Sutliff Tobacco Company Cringle Flake (2022)

I'll start by saying that this is a pleasant smoke. Very nice. But there are qualifiers. It's no Christmas cheer substitute(IMHO) for those who say it is. But we're in the vague ballpark.

Presentation: with the tin closed. Nice. Very festive Christmas/Holiday appeal. Inside the tin...fail. It's as if they weighed it. Wadded it up. Wrapped paper around it and wadded it again. Stuffed it in the tin and said a prayer that it would seal shut w/ vacuum. Not. So. Appealing.

Tin note: Nice. Not overly complex per say. But still inviting to the virginia smoker. Notes of hay(of course), mild sweetness, raisins/figs, slight chocolate, sour(bites the nose), warmth. Pleasant overall.

Smoking: Not for the puffer. If you like plumes of smoke(which it will give you) get ready to be disappointed in flavor. If you want something to crank on, this becomes pretty linear(maybe unilateral is a slight way of defining). You'll only catch part of the flavors this can offer. Which is true of most tobaccos i suppose. And, certainly isnt the most pleasant part. When sipped w/ slow cadence this becomes a different story. Sweet, almost perfumy, cedar, hay, dark fruits, chocolate, more complex. Flavors mature with time and when paced well. I'd say this reached it best point 2/3 of the way into the bowl. I sort of lost track of time and really was only thinking about the smoke at this point. Which is the goal I think. Light white but dense/chewy smoke at this point as well. Spicy in the retro all throughout. No tongue bite. Burnt to the bottom of the bowl. Plenty of relights, I will say. No biggie there. But, as w/ most virginias relight well even through the ash. Surely recommended overall.

Would recommend for any one who likes a good VaPer. Fits the bill well.

Barely medium nic hit. Flavors are average in strength. Maybe a little above. Pleasant VaPer taste overall. Not gonna be loved by non-smokers...

The tin is attractive enough, but what lies inside was a bit horrifying. This was hands down the weirdest and sloppiest packaging job I have ever seen. When I cracked the tin, the paper doily was messily folded in on itself. As I peeled back several folds I saw some black material surrounded by tobacco. I initially thought that maybe this was a cool packaging gimmick, possibly a whole unprocessed leaf. Nope. Instead of the usual circular white cardstock placed inside the doily, Sutliff decided to use a flimsy black piece of paper, which in my case was folded in on itself several times and covering only a portion of the enclosed tobacco.

My gripes end there. These thick cut flakes have a strong vinegar tin note that becomes lightly fruity with air. They are loaded with sugar crystals. Unlike most other Sutliff tobaccos I have tried, this did not have any of the tobacco dust that seems so prevalent in their products. This tobacco has a light mouthfeel and will not bite unless abused. There are delicious notes of tangy, sour, and sweet fruit. There is some earthiness, and an unusual note of fairly neutral charcoal. I cannot think of any better way of explaining it. I use the term neutral as there is no real smokiness to speak of. There are bitter chocolate and coffee bean notes on the low end.

The Perique lends a little pepper towards the last third of the bowl. It also seems to lend a little spice to the room note, though I may not be the best judge of that. Tastes sweeter and a little more plummy in a churchwarden. This is a solid VAPer.

The tin note is tangy, vinegar, with an earthy quality. Upon lighting the red Virginia's lead with a sugary, dark fruit quality. The aged Perique adds additional exotic, slightly spicy, dark fruit. It's less peppery, and more dates, figs & plums. Both aged tobaccos meld very well together, in a smooth, pleasant, almost red wine like smoke.

Even with long dry times, I did have trouble getting the initial light going, and overall it needed more relights than normal. Didn't bite though, and never got too hot. It's a bit expensive for a 1.5 oz tin.

Enjoyable and recommended; just not highly.

Sutliff Cringle Flake 2022 - The tart lemon citrus fruit is out front with some sweet dark fruit ,hay , vinegar,bread and cinnamon and pepper spice . It tingles the tongue a little but doesn’t bite me . A little bit heavy on the vinegar and citrus but enjoyable enough . 3

Jar smells of feet, and maybe stewed fruit (not a fan of perique scent). Taste is incredible up front, got some cinnamon and other spices, and heavy sweet fruit flavors. If only that had remained the case, this would easily be one of my favorites. Into the bowl though, the flavors wane, and the room note becomes very cigar-like, and to my nose very unpleasant. Later into the bowl I'm getting a lot of strong toasted flavors, again, reminiscent of what I think a cigar must taste like; kind of interesting, but I can barely tolerate the smell of my own pipe. I need to try smoking this in a smaller bowl.

I'm not sure if Sutliff uses exactly the same tobaccos each year and just tin them separately, but 2022's Cringle Flake (or at least this tin of it) has far less vinegar than I got from the 2021 batch.

The notes are virtually the same: zest, lemon, wine, mushrooms, fermentation with some more black pepper from the Perique. But the vinegar and mustiness are on a lower level, which I like much better.

Just like the 2021 batch, I like to rub out all the flakes and leave them in the tin for awhile to let them dry out. That helps a more consistent smoke and less relights.

Medium in body and strength, a little stronger than the 2021 batch. Easiest to enjoy while doing nothing else, which means that this is not really an all-day smoke.

To be honest, I bought this because of it being a special annual holiday blend. Otherwise, it's a nice blend, but not very special. It carries the typical Sutliff red Virginia wine-vinegar note with the added pepper and mushroom from the Perique. A very nice blend, but not outstanding. Three stars, again.

The initial tin note was of stewed fruit combined with some hay.  After airing the tin,  the tin notes had a sweaty , shitty note along with the stewed fruits.  🤷🏻‍♂️

The Flakes are more of the kake style, though and crumbly. They are not too moist, 10-20 mins dry time is an you need before packing.

I partially rubbed the flake and dried for approx. 20 mins before packing the bowl.

First 15 mins: The initial light gave me floral creamy profile and some sweetness on the palate as the after-taste.

The profile remained pretty much the same with mild tangyness and sweetness and side hay coming into the picture.

Retrohale: Sweet and fruity with very mild peperriness

15-35mins:

The profile has shifted towards the sweet and tangy notes from the end Virginias and Perique. Imo, the perique is adding to the fruity notes with very mild pepper notes.  This could probably be because of the ageing on perique which has toned down the spice.  Mild hay and bread notes here and there

Retrohale: Floral, Sweet and fruity with very mild peperriness

35mins+: Very similar notes to 15-35 mins mark with more fruity, tangy, floral and hay notes.

Retrohale: The spice has increased a notch but still on the mild level along with floral and fruity notes.

Overall: Strength: mild to medium Taste: medium Required a fair few relights and mostly burnt into white/grey ash. Smokes cool and leaves some moisture in the bowl.

I did not find thus blend as tangy as others have suggested.  P.S. I used combination of breath method & sipping. Could be an all day smoke.

3.5 🌟