Sutliff Tobacco Company Cringle Flake (2022)

It started in 2019 with a straight Virginia and since 2020 it’s been a VaPer, so again a variation on a theme really, and yet for my taste buds at least Sutliff has again one upped themselves!!!

Again the basis is American grown Red Virginias that are then treated to the Cavendish Process, basically a method of stoving or heat processing tobacco. It’s not the same as many “Cavendish” tobacco’s that are often burley and very often sweetened and/or flavored. No added sugar or flavor needed here!!! The Virginia is a tad less sweet this time but seems to have more depth.  Most of the classic flavors of a quality aged Virginias are there and a bit more tangy citrus, grass, hay, a touch of sour, a hint of vinegar and herbal or botanical and a bit of bread and this time the dark fresh fruity taste I love is more noticeable. So a very solid foundation. 

Again the seasoning for this blend is the amazing 2003 batch of Perique cooked up by Mark Ryan, now 19 years old.  Sometimes I have a problem with VaPer’s telling what particular taste is coming from the Virginia or Perique but all the matters is the result and the results are delicious.  Just a nice dash of pepper and spice that in some other blends can be a bit to harsh for me is paired with a lot of the plummy, raisiny, figgy, dark cherry and just lovely deep fruity taste I do love with a bit of an almost truffles earthy umami note that just balances the blend into a delightful smoke!!!!

Strength is about middle ground and it smokes cool overall unless pushed but doesn’t bite at all and it’s smooth. It smokes fine from the tin and this time needs little or no drying time to shine.  Drying a bit does seem to brings the brighter citrus flavor forward.  It’s a slightly thick flake pressed up of whole leaves of superb quality, not hard to rub out or pull apart but not a crumble cake. For a few bowls I used a trick I picked up years ago, cutting across the flakes with sharp shears into cubes.  Then get a good light of the bowl and let it warm a bit then let it go out and get cool for an hour or more. Then relight and enjoy, believe me it’s worth a try as like drying it changes the flavor profile and balance and may suit you.  For me the deeper and more nuanced dark fruit flavors come out and the complexity increases.  I do suggest, as always, to try and light with as little heat as possible as gently toasting tobacco to light and smoking slow enough to keep the temps down always make tobacco taste better. I also tried it in several pipes of different shapes and find a taller narrower bowl seems to bring it out best.

Not subtle! From the garish tin art to the smell that permeated the room when I cracked it open (I've heard gym socks but it immediately brought to mind stinky feet), this one is in your face.

Requires a ton of drying time, but if you have patience the story improves. Taste is immediately tart and sweet. Citrusy and overripe fruits. Nice spicy, faint cinnamon undertone combined with tanginess on retrohale. Towards the bottom half of the bowl an earthiness appears, with some mild chocolate and gingerbread notes appearing. It's a flavor bomb and a fun, edgy experience.

Sutliff - Cringle Flake 2022.

The tin holds very thick flakes, they're more like slices of kake than standard flakes. This tin has good moisture, so I didn't have to let any dry out prior to smoking. It crumbles and loads just like a kake, so on with the smoke.

It's a very smooth VaPer. The sweet red Virginia Cavendish is very rich, and tones the smoke down from one where the Perique takes over. The well-aged Perique seems to have had it's toughness ''muted'' somewhat. Although there is a spiciness, pepper, it offers heaps of dark fruit, it's rather succulent. The burn is outstanding, giving quite a cool, bite-free, smoke. A negative point, the only one, is the room note. It's a touch heavy, not my thing.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: as I said, not good.

Cringle 2022? Sure, the room-note isn't nice, but the smoke tastes remarkable! Highly recommended:

Four stars.

Pairing: Coffee w/ French vanilla cream

Conditions: Light with matches and use of a balsa filter (Savinelli 6mm) on a covered porch during rain with ambient temperature at 37 F and humidity at 95%.

Tin Note: A number of reviewers reported detecting vinegar. I do not. I smell stinkbait and manure. When I opened the tin, the lid twisted off easily without the normal prying typically required for opening a new tin. The paper inside the tin was stained with large brown tar-like spots. The inside of the tin itself also had sticky blobs and crystalization. The seal material itself was browning. It appears the contents matured inside the tin. The label was likely added recently after two decades of fermentation and maturation. The flake is thick and moist. Obvious large spots of crystallization visible on the flakes. Moisture content is similar to Sam Gawith flakes.

Flavor: In the first half, sweet, mild, smooth, soft, chocolate (natural, not a topping). Retrohale is surprisingly silky, easy and repeatable. Perique is barely detectable, and much more sweet/fruity than spicy.

In the second half, flavors became more complex: fermented dark fruit, more perique with raisins leading, and minimal spice. Reminiscent of sweet aromatic cavendish. Some flavors were detected that were an entirely new experience to my palate and as such are difficult to describe.

Comparisons: Perique much more sweet/mild and subdued than St James Flake or Escudo.

Charring Light: Minimal Springback

Relights: The entire bowl required 5 relights.

Finish: More than average moisture level in the bottom of the bowl. More relights approaching bottom of the bowl.

Bite: None

Room note: Pleasant to tolerable.

Smoke characteristics: Initially smoke was white and creamy, but approaching the bottom of the bowl, became thinner with two separate levels detectable--a bluish layer followed by an amber layer. This is a novel observation (specifically the amber layer) during pipe smoking.

Result: I am pleasantly surprised how sweet, complex and sublime this flake smoked. Highly recommended.

Being a newish smoker, I have never known or at least been able to identify the qualities of aged tobacco....until now. To me, this blend is pure heaven. I love the tang delivered by the red Virginias, and the spice of the perique hits the mark. The age brings the blend to incredible depths that I can't even begin to fully understand. I hope more experience will improve my pallet to be able to enjoy this blend even more for everything that it is.

Just what it says it is. 20 year aged stoved Red Virginia with 19 year old Perique. What more could a person want? The stoves Red Virginia is sweet, grassy and delicious. The Perique is smooth and provides just the right amount of fermented spicy goodness. Perfection.

The tins I bought during the holiday season tasted wonderful and were similar to the previous year with subtle differences. However, there were tins of this vintage released in the summer of 2023 that were much different. I really don't know why but it's as if the tobacco was aged in the tins for a very long time. The paper in these tins have so much staining on them and the aroma of the tobacco is so wonderfully putrid and strong! This wonderfully putrid and fermented smell actually translates into the taste. I can pack a bowl and smell it on my fingers for hours after packing. I wonder if these tins were exposed to extreme heat somehow ? I can't explain what happened but it is even more enjoyable than it was already! 4+ stars now for sure.