Iwan Ries - Three Star Blue pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 61 through 75 of 75 reviews of this tobacco
Bobbior5907	05/03/2004	Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Years ago this was my favorite tobacco but then I then I read Richard Carleton Hacker's books, subscribed to Pipes and Tobaccos Magazine, and,of course, read Tobaccoreviews.Com and moved on to flakes, exotic and high grade blends from around the world. Mr. Serad's recent review of Three Star Blue induced me to try my old favorite again and I can stll recommend it. It is an old traditional American-style blend similar to the recent nostalgic releases from House of Windsor. It consists of small granules of varied color, but generally dark with some bright flashes. It smells good in the pouch, lights and burns well, and has an intriguingly rich aroma. It tastes good with a spicy semi-sweet undertaste. It is not one of those unidimensional overly moist black cavendish blends, but actually smacks of complexity and is considered by some to be an English/aromatic crossover. It is dry and packs easily, but can be pushed to bite if one puffs vigorously. Like many of the old-time blends, Three Star Blue seems well suited to the old-time Kaywoodies since their metal filters restrict draw. I theorize that one contributed to the success of the other in a kind of symbiotic relationship. Anyway, I give Three Star Blue a grade of "B-".
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BriarLaw	04/30/2004	Medium	Medium	Mild	Pleasant
I am completely re-writing this review v. updating it because I was far to tough on this tobacco the first time around. For many years I was a diehard Latakia fan who smoked nothing but the traditional English blends. I tried this and hated it. I thought it was like smoking Juicy Fruit gum. But my tastes have mellowed and I am less rigid in what I appreciate. I have smoked Three Star Blue several times since my initial review and am changing my opinion. I should have been more complimentary. This tobacco is an old fashioned aromatic. Slightly sweet, good tobacco flavor, nice aroma, dry. Moderate nicotine. It is not goopy. I do notice the Orientals when I smoke it slowly (which is the only way to enjoy this as fast puffing brings out the heat). So try this if you like the older-style aromatics that are not PG coated or slathered with sweet goop. But remember . . . . this is an aromatic with basic underlying tobacco taste. Nothing too complex and definately not for the diehard English fan. But a nice change of pace and certainly something to smoke when around others who have not yet learned to appreciate pipes.
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pipper	04/09/2004	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant
This blend is comprised of toasted burley, sweet Virginia, and fire cured cavendish. This was the very first tobacco I smoked decades ago, and brings back fond memories. Anywhere I went in public (fashionable in those days), strangers (both men and women) would stop me and ask what I was smoking, as it had such a wonderful aroma. It was mild enough to smoke all day, and never produced a wet heel. There is a trick to smoking this aromatic in that this tobacco should be smoked slowly, perhaps 2-3 puffs per minute to fully enjoy the flavor, yet keeping the smoke cool. As I matured, so did my tobacco tastes, and I lost track of this staple aromatic. My daily rotation now includes more complex non-aromatic blends from Pipeworks & Wilke, Pease, and Dunhill, yet I still find myself drawn occasionally to a bowl full of Blue. It is, and always has been a very unique aromatic.
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Nojoqui	03/26/2004	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Favorable notes were written about this blend by Richard Carleton Hacker in "Pipesmoking A 21st Century Guide", and most recently William Serad in the Spring 2004 issue of "Pipes in Tobaccos". I was given a sample of this on a past order from Iwan Ries. It sat around unopened for some time. Then I had an urge to smoke an aromatic. Mind you, the only "aromatic" I could come close to is "Barbary Coast" by Greg Pease. Well, I was out of that. So, I said "Oh, well...there's that "Three Star Blue" hanging around...". I've been trying it out in six pipes I reserved for "Barbary Coast" (hope it didn't hurt 'em!). It's actually a bit refreshing, believe it or not, from one who limits himself mostly to English blends, straight Virginias, and Virginia/Perique blends. The interesting thing I find here is that there is little variation from top to bottom of bowl. Maybe a bit toward the bottom, but not much. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. I tend to savor the tobaccos I like. Well, I didn't even think about that with this stuff! I could read, do yard work, or whatever without thinking about what I was smoking. I tried at first to look for highlights down the bowl, but I couldn't find them. Is this the true "working man's tobacco"? Anyway, here we have a blend that my family members don't mind, and I can ignore it. I wonder if it has something in it to keep it lit, too. You can almost ignore it from top to bottom. Maybe a last match...just to see if it's still there. There must be some kind of mint like topping applied I guess. I get that "sort of" taste as I smoke it. What ever it is, it seems to stick around for some time after, too. The main thing is that there's nothing outstanding to report here other than it's a great blend for concentrating on other things. It doesn't make me think, "What is this stuff"??!! Guess I'll continue to smoke it when I don't want to love what I'm smoking and concentrate on other tasks. Read Mr. Serad's comments, and continue from there...
