Sutliff Tobacco Company TS1R Red Virginia Ribbon

This straight red Virginia has a tangy ripe dark fruit sweetness with a little earth, a touch of spice and wood, and a very mild sugar note. Reminds me a little of McClelland’s Red Cake in ribbon form without the “vinegar”, and a tad less depth, though it has plenty enough to hold your interest. The strength is just past the mild mark, while the taste falls a step short of the center of mild to medium. Has a mild nic-hit. No chance of bite or harshness. Burns clean and cool at a moderate pace with a smooth, very consistent flavor all the way through. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and needs just over an average number of relights. Has a very pleasant, lingering after taste. An easy going all day smoke that won't wear out its welcome and works well as a mixer, too.

-JimInks

Sutliff Tobacco - Red Virginia Ribbon.

Smokingpipes.com have this grouped as a blending weed but I think it's a lovely smoke on its own.

Because it's supplied in bulk the pouch lets it breath; there's no need for an airing. My blend's a little darker than the picture here and it smells like a good, ripe, Virginia.

Red' lights without an issue and gives, what I perceive as being, a high quality Virginia smoke. I mostly get a sweet, naturally fruity, character. It's unyielding with any citrus/grass/hay flavours, it gives a lot more of the deeper ones. After only a quarter a subtle doughy flavour comes to the fore and perfects the smoke! I can't fault the temperament of the burn, but it can become a touch warm if it's not sipped.

Nicotine: mild. Room-note: pleasant.

A steadfast four star Virginia:

Highly recommended.

Just picked this up along with McConnell's Red Virginia in an endeavor to have options when not wanting to deplete my limited supply (now) of 5100 Red Cake.

While McConnell's Red Virginia is something of a superb Red Virginia smoke, it's not probably quite as clone-ish to 5100 as this is. A little of it is in the cut and packing because this is very similar to Red cake in that regard. Also, the taste of this is more just pure Red Virginia, like Red Cake, where McConnell's is a bit more of a prepared cased tobacco. In many ways I prefer McConnell's to both Red Cake and this Sutliff for it's being Red Virginia done up a bit more. However, this is probably more of just that Red Virginia non-blended purist approach I find in Red Cake.

Both Red Cake and this Sutliff RVR were purposed to be used also for blending, so casing, etc. is absolutely minimal. If it weren't for that vinegar-ish thing going on in Red Cake, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two. Glad to have some of this on hand and readily available for when my stock of McClelland ever finally does run out.

What Jiminks said, although I only give it a Somewhat Recommended rating because there are so many better tasting red Virginias, like McClellan Red Cake which is a bit sweeter.

Jar note of dirt, spiced dark fruit, and mild hay. Tobacco is a reddish brown and dark brown ribbon. Moisture content is good, no prep needed. Burns normal with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild to medium. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and consistent, with notes of very woody, spice, bread, sweet, earth, floral, dry, spicy, bitterness, vegetation, orange peel, a sweet hay like background note, and a very peppery retro. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

I'm comparing Sutliff Red Virginia ribbon to Cornell and Diehl Red Virginia ribbon.

My samples is at good moisture. The bag aroma is the typical bready, semi sweet, slight nutty red Virginia profile. From first light to last puff, its constant, slightly sweet, bready, slightly herbal, with a touch of spice. Burns cool and clean all the way down with no tongue bite.

Compared to C&D, it's more muted. And as I go down the bowl it becomes more muted. Overall its decent, but C&D has a better red Virginia in my opinion.

Update 2/12/24

Giving this a 3 and a half star. I've became impressed with this one. I enjoy having a straight red Virginia but finding one that is priced right with good flavors practically doesn't exist anymore. I've grown tired of c&d red Virginia. Even though I'm not a fan of sutliff, this red Virginia is really good and not priced bad.

I bought some a couple years ago as a mixer and smoked some on its own and wasn’t that impressed . Recently i found some with 2 yrs of ago and some with over 3 yrs in my closet . This ages very nicely and I add a little to blends sometimes when i need to . I smoked a couple bowls by itself and it was very pleasant. Glad i let it age . Good stuff . I have enough to age for a few more years to see what happens . 3 stars

This reminds me of Sutliff RC-1, but without the vinegar smell from the bag and taste and tang when smoking it.

All in all a great straightforward red Virginia that has wonderful sweet and bready (yeasty) and toasty notes. Reminds me of Mc. Red cake as well, but without the tang and vinegar taste and smell. Would recommend, though I won't be purchasing more as I prefer the RC-1.

It's got the flavors of bread, corn, cereal, and other good stuff in that category. Flavorful. It smokes cool and dry. It doesn't bite. It's nice to smoke on its own. Not a Nic Bomb.. but it's good stuff. Really good!

Sutliff Red VA Ribbon has a jar note at 7 months that is still a little muted. It is very earthy and I do get some dark fruitiness, a little bread, and a slight sweet spice note. The smoke is dark fruit forward, the sweet spice comes through very well moving in and out at times. There is also a slight woody note with some dry earth notes too and at about half way through a bowl I get that bread note that stays in the background for the rest of the bowl. The nic hit is not noticeable to me. The room note won no awards from the wife but I found it lovely. It did not get harsh, ashy, or cigarette like in any way. Smoked a little fast and there is enough sugar in it that it could bite if you push it hard enough. Smoked dry too. I like their matured red a little better but this is a solid three stars in my book. Aging would likely benefit this as well.