Iwan Ries Three Star Ebony

The black cavendish offers some brown sugar and slight toast note. The vanilla topping has a little strength, and I get a light caramel and something sort of sour or bitter from it, which indicates more than one flavoring is used. The strength is mild, while the taste is a step short of the center of mild to medium. Barely has any nicotine. Burns cool and clean at a moderate rate with a very consistently sweet flavor from top to bottom. Won't bite or get harsh. Requires an average number of relights. Leaves some moisture in your bowl. Has a pleasant, short lived after taste and room note. An easy going all day smoke that also makes a decent mixer. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

While mixing records, some classic latin house, this blend enhanced my experience.The deep black color of this tobacco matches with its sweet and strong smell, but when lighted its flavour is gentle and easy to smoke. Although the black vanilla topping is noticeable there is much more complexity for a sweet tobacco.

It gently smokes the whole pipe without relighting, I just let the tobacco rest for five minutes before smoking.

ok folks. I registered today & this is my first review, so be kind! I love iwan ries: cool, shabby chic, enormous, friendly, a lot of very masculine woods on the walls & you can play there for hours without feeling rushed. the ebony tends to be rather wet when you first open the air tight pouch. it dried progressively during the 2 years it took me to finish the pouch, but today I filled my pipe with what was left & it was perfect. keep in mind I live in a tropical country with an average 70% humidity, no heating to accelerate the drying; once I put a iwan ries chalk humidifier in a park lane #7 pouch & next time I checked there was mold all over it. you can get the picture. perfect for an occasional puffer, very mild with almost no tongue bite. is it bland? no personality? well, when you want a calm smoke & not a sensorial odissey this is a great tobacco. I mean perfect to smoke while listening to a mozart concerto, not janaček. it's so mild I like to drink a medium sweet fortified wine with it. no need for a malmsey madeira or a pedro ximenez jerez: a boal or an amontillado are enough or even white port wine. it's a comfort smoke you puff when you're in a mood for pancakes & maple syrup, not for the whole irish breakfast... if you're a seasoned smoker who needs to find challanges, drama & wild emotions in every puff, you will think that this black cavendish is a lemonade to your latakia bourbon &, actually, my favorite drinks are the boulevardier & the old fashioned, but sometimes I really need the calm waters & no storm this mild tobacco provides me with. If I'm not wrong it's quite unexpensive so you get calm pleasures for a little buck. I like a bargain: it's easy to buy good stuff spending a fortune. not the other way around. isn't it clear I love iwan ries?!?!?

Got a 1.5 oz. pouch of this as a gift. Glad I didn't spend money on it!In the pouch, it's a little wet, and has an odd maybe spicy smell. When smoked, it starts off with a bad taste, and goes down hill from there. I smoke almost all ARO and Cavendish tobaccos, and this one will be tough to use up. Maybe I can mix it with something. Room note to me is almost as bad as the taste, so there is just nothing redeeming about this blend. I sure hope IRC isn't betting the farm on this one.

Three Star Ebony is my go-to blend. Kind of like a middle reliever, if you're into baseball metaphors. It's nothing show-stopping, but it gets you to the ninth inning and keeps those around you in the game with it's room note that truly cannot be beat. If you're looking for an aromatic crowd pleaser, this is your blend. It's definitely not a no-hitter, or even a shutout, but it's a solid performer who is consistent every time you send him to the mound. I had some last night (it had been a long time), and the tobacco was still very moist and just as I remembered it. This is your classic pipe aroma, if that's what you're looking for. Super sweet and enticing to those around you.

I have an older box/pouch of this venerable blend. This may explain why my experience of this weed sounds nothing like the previous writers...I loved the black crumbly look, and enjoyed the grassy smell at first opening. eevn though it was older, it still retained bit of moisture. But at the first draw, I was not expecting that floral taste I so distain. I was hoping for the sweet caramel cavendish that comes from Trout Stream, or another black cav. blend. The soap taste does wander off somewhere as the bowl winds down, but the aftertaste will be there with you in the morning. At least it didn't "stain" my old Dublin. Do I dare try Condor next???

Black and sticky and a bit moist, this tobacco prefumes the air with a soft clover scent but offers only a hint of sweetness for the tongue. I can happily report that it fails to attract bees.

I've found that Ebony works nice in blending some of my own Frankenweed as it adds nuances (sweet highlights)and a creamy element to the smoke. Marries nicely to pipeandcigar's Butternut Burley.

Recommended for first time smokers due to it's soft nature. Overcooked palates won't find much here.

As a stand alone smoke: 2 stars

As a blender: 3.5

Oh, this is truly a wonderfully sweet,sweet, sweet black cavendish.I absolutely loved this stuff! This is truly an American aromatic.The flavoring is vanilla with a honey undertone. This is very satisfying when you have a sweet tooth.The major difference between this and all other Black cavendish blends is the moisture level. This actually burns dry. There is no gunk, goop, or gurgle. The room note is heavenly! The closest description in taste is the following-it lies somewhwere between Pipeworks and Wilke's Bleeker Street and Bohemian. Really wonderful aromatic stuff! 4 of 4 aromatic stars!

I have to be a dissenting critic on this one compared to the previous two. I have not tried a black cavendish blend previously. In the pouch this one can be smelled from afar with a very strong sweet and cloying aroma. It is quite a bit too moist on arrival. Flame hits weed,,,,,,,,and flame hits weed,,,,,,and flame hits weed,,, and flame hits weed. Lots of smoke and a pleasant aroma but where is the taste. I said where is the taste. This is close to tasteless. Very mild and almost tasteless. I cannot see myself finishing this 1.5 oz. pouch. I cannot recommend this one. I much prefer the Three Star Blue.

I do not smoke black cavendish blends on a regular basis...but when I want something along those lines, I order a batch of this stuff. It is light and just a tad on the bitter-sweet side. You will not tire of smoking this all day. For those of us who enjoy a bit more flavor, this will not be a regular. But, for a black cavendish, this is cool and burns cleanly down the bowl without goopy residue once the load is done.