Sutliff Tobacco Company Blend No.5

The smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia is strong without being a lat-bomb, or overwhelming your senses. It's the main player, but the light, nutty sweet, woody, earthy burley, and the grassy, mildly citrusy Virginia rounds out the flavor, both in supporting roles. The Virginia edges out the burley. The strength and taste levels just reach the medium mark. The nic-hit is is almost in the center of mild to medium. It burns at a regular pace, clean, cool, and even with no bite, no bitterness, no harsh spots, and a mostly consistent, mildly sweet and more savory taste. Requires few relights, and leaves little moisture in the bowl. The after taste is pleasant, though the room note is a little pungent. Can be an all day smoke. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

Shock and awe!

Our local pipe club gets a blend of the month from the generous folks at Altadis and this was their latest gift. Very remindful of some of the sweeter Latakia blends on the market, but the added Burley boost provides the smoker with a decent shot of nicotine. The Latakia base is certainly noticiable, but not as pronounced as it is in other blends. The added flavoring (I have no idea what it is), is applied expertly and discreetly. This is a revved up version of Rattray's Black Mallory. Very nicely done!

Got my free sample in the mail. I was impressed with the size of the tin. A nice amount for a sample, actually a full sized tin.

I opened the tin and was met with a pleasant aroma. The latakia was the dominate aroma, but the virgina and burley could be detected as well. Not bad at all.

I chose a medium bowl pipe to try this out in. A trusty Savenelli pipe of mine. I loaded it to the top and fired it up.

First impression was that this is very much NOT 965. Not even close. I don't understand how anyone could make a comparison with the Dunhill 965. However, it isn't bad. I feel bad giving this tobacco only 2 stars, it really deserves to be rated a little better, but I can't give it 3 stars. That would be giving more than deserved.

The Good: This tobacco burns even, doesn't bite, tastes pretty decent, and isn't too expensive.

The Bad: Well, there really isn't too much bad outside of the taste just not being nearly as good as so many others available. To be honest, this is a decent smoke. It just isn't ringing my bell. There are simply too many other blends that I will reach for before I'll consider this one. I've already used it to introduce a few new "pipe-curious" smokers to english style blends and have done so with positive responses.

If you see this in your local tobacco shop and you are needing a good smoke while waiting for your "order" to arrive, then I recommend it fully. It will do the job.

For the record. 2 1/2 stars.

I believe this was the very first experience I had with English tobaccos and I have to say, it is what began my love for them.

Tin: The tin note, like all English blends, has a smokey aroma that is impossible to miss. There seems to be an almost barbecue sauce note to it as well that is not quite tangy, but very close. The moisture level right out of the tin is perfect. No drying needed.

Light: This blend lights as easy as pie and the charring light may even be all you need to get going.

Smoking: Blend no 5 is very smooth and light. I don't think you could get this blend to bite if you wanted to. Smoke is thick, creamy, and very pleasant. While this won't rank real high with the women-folk, I think the aroma is not unlike toasted marshmallows. Overall, the flavor is pretty mild, which is what I personally prefer. When I'm done smoking, I want the aftertaste to taper off quickly and this blend fits the bill. It reminds me of the Frog Morton line (albeit much cheaper, which is a plus) but it has a certain something extra that I love. I wouldnt call it a Lakeland essence, but there is a slight perfuminess to the blend (especially detected when exhaled through the nose) that I can't quite put my finger on. It isnt overwhelming but I must say, it is what sets it apart from the other English blends I smoke. Puff too hard and you'll miss it, but puff gentle and slow and you'll notice the subtlety of this flavor. As a matter of fact, if you puff to hard on this blend, it destroys the flavor and you may find yourself wanting to toss the tin, as it will turn from a nice smokey flavor to a more burnt one.

Overall this is a very simple, mild smoke that could easily become an all-day pleasure. It is a good, solid English with no bite and a fantastic (dare I say, unbeatable) price.

I would hardly call this "perfect for fans of Dunhill My Mixture #965". And I hate to disagree with the esteemed Pipestud but if this is a revved up anything, it's a revved up Tinderbox Sherlocks Choice. 🙂 Then again, we're all different in this crazy pipesmoking world.

This is a rather ordinary but decent light English blend. It's very sweet tasting a la SC I mentioned above and the burley further dilutes the strength while adding good body and some nicotine to the mix. There's really not a thing wrong with this blend and anyone that enjoys lighter fare, and no fancy orientals except latakia, should try it. Latakia actually has a sweet and smoky flavor and the virginias aren't overcooked so they retain their sweetness. It's a fine blend; just not anything to get too excited over. Quite honestly, it's the best Altadis blend I've ever smoked, so perhaps that IS something to crow about.