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provguy	03/26/2004	Mild	Medium		Pleasant
I am in the midst of a foray into the world of aromatic blends. Having noted this blend to be one of the more popular ones in the country I decided to try this one and Three Star Ebony which I have not tried as yet. Three Star Blue is coming through quite nicely. Having read the previous crits on this blend there is not much being said in favor of this blend. Well I have to say that it is not bad at all. It is very easy to smoke all day and is definitely a blend that one does not need to sit back and savour, however, that being said it is very pleasant. It did get a bit harsh at the end. I will smoke this from time to time as a nice change of pace. Three Stars for Three Star.
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Superhula	02/16/2004	Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
When I used to live in Chicago, in the early 1990's, I went to Iwan Reis every week to buy cigars, pipes, and tobacco. As a complete novice back then I pretty much learned how to smoke from these people. I have a lot of fond memories of the place. It's a great store and worth visiting if you're ever in the Loop. Nevertheless, I never thought much of their three star tobaccos. I remember buying one of their sampler packs which had six or so different three star tobaccos and they all smelled and tasted the identical, with just some variation in strength. This is not the worst crime in the world--a lot of tobacco makers follow this pattern. There are three or four Dunhill blends that like stronger or weaker counterparts of one another. Still, it was a bit disappointing to find out everything tastes the same. And what is that taste? It's the smell actually--as others have noted, three star blue has a pretty distinctive smell. It's been ten years since I smoked this stuff and I can STILL remember that smell. It certainly doesn't smell like anything else I've encountered since then. Intensely sweet, pungent, and fruity is what I recall. It was like a potpourri your grandma might have in her bathroom. I suppose somebody out there might really dig this smell, but I didn't find it particularly palatable. The other annoying trait of the three star tobaccos was how finely cut they are. Somebody called it "cubed." Whatever the proper term, it's like filling your bowl with confetti and smoking it. Granted, some people don't want to muck around with rubbing their tobacco because it's a hassle. Even so, a standard ribbon cut would be sufficient to avoid that problem. Probably the sole advantage to cutting the tobacco this small is that you can just plunge your pipe right into the bag and fill it with index finger (if you consider that an advantage). I have to confess I don't remember anything else about this tobacco, not how it burned, not what it tasted like. All I remember is that "essence of air freshener" smell it had. I also remember disliking all of their brands tobaccos, with the exception of China Black--which was a fire-cured Cavendish that was completely different from the other Iwan Ries stuff. Anyway, the next time I went in the manager got mad at me because I told him I preferred Captain Black Gold over his three star tobaccos. I didn't mean to insult the guy, but what can I say--I thought the stuff sucked. That's not to say somebody else might not really enjoy it. I suppose it's like the debate over Erinmore, either you like that smell or you hate it. I don't know that I'd recommend mail ordering a pouch just to find out if you like it. However, if you ever go to Chicago, it?s certainly worth visiting the store and sticking your nose into bag and sniffing it, or smoking a bowl there in the store from the samples they have available. I'll promise you it will certainly be something different.
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chaplikc	02/15/2004	Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
This just did not do it for me. It smells wonderful in the pouch and while burning. ( if you like aromatics- I usualy do not ) Once when I was a young boy I think my brother sprayed perfume in my mouth when I was not expecting it. This is what the taste kind of reminds me of . While I do not rate this as bad as erinmore mixture, i do not like it.
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RCUSElder	12/25/2003	Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild	Overwhelming
I am afraid that all I can say about this blend is that some people have much different tastes than me. This blend made me ill just smelling it in the bag, and even more so after a few puffs. Alas, I let it go out and dumped the rest in the "T" file. For aromatics, there are many that I prefer (Sunday's Fantasy, Evening Stroll, Captain Black Gold,,etc...) this one is just not my cup of tea....Cannot recomend. Rating: 0 out of 5 Points. Sorry.
