I replaced by 9' Diamnodback VSR, broken last May, with the Redington Torrent. I was looking for another fast rod and bothy their website and independent reviewers assured me it was quite fast. So I picked one up cheap and have been fishing with it off and on for the last few weeks.

It is a fast rod. Its tip is softer than the VSR's. The upshot of that is that you have to apply power more at the end of the cast to avoid tailing loops. The stiffer Diamondback was more forgiving when trying to punch out longer casts and was probably a better wind rod. But on the other side the Redington is probably a better rod at more normal fishing ranges. It is able to deliver the fly with more delicacy than the VSR ever could and actually casts very nice tight loops at up to 40' when cast with a bare minimum of effort. I'm still adjusting, as one would expect, when one has been fishing a rod 75% of the time for the previous decade and is suddenly forced to go to a different rod.
The rod itself is very nice looking. As one of Redington's top of the line offerings its given good cork and really nice fittings. And it is light, 2.7 ozs according to the Redington site. It comes with a grey aluminum rod case with a thick rod sock. They retail for around $300 although I paid much less when I found it on sale at Steep and Cheap. In this land of no fly shops, where test casting rods just isn't an option, I think I lucked into a good piece of equipment.

Right now I'd give the Redington 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. But that may go up as I fish it more.