Sutliff Tobacco Company Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend

This tin was gifted to me about a year ago. As my experience with Sutliff blends is overall less than gratifying, I stuffed this one into my cellar until I could get up the courage to try it. I smoked about half the tin. I should note that I only smoked the original that this matches once a very long time ago (extremely horrible experience, that), which is probably a good thing, since Sutliff match blends tend to be far off the mark as a rule. To be fair, so are everyone else's match blends, and Sutliff did nail ERR'd, which is more than I can say for most people's attempts at matches. Anyway, this is a nice looking ribbon, mostly darker brown with specks of black. Tin nose of burley and booze - really pleasant, but different. Lights and loads easily, but seems to smoke rapidly. I loaded this tighter than I usually do for best burn rate. I did get a mild tongue sizzle from this blend, but only at the very beginning. 10 or so puffs in and it disappeared, leaving no damage in its wake.

The flavor leaned heavily toward the alcohol topping, which struck me at different times as sort of a red wine moving to cognac to something akin to blackberry brandy. The burley was well underneath but it provided a steady base for the topping. Can't say I really tasted latakia but I did catch a snootful now and then, and this seemed to have a presence that I don't usually get from just burley. But it was very subtle. I wished for a little more burley flavor, but I got the impression that it wasn't the blend's fault. I think that my taste buds elevate certain flavors to the point that they cover up what's underneath. My recent sample of a cigar leaf blend is an example - everyone else thought the cigar leaf was subtle where I thought it was too prominent. So what may be a light topping here seemed heavier to me.

No real harm - this blend provided much more than I thought it would. I'd give it 2.5 stars if this site allowed, but it's not up with the 3's in my book. It's more than just decent, and I find it interesting enough that I'm saving the last half-tin. It may take me 5 years to finish it but this one strikes me as the type that might be really nice as a very occasional blend (have to admit, 2 consecutive bowls were problematic, as most flavored blends tend to be for me). This might make for a cool blender as well. And not only did it come on the drier side in the tin, it left no goop in my pipe. My fears surrounding this one were unfounded. I don't know how it stacks up as a match blend, but it's quite nice on its own. Not destined for greatness, but good enough for an occasional bowl, and it has none of the typical Sutliff chemical flavor of most of their other blends. Worth a try to anyone who enjoys flavored blends but hates the overly sauced ones.

I've been smoking a pipe off and on for the better part of 40 years now; I started when a lot of us did, back in college... in our youthful and somewhat misguided quest to present an image that would help attract the opposite sex, and at the same time maybe even impress a few of the professors...

The Pipe Holster was a mandatory part of the college costume in the '60s... at my school, it went along with the Bamboo Six Shooter holster (the huge slide rule that Freshman engineering students ALL had dangling from their belts)!

At that time I picked up on the tobaccos that the drugstore had. Knowing absolutely NOTHING about tobbacco, I turned to my experience as an 18 year old Ancient Movie Freek... I spotted tough guy actor Edward G. Robinson's portrait on one of the 2 ounce or so packets... and in confused desperation I grabbed one to go with my shiny new Dr. Grabow's.

Hey... Little Rico Bandini was a GREAT gangster... he should know something about pipe tobacco too, right???

I didn't know it at that moment, but I'djust set up a sure recipe for disaster.

Well... when first encountering a pipe that hasn't been broken in yet, a novice / newbie pipe smoker couldn't have made a selection that was much worse.

EGR Blend on that naked briar, stoked by a frantically puffing Newbie, really BITES like a P.O.ed member of the police department's newly formed Canine Patrol!!!

The reason for the frantic puffing was to try to keep the damned thing LIT... nobody had ever showed me how a pipe is properly packed. I was using up Ohio Blue Tips at a rate of about one every 2 minutes.

That wasn't helped a whole lot by the copious amounts of "soup" that seemed to be forming in the bottom of the bowl... and I must admit that it was really YUMMY when it came pouring down the stem, courtesy of that neat little aluminum condenser which I hadn't yet ditched!

Half the time my new pipe was making noises like it was about to spout a cloud of soap bubbles!

In any case... about halfway thru the first semester I'd learned, by trial and error, just how a pipe should be operated and cared for. I learned it the HARD way; for a couple of months my tongue was on fire. It felt like it belonged inside of a combat boot on a 20 mile forced march during Basic Training.

It's a wonder that I kept at it... but such is the stupidity and tenacity of youth. I just didn't know any better.

But... I eventually reached the point where I began to actually ENJOY pipe smoking, even with EGR Blend.

In any case... based on my experience so long ago, I obviously can't recommend EGR to a beginner. It's WAY too much tobacco in terms of strength.

IMHO, the EGR Blend is mildly aromatic... something that I still like... but that's overpowered by the strength of the blend. You sure get your money's worth in raw nicotine with EGR.

Over the years I've flirted with the other drug store tobaccos... Borkum Riff, the infamous Cherry Blend (IMHO, Cherry Blend is only suitable for smoking by a novice Chicago pimp who's trying to make an impression), and a few others... but somehow I always wound up coming back to Good Old Eddie.

Only now, decades later, am I exploring what else there is out there in the world of tobaccos, and that was triggered by a matter of economics.

The little pocket packs of EGR are getting harder and harder to come by around here, and the last time I bought a tub it was almost $40.00... and moving up!

I'll probably always have some EGR around; I've come to appreciate it's honest, no nonsense tobacco taste... but I just got some assorted samples of Boswell's stuff. Besides the cost, the Old Lady is beginning to hint her displeasure with the room note of Eddie.

