Ryan and Daughters 3 Sails I want to like this

[pjhicks]

I have tried this blend in 3 different pipes. About 10 bowls on my looong commute to and from work. To begin with, the cut of the tobacco seems to be for RYO although I have seen some smokers call it shag cut. The charring light evokes memories of my Granddaddy's Lucky Strikes at 4 am on the way to go fishing. For me, with my quick puffing rate, the first 5 minutes of this tobacco is the best that it gets. The bowl goes harsh very quickly even with differing packing techniques and a conscious effort to slow down. I can see a cigarette smoker using this as a transitional tobacco but I don't foresee ordering anymore.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

D&R does make a line of top notch tobacco for RYO (for use in commercial tube machine clubs), but his pipe tobacco, especially if you got a tin (only because tins are what I've used), requires a little bit of rethinking about pipe tobacco. It is drier than any other blend, and is ready to go when you pop it. You have to pack tighter than normal to cool the smoke, especially with this blend, as it will burn hot if you puff it. You really have to just breath smoke it, meaning you just forget you have a pipe in your mouth. (Kashmir was the best at describing this technique).
I've had four tins of D&R's blends, but only a few bowls from a friend of Three Sails. It didn't strike me as remarkable in comparison to the aged Virginias out there. It just never was allowed to get very sweet in my opinion. However, if you want to try a couple of D&R's that I think best use this dryness and have a great flavor in the strong category, try Rowland Platinum and Rimboche S.J. Rowland has a touch of maduro, giving it a nic kick and a rich creamy taste riding on a nice Virginia base. Rimboche has enough perique to really pepper this blend, like adding an extra few splashes of Tabasco to your chili kinda spice.
Pack tight, light it, and just forget about it...

 

[woodsroad]

I enjoy Ramback, which is, as far as I can tell, the ubiquitous "blended Turkish".
However, I'm more than a bit puzzled by D&R's exceptionally poor marketing. They do not have a website (although they are parked on a domain), they don't advertise much (if at all), and they fail miserably when it comes to describing their products and differentiating between them. Their product naming is confusing at best. And selling bulk in clear bags? Really? I've seen those 14oz bags in or near several shop windows, and I don't think that the UV was doing the contents any favors.
Does anyone have any insights?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

He has been on the radio show, that is the only way I'd heard about them. But, yeh, I hate the names of his products. But, all perique in all blends comes from him, so he has a finger on the pulse of the pipe market.

 

[ocpsdan]

Mark Ryan has been to the Chicago Pipe Show with his blends for the past three years.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I think that his interest in the RYO market hurts him with some pipe smokers. But, I'm sure that it's his bread and butter, so that he can keep growing his unique tobaccos. He could stand to participate in the forums, or whirl a bit more talk among the pipe market. Especially since his tobacco is so different from what we expect from a pipe tobacco. He gets dragged through the coals on the review sites by those that just don't understand the dryness of the blends.

 

[woodsroad]

cosmicfolklore, thanks for the info. I don't begrudge anyone who wants to turn an honest buck, and I certainly don't have any negative attitudes towards RYO, with the possible exception of the RYO industy marketing scheme of masquerading as pipe tobacco, which is going to hit us pipe smokers @$50/lb in taxes soon. But that may well happen regardless of what the RYO producers call their tobacco.
That said, the dryness of D&R tobacco isn't a problem for the market, per se, it's an opportunity for D&R to tout the uniqueness of their products. They fail to do that, so it becomes a problem for D&R. Potential customers will just move on to some other product. A product, no doubt, with a lot more water in it. Water that they are paying a lot of money for.
That said, I like my Ramback a tad bit more moist, so I drop a 65% Boveda packet in the jar (or bag) and let it do it's thing.
One other thought: All of D&R's blends are a good value. Those of us with a predilection for tweaking blends and blending our own should consider D&R as a good base for some interesting possibilities.

 

[pjhicks]

Thanks for the advice cosmicfolklore, I have tried to pack it tight but it still had a short window of good taste. I agree that it tge virginias weren't allowed to sweeten. One of these days I may try Rimboche. There are just so many interesting tobaccos , it is a shame when a first impression doesn't go well

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My other issue with dryness is that I like to age the tins that I like. Although, I am not crazy enough about Three Sails to purchase a tin of it, if it had of struck my palate as tasty it probably wouldn't benefit from age, as the tobacco has to have enough water in it to feed the microbes that break down the sugars.

That said, I really want to see D&R do well though, as they control the whole perique market (from my understanding) that nearly went completely under. Without them, there would be no more VaPers.

 

[kcghost]

Mark Ryan is one of the true stand up guys in the pipe tobacco world. If you ever get a chance to listen to him talk about Perique tobacco don't pass it up.
At the KC show this year the Friday evening smoker will feature a Q&A with Mark.

