D&R Organic Blends - Rowland, Vengeur, Windsail Natural

[db]

D&R's Organically Grown and Processed Tobacco Blends
Unfortunately, due to problems with the organic leaf supplier, these blends are on hold indefinitely.

• Rowland Natural (American Blend Style)
  A superbly enjoyable organic tobacco blend, seasoned with familiar and comfortable flavors. Carefully grown, handled and processed by specific organic standards. Special leaf selection, analysis, blending, flavoring and tasting have produced this charming blend. Contains 100% organically grown flue-cured Gold Leaf and organic air-cured Burley tobaccos, Oriental tobacco essence, elegant flavorings, and a natural topping to protect flavor and freshness.
  
  
• Vengeur Natural (U.S. Blend Style)
  An exceptionally balanced and smooth tasting blend of premium organic Virginia and organic Burley tobaccos. Carefully grown, handled and processed by specific organic standards. Special leaf selection, analysis, blending and tasting have produced this delightful blend. Contains 100% organically grown flue-cured Gold Leaf and air-cured Burley tobaccos, Oriental tobacco essence, and a natural topping to protect flavor and freshness.
  
  
• Windsail Natural (Virginia Blend Style)
  A medium bodied and smooth tasting blend of premium organically grown Virginia tobaccos. Carefully grown, handled and processed by specific organic standards. Special leaf selection, analysis, blending, flavoring and tasting have produced this satisfying blend. Contains 100% organically grown flue-cured Gold Leaf tobaccos and a natural topping to protect flavor and freshness.

I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to speak at some length directly with Mark Ryan (the "R" of D&R) as well as ongoin Email communications. I don't think he will mind that I pass along some of the information regarding these upcoming Natural Blends.

(Newest First, some quotes contain edits or are paraphrased)

Met with the organic tobacco folks and it looks like we are on the move. we will begin working on the organic certification for a portion of our factory later this month.

The organic burley will be double toasted by our leaf guy in early april. the blend will have natural organic casings... All this work is to get some organic blends that taste good and are not harsh.

I am meeting with organic folks again next week to confirm availability and to determine certification requirements for my factory (that may also slow us down, the USDA must certify our facility and process).

We are looking at a 2nd quarter, possibly 3rd quarter introduction of the three organic tobacco blends. We first need to pass USDA inspections to attain the Organic certifications for the tobaccos, additives and processing. These blends will not be additive free, however all the natural flavors and humectants will be certified as organic.

[Smooth]

These sound tasty, if only there were some way to get small samples without the high postage costs..

[Xalky]

Have these Natural tobaccos come to market yet?? I'm thinking of adding some to my next order.

[admin]

It's been a while since I talked to Mark about the Organic Blends, but at that time they were on hold indefinitely. Apparently there was a problem with the grower who was contracted to supply the organic leaf. I'll double-check my notes and contact Mark in the near future and post an update. But, unfortunately I doubt we will see the D&R Organics in the foreseeable future.

[Update]
I received confirmation this morning that the D&R Organic Tobacco blends are for all intents and purposes, dead. At this time only the Windsail Natural appears to be a potential future product, but even that is well over a year away.

[bobbob7]

My thinking on Organic is "No Additives." I currently buy Sante Fe Tobacco's Natural American Spirit brand RYO tobaccos, and, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "Additive Free" is the way to go, and D&R is missing this point.

[dz]

D&R isn't "missing the point" at all bobbob7 and do intend on getting into the Natural market. Problems sometime occur in businesses that some people simply don't seem to comprehend. For example; an entire crop of tobacco coming in that was subpar and not what they would put their name on. Tobacco is a natural product after all and growing it organically is an entirely different process that's sensitive to natural occurrences/problems beyond control.

[Custom Blends]

My thinking on Organic is "No Additives." I currently buy Sante Fe Tobacco's Natural American Spirit brand RYO tobaccos, and, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "Additive Free" is the way to go, and D&R is missing this point.

There's a big difference between Organic and Chemical free.

Mark
Custom Blends

[dz]

My thinking on Organic is "No Additives." I currently buy Sante Fe Tobacco's Natural American Spirit brand RYO tobaccos, and, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "Additive Free" is the way to go, and D&R is missing this point.

There's a big difference between Organic and Chemical free.

Mark
Custom Blends

Can you enlighten us what exactly you mean by this, or would you rather not?

[dayworks]

I'll let Mark elaborate on the differences between organic and chemical-free but I would mention a few things about this. If my understanding is correct, Organic, Additive-free and Natural properties can all coexist in the same tobacco product or not. So a tobacco may be organic, natural and additive-free. However, a tobacco can be certified as Organic if it is organic and any toppings or other additives it may have are certified organic as well. Anyway, in this case the product just can't be labeled as Additive-free. I have no idea what organic certification entails.

Similarly, a Natural tobacco product can be labeled as such if it has toppings or additives which are considered natural. The same as with Organic, I have no idea what that entails. So that one can't be labeled Organic or Additive-free, but it can be labeled Natural. Additive-free means just that and it may or may not be qualified as Organic and may or may not be labeled All Natural. Anyway, I think it more or less works something like that.

I'm sure Dave's right about D&R too. Mark Ryan indefinitely postponing the launch of these products would almost certainly be related to either something happening to the crop or him feeling for whatever other reason the final material was not what it was supposed to be. I don't know about tobacco, but in this country it is very easy for many if not all farm products intended to be certified as organic to lose their candidacy for one reason or another even though the product itself is still excellent.

[Custom Blends]

For a tobacco to be considered "Organic" it needs to conform to organic standards in place in California. Why California? Because they have the only true standard. AS grows their organic tobacco there (last I heard).
It is very very difficult to grow organic tobacco. And once you have a field that is certified you can't grow anything else in that field. As you all know, tobacco plays hell with soil nutrients. So crop rotation for soil replenishment is out.
I don't know a lot about the mechanics of organic standards as it relates to tobacco after the field. But with the extreme dryness I find with virtually every pouch of organic AS I get at other stores, I doubt it has anything on it.
Son Butler I believe was involved with Mark on this project.

Mark
Custom Blends

I'll let Mark elaborate on the differences between organic and chemical-free but I would mention a few things about this. If my understanding is correct, Organic, Additive-free and Natural properties can all coexist in the same tobacco product or not. So a tobacco may be organic, natural and additive-free. However, a tobacco can be certified as Organic if it is organic and any toppings or other additives it may have are certified organic as well. Anyway, in this case the product just can't be labeled as Additive-free. I have no idea what organic certification entails.

Similarly, a Natural tobacco product can be labeled as such if it has toppings or additives which are considered natural. The same as with Organic, I have no idea what that entails. So that one can't be labeled Organic or Additive-free, but it can be labeled Natural. Additive-free means just that and it may or may not be qualified as Organic and may or may not be labeled All Natural. Anyway, I think it more or less works something like that.

I'm sure Dave's right about D&R too. Mark Ryan indefinitely postponing the launch of these products would almost certainly be related to either something happening to the crop or him feeling for whatever other reason the final material was not what it was supposed to be. I don't know about tobacco, but in this country it is very easy for many if not all farm products intended to be certified as organic to lose their candidacy for one reason or another even though the product itself is still excellent.