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omegapd	11/06/2003	Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant
The other reviews say it all. To be nice, I like the aroma in the room and in the pouch. The heat and bite are what killed me. I've been sampling the same small pouch since 2000. 'Nuff said.
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Art_A	11/06/2003	Mild	None detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable
I cannot see hou this can possibly be the best selling private blend in the country, I tried this years ago and was just given some lately. The only thing I can say good about this is it pcks good and burns well. I get a hot burn and bite. I will not smoke this again even as a gift.
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mesacactus	08/11/2003	Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant
Chicago, Chicago, its a hell of a town, or so the song gos. Three Star Blue is a legend in that burg by the river. It also has a rep, throughout the country, and maybe the world. Why? I don't know. I mean, this tobacco, is weird. I mean it is realy strange. I almost used the word unique, but that descriptor does not do the blend justice. When I first tried this tobacco, my first impression after sampling the aroma from the pack, was soapy. Not just any soap, but Dial soap. It wasn't unpleasent, but soap? I filled my pipe, with the cube cut blend and began to smoke. So this is what soap tasts like? The flavor from this mostly Burley blend was very strong. To say aromatic, would be an understatement. Everyone in the room, building, and surrounding area will know that you are smoking. But honostly, they might not even know what it was. Some may even think they were near a gym, where the smell of soap would be coming from the showers. At least you should not run the risk of offending many people. Most like the smell of Dial. The tobacco burned a bit hot, and could cause bite, so I took it slow, and prolonged the experience. About halfway through, something happened. The casing seemed to have burned off, and I began to get a tobacco taste, but not a good one. It was sour, and bitter. I have ran into this problem before with a dry, cube cut burly aromatic, and it was the same here. I had to stop, dump the pipe, and hope that I would not be experiencing Dial overtones from my pipe when I smoked it again. I usually try to find at least something good to say about any tobacco I smoke. I can't with this one. I did not like it, and being that Chicago is a "hell of a town", I almost thought I had entered hell after smoking this. Enticed with a promiss of pleasure, but fooled into a flavor hell, which made me Blue :(
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Pipestud	04/21/2002	Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable
Iwan Ries says this is the most popular private label brand in the country and is their store's most popular tobacco. Well, I demand an audit! I first tried Blue as a teenager in the early 70's. I have given the stuff a whirl a half dozen times since then and get the same results. This stuff burns like the dickens, tastes terrible, and smells weird. If you don't mind spending a few weeks with your tongue in a sling, then go ahead a light up with this stuff, otherwise, avoid at all costs!
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pokrsmokr	04/03/2001	Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
I was given a small bag of Three Star Blue this evening at an informal gathering of pipesmokers at a local shop by a pleasant gentleman who's smoked it for years. In return I gave him comparable amount of Full Virginia Flake. The aroma of this tobacco in the bag is rather odd, somewhere between earthy and fruity. It was rather dry (or his stash was at least) and packed very easily. Upon first light a fruity flowery taste filled my mouth and I thoguht I was in for trouble. Though this is definitely an aromatic, though not a goopy one, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought after the first light. It started out mild, of course, but soon gained in strength. I have no idea what is in this tobacco but I would bet a good portion of burley with some virginia. The flavor is hard to pinpoint, it's slightly flowery and soapy but also fruity. I began to feel some bite after only a dozen or so puffs and I was careful to smoke slowly (and it was well packed). The caution light was blinking, I'm heading for trouble. Rather than put the pipe down I continued at a snails pace. It seemd fairly one dimensional until about half way throught he bowl where the flavoring seemed to take a back seat to a nuttiness which was slightly bitter. The burley has awoken it seems, and it never goes back to sleep. The last half of this bowl was a burley lovers dream. Unfortunatley, I am not normally a huge fan of burley. I made it through the bowl with only slight discomfort on my tongue and all that was left was a nice clean ash in my pipe. It did get a little harsh towards the very end though. Despite my consciously slower than normal puffing, this seemed to burn very fast. I can't say I loved this tobacco, but it wasn't horrible either. It's aroma is certainly it's best feature and I can imagine this would be a big crowd pleaser in public. It reminds me of what I thought a pipe smelled likeas I was growing up, perhaps more than any other tobacco I've smoked. Would I recommend this? Certainly to those who like aromatics, but for those who don't I'd recommend you pass. Will I smoke it again? Yes. Will I put any away in my tobacco cellar? No.
