Over 30 years playing cello I have tried many different kinds of rosins. This one is on the top of my list by far. I highly recommend it.

The rosin itself isn’t terrible, but I’m only giving two stars because of the dilapidated condition of the packaging.It looks like it was stored in a hot facility and melted. Additionally, it is falling off of its cloth. The cloth itself is in terrible condition as well, the velvet has flaked apart in numerous places.

This is the normal grade of Kolstein cello rosin not the medium grade.

This rosin as long as applied correctly.... does wonders on your instrument... really has a different sound. Won't be buying any other types!!!

This is a great rosin, with much better grip than Hill&Sons or Petz Kolophonium, and definetly thousands times better than Thomastik rubbish.The only other rosin I like better is Kolstein Ultra Bass Rosin, which is VERY grippy. It is dangerous in hot-humid days (as are most days in Florianópolis - Brazil), but I like living dangerously. You might get your bow stuck on a long note if you are not used to it's touch.Yet, sometimes I use this Cello one (very hot days), or mix both (one day each) so I get in between.

I've used many rosins but they all produced lots of dust. A friend recommended Kolstein so I gave it a try. There's almost zero dust. I don't need to rosin my bow nearly as much and I get a nicer, smoother sound. No scratchiness!!! Well worth the money.

I spent a good deal of time reviewing rosins before I choose this one, and I choose it based on the reviews that I saw on various websites...people really raved about this rosin. I also went to the manufacturer's website, Kolstein.com, and I sent them an email which they responded to same day. I was wondering if I should get the Medium grade or the softer one, and medium was recommended to me. I live in LA which is a dry climate, and according to the reviews that I read, that makes a difference where rosins are concerned.So, why do I like the rosin. I knew it was coming, obviously, so I stopped rosining my bow and I wiped my cello strings at every opportunity in order to remove as much of the old rosin as I could. And I should say that I was using Hill dark rosin, which supposedly "professionals" use and had been highly rated. I recall that when I first started using that, I noticed no difference between it and the block that comes in the wood (you know the one.) So today when the Kolstein arrived, I played a shorter piece that I was working on. With little rosin on my bow, there was some scratchiness and skating and poor tone...but I am not that great so it certainly could have just been 'me'. I then applied the Kolstein rosin and I have to say, I sounded better than I have sounded. In fairness, I have been practicing a lot lately and working very hard on intonation and tone, but still, it seemed to me that the tone was much much better than it has ever been. I was not expecting much because really, there is no 'magic rosin'...if your intonation is bad without it, it will be bad with it. BUT, I did think my tone was much improved. It felt to me like the hairs were grabbing the strings right at the outset without that little delay that I sometimes have (too often) especially with the lower strings which of course are harder to get moving. I did not have the delay with this rosin.Now, the product itself seems very good, hence the 5 stars. HOWEVER, I would suggest that you buy it from the Kolstein website as I'm sure they would stand behind their product, and in fact they would probably take care to send you a good cake in the first place. My rosin arrived very squished, like it had been stored in a hot warehouse and then smashed. The top is extremely uneven to the point where I'm not sure I should use it long term as it could ruin the hairs on my bow. I gave a review of the packaging and uploaded a photo of the very uneven, lumpy top of the cake, but I'm not sure if /how/ where it would be viewable to a reader of these reviews. The plastic cap that protects the cake, inside its gold cardboard tube, was cracked through on both sides, again like it was smashed, and the cake has been melted and squished. If I could do it again, and I may have to, I would order directly from Kolstein's and pay the shipping. Now I have a PITB to deal with.UPDATE: I should have written this update sooner, but it fell off the "to do" list. I had sent a photo of the squished rosin cake to the seller, and they promptly issued a refund (or amazon themselves did? I'm not sure) and I did not have to return the squished one. The new cake ordered direct from Kolstein was proper, however, the top edge (circumference) is slightly raised, so when you draw the hairs across they only touch the edges, until you wear them down which I have not yet. Not a big deal, but I would have preferred a flat/ smooth surface that fully engages the hairs. And since writing my original review I noticed that my cello luthier / dealer in Santa Barbara, who is picky and just does cellos, not all strings, sells only Kolstein rosin on her website. Added endorsement I would say.

Kolstein rosin is the best rosin I have ever used (4 years).It makes playing at the tip of the bow much more enjoyable.I can now play more notes at the tip with more sound.I noticed great improvement in how my bow handled.Very nice for smooth legato or extreme spiccato.I am very prone to dropping rosin, but the sturdy cardboard case & heavy wrap on the rosinmake it very unlikely that it will break or chip if I do.Thanks for the recommendation, Mr Jonathan May.I will be using Kolstein for as long as I play.Cello Fellow in Florida, ~Alexander~ age 14