Brown & Williamson -- Sir Walter Raleigh

Brand: Brown & Williamson
Blend: Sir Walter Raleigh
Style: Burley
Pipe Used: Cob
Price: $4.99/1.73oz.

Appearance: 7
Taste: 8
Room Note: 8
Value: 9
Overall: 8

After trying a fair number of older blends I finally got around to picking up a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh. In online discussion groups I tend to hear a lot about Carter Hall and Prince Albert but rarely does anyone mention this long-time classic.

When I first opened the pouch I was greeted with the typically sweet rum raisin aroma shared by many of these drugstore blends. What I wasn't expecting was a very dry tobacco since these pouch blends tend to be laced with plenty of propylene glycol (PG) in order to keep them moist and fresh for however long they're left sitting on display. The tobacco itself was a medium brown blend of ribbon and cube cut Burley.

I tend to prefer my tobacco on the dry side which with the damp climate here usually means a relative humidity of about 45%. Since I didn't need to air this stuff out at all I just filled by trusty cob and lit it up. I find that a simple gravity fill tends to work best for cube-cut blends.

Sir Walter Raleigh is certainly one of the best behaved tobaccos I've tried as all it took was that first light to get it going and then it burned clean down to the ashes without requiring any relights or even tamping. I really appreciate tobaccos I don't have to fight to smoke so this was a big plus for me.

The flavor of the blend was smooth and mild with a prominent nutty Burley taste accompanied by a very faint hint of sweetness reminiscent of maple syrup and dark molasses. While this may be a simple blend the flavor was very good and stayed consistent throughout the smoke.

When smoked hard the flavor took on a bitter edge but since I'm a fan of hoppy beers I actually found myself puffing furiously in order to get that extra tang. Fortunately the tobacco remained bite-free even with such abuse.

My real taste test for these codger classics is in the aftertaste as even those that are good in the pipe often leave behind a chemical taste that lingers long after the smoke is finished. Happily, Sir Walter Raleigh proved to be the exception to the rule and the only lingering taste was that of Burley tobacco.

The room aroma was nice as well and never took on that stale cigarette smell that plagues many Burley blends.

Sir Walter Raleigh is a really good, old-time blend and has jumped to the top of my list of favorite OTC (over-the-counter) tobaccos. I was very pleasantly surprised by the flavor and behavior of this blend and can't wait to buy a tub to see how that compares to the pouch version.