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

Sail Green is a nice Danish aromatic with Anise topping. Typical of the Sail tobaccos of today, the added flavoring is more pronounced and there is a lack of depth to the tobacco leaf (aged quality leaf was employed when Sail was among the highlight "drugstore" blends of yesteryear).

No tongue bite and a thoroughly pleasant smoking experience for those who enjoy lighter fare.

Haven't tried Sail for 30 years! As others have said, this is definitely not the Sail Green of yesteryear, which I remember as an over-flavoured, rather sticky straight Cavendish. This is a much more balanced mix.

The pouch aroma has the characteristic Sail anise topnote, but much more subdued than I remember. The cut is quite fine ribbon, almost shag, & in the pouch, it is very firmly packed, so I advise a little rubbing. With this cut, I find my "standard" pipe holds less than with other tobaccos: about 1.6 g, versus Amphora 2 g and dense cuts like Broken Flake 3g.

The first half of the smoke is pleasant & light. Towards the end it becomes stronger, with a tarry taste. The last quarter is definitely harsh. It smokes down to the bottom of the pipe (if you wish) but requires several relights. The orientals are not obtrusive, but significant, making this more of an "English" mix than a typical Dutch Cavendish. If I could, I would give it 2 1/2 stars; better than the average "drug-store" tobacco, but not quite up to the standard of a really select blend. For the price, a good smoke.

Re tongue bite, my impression is that it depends on how you smoke it. My first couple of pipes had little or no bite. I then went on a bit of a "binge" and smoked 5 pipes close together for 2 or 3 days. After that, the tongue bite became severe & it took a couple of days for my mouth to recover. Another factor may be whether you leave some dottle in the pipe, or smoke to the bitter end, and how firmly you fill your pipe.

One of my favorites. Great pouch aroma; not goopy or overwhelmingly aromatic--just right in my book. Essence of baby powder, cream, butter and caramel greet the nose, if you get a good batch. No Latakia noted.

Smoked it back in the 60's in college (Seton Hall University in NJ)--back then you could roll your own in class & smoke, as long as you brought your own ashtray. I used to roll up a big Sail Green blunt in pink strawberry flavored rolling papers!

Too bad that smokers are now second class citizens and huddle in the shadows, compared to the glory days when you could smoke in your hospital bed as long as there was no O2 being used!

The sense of smell is the only sense connected directly to the brain, unfiltered by any other organ, and is a powerful memory- evoking sensation.

The scent whisks me back to the turbulent mid to late 60's, when I first fell in love. Who among us will forget our first love, when the intensity of youth, hormones, and and a beautiful, vibrant young woman blended to create an irreplaceable life experience that I recall as if it were yesterday. First kiss--on her front porch in the dark. She had butterscotch flavoured lipstick. I was enthralled by the wonder of it all. And this was nearly half a century ago...

Alas, it was not to be. But it was an unforgettable time and a wild ride! Newark summer race riots in '67 (I was right in the middle of that, as I worked at a slum housing project), campus riots (SHU ROTC building set afire, horseback mounted Police with batons cracking heads), RFK, Malcolm X & MLK assassinations, Viet Nam War, Nixon, Woodstock, Cape Cod, CB radio, The Last Whole Earth Catalog, Zap Comics (R. Crumb), the East Village with hippies in Washington Square Park, Fillmore East, McSorley's Tavern (no women allowed at the time), the Electric Circus, the Psychedelicatessen, the Hip Bagel, Third Eye bookstore, Jimi Hendrix at the Cafe Wha, CCR at Madison Square Garden, David Peel and the Lower East Side, the Doors in Asbury Park, rock concerts at South Mountain Arena, Firesign Theater, rose agarbatti incense from India, love beads, vinyl record albums, Zacherley Disc-O- Teen, miniskirts with white Go Go boots.

All this and more from a bowl of Sail Green...

Update: Very poor quality control, though. I recently bought a batch of 5 pouches from the same lot, and they were TERRIBLE-- harsh, sour-smelling and nothing like Sail Green. This may be the reason for the rash of bad reviews...

I have smoked Sail Green on and off for almost a decade and in that time it has gone from finding very dry and dusty pouches in midtown Manhattan (probably late 90's pouches) to fresh, newly manufactured pouches made by Orlick. I have both an old pouch that has been in my humidor and a new one side by side. The new pouches I got from Pipes and Cigars have a much milder Cocoa aroma with the leaf looking like it is consisted of better quality Virginia and Burley. Either way I enjoyed my new pouch and will purchase more. This is not an aromatic in the American sense, it is a Dutch Cavendish so it is not sticky or goopy and will dry out if left on a plate. DGT's very well and I truly enjoy the aroma both lit and unlit. Remember though that just like Macbaren's blends these are made for Europeans that almost exclusively employ filters so if you find this bites or burns try using a filter. Try some its pretty good!

