Iwan Ries Three Star Green

I got introduced to Three star Green when I received a sample pack in the mail along with several Iwan Ries and Tobacco Galleria blends. TSG seems to be a mostly Burley blend. It was very moist in the pouch, but after some drying,it packed and burned well. A word of caution though, puff slowly, or you will experience tongue burn. While not as good as Three Star Royale, IMO, this is a nice change of pace tobacco, and mey well be a good introduction to non-aromatics for the aromatic smoker and for the beginner.

Three Star Green is an unobtrusive, americanized, light 'english-like' blend. Little bite, but also consistently bland from top to bottom of the bowl.

There is a very light and not unpleasant casing here which lacks the lightly sweet charm of Three Star Royale, but thankfully avoids the topping elements that make Three Star Blue untouchable. And while this casing doesn't make the blend an 'aromatic' in the traditional sense, it's still "aromatic-ish" to me---at least in taste (does that make sense?), though the casing is light and applied with a conservative hand.

The foil pouch has a ziploc thingy on it to keep it sealed. Nice touch that you don't see on most pouch blends. A visual inspection reveals the presence of black and golden cavendish and burley. This is a very mild smoke that burns easily and doesn't heat up much or bite noteably. I would consider this a 'training wheels' smoke for people either new to the briar or looking to switch from aromatics to english and orientals. Personally I would likely use this as a base to cut some especially strong tabac. To my taste there isn't even enough burley in this to give the nicotine head rush that I correlate with heavy burley blends. It is a pleasant light smoke, more experienced smokers would likely want something with a bit more interesting flavor, although married folks whose significant others can't tolerate heavy english and balkan tabacs may find this a welcome refuge from the world of vanilla and cherry flavored candy-weed.

Altadis is currently running a promotion in which they are sending out pouches of their blends for free. That is how I came to have this blend.

The pouch aroma screams Burley.

The ribbon cut packs well and lights easily, stays lit and smokes cool.

The flavor is predominantly Burley, but there could be a mild Turkish in there as well. There is also a Cavendish component to the flavor.

If there is supposed to be any Perique or Latakia in the mix, IRC had better call Altadis and get their money back, because they paid for something they didn't get.

If you like the TS Royale, this will most likely be a hit with you as well. Like Royale with a hint of zest. Still a mild taste, "zest" notwithstanding.

IRC Green is an interesting tobacco. I think it should be billed as a light English blend. It has a nice mild richness that I assume comes from Orientals and a bit of zest I assume comes from Virginias. If there is Turkish in this tobacco, it is a very mild variety as I normally do not like English blends with lots of Turkish. It has a ghostly whisper of Latakia essence, although I am not sure it really has any Latakia in it. Sort of strange sounding I know. I think the tobacco might have been stoved as the various tobacco flavors really come together.

Good moisture content. Easy to pack, light and keep lit. A tad bit of a bite if you over-puff.

A good blend for someone looking for a very light English with very little or no Latakia, or a new piper who does not like aromatics.

Green is a non-aromatic. It tastes similar to Blue, but is not quite as harsh and certainly not as sweet. You will taste the orientals in the leaf but will not be overwhelmed by it. The virginia is there too, but somewhat subdued. I could detect no latakia in this blend, and would be surprised if I found out there is any.