Sutliff Tobacco Company Mixture #79

(2.20)
From Smoking Pipes website: A rich, old-fashioned burley blend, topped with a drop of whisky, natural vanilla extract, and a kiss of anisette makes Sutliff's Mixture 79 a soft, sweet smoke, nicely-rounded, and free of bite.

Details

Brand Sutliff Tobacco Company
Series #600
Blended By H. Sutliff
Manufactured By Sutliff Tobacco Company
Blend Type Aromatic
Contents Burley
Flavoring Alcohol / Liquor, Anisette, Other / Misc, Vanilla, Whisky
Cut Ribbon
Packaging Bulk
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Medium to Strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.20 / 4
2

2

2

4

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 20, 2016 Mild to Medium Medium to Strong Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
As this is Mixture #79 in bulk, my review is essentially the same as the one I wrote for the tub version, with a couple different observations.

The burley does show through the toppings at times, and is a little nutty, woody and earthy with a slight sharpness when it does. The base burleys in this product are the same as those in Heine’s Blend. The strong, sweet toppings have a number of flavors mixed in, including wintergreen, licorice (lots of that), sarsaparilla, vanilla, possibly pineapple, etc. The perfume and soap others mention is certainly ever present. I can see this appealing to smokers who like Lakeland scented tobaccos. The strength is a step short of medium, while the taste a couple slots short of full. The nic-hit is a couple of slots past the mild mark. Burns cool at the reasonable rate with a very consistent taste, though it may need some dry time. Doesn’t bite or get harsh. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires a few relights. The lingering after taste seems a little more sour than the taste you get while smoking. The room note is a little pleasant. How you rate it obviously depends upon whether or not you like the toppings, and while many hate it, it’s popular enough to continue production. Because it’s such a polarizing blend, I rate it two out of four stars in an effort to be objective in my rating.

The difference between the tub version and this one is the toppings are a little less intense and the burley a little more obvious. This is because of how bulk is usually stored at B&Ms and on-line retailers. Digging in the bags from time to time will dry the tobacco a little, and account for the mild reduction in the effect that the toppings have. Also, the toppings become a little more intense while sealed in a tin, which does not happen with the bulk. The pouch version is also just a tad stronger than the bulk.

-JimInks
14 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 18, 2016 Mild to Medium Medium to Strong Medium Pleasant
Forty years have passed since I smoked Mixture 79. I have not smoked any of the tinned version of this since, but I recently tried the Mixture 79 bulk offering. Over the past two weeks I have gone through three ounces of the blend. I have just ordered two pounds so I will have it on hand.

The reviews of the tin/pouch overwhelmingly write this off as a stinking mass of garbage, comparing it to urinal cakes, the bottom of grandma's purse, cheap perfume/cologne, soap, and worse. If these comparisons are the current state of the tin/pouch version, I'll stay away from it myself. However, reviews like these do not describe what I have experienced with the bulk.

Yes, there is the aroma of something resembling perfume in the bag and upon first light. Perhaps it's the anise, but I don't get a black liquorice flavor. After a couple of draws, that seems to meld into a lightly sweet, creamy smoke revealing hints of vanilla and a light floral mint background. Some reviewers have attributed the mint to wintergreen. That may be. All I can attest to is this: When the temperature is looking down at 95, the humidity is running over 50%, and there is not a breath of a breeze, that minty background note is more than refreshing. Someone reviewed this as a "southern take" on an aromatic. I believe it.

I have yet to encounter a soapy taste or affect. I get the creamy vanilla and light floral mint backed up by some really nice tasting nutty burley, especially during a snork. This is definitely an out of the ordinary aromatic, omitting the heavily cased black cavendish so prevalent in aromatics today.

I normally indulge in VaPers and straight Virginias. This, however, will be one of my staples, especially in the summer (which lasts from late March until early December in this neck of the woods). There is enough nicotine to hold my interest and the flavor is definitely attention-getting. Mixture 79 works equally well in briars and corncobs, but really seems to shine in my cobs. It will ghost a briar, but I haven't found it to be worse about that that other aromatics--it's just that the flavor is so different and noticeable compared to others.

I would hope some reviewers who have issued fatwas against Mixture 79 in the past will try some of this bulk. It is relatively cheap (much cheaper than the tin/pouch version) and might change their minds about the blend.

