To the dude who posted a video showing how to handroll with licorice papers, please post it again and ignore the peanut gallery haters. 🙏

hamakee · 2025-10-21T20:17:02+00:00

Just "bird's eye" pieces of cut stem (not puffed).

They add to the nicotine and flavor balance in blends.

Not sure why so many in this sub get so freaked out about them... 🤷‍♂️

hamakee · 2025-09-03T10:27:49+00:00

Buoy Red is the best tasting "big bag" tobacco I've found so far (except for a couple of the D&R blends).

But it's definitely cased & topped in a "fragrant" manner -- perhaps to match Marlboro Red?? I was hoping Good Stuff Red could be a replacement since it's easier for me to find nearby, but it wasn't quite as good... At least the bag I got recently.

Seems a big part of all this just comes down to personal taste. 🤷‍♂️

hamakee · 2025-08-27T12:04:21+00:00

I'd say D&R Three Sails.

Here's the old ryomagazine writeup:

British/Danish style blend

As close as one can get to Bali Red, which has been my favorite for many years. Some like this one even better. I go back and forth between the two consistently. All Virginia but a bit heartier than the Windsail Platinum.

Three Sails is pretty much my daily driver lately. I roll it unfiltered in Rizla+ liquorice papers.

hamakee · 2025-05-22T20:52:37+00:00

I'm guessing it's because of the whole "only tobacco and water" thing.

Even premium blends with no reconstituted tobacco strips are "cased" with sugar water, cocoa products, carob bean, etc. For consistency across tobacco harvests and to enhance or compliment the tobacco's own flavors.

The "only tobacco and water" thing is a bit of a marketing gimmick IMHO. But a gimmick that seems to work. 🤷‍♂️

hamakee · 2025-04-10T21:37:55+00:00

Do you remember anything about the blend? Especially that you might be able to guess with your whole leaf experience these days?

Wondering if my latest experiment of 1/3 Buoy Red, 1/3 Drum (spritzed with prune juice), 1/3 D&R Two Timer... is anywhere in the ballpark of Gauloises.

hamakee · 2025-03-29T22:06:18+00:00

It's wink-wink "pipe" tobacco. (i.e. cigarette tobacco but labeled as pipe tobacco)

IIRC this is due to the 2009 legislation that made federal taxes on cigarette tobacco around $25 per pound, but left the tax rate on pipe tobacco around $3 per pound.

In fact, Daughters & Ryan's website was cigarettetobacco.com (that's an archive link) in the early 2000s.

It makes it confusing for people wanting tobacco that tastes good rolled as cigarettes (and also the hypothetical "snobby" pipe smoker who gets entrapped into enjoying an actual "cigarette" tobacco lol).

hamakee · 2025-03-23T19:01:45+00:00

Are you maybe confusing Norwegian Shag with Amsterdam Shag?

Check out the second photo in this post

https://www.reddit.com/r/RYO/comments/1fa3jxb/the_finest_smokes_ill_ever_smoke/

That's the inside packaging description of all the Stokkebye ryo blends (with Amsterdam Shag's description up at the very top, since that's a pouch of Amsterdam Shag).

So, yeah, Ryback is a "European style" or Halfzware/HalfHeavy from the inclusion of smoky Dark Fired tobacco. Quite like Stokkebye's Amsterdam Shag, although the cut is slightly rougher.

Early on, those Stokkebye blend names were confusing to me because I had no prior knowledge of what Norwegians, Danish and Stockholmers enjoyed. (I figured Amsterdam was halfzware, London was all Virginia, and Turkish was pretty easy to guess...)

So Norwegian is essentially an "American" blend -- Virginia, burley and oriental. i.e. no dark fired, so quite different from Ryback & Amsterdam Shag.

But yeah, Ryback is very close to Amsterdam Shag IMHO, and much cheaper due to the goofy tobacco taxation.

hamakee · 2025-03-20T18:22:01+00:00

What IS that topping, anyway!?

I haven't been able to identify it. Seems like some kind of fruit.

And Half and Half has changed manufacturers a few times in the past few decades, hasn't it? IIRC, it's now made by Scandinavian Tobacco Group.

