Rattrays Old Gowrie: to perique or not to perique

[bent bulldog]

O.K. I admit that I am completely confused as to the presence or lack thereof of perique in one of my favorite old time Virginias, Old Gowrie. I smoke pounds of this back in the days when it was still made in Perth and it was simply a straightforward broken Virginia flake with a wonderful sweet taste and aroma. However I got hold of a tin recently that was one of the new German blended versions and upon opening the 100 gram tin the perique aroma was very evident. This tin I picked up was imported by an outfit called XYZ direct and was from the year 2012 and clearly imprinted on the side of the label was the K and K trademark (Kolhouse and Kopp I believe although I am not sure of the spelling.) I know that this house has been blending the old English and Scottish blends such as Rattrays but I am wondering if, since the new importer is Arango cigar co, is K and K still blending Old Gowrie and has the blend been changed once again? I am not a big Perique fan and think that a good quality Virginia should be able to stand on its own without the help of much spicing but that is just my individual preference. As I mentioned in a previous comment on this site, I have tried the new Capstan Blue and Gold flakes and found them excellent. Anyway, any thoughts on the evolution or devolution of Rattraya Old Gowrie would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MisterE]

Hey BB. I don't personally notice a huge change in OG. I just got a half lb. in bulk, and it is pretty much the same animal as some 13 yo stuff I was smoking a while back. Of course, the age gave it a deep, fermented, fruity vibe, that VaPers in particular tend to get. Otherwise, I felt it to be quite similar to the newer offering in its overall makeup. There is a little of the ol' Per in that Va. blend going back a ways methinks.

That's just my taste buds' opinion. Perhaps someone more erudite on Rattray's blending history could shed more light...

 

[docwatson]

I can't comment on the Old Gowrie blending, but none of the Rattray's Original Perth blended tobaccos taste exactly like the current versions blended by Kollhause Kopp IMO, but that may be due to the long time ageing of the Old Perth blends. Still for what it's worth I still really enjoy and cellar the current versions. XYZ was owned by Alan Schwartz and he sold his company to Arango some time ago. So the XYZ labeled blends should still have some considerable age on them.

 

[bentbulldog]

I hear ya BB. I have an unopened tin of the stuff but not sure if it's the older or newer iteration. I wish I could tolerate perique but this might have it and I'm reluctant to open it up. I remember the old Old Gowrie and it was good stuff. If you say there be some of that REEK, then I will have to pass this tin along.

 

[monbla256]

I can't comment on the Old Gowrie blending, but none of the Rattray's Original Perth blended tobaccos taste exactly like the current versions blended by Kollhause Kopp IMO, but that may be due to the long time ageing of the Old Perth blends. Still for what it's worth I still really enjoy and cellar the current versions. XYZ was owned by Alan Schwartz and he sold his company to Arango some time ago. So the XYZ labeled blends should still have some considerable age on them.

Doc,
I think you've pointed out something which we tend to forget about the commercial practice of blending THEN vs NOW. Most of these blends were produced by small, production wise firms which now are part of a larger conglomerate with current ROI business practices which don't warrant using the older production methods anymore to satisfy the "bottom line". Firms used to buy and age large amounts of the types of tobacco's to be used in their blends BEFORE they blended them and then many were further aged in the tin BEFORE they were sent out for sale so that when we opened a tin of "fresh" 'baccy we were in truth smoking a well aged blend ! This was evident to anyone who smoked 965 from when it was blended by Dunhill, thru the Mcconnel era then thru the Murray's period up to now by STG/Orlik. The older Dunhill and McConnel versions used older aged variety's of the elements of the blend compared to what Murray's used and theirs were older than what todays use. I've found that if you age today's tins for some years, you'll get a blend that is so close to the older one I used to smoke it's unreal !! So buy your 'baccy and don't smoke ANY till it's aged !!  :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: 

 

[juanmedusa]

I have no idea. I have had only one bowl of it myself. However, that one bowl was given to me by a gentleman that had a sum of Cuban MonteCristo #2's and cut and kept all his caps then mixed it in to a bit of Old Gowrie. It was sublime. A bit off topic but I had to tell someone.

 

[bent bulldog]

Thank you all for the helpful input. The conclusion I draw from your comments is that most of you are in the same boat as me concerning the composition of Old Gowrie. I probably should have clarified the fact that the Old Gowrie from "back in the day" for me was between 1972 and 1985 when I worked and owned part of a Tinderbox on the west side of Portland, Oregon. In those days it was still created in Perth and yes, the fact is that Rattrays used nicely aged tobaccos right up front. Candidly, if you were to tell those of us in the trade in those days that you were going to age pipe tobacco to make it better we would have been, as the British say, gobsmacked at the notion. The blends such as Old Gowrie were nicely aged before they hit our store shelves. So my theory is that to make the current version of OG as flavorful as the original the current blenders have added perique to OG whereas the original Perth created Virginia was nothing but well aged Virginia. So if you are not fond of Perique, beware of the current crop of OG. It definitely as a good measure of that condimental in it.

 

[Brewdude]

Interesting reflections bb.

I've not had the pleasure of OG from the period you detail ('72-'85). My experience with this blend started around '99/'00 or so, and at that time I just was too new in the pipe world to know anything about the differences between the mfg houses.

Still, I've been pretty satisfied with the offerings then and do have some tins from that period that I need to get back to. As well as some somewhat newer tins.

Thanks for the background information.


Cheers,

RR

Thank you all for the helpful input. The conclusion I draw from your comments is that most of you are in the same boat as me concerning the composition of Old Gowrie. I probably should have clarified the fact that the Old Gowrie from "back in the day" for me was between 1972 and 1985 when I worked and owned part of a Tinderbox on the west side of Portland, Oregon. In those days it was still created in Perth and yes, the fact is that Rattrays used nicely aged tobaccos right up front. Candidly, if you were to tell those of us in the trade in those days that you were going to age pipe tobacco to make it better we would have been, as the British say, gobsmacked at the notion. The blends such as Old Gowrie were nicely aged before they hit our store shelves. So my theory is that to make the current version of OG as flavorful as the original the current blenders have added perique to OG whereas the original Perth created Virginia was nothing but well aged Virginia. So if you are not fond of Perique, beware of the current crop of OG. It definitely as a good measure of that condimental in it.