Red Rapparee Review

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Kapnismologist

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On a roll today, another review I just posted on TR:

Rattray's Red Rapparee (http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend_detail.cfm?ID=961&TID=961)

Delicate tan, black, brown, and olive short cut ribbon with a pleasantly fragrant tin nose of pungent orientals and smoky latakia with just a hint of sweet virginias.

According to the blender of the tin on which this review is based (Kohlhase & Kopp), Red Rapparee is:

"A classic blend of spicy latakia, distinctive cuts of virginia, dark cavendish, and a healthy dose of orientals" (Klassischer Blend aus würzigem Latakia, unterschiedlich geschnittenen Virginatabaken, dunklem Cavendish und einem deutlichen Anteil Orient).

Quite wet in the tin (recent production), but dries quickly due to the fine cut. Packs and lights like a dream, immediately revealing a spicy top note which persists alongside a range of tangy, almost sour, flavors which meld nicely with the bright tasting virginias. Although it does make its presence known from time to time, the latakia clearly plays second fiddle here. The cavendish does seem to add some texture to the blend, but not much else.

Red Rapparee is, by my estimation, a fine oriental blend which deserves careful and measured consideration. It does have a tendency to bite, although this perhaps due to the youth of this particular sample. Should improve with age.
 
You can have this stuff, I'm an experienced puffer, can't get to like it, Ken :tongue:
 
pipetongue1":do1ekx0v said:
You can have this stuff, I'm an experienced puffer, can't get to like it, Ken :tongue:
Ken,

Thank you for the response. I would be very interested in hearing about *why* you do not like it. What exactly turns it for you with this blend? Is it an issue with such oriental-dominant mixtures in general, or something about RR in particular? I have never had the older "blended for Ch. Ratt." stuff (the original), but only the blend as done by K&K (although have sampled tins back to the early 1990s, when dist. by M. Rohr and then by J. Russell). The tin for this review was brand new (XYZ dist., 2007-2008).

If you might feel so inclined, I know I would find much value in your experienced take on the blend.

By the way, should you read German the K&K website has excellent info. on all the major blends they currently produce and a lot of other interesting things to boot (http://www.kohlhase-tobacco.com/).

Cheers.
 
some years ago the ex-#$@! bought me a Rattrays sampler and they bit me so bad I threw them away! now of course I wish I hadn't but oh well!
 
vaperfavour":e02x61gb said:
some years ago the ex-#$@! bought me a Rattrays sampler and they bit me so bad I threw them away! now of course I wish I hadn't but oh well!
I would add that among the Rattray offerings 7 Reserve Medium is one of the rare tobaccos that actually makes me angry. I try and try with it but get bitten every single time, no matter what I do. I have the about two bowls worth left in a recently opened 50g tin. When I finish it, I will wash my hands of it for the foreseeable future (retaining some in the cellar for a very long rest). I may post a review on TR at that time.

I increasingly see it as a little pound dog who looks ever so nice, saying come and pet me, but every time you get close it nips: again, and again, and again. As to the others, I like most of them including, of course, Red Rapparee.
 
Yo Kap, It's not the Orientals, but the newness of the ginnyweed, this stuff bites, there are too many finer bacys in the same genre to waste my time with this one, even Mc's #24 bites less! :affraid: :tongue: Ken
Pacem en Puffing! :tongue: From The Northeast Kingdom! :tongue:
10-1-88 :tongue:
 
I have a tin of this in my cellar somewhere. It probably has a couple of years age on it. Sounds like a blend I need to crack the tin open on. I enjoy blends with Orientals in it.
 
My local has a tin of this that is ancient....I look at it every time I go in...after reading the review, I might just pull the trigger! 8)
 
I have some of this tobacco that I purchased probably around 2000-2001 and I really don't find anything all that special about it. It does not bite me but It just ain't my cup of tea. The version I have is just a typical heavy English, at least IMHO. But what do I know?, I am just an OTC smoker...... :D
 
I love the tin aroma of this blend,divine smell promising delights to come.

Winslow :sunny:
 
red raparee is one of my favorite blends. i've been lucky in that my local shop stocked up on several lbs. before blending switched to K&K. all the blends have aged nicely & there's no bite.

i've also had some current production RR, didn't have a problem w/it biting either.
 
Kap, the URL you gave gets me to KK, but it appears to be all in German. Is there an an English button?
 
I love the taste of it but it bites me too. So much so that I can't even sip it carefully, even some I acquired that had several years on it. All of the Rattray's blends are a bit bitey to me but I have to think it's the specific Virginia tobaccos in the Rattray's blends, as several other K&K Ginnys do not bite me at all.
 
alfredo_buscatti":3e7c8etk said:
Kap, the URL you gave gets me to KK, but it appears to be all in German. Is there an an English button?
Nein, German only as far as I have seen. Perhaps you could try to load the page in one of the free web language translators such as Babel Fish? Since I can read German I never bothered to look for an English version of the site. Sorry!
 
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