Continuing to smoke Peterson Royal Yacht as I have every day this week, in a Rattray's Blower's Daughter tonight, and there's something a little fishy about this blend.
Royal Yacht is purported to be a pure Virginia blend, and yet I've smoked a dozen different pure Virginias before and never gotten a sore throat from any of them. However, the one kind of tobacco I absolutely cannot smoke because it gives me a really sore throat every time I smoke a blend containing even a tiny amount of it is Perique, and Royal Yacht has been giving me that very distinctive Perique sore throat every time I've smoked it this week.
Having had some time to ponder the matter, I'm guessing a portion of the flavoring added to Royal Yacht may be the juice from Perique barrels. Royal Yacht certainly tastes like a VaPer even though there's not supposed to be any Perique in it, and it gives me a sore throat in the same manner that a VaPer would, so I'm guessing Dunhill (and now Peterson) found a clever way to put the juice from their Perique barrels to use as a flavoring element in Royal Yacht. I could be wrong, but that's the best explanation I've got for why it tastes like a VaPer and my body is reacting to it like it's a VaPer even though it should be a pure Virginia.
In any case, I'm sad to say this blend is going in the sell/trade box. It's a real bummer since I quite like the flavor and strength of Royal Yacht, but my throat just won't tolerate it. I'm thinking I might go with G&H Rum Flake for next week's blend of the week, since I have been having a real hankering for that rum/maple/licorice flavor lately and I recall it being quite gentle and easy on the throat while also rather stout in the Vitamin N department.