I've experimented with rustica types for chew and snus ever since I started growing tobacco. I've never seen god - but it can be very satisfying in a different way to regular tobacco.
What you have to remember is that it is a completely different tobacco species and as such it has very different characteristics across the board. Although it has a reputation for high nicotine I don't reckon it often makes the dizzying heights of 9% as reported - it is a little stronger than most N. Tabacums - but it is as spectrum and some varieties or conditions can end up with a fairly routine nicotine level in the rustica leaf. The other differences are it's height (rarely over 4 ft), the texture of the leaves (normally very thick and rubbery), how it cures (rustica can be very hard to colour cure without keeping some green in there), the way it ripens (basically there are no visual indicators for rustica ripeness like yellowing or alligator pattern), the suckering pattern (if you thought suckering regular tobacco was hard to keep on top of - then rustica will blow your mind!) - and the way it smokes (very hard to keep alight) ... oh yeah and it smells like a wet dog when you're curing it too ... very distinctive smell, I wouldn't hang it in the house!
That said there are many different rustica seed strains out there and I haven't tried them all. Even if it does have the high nicotine content (as advertised) at the end of a grow - it's a very light flavour if you manage to cure it properly which can take several years to get all the green out of it.
I'm persevering with a variety sold to me as 1000 year old tobacco by salt spring seeds. It seems to be a kind of halfway house between N.Rustica and N.Tabacum (but it's flowers show that it really is a rustica) ... it's leaves are less thick, rubbery and glossy, the leaves are also huge for a rustica - it almost yellows at ripeness (but not as much as a regular tobacco), the smell is different (not wet dog - more fruity like a blackcurrant bush), it cures more easily and quickly. And it does have a higher than average nicotine level. The reason I'm persevering is not because I smoke it - but because it makes a great chew and is very prolific ... that said - it still suckers like a bitch! That's after taking suckers off a patch I dealt with yesterday!