Sutliff Tobacco Company RL English Long Cut

Another sample provided to my pipe club by Altadis awhile back; I finally smoked a couple of bowls recently. Hey, I'm glad I did because this tobacco was loaded with all kinds of stuff (Burley,Cavendish, Virginia, latakia, Perique & Turkish). There was even some hint of added flavoring that, although unidentifiable, added to the overall effect.

It packed well, stayed lit well, offered some decent mellowness and didn't kill any family members when I lit up in the living room. They did leave quickly though.

This is a somewhat simple blend that continues to bring me happiness every time I smoke it. Tasting notes remind me of sweet tea, freshly mown alfalfa, pecans, pistachios, molasses, mossy-earthiness, and a barn-yard quality but in a good way. Slight pepper and tanginess on the retro-hale. There may be a very mild flavoring/sweetness, or it may just be from the lemon Virginias, I haven't had the opportunity to try many blends with that level of brightness in them. Leaves a slight nutty/earthy taste in the mouth that fades quickly. A similar smell was left in the room that faded after a brief time. The room note isn't really a crowd pleaser unless you like tobacco, but it doesn't send those around you running for air either. It has the added benefit of getting better and better as it ages. It makes for an easy all-day smoker. Going to be stocking up on this in the near future.

While this is a very tasty blend with plenty of latakia flavor, it bites like a pit bull. I've smoked plenty of Altadis aromatics and none of them bite like this. The culprit, I suspect, is the Virginias. If you are very careful with this, it can be a rewarding, although by no means every day smoke.

I recently got back into pipe smoking, and picked up a small pouch of this from a local tobacco shop. First bowl was admittedly awful and had a lot of bite, but not being a quitter, I tried a second bowl and it was noticeably better. The next morning I decided to try again with a small basket pipe that finally started smoking OK and WOW! No tongue bite and a nice mellow flavor. I couldn't tell you if that first bowl was a result of my mouth not being used to the specific chemistry of that tobacco or if I had just packed it poorly, but I just went in and purchased a half pound of this tobacco and put most of it in a quart jar to age. I think I'm going to do that once per month until I have a nice stash of it. It's probably not for everybody, but I have a feeling it is going to be one of my new favorites.

EDIT: I just opened a jar that's been aged for about two months. It's even better just after two months! Smoother. Mellower. Even less propensity for tongue bite. It goes really well in a cob. I can't wait to see what even more time does.

In my experiance, altadis blends seem to follow a certain criteria: they are overly moist, and they burn hot. Case and point, they give me tounge bite.

Finally, I found a tobacco where this is NOT the case. Although it still burns a little on the warm side, it isn't nearly as bad as other altadis blends.

Tastes good, and most people around me say they can barely smell it, even when I'm indoors smoking. Mild room note, but the flavor isn't! I reccomend this to other smokers looking for a good all day english.