D & R Tobacco Ryback Gold

The Virginia is grassy, tart and tangy citrus sweet, and shares the lead with the earthy, spicy, woody, floral, mildly sweet dark fired Kentucky. The earthy, woody burley is toasty, nutty sweet in an important support role. There’s more Virginia in this than there is in the regular Ryback, where the Kentucky and burley are more obvious. The spiciness from the Kentucky is just above being a condiment here, and the sweetness of the Virginias is more noticeable. The strength and taste levels are just past the medium threshold. The nicotine hit falls just short of medium. Dry as a bone, and being a shag cut, burns quickly, but not harsh unless you puff it fast. I suggest a light hydration. Won't bite and is a smoother smoke than Ryback. Has fewer rough edges. No casing or toppings. Burns clean with a very consistent mildly sweet, spicy, savory flavor. Requires few relights. Virtually leaves no moisture in the bowl, and has a pleasantly lingering after taste, and a stronger room note. Not an all day smoke, and I recommend a small bowl if you have multiple repeats in mind. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

My favorite daily smoker! All the complex flavors of Ryback mellowed and sweetened with flue cured Virginia. Your greeted with the heady wood smoke aroma and packed nicely its followed with a nice burning Danish style cavendish flavor sans the icky casing sprays. A nice full mouth of smoke to swirl around enjoying the sweeter version of Ryback.This is truely what you should expect fron top shelf tobacco flue cured to exceptional taste and aroma. My daily dose of good stuff!

D & R Tobacco - Ryback Gold.

'Extra-Fine Shag Cut'? No kidding! It's made from medium and light browns and because mine was supplied from bulk the loose pouch has allowed breathing so the moisture's good. The smell from it's arboraceous and woody.

The diminutive shag enables easy ignition but also causes it to burn at the speed of a racing snake! This collaborated with the with the unrelenting bite creates an unpleasant experience. It's a shame as the taste isn't that bad. To my palate the stronger of the flavours is the Kentucky. A little too fire-cured tasting for me, slightly acrid, but not overly heady; I suppose. The plain Burley takes second place, creating a rugged, coarse, support. The Virginia comes last. This requires a dedicated tongue to seek it out, I don't notice much from it barring a gentle touch of hay; no 'sharpness', citrus, etc., just hay.

Nicotine: quite strong. Room-note: tolerable.

Ryback Gold? Although the flavour isn't exactly pernicious the mechanics are abysmal. But, being fair, I'll give it two stars for the taste:

Somewhat recommended.

Ryback Gold smells a lot like burned wood in the pouch so the dark fired is present right up front. It arrives quite dry and some may be tempted to add a little moisture. In the pipe, it is a little woody, a little nutty and offers some strength. The Virginia’s offer only a little bit of sweetness and not enough to make this interesting. As a dark fired blend, its OK, but there are just too many others that I find better. On the upside, I did find a little better result smoking this in a cob, but RG isn’t one that will be making a return to the pipe room.

Reviewed as a cigarette tobacco: This is a freakin' awesome cigarette tobacco. Not a halfzware but a halfzware light. Whereas Ryback standard is smoky and delicious, it's a little heavy to smoke more than a couple a day. This is much lighter in comparison and you can smoke this all day if you're inclined to. Smoky, sweet, a shag cut that stuffs like a dream. Mark's interpretation of the Dutch classic is different than any traditional halfzware I've had, but I have to say I like it just as much as any I've had. A very nice tobacco. A

This a shag cut Kentucky-forward blend with enough Virginia to provide some sweet notes and round out the spicy full flavors. I hydrated mine and found it smoked like a shag - fairly quick and a little harsh in the last 1/4 of the bowl. This tasted like PS Amsterdam with a little more Kentucky - a nice combo.

If I had a job with a timed smoke break, I could see this being a goto with a cob or a briar with a smaller bowl like a Grabow Lark. It is tasty and it delivers. This is probably a little more nicotine than a new smoker will want. For a cigarette smoker making the move to pipes, this might be perfect.

Ryback Gold is lighter in comparison to the regular Ryback. Ryback Gold is sweeter than the regular Burly based Ryback because of the Golden Virginia tobacco in it. This is Ryback with Golden Virginia added, making this a Virginia/Burley tobacco. Both versions smoke well and would only offend those who dislike the odor of all smoking tobacco, be it cigarette or pipe.

Taste-wise, I like both blends. Ryback Gold leaves more sweetness in your mouth as do all of the Golden Virginia tobaccos I’ve smoked in the past. The flavor reminds me of Mac Baren’s Golden Extra, which I used to smoke regularly. When Mac Baren Golden Extra was no longer available by the pound, I quit smoking it.

If you are trying out pipe smoking to replace cigarettes, this is the perfect pipe tobacco to initially start with and then go to the regular Ryback and see which blend you prefer. Personally, I’m going to keep both of them in stock so I can switch back and forth.

This is Ryback with a bit more sweetness, a mild Golden Va flavor, and a big bite. This one bites like a shark. Goldens do that to me sometimes, maybe you'll have better luck.

I bought this back in December along with Ryback in the lb. bags on sale. A lot of tobacco for not having tried it but they were dirt cheap. I can also give out jars as stocking stuffers if need be. Upon opening the bag there is a slight smoky, grassy tin note. This is a light golden-brown shag that is so shredded some of it is like powder. Smooth grassy taste, due to the shag can burn hot if puffed too fast and in a large pipe bowl. I prefer the Ryback to this one. The reality is that this is RYO cigarette tobacco branded as a pipe blend. As pipe tobacco I give this one two stars, as cig tobacco I would give it three.

Recently found a restock of the 16 oz bags and I do enjoy a nice shag cut blend in the pipe.

Smells woodsy, earthy and a bit of hay/grass. Flavor is not overpowering and actually enjoyable. I like to put this at the bottom half of the bowl, with sutliff ready rubbed match on the top. Makes for a very nice delectable blend, with an ending that packs a bit more punch.

This stuff comes dry and that is just fine by me. I'll jar the rest of the 16 oz I have and will revisit this one again regularly.

Can't beat it for the price, and now I feel inclined to try the regular Ryback also.