Got a free pouch in the mail. Very light pouch aroma for me, slight licorice, burley base. Very long shag must be packed carefully or it simply will not stay lit. I ended up manicuring it with some scissors after several relights and reloads. Very light aroma- I would hardly call this an aromatic, it's mostly a standard 'drugstore' burley smell. Taste is the same, very mild. Room note is ok, cigarette-y. I like it better than other otc's like PA and H&H, except for the cut. Would recommend as a cheap daily smoke for when you want a quick puff between classes or on a break from work- I can dump 3/4 of a bowl and not feel bad (I absolutely hate wasting anything, especially tobacco!)

Edit to add: I get zero tongue bite with this, IDK what everyone is doing wrong when smoking this blend.

The Virginia is citrus and grass, and forms the base of the blend. In support, the burleys are a little nutty with not much molasses. The buttery sweet and lightly sour, woody Orientals are in the background. There's just enough smoky woody Cyprian latakia to give this a slight flavor push. The anise topping sublimates some of the tobacco taste. There are a few fruity notes and at the beginning, I get a few notes of cocoa. The nic-hit is mild. Burns slightly warm at a slightly more than moderate pace, but doesn't bite. Leaves a little dampness in the bowl, and needs an average number of relights. I can't give it more than two stars because it's inconsistently made. I smoked one pouch that was just as I described it earlier. Then, I smoked another pouch that I had bought at the same time from the same place, and it was bland, boring, and missing much of the flavors. Then, recently, I smoked another pouch, and it was very much like my first description. Not sure what I'll get when I buy it makes it hard to rate, but even at its best, I would only give it two and a half stars, one at its worst.

-JimInks

Another lightweight. I couldn't really place the topping so I'll go with aniseseed, close as anything I can come up with. Burns well, not much going for it in my book but tolerable and allows you to focus on other tasks at hand.

First off, very ugly pouch art/design, I realize that its a classic that has been around for years but a very dull looking pouch.

In the pouch there is scents of pepper, anise, and fruit, very plummy. This is a very lightly topped smelling and tasting tobacco. Compared to many other aromatics this blend is very lightly flavoured with a predominant tobacco smell/taste complimented by the flavours listed above. A very heavy nicotine punch also, compared to many of the others I have smoked. Smokes very easily down to a fine powder, least dottle of many blends, a faster smoke than I am used to.

Update: This is very 'ghosty' be careful what you smoke this in, because it will be there in the future for some time. Not a bad blend, but an aquired taste I think, its like keiths beer 'those who like it, like it alot' but otherwise stear clear.

As I am a devotee of SAIL REGULAR (Yellow Pouch), I thought I would refresh my mind about this mix. In the sachet, it smells exactly like the Regular; but this is a ribbon-cut, typical Dutch Cavendish: it fills and fires easily, and burns cool and dry. A most well-behaved blend.

Whereas the Yellow is sweet and surprisingly intense, and the Natural [Ivory] clean but bland, this one is quite deliciously Oriental, nutty, velvety?a kind of featherweight Sobranie. The emphasis is on featherweight, for, if there be indeed "a few Latakia leaves" in this mix, I certainly cannot either taste or see them. But the result is not bland; it is quite delightfully delicate.

Undoubtedly there is a topping here, but this is not a heavily cased mix; for one thing Virginia cannot be heavily cased, for another, I cannot taste any gunk in the smoke, which is as cool and dry as anything I have ever burnt in a pipe.

I normally prefer lusher fare, but this is unmistakably wonderful, all in all.

Been smoking this blend for a month as my first pipe on the ride to work with morning coffee. Its a winner in my book.

Smell in the pouch is a grassy Virginia with anise. Pouch description mentions 'mystique of the orient' and 'with a few Latakia leaves'. Couldn't see or smell. Looks like a typical flavored Danish, and a decent quality rubbed out flake.

Its a very balanced blend. Upon light, I found the first part of the bowl sweet and comparable to Hamborger Veermaster. I found this tobacco then settles down to a creamier less sweet flavor. Burn characteristics are well behaved in all pipes. Smokes almost totally down to the bottom of the bowl. Very little dottle.

I give this 4 stars because the flavor I find unique and sometimes find myself craving it. Not replicated in any other blend. Mild but keeps your interest. Hay, cream, anise? Don't know and cant put a finger on it. Really enjoyable.