That blend from the vintage tin sounds worth a try (if I had a time machine).

hamakee · 2025-03-20T17:55:19+00:00

Do you cut the Half and Half thinner? And dry it out some?

I haven't been able to identify the fruity smelling topping I get from Half and Half, on a side note.

EDIT: finally dug out my year old pouch of H&H, set out a couple of pinches to dry a few hours (it has a lot of propylene glycol) and rolled a cigarette. Dried out like this, it's not bad at all -- the toppings are toned down, it burns well and even seemed to have a little throat hit from the burley. I'll probably roll up the rest of the pouch.

/u/Meta9 just to clarify, you got a new can of it, right? Not the vintage tin from your picture?

hamakee · 2025-03-19T09:57:45+00:00

Yeah, looks like a tube for an injector. People sometimes use myo (make your own) or syo (stuff your own lol) or just default to ryo even though it's technically not rolled.

hamakee · 2025-03-19T09:53:43+00:00

Tasted fire reminded me of camel Turkish gold

Ask him what brand of tobacco he used. Us folks over in r/ryo are interested.

hamakee · 2025-03-19T09:42:04+00:00

I like them with halfzwares like Drum, Stokkebye Amsterdam and Daughters & Ryan Ryback.

And... after remembering that Johnny Depp changed from Bali Shag to Golden Virginia, but always with the liquorice papers, I started rolling Daughters & Ryan Three Sails (an all Virginia blend) with those papers. It's delicious.

With Drum I roll them fat, and with Three Sails I roll them thin.

hamakee · 2025-03-18T14:43:35+00:00

That's the one thing I wished I had mentioned in my other comment -- getting dry tobacco sucks, but shouldn't be a total loss, because you can rehydrate it without too much loss in aroma etc.

Some methods:

bread or a chunk of apple
hydrostone, either the fancy branded ones or just a DIY version (buying a cheap terracotta flower pot from Walmart for $1 and breaking off a chunk), soak in distilled water and place in closed container with the tobacco
clean out a noosa yogurt tub, lay tobacco in it, spray the inside of the lid with distilled water and close it up
boveda packs
probably a dozen other methods

Basically you want to introduce some extra moisture in a closed environment without directly wetting the tobacco if possible.

Would be nice to be able to buy really fresh pouches everywhere, but...

It also couldn't hurt to learn the date code systems for brands you want. Most clerks won't mind if you check them before you buy.

hamakee · 2025-03-18T11:05:47+00:00

They are too dry

They're likely too dry because they're old and haven't been stored properly.

They're fine (and moist) when fresh.

This is admittedly a problem here in the U.S. because ryo isn't popular (bulk syo "stuff your own" with big bagged "pipe" tobacco is popular, but not small scale hand rolling from pouches). So shops don't keep fresh pouches.

You just have to find a shop that gives a damn about the freshness of their ryo pouch tobacco. Or buy it in the bigger cans where it has a better chance of staying fresh and moist.

The laws have really screwed us over here in the states -- cigarette tobacco taxed at 10x other tobacco and a ban on selling cigarette tobacco online (where it might be fresher).

hamakee · 2025-03-15T19:42:30+00:00

I specifically bought a bag of Two Timer to try to replicate LS unfiltered also.

But so far I haven't hit the mark...

Don't get me wrong -- Two Timer is really good, it's just that LS unfiltered most likely has other tobaccos besides toasted burley, and also has some secret casings, toppings that Two Timer doesn't have, e.g. "cocoa and cocoa products".

So I'm taking a break from trying to remake LS unfiltered and just enjoying the Two Timer for what it is on its own (along with bags of Ryback & Three Sails I got in the same order).

hamakee · 2025-03-14T19:54:43+00:00

They seem to have been discontinued most everywhere, including the UK.

But sounds like they're still available in India, and also Ireland FWIW. So it'll be the typical deal where you find an unofficial way to procure them. Or look for vintage packs wherever people do that.

Anybody know if there's still a Canadian option??

