, Carter Hall is one of my favourite bends!

50% more fruity note you say?!
Seriously though, we all know the RY threads are just a distraction to manipulate internet trends away from Penzance and good yet affordable blends like Sutliff Elizabethan Match.

 
Mar 1, 2014
3,646
4,916
Yup.

I haven't tried any of the official blends, but reviews say the Match version has a bit more flavour, and you can get it in bulk (sometimes, I guess availability of anything is questionable right now).

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,064
Carmel Valley, CA
Jmattt: Well dodged! And I agree with your conundrum. Now folks will get serious defending it and dissing it. Royal Yuck! Rhymes with ....

Buck.

 

tmb152

Can't Leave
Apr 26, 2016
392
5
Seriously jmatt, I wasn't going to say anything on the matter, but I don't see what all the fuss is about! I tried a tin years ago and didn't care for it at all--- if anything, I think of it more as Royal Yeacht! I'm sure someone will tell me that I just needed to smoke a few more tins, and I don't hold it against anyone for liking it any more than I would expect them to like what I smoke, but it made me realize that part of our likes and dislikes is steered by our habits--- if you eat a lot of pizza then stop, your body then begins eliminating the waste products which gives you a craving for more! (biological fact), And how a tobacco tastes to you will be in part affected by what you smoked in the past--- if you eat a lot of sweet foods, a lemon will then taste all the more sour---
So, (sorry to those out there offended by the word 'so'), if you buy a tobacco and smoke it enough, just as your eye adjusts to darkness, your tastebuds will usually begin to steer toward that tobacco becoming the new null reference and you will get more used to it--- read: begin to notice things in it you like more and acquire a taste for it!
And thank you for starting a new thread on this, I for one prefer new, shorter threads nuanced toward particular topics rather than just a few mega-threads with 886 posts.
WayneG

 

jefff

Lifer
May 28, 2015
1,915
6
Chicago
I am pretty sure DM is practicing the time honored idea of taking something too far, and then a little further.
I approve.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
My third bowl this evening was Royal Yacht. And it tasted just like Carter Hall.
Interesting. I recall Carter Hall being sweeter with a light vanilla/cocoa topping. Good stuff, but a bit weak in Nicotine, which makes me recall Marlboro Lights with a special horror.
As far as Royal Yacht goes, I think it is very much in the style of the older blends and this is what is insightful in your post. It is designed to be hassle-free for all-day smoking by those who are engaged in accomplish things. Luckily, it also has enough Nicotine to help you survive the English weather.

 

markus

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 18, 2014
770
488
Bloomfield, IN
Personally I enjoy them both, but I don't think they taste alike. I think RY stands alone as far as taste, I haven't really found anything else that tastes like it, and I like it for that reason. I also enjoy the extra nic in RY.

CH is like the OP said, it's rather plain and indistinct. I sometimes use it to mix with other blends, because it mixes and blends well, I've even mixed it with RY. It's easy to smoke, packs nicely, stays lit and has a light citrusy taste.

 

beastinview

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 5, 2016
504
3
Sorry bud, I think you're way off the mark here: the leaf composition isn't even close! Carter Hall is basically just burley with a "sprinkling of Virginia" according to their own description.
Royal Yacht has no burley, just African grown VA.
It's fine to like Carter Hall as much as RY or more than RY! It's fine to even say Royal Yacht is terrible--many people call it "Royal Yuck." But to say it is the same as Carter Hall? It's demonstrably untrue due to the leaf composition.
It's certainly possible you ghosted your pipe with the aromatic top note of the Carter Hall, though. I'd be willing to be that's what happened.

 

tmb152

Can't Leave
Apr 26, 2016
392
5
[/CH is like the OP said, it's rather plain and indistinct.]
It might very well have been the pipe used that made them taste the same. RY does not taste like CH or anything else I've ever tried, but if the pipe used was not broken in, perhaps it was absorbing enough of the one's flavor to make it taste like the other.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
I think RY stands alone as far as taste, I haven't really found anything else that tastes like it, and I like it for that reason.
This man knows things.
But this thread has made me want to hunt down a packet of Carter Hall. Luckily it's relatively easily acquired!

 
Sep 18, 2015
3,253
41,957
Well, the first one hundred post I read on RY didn't convince me to try it, but this, post #101 has done it. I will be adding a tin to my next order so that I too can understand what all the fuss is about!

 
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