Highly recommended.
Pipe Used: Kaywoodies, Grabows, MM Legends
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: fresh from bulk
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 27, 2018 Medium Strong Medium to Full Pleasant
This is arguably the most polarizing blend of Aromatic tobacco on the planet. For that reason alone, you gotta try an ounce! That's exactly what I did (hence why I'm reviewing here in the bulk listing, not the 14oz can listing on Tobacco Reviews), and I was pleasantly surprised. I will qualify my review by saying I'm an easy smoker - happy and content with the heaviest English/Balkan blend, the mildest Virginia, or the most flavored Aromatic as long as they smoke cool, taste pleasant, and leave me wanting more. This isn't the best blend on the planet, but No. 79 is now included in my Aromatics rotation because it does a fair job at staying cool & tasting pretty great with minimal bite, though it will make you work for the experience.

No. 79 has an elusive, almost umami-like flavor - that's what keeps me coming back to try more. Again, you just gotta try it! I will say one of the prominent smells and flavors I identify when smoking this is anise, so that's a consideration if you don't like black licorice (and likely why so many people are polarized against this blend). Additional flavors to be identified by the individual smoker - I say it's like the Dr. Pepper or Jägermeister of the Aromatic world. Personally, I get chocolate & spiced rum notes from the jar but vanilla & rye/bourbon in the bowl. The room note is definitely spiced, like clove and cardamom or (again) anise. I've even noticed caramel and root beer flavors, without the bubbles. Quite unique!

Some argue it smokes hot, and I've had a few similar experiences. I recommend a thick-walled pipe with some good cake on it, but it's not as warm as some blends for sure. I find the heat usually comes from multiple relights; it can be goopy or wetter than average, so wet smoke, relights, and collecting water are more common than average - keep a pipe cleaner on hand for mid-smoke shank drying. I almost suggest allowing this to dry to a consistency closer to an English blend to alleviate some of these mishaps, which will also subdue some of the more potent (read: anise) casing flavors. Obviously, don't let it get too dry or it will work in reverse and heat the bowl back up while smoking. This is what I meant when I said No. 79 will make you work for it; she's not impossible to smoke cool, but she's not as easy going as other blends either. Smoke patiently and enjoy.

All things considered, No. 79 is something you need to experience at least once if you want to call yourself an avid pipe smoker or aficionado, and buying an ounce or two in bulk is likely the best way to ensure you aren't wasting money on something you ultimately don't like. Who knows, you just might find your new guilty pleasure like I have.
Pipe Used: Mark Tinsky Naked Coral Author
PurchasedFrom: Cup O Joes
Age When Smoked: Fresh
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 27, 2016 Mild Medium to Strong Medium to Full Pleasant
This tobacco is one of the better aromatics, but has the problem of all aromatics: the toppings obscure the tobacco flavor, which ruins a lot of the fun and produces an acidic coating to the throat. The famous toppings here seem to be a mixture of vanilla, whisky, anise, wintergreen and something floral, and this mixture while more pleasant than most aromatics, is still chokingly strong. Underneath it, a salad of Burleys and what looks like Cavendished Burley produce a sweet and nutty undertone, but it is hard to detect through the blitzkrieg of toppings. All that being said, this tobacco is far from terrible, as someone who has experienced the "Lakeland" topping and strong anise flavored tobaccos like "Irish Flake" can attest, and something about the ingredients used to flavor it forms a synergistic effect that creates a lush, opulent smell and flavor, like frankincense in tobacco form. It is unlikely that this will find its way into a shopping cart again around here, but while it is here, it will be enjoyed, and appreciated for being more interesting and flavorful than the usual fruit, liquer and sugar the people dump on ordinary aromatics.

Thanks to Pipes Magazine forum member "pipesmokingtom" for this sample, and for the accompanying pipe, which replaced a caption contest pipe lost in the mail by UPS.
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 02, 2020 Medium Strong Medium Tolerable
I picked up an ounce of this blend because SmokingPipes was having a sale on Sutliff bulk blends, and I wanted to try the blend that everyone seems to hate.

Sutliff's Blue Note has a similar amount of hate on TobaccoReviews, but I actually kind of like Blue Note, so I figured maybe this one might have something to it as well. It doesn't. This is an intensely muddled blend, I really don't even know how some reviewers pick out all the various toppings. The first few puffs seemed to me to taste/smell like some sort of cleaning product, chemically bitter and foul. Someone else said a "urinal cake", and I'm not even kidding... that's pretty accurate. I'm not saying that to be insulting, or to imply that it taste like urine... it just really does have that same chemical scent, like deodorant or... yeah, a urinal cake. I actually like black licorice and anise... the problem is, I don't taste any of that. I also like Lakeland blends... this is nothing like that.

Halfway through the pipe... it's mellowed out and become more smoke-able. It's only now that I'm starting to even taste anything other than horror. Before now it was just an overwhelming muddle of perfumed cleaning product. It's weird... that chemical taste is starting to transform into a root beer-ish taste that isn't totally unpleasant.

