Sutliff Tobacco Company R Blend

(3.11)
A blend of Bright flake, Red Virginia, Burley cube cut, Latakia and Perique with a mild fruit flavor. Reminiscent of House of Windsor "Revelation".

Details

Brand Sutliff Tobacco Company
Series Sutliff Private Stock
Blended By Carl McCallister
Manufactured By Sutliff Tobacco Company
Blend Type American
Contents Burley, Latakia, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring Fruit / Citrus
Cut Coarse Cut
Packaging 1.5oz tin
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

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

Average Rating

3.11 / 4
3

4

2

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 04, 2014 Mild to Medium Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The HoW version left me with a bad impression all the way around, from the dullness of the burley to the relative lack of sweetness, depth, and flavor of the Virginia and the burley. In the Match, the medium brown Virginia has a mildly natural tangy citrus sweetness while the burley sports some earthy points, plus a light nuttiness. The perique is very lightly added for a hint of spice, hardly noticed in the HoW. The Cyprian latakia brings very mild smokey, woody bass notes to give this mixture a slight flavor push. There’s a mild fruity rum topping that tastes better than the one HoW used, and slightly more obvious, too. The HoW version tended to have a cardboard taste that turned bitter near the finish, and smoked hot unless you sipped it. None of these qualities are true of the Match. This is more well rounded, smoother with no bite, and the components work together with greater consistency than the original. The nic-hit is mild.

-JimInks
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 15, 2014 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant
I know I've said this before, but at my Rum Project website, we've tasted hundreds of good spirits, not least rum and a number of good Scotch whiskies. It goes without saying that these are well accompanied by a good pipe or cigar. As a spirits reviewer I'm always concerned with balance, harmony but without losing interest, ie complexity. It's a fine line. When any one element shouts out to the detriment of the others, it can be jolting. This "R" are pretty nice tobacco, and at least for me strikes a lovely balance. The elements - burley, virginia, latakia and perique are all there, all discernible, but no one of them crowds the others.

They get along like the sociable patrons at my favorite Irish pub. Lots of conversation, but you can hear all of them. No loudmouths, at least not in the pipe. One of the other reviewers called this a VaBur with touches of latakia and perique, and I'll surely agree with that. I can imagine Albert (Einstein) sitting back after a day of hard thinking, to just drift away in this blend's pleasantness.

As has been well said the tin note is a simply beautiful deep, dark fruit and tobacco. Nice coarse cut, and just enough moisture to just pack and smoke. Simple gravity fill, with another pinch to finger tamp it down, light a couple times, toss your feet up and reeeeeelax. It's roasted nutty tobacco, with just the right sweetness, one could imagine the deep, dark fruity aromas, but little more than imagination. It's kind of an old codgery, but at the club kind of feeling. The burley peeks forward now and again - very nice - but recedes back into the virginia, with the latakia and perique always there to add a pleasant spice and smokiness.

This blend is so very easy to smoke, and so very pleasant. Now I know this shows up as an English, and perhaps for some it is. But for me I'd rather call it an American English, an expat who plays nicely by the rules. I dig it, and will buy it again...as blends go these components know how to play together.
Pipe Used: Big Ben nosewarmer
PurchasedFrom: Local tobacconist
Age When Smoked: Not sure, but surely an older tin
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 09, 2014 Mild to Medium Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Presentation in the tin is cubed and chunky. It is drier than most tinned tobacco, and just about perfect for smoking as far as I am concerned. A sniff suggests fruit and a little latakia.

I have gravity fed and don't pack it very tight. Smoked I get a very good VaBur with some sweet topping and a little spice from the perique. The latakia is a light touch, but it is there and contributes nicely to provide a whiff of fireside smokiness. The highlight for my palate is the way the perique works so well with the other flavors.

This blend is a home run as far as I am concerned. I never had the orginal Revelation or the HoW version so I have no idea how they compare.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 02, 2014 Medium to Strong Medium Mild to Medium Tolerable
I picked up a single tin of this to compare to C&D's Epiphany, both being clones of Revelation (which I never had). I smoked a good three ounces of the C&D blend before cracking the tin of R Blend so I had a good foil to test. Tin aroma is similar to the C&D product but not quite as heavy which for me could be a good thing. In appearance R Blend has less Latakia and more burleys. It is a more complex blend in formula. The presentation is more refined.

But it is in the pipe that counts. C&D bills their blend as an English. Looking at the recipe for R Blend, one might say the same of it, but not in the smoke. It's not there. I hate to say it but this seemed a waste of good blending varieties as the topping was 'lemony' for me and masked the tobacco. It has a tang that was not pleasant. In fact the flavoring is about all I can really get out of this besides a big nicotine buzz, that and hot air. In nicotine it is heavier than Epiphany. Some may like that. R Blend is more of an aromatic made from English blend components which do not come together well. The C&D is an English that is flavored - and it works. R Blend is basically a codger burley, which I don't do.

I felt I should like both or not like both. That was not the case for me. I expected better. I apologized to my pipes.

These two will likely be the last flavored blends I smoke (or rather buy) and certainly the last I shall review.

Quite obviously, I am no Albert Einstein.