Funny... when we were just going together, she said she LIKED it! Funny what a difference 35 years makes...

Sutliff- Edward G. Robinson

I really wanted to love this blend, I really thought I did, but alas in the end it was better to have loved and let go. This blend upon opening the tin had me excited, I was ready to jump in and smoke away.

This is a mix of shredded find paper looking tobacco, that loads easily with some twigs in it. The blend is never overpowering and packs relatively easily, it’s very harsh at times, I enjoyed this blend the first few smokes and could pick out the flavors, after finishing a tin and opening another the blend seemed muddled and all of its combined parts seemed like a mess more than a masterpiece.

This blend or my taste buds changed and therefore I cannot give a great recommendation. I will not buy this again sorry to say as I thought this would be my favorite blend and an all day smoke but no.

2.4/4 stars

Very good aroma. Cinnamon, fresh cut grass, hint of toast. Very easy burn (2 match) right down to ash. Taste is almost non existent with a tiny bit of an ashy edge feel. Fine for an unobtrusive, undemanding all day smoke, if you're into that (i'm not). Otherwise, if yummy smelling tobacco that doesn't need a lot of match work is what you're looking for, there are other better aromatic options.

I should say that I tried this three times, and each time found it lacking.

It took me a while to get around to trying this one, but I finally did and was a little let down overall. I will start with the positive attributes of this and then move on to the negatives.

On the good side. This may have one of the best tin notes my nose has ever smelled and the side stream is equally appealing. In this respect it is pretty pleasurable.

On the down side I found this blend to be just too mild for my tastes. I will start with the topping. It is kind of a fruity tasting topping that is not bad at all. It is very lightly applied, which I usually prefer so I can enjoy both the underlying leaf and the topping together. In this case the underlying leaf is barely there. Maybe this is due to a large percentage of burley and a miniscule amount of latakia. The blend just lacks any boldness in flavor. It could use something stout to help it out IMO.

I don't want anyone to get me wrong as I had a few good smokes out of it, but none of them were memorable. A problem I tend to have with weaker blends such as these as I can end up pulling harder in an attempt to get more flavor and this can cause heat and tongue irritation, something I did experience with this blend.

So if you like your blends on the stronger side, I would avoid this one. I won't be repurchasing it, but I can also see where those who like their blends on the lighter side would rave over this one.

Sutliff - Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend.

The ribbons are pretty coarse, and the most of them are medium, or a lighter shade of brown; at a quick glance it just looks like a medium brown blend. When I look at the blend intensely I can see a small amount of black specks, though. The moisture's good and the aroma isn't exactly suggestive of any sort of topping.

E.G.R. is easy to ignite, and burns well right away. Of the aromatic additions, the first one to jump out at me is the cinnamon. Around the halfway point I begin to get a 'tang' of liquor; I'd go as far as saying I'd expect a few people to view this as being slightly sour? The tobacco tastes are mainly Burley and Cavendish, the Latakia is barely noticeable.... actually, it's unnoticeable. I've heard/read a bit of contention regarding whether or not this is a biter, and I must say, it bites me!

The room-note isn't particularly offensive, and the nicotine's medium.

Hmmm, Edward G. Robinson? Well, if I'm honest I wouldn't be bothered if there was a cessation in it's production! But to be fair, I've smoked a lot worse.

Somewhat recommended.

Opening a fresh tin of Edward G. Robinson I was greeted with dark and light brown ribbons with scattered black flecks. It smelled of smokiness with a light plum note. The moisture tended to the drier side which is perfect for me. An unlit sip tasted of plum, as did the initial light along with a light sour note. Overall it tasted mostly of plum with a light smokiness every so often. It was a little spicy, and the second half of the bowl seemed to make the plum taste richer. Unfortunately this blend burned me in every pipe I tried and every cadence I experimented with, it just didn’t work for me, and I would guess that has to do with body chemistry at this point. It could be nice for light aromatic lovers that it doesn’t set ablaze.

My one experience with this blend was twenty years ago. I bought it because of the actor. He was a fine actor and a fellow pipe enthusiast - so why not. The pouch aroma was decent enough. There were light brown and black strands in it at the time. Back then there may have been some cavendish in it as well. Sorry to say, the pouch I bought bit as well. As I remember it my pouch was somewhat dry. Things have changed in twenty years - look at Dunhill. If you want to try it go ahead. I would try this again before buying certain other drug store tobaccos.

I was a little annoyed that smokingpipes.com put this one under its own brand, as I don't usually seek out Sutliff products. I'm not sure who Edward G. Robinson is, but he must of worked in advertising... you get this huge tin, which laughably has less tobacco than a typical one (1.5 vs 1.75oz).

The initial tin whif, did not get any juices flowing. It had that musty, boozy drenched cardboard smell with some added sharp notes (the cinnamon perhaps). It reminded me a lot of Borkum Riff's Limited Edition Wine nightmare (so cheap booze making for an unpleasant smoke may be a theme). The cut was a mottled mix of light shredded paper flakes that were admittingly the right moisture and ready to light.

While the first few puffs were not my jam, I will admit there was a general liqueur taste that was OK, yet it was competing with the light spice present (again maybe the cinnamon flavoring). It grew on me slightly and I got past my impulse to toss the tin. The thin cut caused a few gurgles, but otherwise it was a simple mild smoke. I could see someone wanting this for an all ay smoker, but for me, I just kept mixing it with other leftovers to make a 'good enough' smoke.

Definitely reminded me of something one's not picky dad would smoke, when less options were available back in the day.