Sutliff Tobacco Company Archduke Ferdinand

A mild to medium aromatic with a litle complexity. The tobacco taste from the Virginia is lightly grassy and citrusy, though it’s mainly covered up by the other components. The burley provides very few nutty notes, because it is sublimated by the sugar and vanilla from the various grades of black cavendish. The vanilla is not overpowering, and is nicely complimented by a sweet honey bread and cocoa taste. Rich in flavor, burns at a moderate pace, cool and clean with a very consistent flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl and needs few relights. Won't bite or get harsh. The aroma from the smoke reminds me of a bakery. A dessert smoke that doesn’t overwhelm you with its sweetness. I’d classify this as an all day smoke for that reason.

-JimInks

I enjoyed this tobacco very much. It is definetly a dessert smoke for me but could easily be an all day puff for others who enjoy sweet pipe tobacco that doesn't scorch the tongue.

It is a little moist straight out of the tin and can use some drying time. Even though the moisture is a little high for my liking, it's not as heavily gooped as Molto Dolce. (They're kind of similar but this has less caramel/honey flavor going on and more of a Vanilla/birthday cake thing going on)

The flavor is very consistent throughout the bowl and is a very nice smoke. This will absolutely please the people around you as it has a wonderful room note.

Well done Sutliff!

Sutliff was kind enough to send me six tins to sample, at the request of a prolific TR reviewer. These reviews will be geared more toward objectivity... my view of how the blend performs as intended rather than how much I liked them. That seems fair.

This is the first of the tins. A standard looking aromatic blend with shades of everything from blonde to black. Tin aroma was rich but not strong - nice vanilla aroma. Room note was excellent as well, with a room filling aroma that was not overbearing. In the bowl this was "shades of vanilla" to my tastebuds. It wasn't just a cookie-cutter vanilla, but it had depth to it. There may have been other flavors at work that I simply missed (I'm so terrible at placing non-tobacco flavors in pipe tobacco!) but this ran the vanilla spectrum from custard to creme to cake. In that sense, it was a mildly complex blend. And sweet but not too sweet. I could see folks that are used to something like 1Q picking up on this as a richer alternative. This could very well be a dessert blend for sure, but I could also see an aromatic fan smoking this all day long. And for those that dislike aromatics because many of them lose their flavoring by mid-bowl, fear not, as the flavoring in this one barely subsided at the very end. Even that might not be noticed by someone not purposefully looking for it, for review purposes. Not something I'll smoke again, but it's an easy recommendation for aromatic lovers.

This is another good aromatic product from Sutliff. I find that they do a good job delvering what true aromatic smokers would want from an aromatic. In that they have a topping that holds through to the end, utilize quality leaf and do not bite at all.

I find that this one does fit all those characteristics and is a vanilla variation of which is very common in the aromatic world. In addition to the vanilla, there is some liquer taste that I can't directly pinpoint, maybe amaretto. I am not sure, but it is something in that vein. And maybe a bit a pastry or cake type taste. Funny, my son who came into the garage while I was smoking a bowl of this asked if I was roasting marshmallows. I really didn't get that, but his sense of smell is probably better than mine. At the very least, I believe this was a strong endorsement for the room note on this one.

In terms of how this stacks up in my personal taste of vanilla aromatics, I find I enjoy Sutliff's mountain pass more than this one, so in terms of how strongly I would recommend this one, it would probably never get mentioned due to how much I enjoy the other. That is not to take away from this one. I did enjoy it, but I also got tired of it pretty quickly.

Personally, I think it would be somewhere between two and three stars, but am going with two purely for the fact that I tired of it and don't plan on buying anymore. If the topping is more to someone's liking I can see this being someone's four star aromatic smoke.

Blend Name: Archduke Ferdinand Description on Tin: A complex Vanilla aromatic, derived from seven sub-blends Leaf: Black Cavendish, Burley, Cavendish Pipe Smoked In: Neerup Classic Egg Tin Aroma: Not bad at all, light vanilla, I also get hints of rum off this. Taste: Vanilla, cocoa, some light orange citrus. Smokability: This is an insanely smooth vanilla, as some have suggested, creamy, that's what the smoke is like. Room Note: very nice, passed the wife test. Thoughts: Single light, wasn't overly moist in the tin, but not dry either. It lit right up and smoked very well, I am seriously impressed with this blend. Recommend to: aromatic smokers, looking for a sweet smoke, also a non-chemical tasting vanilla. Summary: 4 stars out of 5.

Sutliff - Archduke Ferdinand

Hmm, moist but not sticky, and smokes drier than I expected.  Not much tobacco taste, but plenty of vanilla flavor that holds well down to the heel.  This is a complex blend for a vanillaromatic, I taste vanilla, honey, cream, hazelnut, some cocoa.  Nice vanilla / roasted marshmallow room note.  I also taste too much preservative for my own liking, but one who is less sensitive to that taste may not have that issue.  Since I had a small amount of C&D chopped cigar leaf hanging around, I mixed that into this in about a 1:1 mix and found that it killed the preservative taste as well as adding a dark earthy element.

Really 2½ stars if I could. Not bad at all for a vanilla aro. Although this isn't something I'd buy regularly,  I'd be liable to buy it occasionally had it not been discontinued.  Kind of a shame about that.

I picked this up on closeout and wish I had bought more. This is a well-balanced vanilla blend that compliments the tobacco nicely. It was a little moist out of the tin so I jarred it for a couple of months. No bite, burns well, great room note. Not one of the best vanilla blends out there, but it is a good smoke with differences that make it worth trying

I love Mr. Inks reviews. If my palate was as great as his, Smoking would be a huge adventure. This is a blue collar review from a tired ole palate that has had too much beer and cigarettes in its life time destroying many taste buds. I get a little honey flavor from time to time perhaps a little vanilla but not really sure. Very mild taste and I would consider even a mild aromatic. Just not that much there but what I get is good.

Comparing all three of Sutliff's vanilla based tobaccos, Mountain Pass, Molto Noce, and this...I put this in the middle. When I smoke an aromatic, I want to know I am smoking one. Of the three, Mountain Pass in my opinion, is by far the best. Back to this one, a bit mild in tobacco as well as the casing. Room note is good, my wife appreciated it.

When it comes to aromatics, you would be hard pressed to do better than this offering from Sutliff. It's got a great smooth creamy Vanilla that is layered very nicely. Sublime room note and no bite. Well done Sutliff.