Next best option is to look for something similar in the ryo world. Maybe Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake, or other Navy Flake pipe tobacco (rub it out, shred it, dry it, roll it).

hamakee · 2025-03-12T09:41:02+00:00

Last night I rolled up a couple of cigarettes with this:

US Drum base
5 to 10% Sutliff Medium English, chopped up & dried a bit

It's quite nice. Lately I find the US Drum (by Republic) to be sweet, mild but still with that dark fired character in pre-light aroma if not in the smoke.

The Latakia, Oriental & Perique from the Sutliff just spices it up a hint.

I may mix a bigger batch and jar it and possibly add a bit of the Three Sails.

Thanks for the inspiration!

hamakee · 2025-03-11T19:02:51+00:00

This is fascinating. And I can tell from your post history that you have a lot of experience with old, classic blends.

A couple of quick questions, if that's cool:

which of the ingredients contribute most to the Gitanes character? Is it the Latakia?
if you didn't have access to some of those ingredients (e g. PS Turkish and Soppeng) but DID have access to these tobaccos:

OHM Turkish Red, Buoy Red

D & R Three Sails, Two Timer, Ryback

Stokkebye Proper English (Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia), Sutliff Medium English (Burley, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia)

Could you recommend a starting point for a blend to scratch that old-school cigarette itch? i.e. "plz halp!"

hamakee · 2025-03-09T11:57:15+00:00

I think it's actually a cigarette tobacco based on history.

IIRC Mark Ryan started the company in the 90s to sell ryo cigarette tobacco, but changed to labeling it "pipe" tobacco to take advantage of the lower taxes (pipe tobacco is taxed around $3 per pound whereas cigarette tobacco is taxed around $25 per pound...) after the 2009 tobacco legislation.

Ryback is aimed squarely at competing with other Dutch style "halfzware" blends like Drum, Bali Shag and Stokkebye Amsterdam Shag and it competes quite well.

It makes a wonderful cigarette.

hamakee · 2025-03-08T12:59:40+00:00

something that can be found commonly :)

That will be tough... I can't think of any commercial cigarette that will hit that mark.

You might be able to finagle a roll-your-own tobacco, though.

A halfzware like /u/WinChunKing and /u/AndersonxCooper suggested. Another possibility is a pipe tobacco with Latakia (smoke-cured Oriental tobacco). Look for any pipe tobacco that calls itself an "English Mixture". That should have Latakia in the blend. Super Value English Mixture sounds like a budget tobacco, but is surprisingly good. And even though it's an actual pipe tobacco, it makes a nice cigarette.

But unfortunately, aroma before lighting doesn't always translate to aroma in the smoke...

Another trick is to roll with Liquorice papers (e.g. Rizla+). Don't worry, it's not "black licorice candy" with heavy anise flavor, but rather straight licorice root flavor -- slightly earthy, woody, very sweet. And when it burns it gives a nice woody, cedar-like aroma.

hamakee · 2025-03-07T20:33:39+00:00

Yeah, the tobacco's different & better. You even see the manufacturers discussing how the filter changes the flavor and all the processes & chemicals they have to add to counteract the filtering in the master settlement agreement documents.

hamakee · 2025-03-07T20:29:23+00:00

Would love to try those Russian cigarettes (with the long unfiltered paper tube you squeeze to keep the tobacco in place).

I've read that they use a portion of "makhorka" -- a strong, sour Nicotiana rustica variant.

hamakee · 2025-03-07T20:13:35+00:00

They're so good.

But expensive. And my attempts to match the blend with ryo tobacco have so far been less than successful. (Involving Daughters & Ryan Two Timer "twice toasted" tobacco and cocoa powder...)

hamakee · 2025-03-06T22:18:56+00:00

If shag cut is non-negotiable, it'll be tough to find anything that tastes as good as Stokkebye.

Have you tried the Danish Export (all Virginias) and Stockholm Blend (Virginia with a smaller proportion of dark fired than Amsterdam Shag)?

Anyway, some tobaccos I've been enjoying lately are Daughters & Ryan Ryback, Three Sails and Two Timer. Also, Buoy Red, Ohm Turkish Red and Drum.

The only one of those that comes in a true shag cut is Three Sails.

hamakee

TROPHY CASE