Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Sail Authentic (Sail Natural)

When I first started pipe smoking this was a fairly common pouch blend. It is a straight-forward, no nonsense experience for the pipester who wants something that smokes clean and dry. (Unlike Captain Black!)

It is plain tobacco, with the emphasis on plain, and while it isn't exciting, I would be glad to see this behind the counter again.

But those days are long gone...

Better than Sail yellow and much cooler than the green. I find the cut is a bit broader than the other two as well, good balance of flavour and a nice hit of nicotine. An unassuming simple blend that I could smoke all day without any issues.

I have wanted to try this blend for years being a fan of the Sail Green of the 1970's from curiosity mostly, I guess. The pouch describes a blend of Burley, Virginias, Latakia, Indian, and Indonesian tobaccos. I will assume the last two qualify as "Oriental". Like Sail Green, the Latakia is not discernible or apparent in the smoke. It may well be in there and be missed were it eliminated, but I cannot tell it readily. the same is true of the Virginias.

At first light the impression is a very burley forward blend, the Virginias virtually non-detectable to my palate. Sipped lightly there are some new flavors in there that I assume are from the "Orientals" but it is hard to tell. If there is such a thing as, a paradox, ephemeral smoke, this is it. This first light is pleasant enough but then I fall victim to increasingly pulling on the pipe to coax more flavor from it, to get more smoke to taste. I fail in producing more smoke and invariably scorch my tongue as a reward for my bad form. An interesting note from my perspective is that this reminds me in a way of OLD Sail Green without its topping. The current sail green, while pleasant, was quite different in appearance and taste from the old. It's not a bad smoke; glad I finally tried it.

Thinner ribbon cut out of the pouch. Good sipping, easy draw. Simple but worthwhile development of flavor profile. A nice even-paced bowl to the bottom. Great price for the quality of smoke. This tobac is as advertised. May upgrade later. 2 ½ Stars for now.

Somewhat bland and inoffensive, but slightly bitey. If it doesn't bite you, it would be good for a light smoke.

Good taste, great room note, but far far to harsh, I get wicked tongue bite!

I recently came across 1/2 pouch of this which I bought while on vacation in Amsterdam 10 years ago. I haven't smoked any in many years, but the pouch has been properly stored and the tobacco is in good condition, so I'm smoking it right now. It brings back fond memories of the city in which I purchased it. This pouch was manufactured by Theodorus Niemeyer; I don't know who might be making it now. It is a very pleasant VA/Burley/Cavendish mixture with the traditional slightly chocolate aromatic essence. It lights and burns nicely. Unfortunately, as with most Dutch cavendish blends I have tried, it gets a bit caustic half way through a medium sized bowl. It doesn't burn overly hot, it is just abrasive. The flavor is pretty consistent although it gets a bit more flavorful towards the bottom. I will not purchase this tobacco again as it is just too sharp for my palate, but fans of traditional European cavendish blends will probably enjoy it.

I am smoking Sail Natural as I write this review. I still have some from a 20 year old pouch (when it was still being manufactured by Theodorus Niemeyer). It is very smokeable as I keep all of my tobacco in a controlled climate environment. It is a typical, basic cavendish blend. I do like Dutch cavendish style tobacco and have learned to smoke them properly over the years as they all have a tendency to smoke hot. I always enjoyed Sail Natural since it is a simple, basic tobacco, mild in taste - yet spicy - and leaves that "old world" pipey room note. I will order some to see if the resurrected blend now being produced by Orlik is similar. Unfortunately, many of the older tobaccos now produced by other companies these days bear similarities only with regard to their pouch or tin art and not in the smoke. 3 solid stars for the original Sail Natural.

UPDATE 7-25-11: I finally purchased a 5 pack from JR Cigars. Same presentation as before, however, lighter in color as my original was very well aged, resulting in a darker colored leaf. A mild tobacco aroma from a newly opened pouch. Not damp by any means and easy packing/lighting. The overall verdict is a fairly weak tasting mix with the mildest hint of Latakia. Definitely not a strong blend and very little in the flavor department. I do not like the newer version of this much at all. Excepting for the slight mustiness from the Latakia, this is fairlt tasteless. Since I'm not a big fan of Latakia, I won't be re-visiting and downgrading to 2 stars. I'll try to salvage the remaining 4 pouches with some molasses and see what happens.

I wanted to try this blend, basically so I could wright how bad it was... but I can not do that after trying it. It has a very nice, yet mild, tobacco taste. It is primarily a burly blend that much like Middleton Walnut has some quality tobaccos added in small amounts to add "value" to consumers. There is no latakia taste and very little Oriental. The VA is questionable. I did like how well this blend burns and the fact that it did not bite my tongue. By the last third of the bowl though there was little taste left, and that really kept me from loving this blend. Well atleast I tried it and hey I did not hate it like I thought I would.