Sutliff Tobacco Company Burley J4

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.

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.

It burns well. The taste is something that you just can’t get away from.

It is like smoking Chardonnay.

Thank you.

J4 is a smooth burley with a light touch of vanilla that only addd to the experience. Not over done so to take away from the quality of the burley. Not a powerhouse, just a smooth all day smoke that I like when I’m doing daily chores around the farm and in the greenhouse. Not rough spots and consistent throughout the smoke. Very little moisture or dottle. Stays lit, makes it a good hands free smoke. Solid 3 for me.