We opened our doors in Smithfield, North Carolina on January 1992 as D&R Tobacco with a RYO tobacco called U.S. Blend. Our primary focus was to sell superior quality, loose-leaf (cut rag) cigarette tobacco to people who wanted to roll their own premium cigarettes at an economical cost. We also responded to market demand by customers who desired a cigarette without all the chemical flavorings of manufactured cigarettes. And of course, some of our customers just wanted to smoke the best quality cigarettes available. We hope that you are in one of these categories of prospective customers or might know someone who is.

Our Mission added a new feature in late 1992 as we introduced the "stuffing" or Make-Your-Own (MYO) method for making cigarettes to our customers. Our MYO/RYO color advertisement appeared in the November 29, 1992 Holiday Gift Catalog of the San Francisco Examiner. With looming threats from the federal government to increase cigarettes taxes, D&R reintroduced U.S. smokers to the MYO format as the standard technique for creating homemade cigarettes. (The success of MYO technology and products had been demonstrated in Canada where punitive cigarette taxes had made manufactured cigarettes prohibitively expensive). Our expanded 1992 Catalog included six new stuffing accessories: Premier and Escort Tubes, and four machines (Escort Deluxe, Excel, Supermatic II and the Premier Supermatic). We also added another tobacco brand which we called Canadian Blend. The Canadian Blend was 100% flue-cured gold leaf tobacco with 30-40% Canadian leaf.

In December 1993, we moved into an office/warehouse space with two other fledgling companies in a large "business incubator" facility. It was a terrific way for us to keep costs down yet share resources and experiences from the group. We incorporated as Daughters & Ryan, Inc. in February 1994 and have continued to do business as (dba) D&R Tobacco. We began selling metholated tobacco in 1993 (U.S. Menthol) and added a flavored tobacco (Ameriflavor) in 1994. The supply of Canadian tobacco became unpredictable so we eliminated the Canadian leaf from our formula and changed the name of Canadian Blend to American Gold. In May 1995 we purchased our own facility near downtown Smithfield and were completely moved in by June 1. We added two new blends in 1996, Dutch Blend and Old Timer's Blend, which we called our "Prestige Selection."

In late 1998, higher Federal Excise Taxes and the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) increased the cost of manufactured cigarettes significantly. Subsequently, the MYO/RYO sector began to expand in the United States and D&R Tobacco grew with the renewed interest in RYO tobacco. The MYO/RYO segment experienced another major impact on January 1, 2000 when the first Federal Excise tax on roll-your-own tobacco (tax class J, $.9567/lb) went into effect (currently $1.0969/lb). Unfortunately, the scope of the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) expanded to include MYO/RYO tobacco and RYO manufacturers began to participate. D&R became a Subsequent Participating Manufacturer (SPM) to the MSA in May, 2001. Total MSA contributions have increased from $4.5 billion in 2000 to $8 billion in 1994 (1994 contributions are based on 1993 sales), and total MSA contributions will peak in 2018 at $9 billion. As an example of the impact of the MSA on the cost of your tobacco, the MSA component for D&R Tobacco in 2003 and 2004 is $3.75 per pound of RYO tobacco.

Despite the tax increases on RYO tobacco, it didn't take long before we needed additional warehouse space to accommodate our growth. We found a great location on Exit 95 off Interstate 95 (near Carolina Pottery Outlet) and began renting the facility as offsite warehouse space in December, 1999. We purchased the property in May 2000 and (after a year of renovation) were completely moved into our new facility in April 2001.

In addition to our manufacturing and mail order operations, the front part of our new facility now boasts a 1,200 square foot storefront named RYO Headquarters featuring "The Tobacco Café." Come by and make a pack for the road over a cup of coffee. Or just stop by and visit. At the August 2001 RTDA (Retail Tobacco Dealers Association) Expo in Las Vegas, we introduced Windsail king size cigarette tubes. They are the world's only white-tip, full-flavor tubes. Windsail tubes have received great reviews from our customers with consistent feedback that they were really smooth. We hope that you will agree.

We had another exciting new product release in October, 2001 with the introduction of our Turkish Blend. Our Turkish Blend opened to rave reviews from our customers and was described in RYOmagazine.com as "the warmest, richest blend we have seen," and that it would "revolutionize the MYO market, and influence many future blends." Needless to say we have been excited by the positive reception given to our Turkish Blend.

November 2001 was perhaps the most significant month in our history for our long term success. We introduced a new package to the RYO industry - the premium pouch. Our new foil pouches preserve freshness and are tamper evident. Importantly, the new pouches gave us the packaging to expand our sales into conventional smoke shops and tobacco stores (i.e., the commercial market). Also in November 2001 we branded all of our blends to improve our appearance and protect our identity (too many new companies "borrowed" our brand name "U.S. Blend"). U.S. Blend became Vengeur, American Gold became Windsail, Ameriflavor became Rowland, U.S. Menthol became Wingate, Dutch Blend became Ryback, Old Timer's Blend became Athey, and our Turkish Blend became Ramback. We are excited by the new brand names and our customers have also found the new brand names and packaging attractive.

Many prospective new customers inquired about availability of smaller sampler packages for our fine tobacco blends. We responded in September 2002 by introducing the new "Ten Slash Two" Pack for packaging our tobacco blends. The Ten Slash Two Pack contains 3.5 ounces of premium tobacco and makes around 100 cigarettes (five packs). The size has been well received by our direct customers and wholesale stores.

Over the years, our print advertisements have appeared in several national magazines and hundreds of newspapers across the U.S. We hope that our tobacco and Windsail tubes will soon be available in a local tobacco shop near you.

Thanks again for your continued enthusiasm for our premium tobacco products. We sincerely appreciate your encouragement, support and patronage.

If you have any further questions about the history of our company, please call and we can discuss past events of interest with you in greater detail.

Thanks for your interest in our Company and products.