[Slow Triathlete]

And here we go with the 31st VaPer review. Whew…..it’s been a labor of love.

Dunhill’s Deluxe Navy Rolls (DDNR)

Well I finally got around to smoking this blend. I know…..it’s about time, right?!?! I do have to say that it was definitely worth the wait. This blend has an average rating of 3.3 out of 4 on tobaccoreviews.com and it has over 100 reviews. I can’t really argue with numbers like that and luckily I don’t have to. I really liked this blend. With all of that said, let’s get to the review.

Tin Description:
De Luxe Navy Roll is made in Denmark using hand-stripped Virginia tobaccos from Brazil and Africa, married with Perique from Lousiana. This recipe produces an aromatic smoke with natural tobacco flavors and lovely sweet notes.

Appearance:
This is another blend that comes in coin form. Because of this there has been a lot of speculation that this blend, Escudo, and Stokkebye’s Luxury Bullseye Flake are all one in the same. I am here to put that argument to rest. They are all different.

For one thing, DDNR does not have a center like Luxury Bullseye Flake and it smells and tastes a lot different than Escudo. To me Escudo has a lot of dark notes within the blend and I did not detect that with DDNR. It is more “bright” than Escudo.

I did a test and smoked all 3 back-to-back and found them to be very different.

Aroma:
When you first open this tin you will find that it smells very sweet, like sugary sweet. Plum and raisin notes and also light peppery notes from the perique are present as well. As stated above, it smells bright to me. I love sniffing the tin on this one.

Initial Light:
I always rub these coins pretty much completely out. I haven’t yet mastered the act of rolling and stuffing this one. My tin came just a bit wet so after rubbing this out I set it out to dry out for about 20 minutes. After that I packed it into the bowl and lit it up and away we went.

This blend does take to light very well. After rubbing this out it breaks down to a pretty thin ribbon and it lights quickly and burns exceptionally.

The flavor of the first part of the bowl is very bright. The smoke coming out of the bowl is sweet and smells delicious.

Middle and End of Bowl:
The middle and end of the bowl is pretty much more of the same. The blend does settle down just a bit. The sweetness goes away just a bit but it still hangs around throughout the bowl. The perique is also always there but in the background and it pops in throughout the smoke.

Overall:
I have to admit that this one really surprised me. In all honesty, the reason why it took me so long to get to this blend was because I always viewed it as being a bit too expensive when compared to other blends that I enjoy. How could this one be that better that it could afford that price. Well I am here to say that it is worth it especially if you can get it on special like I just did from pipesandcigars.com.

I still have my favorites so unfortunately this cannot take over the first few spots. Your tastes may differ and I could easily see this being many people’s #1. For me it takes over the #4 spot from Escudo.

1) McConnell Scottish Cake
2) Samuel Gawith’s St. James Flake
3) GL Pease Tribute
4) Dunhill’s Deluxe Navy Rolls
5) Escudo
6) GL Pease Triple Play
7) GL Pease Filmore
8) Former’s Straight Grain Flake
9) H & H AJ’s VaPer
10) Low Country’s Waccamaw
11) Peretti’s Park Square
12) John Patton’s Cool Hand Fluke
13) H & H Rolando’s Own
14) H & H Anniversary Kake
15) G & H Louisiana Flake
16) Sherlock Holmes Pipe Club VR Blend
17) C & D Poplar Camp
18) Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture
19) C & D Night Train
20) H & H Louisiana Red
21) C & D Bayou Morning Flake
22) Reiner’s Long Golden Flake
23) Treasures of Ireland - Limerick
24) Dorchester
25) Solani #633
26) Luxury Bullseye Flake
27) McClelland Bulk 2015
28) GL Pease Telegraph Hill
29) Kajun Kake
30) Luxury Navy Flake
31) Dan Tobacco's Tordenskjold Virginia Slices