Sutliff Tobacco Company Crumble Kake English #1

The woody, earthy, musty, lightly leather-like and moderately sweet Cyprian Latakia is the lead component, though it doesn’t dominate the other varietals. In a strong support role are the various aged, tangy, fermented red Virginias, which offer a lot of dark fruit, quite a bit of earth, some wood, light grass, sugary stewed fruit and citrus, and extremely light floral, sour and bread notes. The floral, dry, mildly buttery sweet and sour, earthy, woody Orientals fall a step below the red Virginias in the line up for the most part, though once in a while, it’s almost even money. The nutty, earthy, woody, lightly sweet burley is just below the level of the Orientals in terms of effect. The strength and taste marks are medium. The nic-hit is a little closer to medium than it is to mild. No chance of bite or harshness, but a rough edge may pop up here and there. The crumble cake is mildly moist, and easy to break apart. Well balanced with a little complexity, it burns cool, clean and a touch slow with a fairly consistent, tangy sweet and mildly savory, deep, rich flavor all the way to the last ember. Leaves little dampness in the bowl. Requires a few relights. Has a pleasant, lightly lingering after taste, and the room note is not very pungent. Can be an all day smoke for the veteran, and is certainly repeatable for the less experienced.

-JimInks

Jimlinks is probably one of the best reviewers on this web site. He has a way of describing tobacco's like no one else. Also,his tastes are very similar to mine. This is a wonderful cake with just the right moisture level and breaks up easy for a good pack. Fold and stuff will not work here. Although I feel this is a tad more Burley foward it may be just a matter of taste. I am usually not much of a Sutliff fan but they did very well on this one. Come on Pipestud you need to get your review in, we are waiting.... Smoke in Peace- Lager ( formerly Budman)

Nice looking crumble cake that breaks apart easily, but not much "shake" in the tin. I always have to be careful loading crumble cakes so that I don't get a bunch of tobacco on my tongue, so I left larger pieces at the bottom of the pipe as usual and this worked well.

Adding burley to the age-old recipe of latakia, Virginia and orientals brings a new dimension to any "Balkan" tobacco, and this one was no exception. When burley is added, there is often a nice nutty sweetness that is a bit like a nut with a light sugar coating, rather than a plain nut on one side or candy on the other. I suppose it's the burley melding with the rest of the constituent tobaccos. I'd say the latakia led the show here, but not by much. That sweet burley had a nice loud voice and the orientals lent a nice offsetting sour note. The Virginias were to the rear but were backseat drivers, exhibiting a depth and tang that reminded me of their Red VA crumble cake. The entire concoction was well balanced but leaned toward the sweet, which suited me just fine! I probably won't buy anymore of this but it was a fun ride. Worth noting is that this is one tobacco I did not allow to dry out much, as doing so made it taste rough and dirty.

I've been pulling for Sutliff since my first introduction to their blends, but they always fell well short of what I would consider a reference. However, they seem to be upping their game lately, and that is a good sign for things to come.

Let me start by saying that Sutliff has been very good to me of late. First, with the discovery of their Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1, and then, with these 3 beauties: the Red Virginia Crumble Kake; the Va. Perique Crumble Kake, and finally with this excellent English #1 Crumble Kake. Four Sutliffs -- four consecutive grand-slam blends in a row -- just fantastic creations, all four of them.

Regarding the crumbles: All three in the series are vintage, old fashioned crumble cakes (though I've only been piping for 5 years, so I must confess to having no real idea of what a "vintage" or "old fashioned" crumble cake would have actually looked like, but these three very much do resemble what I imagined a vintage, old fashioned crumble would have indeed looked like -- they really do present a pleasing visual, with an arresting allure).

JimInks' spot-on review of this beautiful American blend kind of sucked all the oxygen out of the room, so I will save everyone's time and simply recommend his crisp critique of the stuff in question.