Update: Despite those who dislike my review, I revisited this blend this morning in a cob that will never smoke another blend, now. I will double down. It does not deserve the two stars I gave it.
Pipe Used: Briars and corncobs
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: New tin
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 26, 2014 Medium Very Mild Mild to Medium Tolerable
I just finished the tin of this I purchased nearly two years ago and I will say this one was not too bad. Granted, it was not that great either. I suppose this is the Sutliffe version of revelation, a blend lost to time that I have not, or likely never will, taste. I have, however, tasted epiphany, which is Cornell & Diehl's version of the same.

My first impressions on this blend is that is has a pervasive chemical presence like many other of the Sutliffe blends I have tried. I believe this in the form of PG and it is quite heavy in all their blends. It adds a sweetness that is easier to perceive in a blend such as this rather than an aromatic, where it is often muddled by the topping.

The blend is easy enough to smoke and is pretty good for a mindless smoke. It is also pretty cheap for a tinned blend. Although, I cannot compare this to the original revelation, I can compare it to epiphany, and this one pales in comparison to that blend. But they are also pretty different in that Epiphany needs a relative calm and contemplative setting where R blend can be pretty much enjoyed when you are working around the garage with a pipe stuck in your craw.

For what it is, I would somewhat recommend it.
Pipe Used: various best in my pete b11
PurchasedFrom: a B & M in Shelby Twp., MI
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 31, 2014 Medium Very Mild Medium Tolerable
Sutliff Tobacco Company - R Blend (Sutliff Private Stock)

Picture a nice grassy and lightly sweet VaPr with its trademark long malty/milky/peppery finish, and perch a sturdy rider of nutty burly on top, holding a small torch of smoky latika to light the way, and then set it loose to announce the arrival of the British, and you have R-Blend. Towards the end of the middle third the rider starts to droop in the saddle a bit, but the VaPr underneath carries the day to the finish line. A very nice and well balanced smoke that no doubt will find traction with VaPr fans who find most English blends a bit too latika heavy for their tastes. A great smoke for outdoor grilling & barbecue.

I give this 3 1/2 stars (out of 4), which I'm forced to round down to 3, since this site doesn't support halfsies. I'd like to give it 4, but I just can't quite do it (although I may change my mind after a few more bowls). Add half a star if you're a latika fan. Recommended.

Misc Addendums:

> My tin seemed to burn a tiny bit fast and hot. The coarse cut seemed very slightly on the dryish side of perfect, perhaps due to the slightly too-roomy tins Sutliff seems to favor for their modest 1.5 oz fill levels. If you sip slowly, all is well, but if you puff too fast, the latika and perique can start to tag team your tongue a bit, like licking a weak 9v battery.

> I dont find any trace of the fruityness mentioned in sutliff's product description.
Pipe Used: Dr Grabow Freehand Briar (Group 4)
PurchasedFrom: (sample from friend)
Age When Smoked: Unknown
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 20, 2015 Medium Mild to Medium Medium to Full Pleasant
I received this tobacco a few months back from my P&C tobacco of the month club. This is one reason I stay in! This tobacco leaves me with the feeling of Satisfaction I don't always achieve from every blend I smoke. I have at least one bowl of this daily, that is how well I like it. Some years ago I smoked HOW Revelation and it was ok, not great and certainly not lousy. I have been told this is more in line with Revelation when Phillip Morris produced it years ago. I really couldn't say, I never had the opportunity to smoke that. R-blend is not too overpowering in top note nor is it too much dominated by one type of tobacco. Very good balanced smoke. Truly an American Blend, an innovative one at that. Well wort a try!
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
ven
Dec 28, 2013 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
This is a wonderful tobacco!! Tasty and complex and burns down to the end with minimal relighting. There is not only a very outdoorsy feeling that comes with this, but a spiritually familiar resonance. It makes me think that I have tried this flavor of pipe tobacco before, like a past life recollection and makes me feel like I'm touching base with my ancestors. It's hard to explain, but there is definitely a calming familiarity to this tobacco. Major quality. This is a first rate smoke. I particularly love the fact that it is a great roamer - you can let your imagination soar off wherever it may go and when you come back to Earth, you realize that you have just the perfect little smoke going on!! I love this blend. It is comforting, earthy and super delicious. Great for the artist or writer, because it taps into something primal and encourages creativity.
Pipe Used: Laxey Meerschaum
PurchasedFrom: http://raincitycigar.com/
Age When Smoked: New
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 02, 2017 Mild Mild Medium Pleasant
Note: Smoked in a blind review.

Very chopped ribbon, including a lot of little pieces. Light to black pieces, so I expect Virginia, burley, and Cavendish. Bag note: sweet. Maybe a hint of fruit and vanilla Smoke: starts off with a smoky note, which I did not expect. Not sweet or fruity. Add the bowl settles in, a thicker mouthfeel develops, and bounces back and forth between very mild English and very mild aromatic. Maybe a kind of berry? I'm not great at this. The fruit gets stronger for the second half of the bowl. I still can't place it. Not peach, apricot. I don't think it is cherry or raspberry. Overall, a very pleasant, soft smoke. Doesn't bite. Stays lit. Hint of fruit sweetness and smoke. I would recommend this to a new smoker.
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