Drew Estate God series:

[settersbrace]

This is pertaining to whatever one of these 4 blends that has Latakia. This marketing ploy with these Japanese samurai gods is the most ridiculous thing I've ever witnessed with a tobacco product. How about putting an easily remembered name on the lid of the tin and leave all the BS mythology out of it. (No offense to our Japanese friends). I don't see this or the 4 season line going anywhere strictly because no one will ever recall what they might have sampled and unless the write it down....but I digress.

So this tobacco I smoked with the Latakia in it is pretty tasty stuff. A good balance of Virginias and orientals seasoned with some smoky Latakia made for a nutty, earthy and creamy smoke with a nice clean finish. This is a blend I could hitch my wagon to and probably will if an ample supply ever arrives at the shop, we've got sample tins at the moment. The 4 seasons blends get a lot of curious once overs from the customers but I've not seen many takers. If DE wants to get serious about selling pipe tobacco they'd better take a more traditional marketing/packaging approach. Pipe smokers aren't cigar guys, we don't go for hokey bullshit glitz and glamour or flashy slogans, just tin up some good mixtures, get it out in front of the customers (pipe smokers) and talk about what's actually in it, we don't need any comic book story telling and tin art. I'm going to try the remaining selections in the God series and hopefully they'll be as good as the English blend.

Sorry for the rant, stupid does that to me.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I think they are trying to catch the young fish in the pond with flashy lures. Then again, my Esoterica bags aren't terribly descriptive of their contents, and people are nuts about them.

 

[settersbrace]

It took quite some time for those esoterica blends to catch on, a very long time and only a couple out of a fairly long list of their blends are really "in demand and out of stock". Even if they are trying to hook the younger crowd they'd be serving themselves better if they at least got out in front of the product and talked it up. Even the website leaves you guessing. All I'm saying is this, they have a great product, the packaging is way too busy, let's let people know what these blends have to offer and let's get it out there for people to smoke.

The very first run at the pipe blends gave us Meat Pie, look how well that's been recieved. Meat Pie, easy to remember right?

 

[Chasing Embers]

And "Baby's Bottom" is appealing? :mrgreen:

 

[settersbrace]

Absolutely!
I know that may strike you as funny and I am honestly laughing at myself but it dies sound appealing as a pipe blend. I don't know why but let's be honest, look at some of those old English tobacco handles that existed. War Horse, Durbar, Conniston Plug, Condor and so on. I believe that it has something to do with the number of syllables in the name, it makes it easy to repeat and remember. They say it's best to always name a dog with a 1-2 syllable word because they learn it faster. Maybe there's a similarity? Try and see if you can remember Ruinjin when you wake up tomorrow, I know I won't.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Japanese culture has always fascinated me, so I probably will. See your point though. Showy labels do often grab the attention of consumers, and their word of mouth can really up sales on just about anything.

 

[lucky695]

Pipe smoking is trendy right now it seems. As if we didn't already have enough hipsters in the fray.

 

[shanelktown]

Lol Ryujin is the one I sampled today it was ok I will probably smoke the rest of the sample I took. That's the golden dragon one. I think it was a simple latakia, Acadian black and virgnias.

 

[troutface]

A few hours ago a friend and I cracked a tin of Raijin when our P&C package arrived. First off it contains Perique, which is not listed in the P&C description. It also says it contains "a nice share of rich,smoky Latakia", though both of us thought the Lat was MIA. I was expecting a medium to full English but it seems more like a very subtle Balkan. It had a nice baking spice flavor that quickly disappeared when pushed, turning ashy. This is just a first impression based on one bowl, but it certainly was underwhelming. Hopefully it will reveal more of itself in the coming months.

 

[mrenglish]

I like the tin art but I see where you are coming from setterbrace.
The shop I used to work at had gotten a line of aromatics and each blend was named after an ocean steamer. The owners would mention the name of the ship they came over on (his wife was German). We sold more of that blend than the others combined, just based off that story.

 

[settersbrace]

Interesting note. Says on the back of the tin that this series is blended by Daughters & Ryan. The four seasons and the other more traditionally named aro's and Meat Pie are done by STG.

 

[baccyfart]

Raijin (pronounced like Rag'in waters) means (from Pinterest comment):
"Raijin is a god of lightning, thunder and storms in the Shinto religion and in Japanese mythology. His name is derived from the Japanese words rai (雷, meaning 'thunder') and shin (神, 'god' or 'kami')."
So, "thunder god" it is! This could be a Japanese attempt at keying on a marketing word (raging) or something, which has an element of understanding within the english word "raging." Just a guess. I don't know, but I think that lots of old dogs, however, would have to get on the bandwagon, before the brand will get any traction.

 

[phred]

Interesting point of view, Settersbrace.
Personally, I can think of a lot of tobacco blends whose names aren't particularly descriptive. "Escudo", for example - it's only descriptive of the spun-cut physical appearance, and then only if you happen to speak Portuguese (or are a history nerd...). "Penhooker"? "Carter Hall"? "Exhausted Rooster"? There are far sillier things to name a blend after than Japanese kami. Bjarne's Viking series makes a certain amount of sense if you happen to know that "Eric the Red" is a cherry blend, and that "William the Conqueror" is an English/Latakia blend, but "St. Olaf" for the Perique blend? "Odin's Wind" for a mild aro? I know I've smoked both "Esoterica" and "Penzance", but I'd have to refer back to my notes to tell you which was which, as neither of them did much for me.
As for the tin art, it's some of the most dynamic I've seen, and I bought a set of both Gods and Seasons series as much for the tin art as anything else. If it doesn't appeal to you, don't buy it - more for me if I decide I want to stock up once I've had a chance to sample them all. :D