Sutliff Tobacco Company Dutch Masters Whiskey Cavendish

I used to wonder what Old Grand-Dad's pipe tobacco was like. I now know because this is the very same blend under another name. It consists of ribbon cut brown and black cavendish, the former providing the mildest of bread and honey notes, while the latter provides a slight hint of vanilla. The Kentucky bourbon used is a quality liquor, and is mild to medium in flavor with the slightest sour hit. Has a very mild nic-hit. Burns clean at a moderate pace, but perhaps not too cooly for a fast puffer. It should be sipped for full enjoyment as you would any bourbon you'd stock in your home. Won't bite. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and needs an average number of relights. Not overly sweet, so it does well for a repeat smoke, and the room note and after taste are very pleasant.

-JimInks

I was sent a pouch of this tobacco to review by a buddy, with a note that they hoped I would review it. I remember Dutch Masters being an inexpensive cigar that was smooth as far as OTC cigars go and thought I would think it would not be very good. But, boy was I surprised! It comes in an orange colored roll up pouch and says it is a mix of tobaccos flavored and mellowed with bourban whiskey. I had rememberances of BR Bourbon and it's hotness on the tongue and expected that. I lit up my pipe with this great smelling, sweet aroma, wide ribbon cut blend and was awarded with just such bite. But I changed to a slow pace and just puffed it and WOW was it a good blend. Smoked slow, this is a very mellow blend that issues a thick, creamy, and sweet smoke and a truly great room note. It is very rich and it stays lit better than most high priced blends. It smokes all the way down to the bottom of the pipe with no relites and it smokes clean and with no dottle or moisture at the bottom of the pipe. The ash is dark gray in color. This is a great aromatic if only that it does not smoke wet nor leave goop in one's pipe. But add that to the great flavor and this is better than most. I do recommend it and I will be searching for a supply of this blend. One of the best OTC blends I have smoked really.

I had always been curious about this blend, but must admit to initially being frightened of the prospect of trying it after I read on the back of the package that it was manufactured by the Sutliff Tobacco Company. My fear was borne of a VERY unpleasant experience with their Mixture No. 79, but that's another story.

What finally inspired me to purchase a package ("Buy 1 pouch Get 1 free") of this blend was a review of it by William Serad that appeared in a back issue of "Pipes and Tobaccos" magazine. Mr. Serad sampled it AND Mixture No. 79 in the same article and yet somehow survived to write about the experience, so I took the plunge.

Wow, was I pleasantly surprised! This is good tobacco. The pouch aroma is mild, dryly bourbony-sweet, and luscious. The component tobaccos are described as coming from "...Europe, Africa, North and South America...," and are Cavendish cut with shorter strands mixed in. The moisture level is ideal, and the tobacco did not require any drying in order to smoke well.

The smoke itself was very full and tasty, and puff as hard as I might I could not get this blend to bite. The room note was pleasant and, interestingly, short-lived. This tobacco burns well to a fine ash with no dottle, provided pipe-cleaners are judiciously used throughout the smoke.

Don't let the Sutliff name on the package scare you, too. They should get a prize for this truly Masterful blend. Highly recommended!

In 1974, when Nixon was president and gas was $.55 a gallon I smoked a lot of "Old Grandad" pipe tobacco. This does, indeed, seem to be pretty much the same stuff. I've smoked Havana Daydream (C&D) daily now for several years and abandoned aro's. But recently I decided to take a trip down memory lane and try some old stuff.

In the tub a bit moist. Definite bourbon casing that smokes less intense than it smells. Short ribbon cut, a mixture of dark, light brown and golden that easily load into a pipe and allow for "just the right" packing and draw. Stays lit pretty well. Has a very smooth, mellow semi-sweet flavor reminding me of burnt caramel. Granted I loved this stuff back in the day but I didn't expect to like this much now. It's a pleasant, no maintenance smoke with a very nice aroma and room note. I agree with many other reviewers: if you pay the least attention it should not bite. This will be a nice change of pace smoke that I'll keep on hand.

The last two reviewers noted that this fine blend had a lot of bite, and tastes sour. I can only think that they don't know how to smoke a pipe if they let this gentle blend bite them.

Dutch Masters is a very gentle blend of burley, virginia, and cavendish tobaccos with a bourbon flavouring added. It's easy to lite, easy to keep lit, and tastes like tobacco. I can taste the sweetnes of the flavouring as well, which really goes good with the tobacco. The room aroma will draw complements.

This is a time tested, and well respected aromatic, that really tastes great.

An old standby that is getting tough to find. The flavoring is not over the top, and it finishes dry and clean.

This used to be called Old Grand Dad, and I certainly remember seeing it and smelling it as a child back in the 1970s.

If you like sweet cavendish blends, it is pretty darn good...

It is a bit forbidding to smoke a pipe tobacco with the name of a cheap cigar. Dutch Masters as a pipe tobacco easily outshines Dutch Masters as a cigar.

Don't let the name throw you off. This is a not a blend with cigar leaf. In fact it used to be named Old Grand Dad, after the bourbon that was used for flavoring. I don't know if the brand for the flavoring agent was changed, but there was some sort of difficulty in using the liquor's name. Hence the name change, and a puzzling one it was.

Whiskey is not my favorite flavoring agent in a pipe tobacco, but this one does quite well. The pouch aroma is very strong, but the smoking experience is definitely milder. And the tobacco flavor does get past the flavoring.

This is a cavendish tobacco, with a ribbon cut. I take it to be primarily burley, but the Virginia is there too. And oriental. Yes, the oriental is definitely there, and the oriental taste creeps through.

The room note is pleasant, not overly sweet. A freshly opened pouch tends to be a bit too moist and thus smoke steamy. But once opened a day or two the tobacco smokes well with little tendency to bite and very moderate goop for an aromatic.

I smoke aromatics about a quarter of the time, and usually I smoke them with cobs, meerschaums, and Dr. Grabows. With my last pouch of this, I also used a Leonessa, and it handled this tobacco quite well.

When I lit my first pipeful, I thought i was smoking trash. I found it was coating my tongue with a pasty film. But I persisted with the pouch, and by the time I got half way through, this has become one of my favorite blends. It's got a great tobacco taste with just a hint of flavorings. I don't experience any nicotine kick, maybe its one minor flaw. It doesn't bite and burns through after one light to a nice, white ash for caking. I have received more compliments on the aroma of this tobacco than any other I have ever smoked. Even strangers have come up to me to remark on its nice odor. This is definitely going to be one of my go-to tobaccos. Don't look to this to taste anything like the Dutch Masters cigar.

God, when I opened it, the pouch aroma ticked me off at first! It smelled of a chemical Listerine or some mouth rinse of the like.

I put the pouch away for about 3 or 4 days, overcame the remain of Listerine and filled in one of my cobs.

I must say, it's very nice! Very mild, sweet and just relaxing. again, with that type of tobacco, be prudent with your smoking cadence. Or you's tongues is gonna get it.

I will buy some more for sure.

Based on the generally favorable reviews for this blend have tried it on several occasions. Flavor is indeed not unpleasant, but for this smoker it bites horribly making the overall experience decidedly negative.