 

[deathmetal]

I smoked Three Castles for several years.
Three Sails is not an equivalent. It is a far inferior imitation.
Bring back the original (it even had a different cut, FFS).

 

[JimInks]

I totally disagree. I used to smoke Three Castles, too, back in the 1990s. Three Sails is very much like Three Castles. In fact, Mark Ryan blended Three Castles for years, and when that company folded, he continued to blend it with his own company as Three Sails. Last year, when I asked him about Three Sails at the TAPS show, Mark opened a tin, I smelled it, and said, "That's Three Castles." Mark smiled and said, "You have a very good sense of tobacco," and told me the story behind the blend. He gave me a healthy sample, and it seemed to me to be the same exact thing from cut to flavor. Three Castles was also a shag cut, and the same kind of Virginias were used in both.

 

[deathmetal]

My experience was different. I was also disappointed in Three Sails independent of whether or not it was a Three Castles clone. What I smoked was not a shag cut like Drum but a finer ribbon cut like Elizabethan Mixture; some call that a shag, but the cut used by Drum, Five Brothers etc. seems like the actual shag to me where the other is a ribbon cut. Three Sails has none of the curing of Three Castles, nor seems to me a leaf of the same quality. I am aware that Mr. Ryan mixed Three Castles for some time, but as I recall, that was after the fight over the name and rights had begun.

 

[JimInks]

Well, if you don't like it, you don't like it. I can't argue personal taste. All I can do is relate my experience, which is different from yours and in accord with what Mark says about it. The Three Sails is almost thin enough to be a shag, which matches the Three Castles I smoked way back when. I noticed no difference in leaf quality or taste, and as I said elsewhere, Mark travels around this and other countries and hand picks the tobaccos he uses, so he would know better than us about the quality of the tobacco. All the D&R blends I have smoked use high quality tobacco.

 

[deathmetal]

I remember Three Castles from when it was imported from the UK, so the later versions may be more of what you remember. The Three Sails I got was a shag, i.e. cut like Drum or Five Brothers.

 

[JimInks]

The Three Castles I smoked was from the UK, too. It was in round tins.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Funny how my tastes have changed in a couple of years. Since I posted the above, I have burned through a quite a few bags of the stuff.
Never having had tried Three Castles, I can like this one on its own. This is where I think that blenders get into a pinch. Reviving an old blend has the positive in marketing. They can stand on the back of the years of the original blend's marketing, and even folks that never had the chance to try the original will buy it at least once to see what they missed.

But, they also stand the chance that someone will claim the blend is nothing like the original and send shock waves throughout the market that will knock it down in sales. I think that the current version of Three Nuns will start to peter out soon, as I never see anyone say anything positive about it.

In a way, I think that even if the intent of the blender was to copy something else, that it should be just marketed on its own merits. When you put it line with another out of production blend, you start to run the chance that it will come falling down, IMO.

 

[blendtobac]

I can attest to the quality of the leaf Mark uses. I've been to his facility in North Carolina, and he has some of the best Virginia I have seen. He sources from multiple countries, and his broker knows how high his standards are, so the broker will set aside certain lots for D&R because he knows that the quality is high enough to meet their standards.
Russ

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Quality is so subjective. I reiterate that I smoke quite a bit if his blends, so I will not bash it. It's good stuff. But, if one is expecting McClelland or European quality processing of their Virginias, they will be disappointed. The quality seems to fall within C&D dry (and can be harsh) range for processing, sun and flue cured, which is standard. But, they don't have that moist, deep rich flavor range that you'll find in McC and heavily cased blends. It's good, like I said, but just may not be what a fan of richer deeper Virginias might be expecting. It's worth explpring for someone who loves Virginias. But, it takes some getting used to. I would reccommend it, with that stipulation. I hope this all helps more than hurts, because I love the D&R's.

 

[deathmetal]

With all due respect, gentlemen, you're adrift in non sequiturs here. I did not say the Three Sails was not of quality, but not of the same quality as the original Three Castles. Here are my words:

Three Sails has none of the curing of Three Castles, nor seems to me a leaf of the same quality.

I draw your attention to the words "of the same quality."
If I tried to get a Mercedes, and ended up with a Buick, I can say I did not get a car of the same quality, which is not saying that a Buick is without quality, only that it is not of the same quality as a Mercedes.
I think this is the crux of the issue:

I am aware that Mr. Ryan mixed Three Castles for some time, but as I recall, that was after the fight over the name and rights had begun.

I remember the complaints about the "new" Three Castles, and I understand them. Three Sails may be fine for what it is -- it is not to my taste -- but it is not on par, nor resembles, the original as it was in the early 1990s.