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CJ	03/14/2001	Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Strong
I have mixed feelings on the Three Star Blends. It is with fond memories and great appreciation that I recall the days in the 1960's when the staff at Iwan Ries introduced and educated me on the finer points of pipes and tobaccos. Back then, the only three Star Blend was "Blue". It was offered as a straight, non-aromatic blend. Shortly thereafter, they announced that it was, in fact, an aromatic and relabeled many of their other blends as part of the Three Star line. This is the first time in about 25 years that I have tasted these blends. During this time, I have migrated to non-aromatic, latakia type mixtures. I cannot make out the component tobaccos in Three Star. There is no hint from Iwan Ries on their makeup. They refer to their blends as "full", "balanced", "light", "rich", etc. without any mention of a single tobacco component. I do remember that, way back in the 60's, they told me that it contained Deer Tongue. The number one feature of this line is the aroma. They are crowd pleasers. They have the aroma that makes one think of taking up the pipe. Both smokers and non-smokers seem to enjoy the whiffs in the air. It is as if they first created the aroma, and then blended some tobaccos to fit it. The cut is composed of very small pieces of dark and light ribbons and flakes that always seem to have the perfect moisture content. Unlike other aromatics, they are not goopy. They burn dry and clean to a fine ash. However, they tend to bite a bit. The pouch aroma is a bit musty with an aromatic that I cannot define. It is unique being neither like vanilla nor rum cased blends. I can neither taste the tobacco, nor the aromatic as they seem to blend into an indefinable flavor (Spearmint or Juicy Fruit Gum is close). There is a twang in each puff that may be due to the Deer Tongue if it is still used. However, the aroma controls the smoking experience. I only smoke these in my "anything goes pipes", as both the flavor will linger in the briar, and the aroma will definitely linger in the room. Some of the Three Star blends are identical with the only difference being the strength of the aromatic addition. Three of the blends that I have tried are almost identical with Three Star Red being mild on the aromatic, Blue-medium, and Gold-heavy. I would no longer consider any of the Iwan Ries tobaccos as a regular smoke, but I often turn to them when I want something really different that just smells great. Since aroma is a major component of taste, that might just be the secret to these blends. I would recommend Three Star to those that do not mind aromatics, and to those that just really want something different with a great aroma. They are my love-hate blends.
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Bear	03/11/2001	Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
Under my Grandmother's maxim of "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything" I usually avoid reviewing aromatics. I'll have to change that I suppose, can't stay a dinosaur forever, curmudgeon, maybe. I decided to dabble my feet in the "aromatic" world with a so-called crossover. A tobacco that has both aromatic and non aromatic properties. I've been promised "English for you, aromatic for them". Three Star Blue is the top seller by a long shot out of the Iwan Ries lineup. The packaging that I have is a "perma-moist resealable package" containing 7 oz of the stuff. Appearance: No excess moisture, predominantly blond & medium brown burley tobacco, with a little black, which at first, assumed to be a BCA essentially. But I tweezed and lit, and seems (I repeat seems) to be a very dark Virginia, based on burning odor. The package aroma is unusual to say the least. Aromatic, unquestionably, with hints of plum and small amounts of vanilla. Not overwhelming Pack: I an very impressed with the pack, the package moisture is just right for a "trickle" load Test Drive: Fire hits weed. Lit well releasing a muted vanilla/ juicy fruit taste, not as heavy as most aromatics that I have been around. My LSW likes the smell saying that it's the 'most pleasant smelling tobacco that I've smoked in a while". It smokes very dry and burned well all the way down with nary a gurgle. I found the smoke to be a tad "bitey", with many similarities to Edgeworth ready-rubbed, sans Anise Conclusion: If you are a fan of Burley based aromatics and would like something a little more muted than say, a Lane 1Q, give it a try. It burns well and is very reasonably priced. It just isn't my cup of tea, however, and I wouldn't recommend it to my nonromantic pals Room Note: 7 Pack, light and burn:9 Taste:4 Overall: 5 Bear
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