D&R blends for RYO

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Up this morning with Watson, out on the deck in the grey light of dawn in PJ's with a blanket over my shoulders, a cup o' joe and a Picayune small cigar burning merrily. Watson is nosing around the tree line, checking for evil doers.

Yeah baby! Great morning. So...as to the Picayune:

Review of factory rolled "small cigar": I ordered a carton of the "small cigars" and could not be more pleased. Size is that of a king size filter cigarette. An ideal item for breaks or dog walking, etc. They are slim-ish and a medium brown color...so they look like a custom cigarette. The flavor is excellent. It is a melange that tastes like VA/Burley/Turkish/Perique (gee!...what a surprise). Lighter than the deep flavor in a bowl, but very pleasant. And without inhaling there is a nice little N afterglow. No complaints here. Totally satisfying.


Watson? Oh, he only smokes the big ones.

 
Peter Stokkebye Norwegian Blend #80.

Reviewed as a RYO: I'm quite surprised that I like this better than the universally beloved Turkish #84. I'm using a 100mm single roll thing with premade tips made by RAW. The result is spectacular. Very nice base notes with Turkish on top, present all the way from start to finish. I think it is the base notes from the Burley that I like so much. The Turkish #84 is brighter. Helga, my mother of Norwegian descent would NOT have approved. But I do.


 
I don't believe .8mm is shag. It's that tiny ribbon like some of the cheaper RYO we find in the USA. Those cutters have me very tempted at messing with this, but feeling it isn't true shag is holding me back just enough. Thank goodness. I cannot afford another interest.
 
Blackhorse":n7ki9rjh said:
Fixed resources...expanding interests. Ouch.
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It's bad for the materialist and consumer in me, but it is also great for the minimalist in me. I'm very much content with my restraints.
 
Are there any other D&R blends that are "match" blends? For instance, Three Sails is said to be Three Castles, which is a VERY good RYO/pipe tobacco. It was always marketed as both, but it was mostly for RYO folks. Highest quality gold virginias. Sweet. Smooth. Medium to full flavor. I was excited to hear of this match today. Any others?
 
There was once a 3 Castles, long ago discontinued. Unobtanium. The modern 3 Castles was a redux blended by Mark Ryan of D&R...the savior of Perique. But then that went away as well, sort of. The modern 3 Sails is the exact same blend as the new 3 Castles...not the old one. The current 3 Sails is said to be an English style blend. I don't think it's likened to any other current blend.

Within the other D&R lineup they are all either greatly or a bit different. There are Canadian style VA blends, Burley blends, all or partly Oriental blends (no Latakia), fire cured blends, a Perique blend, etc. I don't know if any of them are clone-ish to other known blends. I don't think they claim to be.

In fact, most blenders of "pipe" tobacco really targeted at dual purpose use claim almost the opposite. Modern cigarette tobacco sold in over the counter brands have TONS of chemical additives and these dual purpose blends sold to "hobbyists" are mostly claimed to be additive free...one of their big draws. American Spirit is one brand that claims natural blends, but one never knows.

I would read reviews on D&R at the Review site and google individual blends. That might give you what you're seeking.

FWIW: the 3 Sails is my favorite. Others I like and that are generally popular on RYO sites are Perhooker (the Canadian style), Venguer, Two Timer, Windsail and of course the Piciyune (Perique). Many, many guys blend their own using the D&R lineup, Stokkebye, GH Kendal Gold, and a few of the value brands that make good blenders like Talon. They do predictable things like 80% VA, 10% Burley, 10% Izmir...etc, etc., etc.

Lastly...and of significant importance are the tubes one stuffs the blend into. There are myriad variations and all are reported to present the blend's flavor profile differently. I've settled on Zen red...a full flavored king size filter tube. You get 250 instead of 200 in a box and they are widely touted as being one of the top items, plus almost every vendor sells them so adding them to a tobacco order makes sense. But I think you can find them on eBay, the best deals usually being 5 boxes with free shipping. A single box is usually just a few bucks.
 
Thanks for the rundown. That's disappointing to hear about Three Sails. I know little about the newest versions of Three Castles, but if they aren't the old, original Three Castles, then I'm likely in for a rude awakening. I loved the old stuff.

I agree that not enough credence is given to the paper. I always liked the idea of the glueless Club square papers, but that's where it ended. I didn't care for their flavor. I honestly thought the papers they gave away with Drum were some of the better tasting papers. I know you're talking about tubes, but it's the same deal. Paper is not paper.
 
Blackhorse":vmc8sinj said:
Peter Stokkebye Norwegian Blend #80.

Reviewed as a RYO: I'm quite surprised that I like this better than the universally beloved Turkish #84. I'm using a 100mm single roll thing with premade tips made by RAW. The result is spectacular. Very nice base notes with Turkish on top, present all the way from start to finish. I think it is the base notes from the Burley that I like so much. The Turkish #84 is brighter. Helga, my mother of Norwegian descent would NOT have approved. But I do.


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If you dare at $1.50 an ounce at P&C:
https://www.pipesandcigars.com/shop/peter-stokkebye-pipe-cut-tobaccos-only-150-oz/2002013/

I just purchased a bunch of Peter Stokkebye for blending & extending:

80 Norwegian Blend
81 Danish Export
83 Amsterdam
84 Turkish
313 Oriental
701 Virginia

I also grabbed some:
Sutliff Burma Road @$1.83 per oz
Sutliff Balkan II @$2.15 per oz
Balkan Supreme @$2.85 per oz

These Sutliff blends really surprised me. They are very decent on their own and make great blenders & extenders. Decent base to make your own hybrid mixes.
 
I just found that Tabac Manil Semois makes a nice little RYO. quasi-cigarillo like, but not quite.
 
There are a couple interviews with Mark Ryan on Pipes Magazine Radio Show podcast. I've only listened to #54 so far. He's also featured on #57, which is solely a deep discussion on perique. One of the more interesting things he mentions is moisture content and why D&R are drier and only 40g tins. I really like this guy, and I appreciate, respect, and admire his motivations. I'm taking him at his word.
 
Mark Ryan on Pipes Magazine Radio Show podcast #57. Great discussion about how he makes perique, the chemistry, the economics around perique, some of the old equipment they use (railroad presses), etc. How when perique almost disappeared in the 90s, someone tried to concoct a liquid perique casing. How other, inferior, untrue periques are made elsewhere. Lots of good stuff there.
 
I checked out #57 podcast.

Very interesting and informative. Gotta give kudos to Mark Ryan for being instrumental in keeping true St. James Perique alive in the time honoured tradition.

Looks like he's also been altruistic with respect to the folks who work for him. That speaks volumes about his character!

8)


Cheers,

RR
 
Do you think Stokkebye Turkish Export is topped with anything? It's incredibly sweet on the lips. So sweet that I'm curious what larger sized chunks of leaf would taste like in a chew. It's like candy sweet.
 
Brewdude":c2f9ydmt said:
I checked out #57 podcast.

Very interesting and informative. Gotta give kudos to Mark Ryan for being instrumental in keeping true St. James Perique alive in the time honoured tradition.

Looks like he's also been altruistic with respect to the folks who work for him. That speaks volumes about his character!

8)


Cheers,

RR
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I know Mark very well. He's very good to his workers and friends. One of the best people I know in the tobacco business.
 
Zeno Marx":7a87w0ov said:
Do you think Stokkebye Turkish Export is topped with anything?  It's incredibly sweet on the lips.  So sweet that I'm curious what larger sized chunks of leaf would taste like in a chew.  It's like candy sweet.  
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Where would one find that blend? My usual haunts are coming up dry....
 
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