It actually doesn't taste half bad now, I can pick up the anise and a kind of nice burley taste. I won't buy this again, but I'm going to experiment with the rest of the ounce I have. I'm going to try drying it out quite a bit... and trying to "burn off" the nastiness by packing the pipe, lighting it up, and letting it sit. I'll do that a few times, lighting it up after it goes out, and then see if it makes it past the "grossness boundary".

Bottom line: First half of the bowl is pure horror; second half is mediocre.
Pipe Used: GBD Conquest
PurchasedFrom: SmokingPipes.com
Age When Smoked: New
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 06, 2018 Mild Mild Mild Pleasant
Within the category of “tobaccos I like,” this one is the simplest. Just barely aromatic enough to make it pleasant for the smoker and the room without being a delectable treat. If all you ever eat is dessert, after all, then dessert ceases to be dessert. It’s the very definition of an all-day smoke.
Pipe Used: MM cob
PurchasedFrom: P&C
Age When Smoked: Fresh bulk
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 14, 2017 Mild Medium to Strong Mild to Medium Pleasant
Oh, PLEASE!!! I am an old man of 64. I started smoking a pipe in 1971, and my earliest favorites were Sir Walter Raleigh, Edgeworth, Balkan Sobranie Original, Brush Creek, and State Express London Mixture. Within five years, I learned to enjoy Bond Street, Field and Stream, and Tinder Box Special. Those last three all contained a good bit of licorice, and were all long-enduring and tasty smokes.

Mixture 79 was of the same class. It has been around long-enough for a reason. People say that about skunks and Lakeland blends, as well. Curiously, skunks really don't bother me. Lakeland blends do...except now and then.

All I can really say is that this is very good burley. At least the species of burley I love. If you enjoy Edgeworth, you will probably enjoy this. Licorice? You bet!
Pipe Used: MM Washington
PurchasedFrom: Smoking Pipes.com
Age When Smoked: Fresh
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 23, 2017 Medium Medium to Strong Medium Tolerable
Sutliff Tobacco Co. - Mixture #79 (#600).

I don't get this blend. The alcohol doesn't really give an actual idiosyncratic flavour, just more of an alcohol sharpness. The anisette/liquorice goes hand in hand with this, increasing the piquancy. If it weren't for the vanilla assuaging things it would become even more cutting a taste, but the slight vanilla note smooth's things out, somewhat. Something that the vanilla can't placate is the heat, it's far too warm. As well as being warm, another negative from #79 is the speed.

I don't like the note, and the nicotine's medium.

I hate to slate a blend, but try as I may this doesn't work for me. I can only give it one star:

Not recommended.
Pipe Used: Cob
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: New
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 10, 2017 Very Mild Extra Strong Medium Tolerable to Strong
Ok, I am all for a heritage blend, I am a historian, I love appreciating a slice of history and thinking about the context and time from which it came. Dunhill Durbar is one of my favorite blends, the oldest in the Dunhill catalog and one of the most polarizing, but it the grandfather of Balkan blends and truly for the pallete of another time. Both Prince Albert and Carter Hall are favorites for their simplicity and elegance, a stark contrast to our time when we are bombarded with "flavor bombs" and complexity explosions. I wanted to feel this way about No. 79. I read the history, I know it's legendary, my father used to smoke it, I really wanted to like this- it sucked. The pouch note was that of anise, which I like in food and thought would be tasty in tobacco seeing as it was a standard condiment in the early 20th century. But the pleasantries ended the second I lit the bowl- it was nasty, soapy and perfumed, it tasted like my grandmother's closet. I got a 1/4 way into the bowl praying it would transition into something magical, but I kept getting disgusted with every puff- I had to ditch it.

Taste is indeed subjective and I'm sure the millions of people who listened to Montovani back in the day were surely into something I must not be getting through my modern perspective, just like No. 79....I just don't get it.

Oh, and not only did this ghost my pipe after 1/4 bowl, it ghosted my mouth, I had to gargle and rinse as the tobacco I loaded in a different pipe immediatly after still tastes like it. May have to do the Everclear/salt purge....and then do it on my pipe.
Pipe Used: Dunhill Group 4 author
PurchasedFrom: Pipes & Cigars
Age When Smoked: 2 weeks
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 21, 2023 Mild Medium to Strong Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Ah yes, my mixture #79. The most loved and hated blend. I'll make it short and sweet. In a cob,this isn't bad at all in fact I think they are made for one another. In a Briar. No. It's not bad in bulk. Will I buy again. No Two stars

Lager
Pipe Used: Cobs,Briars
PurchasedFrom: Pipes and Cigars
Age When Smoked: New
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