Sutliff Tobacco Company Crumble Kake Limited Edition No. 4

A unique profile of spicey, smoky, sweet bourbon; figgy, grassy Virginias; and dark-fired floral and smokiness. Isn’t without a little kick, but the Burley has been nicely rounded out by the pressing and perhaps the 3 months of barrel aging. The spice of the imbued bourbon rye essence becomes more obvious as you smoke, in great harmony with the Dark fired.

Each component has its role, but this really is one of those that feels married into a singular, dynamic profile. Not singular as in monotone, but melded with complimentative, mingling flavors.

Comes pretty much ready to smoke, but I find dark-fired smoky, floral notes are more noticeable with a little drying time.

The dark fired Kentucky produces a fair amount of earth, wood, vegetation, floralness, herbs, smoke, spice, mild nuttiness, light sourness, and a touch of barbecue as the lead component. The flue cured Virginias offer some tart and tangy citrus, grass, bread, sugar, mild vegetation, tart lemon, floralness, and light spice as a supporting player. The mildly sweet, slightly smoky bourbon rye mildly tones down the tobaccos, and slightly weakens toward the finish. The strength is a step short of the medium threshold. The taste is medium. The nic-hit is a slot behind the overall strength level. Won’t bite or get harsh. Has a few small rough notes. The easily broken apart crumble cake is mildly moist, and as is my custom, I did not dry it. Your mileage may vary. Well balanced, it burns cool, clean, and a bit slow with a mostly consistent sweet, fruity, nutty, spicy, floral rich flavor that extends to the pleasantly lingering after taste. The room note is a notch stronger. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. Not an all day smoke, but it is repeatable. Four stars.

-JimInks

I purchased this one during the summer and just finished the tin. Mine was #3300 of 4200. Since there is not much description on this one, I will quote from the back of the tin. “Crumble Kake #4 begins with hot pressing bold dark-fired burley tobaccos. Once the burley is intensified via steam, a healthy portion of air-dried and flue-cured Virginia tobaccos are added to brighten the blend. The mixture is then aged in a Bourbon Rye barrel for three months to be finally pressed and cut into old-fashioned crumble cakes.” I really enjoyed the Rye profile of this one and the smoothness of the smoke. This is not your drug store aromatic but rather a fine upscale dark-fired burley with the essence of Rye. This is one that I wished I had bought a few more tins of. I am sure they will probably have another limited run of this in the future or at least one can hope.

Tin note of alcohol, vinegary and smoky fruit. Tobacco is a Krumble Kake of a marbled reddish brown and dark brown with a little black and tan. Moisture content is good. Some pipe smokers will want to dry it out a bit. Burns slow with a few extra relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild to medium. Flavoring is mild, with notes of bourbon. Flavoring remains in the background and becomes sporadic at the 1/2-way point, Taste is medium and mostly consistent, with notes of peaty sour vegetation, wood, tart citrus, lemon grassy, herbal floral, toasted bread, rich dry dirt, spices, slightly bitter, mildly spicy, a mild smoky semi-sweet nutty background note, and a peppery retro. Dark Fired Burley is leading with Virginia and Flavoring supporting. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

in note is delightful and enticing. The cut is very good and loads easily in my pipe. The flavor and well rounded balance is one of the best. Smokes easily. Got 2 extra tins to let age, see how it develops. As a Limited Edition there where only 4200 tins made. Notes of grass, sweetness from the Virginia, depth from the Dark Fired Kentuky, citrus on the retrohale, and slight nutty flavor.