Sutliff Tobacco Company Burley J4

The Kentucky burley offer a lot of earth, nuts, wood, a little molasses, and a touch of cocoa. The sweet topping seems to be an extremely mild vanilla that doesn’t sublimate the burleys much. It does have a slight rough edge that you may not notice unless you puff real fast. The strength is a couple of steps past the mild mark. That taste is in the center of mild to medium. Has a mild nic-hit, and won’t bite. Burns slightly slow with a cool, very clean consistent flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires a few relights as the tobacco is a tad moist. I did not see the need to dry it. Has a very pleasant after taste that lingers for a minute or two. An easy going all day work and play smoke.

-JimInks

My regular go to blends are Prince Albert and Velvet. For the price this is the Bees Knees. I am in Australia and purchase all my tobacco online. This 1 OZ order did not disappoint. Burns down to a nice gray ash. No bite and the vanilla topping is hardly noticeable. Only needed a ten minute drying out and I like my tobacco on the dry side. Will definitely be getting a larger amount to stock up with. If you like the old Codger blends then you need to try this.

Smoking this first thing for a fresh palate. Weather is breezy, clear, and 36°F. First thing you'll notice is this isn't a broken flake. At least my bulk bag isn't. Mine is somewhere between a ribbon and shag cut, but no big deal. I ordered this for two reasons: 1) it was on sale, and 2) it purports to be a straight burley and kentucky blend. I am a little disappointed the kentucky is not more evident. I get primarily the nutty, bready, mild molasses tones of a burley. And they're very pleasant. I just think the blend would benefit from the addition of more dark-fired. Dark-fired is my motor. The vanilla topping, I'm pleased to note, is very, very subdued, almost imperceptible most the time. I don't think I'd call this an aromatic anymore than I would Carter Hall. Burn is clean without excess moisture, no tongue bite during 4 oz smoked. I'm going to award 2.5 stars and round up to 3. It's decent, it's affordable, and could be an all day smoke without wrecking either your wallet or taste receptors. With the flavor profile, though, I would generally just reach for some Carter Hall or Prince Albert.

Sutliff Tobacco Company - Burley J4.

I find it easy to identify this as being a broken flake and not just a ribbon. The blend doesn't include any large pieces but there are one or two pieces which are more flake like than ribbon like. I opened this believing it to be a blending tobacco but sniffing the pouch expelled that idea: there's a definite hint of something sweet. It's maybe a little moist for some folks but I find it's still smokeable fresh.

Like the pouch-note, the smoke isn't as I expected, not a nutty, rugged, strait, Burley. It has a flavour which is high quality Burley/Kentucky, nutty, a little rustic, and sweet, and even though it contains Kentucky there isn't a wallop of a fire-cured Kentucky flavour. The crowning glory of J4 is the lightly added vanilla: it makes it silky-smooth. The burn from J4's good and I get no bite.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: pleasant.

J4? A good smoke. Recommended:

Three stars.

This AAA American Burley comes from towns like Harstville, Tennessee and Marion,Kentucky. This isn’t Chinese burley which is being imported to the United States along with other things. This tastes good, and round, and naturally chocolate tasting. The topping is so light that it’s hardly noticeable. You’ll only notice the top note with not a bite given. Smooth and luxurious. Billows of sweet burley goodness. Oh yes, oh yes, this is the Burley you’ve looked for.

This is described as a vanilla flavored burley. I got a touch of vanilla for the first puff or so, and then the licorice obliterated it. Also, the underlying burley is very bland. Why do they describe it as vanilla flavored when its dominated by licorice?

Nice cut and broken flake bits along with a relatively high moisture level from the bag. Smells like a sweetened burley, with cocoa and nuts leading the way, with a bit of vanilla topping. Smells pretty natural, aside from the vanilla. The humectant level is a bit high, and I am not sure you could ever get this to dry out fully. After packing and lighting, you are greeted with a traditional burley profile of nuttiness and a nice sweetness, aided by the vanilla topping. As the bowl burns down, a bit more cocoa flavors develop, along with a little spice. I cannot be sure if it’s an additional topping or spice from the dark fired, but at times it has hints of cinnamon. It has a tendency to some roughness, and if pushed, can get very ashy, although it is hard to get to bite. Burns down pretty clean, but does leave some moist dottle. Overall it is a good, simple light vanilla burley, but with a bit more humectant than I prefer. Good, but not great.

Edit: After a year with this blend, I find myself wanting it on a very regular basis. It will actually dry out pretty well, and I find that I often am able to achieve a full bowl’s burn on a single light. Has the “old time pipe” room note that I remember as a kid from family pipers. I prefer it to any of the other OTC “codger burleys,” and it is higher quality and lower cost than any of them. It is now my most smoked blend, and with the taste, burn characteristics, and ridiculously low price, I’m bumping it to 4 stars.

I purchased this from a local b&m under a different name. My bag was moist so dry time was required. Aromas of vanilla, marshmallow, cocoa and nuts. The cut is a mix of ribbons and some long chunks. I usually take the time to break the chunks apart. It lights well enough but a few extra relights are needed. The taste is sweet vanilla, marshmallow, dark chocolate and some nuttiness. I don’t get any of the Kentucky coming through. Can be an all day smoke for some, for me I usually use it as a mixer with burleys that are less sweet. Overall a good smoke.

Not too bad of an aromatic burley blend. The "bag note" has a fairly strong vanilla presence, but during the smoke the vanilla seems more muted to me and doesn't over-ride the burley flavor. However, I couldn't detect the Kentucky that is reportedly in this blend. The tobacco is maybe a bit too moist; there is definitely some humectant here. But still this blend burns pretty well with only a couple of re-lights. This is a mild-mannered blend with little, if any, bite, and decent flavor overall. I mixed some of this J4 with Sutliff Virginia Slices (thoroughly rubbed out) in about a 60%/40% ratio, respectively. I let the mixture dry for two days then jarred it for 3 weeks before trying it. Not bad at all. The drying helps, and while the mixture retains the basic J4 flavor profile, the Virginia adds a nice dimension and seems to soften and smooth out the blend a bit.

Meh. A very mild and boring blend in my opinion. Burns fairly hot for a burley and bites a little if not left to dry before smoking. Not harsh though. Has a vanilla topping that tastes very artificial/chemical which left a slightly bitter and plastic aftertaste. Not my cup of tea.