Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Sail Cavendish (Sail Aromatic)

Despite its name, Sail Aromatic is an almost natural mixture (mildly cocoa flavored) with no tongue bite. The Latakia is very subtle, with lemmon Virginias dominating the smoke, backed up by sweet Orientals.

Along with Walnut, my favorite "readily available" tobacco.

I had never seen this anywhere except online,and had always wanted to give it a try. Saw a picture of Walter Cronkite with a pouch. Lo and behold, I found one fluke pouch at the local cig shop. I picked it right up, though it seemed to have been there awhile. On opening, it was a darkish uniform brown, with a stringy shag cut to it. Fairly moist, but not wet or gooey. The aroma was nice, sort of licorice and chocolate. It packed nicely and lit right up. I had to watch it or get a little tongue-bit, but it tasted and smelled wonderful, and only took a few relights. I smoked mine almost exclusively in a well broken-in cob, often in the morning, and it was fine for that time of day. If you're able to find this readily wherever you are, don't hesitate.

Back in the 80s, the esteemed journalist Walter Cronkite was interviewed by TV Guide (probably about his retirement). He was pictured with a pipe in his mouth and there was a pouch of Sail Green on his desk. Of course. I had to try it. So I went to the nearby grocery store and puchased a pouch. There was a slight aroma upon opening. Nothing terrible, mind you, maybe it was the anise another reviewer mentioned. It was a pretty decent smoke as far as drug store tobaccos are concerned. My impression was it was a bit flat. However, that may have been because I had been smoking a series of drugstore tobaccos with flavorings; not something on the more natural side. Admittedly, it had been six months or so since latakia had brushed my palate. If you are a beginner wanting to ease your way into trying Balkans/Englishes or if you are visiting friends/relatives and it is looking to get stormy outside and your tobacco supply is nearing its end, by all means go out and buy a pouch of this blend.

I smoked a lot of Sail, mostly the yellow, way back in college. I recently left on a driving trip and picked up a pouch of Sail green. I have to agree with others who have commented that it's one of the nicest "off the shelf" tobaccos around. I loaded up a bowl, lit up and was rewarded with a nice medium bodied/minimally cased smoke. I thought once or twice I may have found the latakia but it's not anywhere near the forefront. Not the usual aromatic. A lot of the tobacco taste comes through augmented by what seems to be a hint of licorice. Nice slow burner for those times when you want your pipe to last. At the end a very dry pipe and little dottle.

Of the many Dutch and Danish delights that I enjoy (Troost Slices are the supreme exemplars) Sail Green is not amongst the least. I cannot see, smell or taste the latakia in this blend, but the room note has some of the sweet and sour redolence of Oriental leaf. Whatever the constituents, they are very well put together for a delightful smoke.

Smoking this after a long gap I found the tobaccbe a little more moist in the tin than I remember from the pouches, but the cut, taste and flavour were the same. A light weight treat which pleases others as well.

My father smokes this as an every day smoke. I latch onto it for a couple of days here and there and quite enjoy it from time to time. Nice and satisfying, it's just strong enough to be a good outdoor smoke and I find that it definately is something I reach towards during the early spring and late fall when the weather gets a little nippy or windy and I pine for the bracing effect of a bowl of strong tobacco going along with the taste of strong coffee. The "aromatic" moniker should be taken lightly, as this is NOT an "american" aromatic, nor is it a cavendish in the sense of the goop that comes out of a jar somewhere. The flavoring has a touch of liquorice in it, as well as the barest lurkings of some mild latakia which swirl together to make this a very enjoyable smoke. I like this better than the yellow Sail. All in all, the cut is typically skandinavian and I find that this smokes well out of one of my tall straight billiard chimneys.

Slightly better than Stokkebyes Skandinavik, but not as interesting as Troost, this is one of the better of the pouch imports available today.

Found this one at a gas station in my small town one summer. Turned out this was the favorite blend of the only other pipe smoker that I know of in my town. They kept in on hand for him so I thought I would give it a try. Really found it quite enjoyable. They say it has Latakia in it and I must say I never could single it out, however the blend is very tasty. It has really good tobacco flavor and some sort of a topping that I could never really identify. I probably smoked three packages of it before I needed a change and now they don?t carry it anymore. Seems my other pipe smoking friend in town kicked the habit (due to his wife?s complaining!) Would certainly like to try the yellow if I ever run across it.

Everyone has a certain tobacco that they judge a touch less harshly than all the rest, be it due to a pleasant experience, memory , et al. Green Sail occupies that place for me. It looks odd in company of my old, strong tobaccos, rather like the pizza delivery boy in the biker bar. Its flavour is mild, smoke is gentle and aroma is unique. I like a bowl of it now and then, when my palate has had Latakia overload, or rubbing out isn't so appealing. I suppose the reasons I have kept it around over the years are twofold: its plainess is unobtrusive and when the thought police kick in my door this is most likely the one tabak they'll overlook...

It's fun to be able to just walk into a grocery store and buy pipe tobacco, isn't it? Don't think I don't relish the exotica of modern pipe smoking, which seems half gourmandizing and half espionage, but buying tobacco with no more effort than a stroll to the corner store is a real treat. Sail Green is not the world's best tobacco--it bites some and the taste, a sort of dusky nuttiness, probably isn't for everyone. But this tobacco is cut well, it won't gum up your pipe, and it smells good to people around you. It's also a bargain, compared against your average fifty-gram tin of perfection. I like the taste, and find this to be a pretty good working tobacco--unobtrusive yet flavorful, and tolerant of careless technique. It's also mild enough that you can smoke it any time, whether or not you've eaten. For those of us who live on deadline, and who often wake to tea and tobacco and an urgent need to write 2000 words before a decent breakfast, easiness on the stomach is a great and good thing. As with any aromatic, I wouldn't smoke this in your best flake pipe, but that caveat aside, I like this stuff and am usually happy to smoke it.