Where to start? I can definitely appreciate a craft Virginia or rich Cavendish now and then, but English blends are my favorite, and McClelland's Frog Morton Cellar is my "desert island" blend. Well, you probably know by now that McClelland has ceased production and will no longer be in business (a moment of silence, please).

I have been purchasing inflated-priced tins of Frog Morton Cellar on EBay to pad my cellar, but let's face it, that handful of tins will not last forever, and I wanted to find exceptional alternatives.

As it happens, my local B&M had a few tins of Sutliff Private Stock, and though Sutliff does not get the raves that Dunhill and McClelland do, I like to explore different tobacco blends and brands. One of the blends that they had was Sutliff Private Stock Blend No. 5, and so I decided to try it. I checked out these reviews first and almost bypassed trying it due to low overall ratings. That would have been a major mistake!

So, I went straight home and packed a bowl into my meerschaum; it was okay. Then, I packed a bowl into my Peterson Standard System 307 and boy, was I in heaven!?

The tin note was tantalizing: smokey, fruity, woodsy. The smoke was as full-bodied as it gets for an English, but dry and cool. As another reviewer stated, the tip for this blend is to "sip" as hard puffing tends to make this blend a little harsh. The Latakia came through much better from my Peterson than from my meerschaum for some reason.

I found this blend much preferable to Dunhill 965, though still not quite Frog Morton Cellar, but close. All of this is subjective as each pipe smoker has his or her preference, but if you love English blends as much as I do, I can't image that you'd not enjoy this blend. I found this blend to have similar notes to FMC, but it was more "cedary" than FMC, and I relish the cedary essence that comes through in a good English blend.

If you like Frog Morton Cellar, then give this blend a try. After all, the price is very reasonable, and I personally find it very comparable to FMC, and you maybe you will too.

This is an aromatic English crossover blend, with emphasis on the aromatic. Though I smell significant latakia in the tin aroma, it is only barely perceptible while smoking. I found it a bit too sweet for my taste due to the heavy presence of tan cavendish. It does not have a specific flavor such as vanilla, it is just a perfumed sort of sweetness. The main flavor is of the sweet cavendish with the latakia providing additional fullness with very little of it's smoky flavor. The most likable aspect of this blend is the thick billows of pleasant smelling smoke it provides. If you like blowing smoke rings, this is for you. It is also extremely smooth. Being a Sutliffe blend, I kept waiting for it to turn nasty after the first half of the bowl, but that never occurred. The base tobaccos are of good quality and it tastes pretty much the same from the top to the bottom of the bowl. This is an aromatic, though, and it will gunk up your pipe a bit. If you have a sweet tooth or like aromatics and or crossover blends, you might give this a try. The reference to 965 is ridiculous; this is to Dunhill 965 as Spam is to steak.

I didn't expect much when I got this tobacco - but I got it as a "Sample" so I thought I'd give it a go - And - I was nicely surprised.

This is a Great inexpensive Lite English that would make a nice intro to Smokers who want to try this sort of thing. For English Vets this fits the bill when you are looking to smoke an English Blend but it's extremely warm out.

The Tobacco has a wonderful tin aroma and - Yes - it does remind me of some of the House Blend English I have smelled over the years at Tinder Box and Sherlock's Haven. (I don't consider that a bad thing - kind of cozy actually).

Tobacco is lite, cool and smooth with a very subtle side stream of topping. It so well balanced I'm surprised to read some the negative reviews about it on this site.

I think some reviewers are misreading the marketing blurb in regards to this blend. Meaning if you like 965 - you'll like this one. It does not say - this is 965 but rather a blend that is similar in flavor. Well if memory serves me correctly this does have that lite - medium taste that 965 did have at one time. No it's not 965 but it sure is enjoyable. And for that reason I'm giving it 4 Stars. Hopefully some will get past this 965 allusion and just give this blend a fair try.

I will be ordering a couple more tins because for what it is it's good.

Excellent English that manages to be sweet and creamy without any soapy taste, for once! Requires a bit more drying time than expected, and there's some very mild topping in the humectant (I think) but it's not noticeable. Pack it loose and smoke it slow, and you'll be rewarded with a delicious sweet english, if a bit mild in Vitamin N. Along with Balkan Luxury 957 one of my two favorite Sutliff blends.

Excellent tobacco, i purchased an 8 oz tin of this before reading any reviews. I had tried some Bosphorus cruise which led to me trying this. It smells of subtle sweetness with hints of chocolate. The latakia is only so very slight in this blend. BUt its noticible enough to enjoy, i do detect the sweet virginia and a flower note. I would compare this to blue mountain but not as sweet and a little easier to light. once this is lit it stays lit so no relighting. This can be an all day smoke because of its smoothness and taste.This has a mild body and medium flavor. There is no nicotine in this that i can detect. For being half the price of other brands that are similar you cant go wrong with this sweet smooth flowing tobacco. I bought 4 pounds of this stuff to cellar.