The tobacco in the tin had almost a bourbon quality to it. Smokey and earthy and spicy. The smoke was thick and long lasting. The first few times I smoked it I mostly tasted Latakia. After I smoked it for a while I could taste sweet Virginia and fruitiness. The nicotine hit was interesting. It came on slowly and lasted for a little while. Overall a smooth smoke good to smoke all day.

Sutliff Tobacco Co. - Crumble Kake English #1.

I'm impressed with the new Sutliff Crumble Kake series!

The tin holds just two slices of kake, speckled in colour, nicely hydrated, with a medium weight English aroma. A piece crumbles perfectly.

The Latakia's a lead player, however the other ingredients prohibit this from being a 'Bomb. I find the Latakia as equal with wood, as it is smokiness. The Burley gives a rough, course, edge to the smoke, and dries it somewhat. I find the Burley stronger for the initial quarter. The red Virginias give some pizazz, in the form of succulent, sweet, fruit; it's a decadent flavour. I get an acidulated touch from the Orientals, which gains strength as the bowl progresses; taking the stance that the Burley had at the start, by the time the bowl comes to an end. It burns and smokes easily; consistent, cool, and devoid of bite.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: I don't mind it.

Crumble Kake English #1? Simple, highly recommended:

Four stars.

This blend is absolutely remarkable. A perfect mixture of Burley and red Virginias with Latakia being so perfectly noticeable - while Orientals add an incredibly perfect spice to the mix. Is this a dream? It holds flavor perfectly throughout the smoking experience. I predict that this will become one of the most sought after blends in America. This will leave you speechless. Thank God for Sutliff!

This comes in a nicely presented crumble cake/flakes. Not sure of the age. There is no tin date.

The scent is something like cardboard.

Lighting and packing are easy. There is little moisture and I find it ready to pack and smoke straight away.

To me the flavors are an interplay between dried, salted cherry, leather, smoke, cocoa and nuts, something herbal, dried wood and wood spice. Overally it's not a spicy blend really. The spice hint is occasional. It's also not a sweet blend, and the sweetness I do get is darker more like smokey-sweet, or even molasses sweetness (faintly). No bread. No toffee. All of the ability to pull out flavors and have a good smoke depended on the pipe used. It had a tendency to smoke hot sometimes.

Some compare this blend to Penzance. Well, that's nice because I'll probably never get to try Penzance.

Strength and nicotine are around mild to medium. The taste is medium, maybe even mild. It's an okay blend and light enough for all-day enjoyment. It's a good example of why blenders blend. A nice taste is produced.

I don't think I would buy it again because it doesn't have enough character for me. It's just very agreeable. I would recommend it though, because it's probably okay for some, and it's available.

Crumble Kake #1 is a very nice blend. I couldn't write a better review than Jiminks on this. Smooth flavor, slow burning. I found no moisture in the bottom of my bowl, but YMMV.

From the tin, Crumble Cake English #1 comes in a sliced cake form. They hold together well but break apart easily enough. The moisture from the tin is at a nice smoking level. The tin note is rich creamy Latakia, along with woody, musty, tangy notes.

The Latakia is the star of the show. It’s rich and creamy with woody notes as well as a woodsy musty note that puts you in the mind of a Forrest after it rains. The Virginias are sweet and add some tanginess and subtle fruity and earthy notes. The orientals aren’t as strong as they are in other similar blends, but are still in every puff. They offer tartness, a light touch of floral, and the incense note that they are famous for. I think the Burley is the lightest component but balances the blend and rounds out the flavor profile. It offers some nuttiness and earthy notes as well. The flavor is simple but with some complexity, and even with quite a few flavors, remains consistent. This fits the bill as an all day everyday Balkan flake.

English #1 behaves well. It needed only a couple relights, and left little moisture in the bowl. It smoked cool with no bite or harsh notes. The flavor was full while the nicotine stays at a nice medium. Complex enough to keep you interested, consistent enough to smoke while going about your day. 3.5 out of 4 stars.