Sutliff Tobacco Company Mixture #79

Forty years have passed since I smoked Mixture 79. I have not smoked any of the tinned version of this since, but I recently tried the Mixture 79 bulk offering. Over the past two weeks I have gone through three ounces of the blend. I have just ordered two pounds so I will have it on hand.

The reviews of the tin/pouch overwhelmingly write this off as a stinking mass of garbage, comparing it to urinal cakes, the bottom of grandma's purse, cheap perfume/cologne, soap, and worse. If these comparisons are the current state of the tin/pouch version, I'll stay away from it myself. However, reviews like these do not describe what I have experienced with the bulk.

Yes, there is the aroma of something resembling perfume in the bag and upon first light. Perhaps it's the anise, but I don't get a black liquorice flavor. After a couple of draws, that seems to meld into a lightly sweet, creamy smoke revealing hints of vanilla and a light floral mint background. Some reviewers have attributed the mint to wintergreen. That may be. All I can attest to is this: When the temperature is looking down at 95, the humidity is running over 50%, and there is not a breath of a breeze, that minty background note is more than refreshing. Someone reviewed this as a "southern take" on an aromatic. I believe it.

I have yet to encounter a soapy taste or affect. I get the creamy vanilla and light floral mint backed up by some really nice tasting nutty burley, especially during a snork. This is definitely an out of the ordinary aromatic, omitting the heavily cased black cavendish so prevalent in aromatics today.

I normally indulge in VaPers and straight Virginias. This, however, will be one of my staples, especially in the summer (which lasts from late March until early December in this neck of the woods). There is enough nicotine to hold my interest and the flavor is definitely attention-getting. Mixture 79 works equally well in briars and corncobs, but really seems to shine in my cobs. It will ghost a briar, but I haven't found it to be worse about that that other aromatics--it's just that the flavor is so different and noticeable compared to others.

I would hope some reviewers who have issued fatwas against Mixture 79 in the past will try some of this bulk. It is relatively cheap (much cheaper than the tin/pouch version) and might change their minds about the blend.

Highly recommended.