Sutliff Tobacco Company States of Virginia

In the tin are three separate stacks of mildly moist red, bright and stoved Virginia crumble cakes. By design, Sutliff has created a playful experience for the smoker because you can mix them any way you want, so it’s impossible to rate an overall flavor consistency. I did smoke some of each varietal straight for the sake of this review. The matured bright Virginia provides a lot of tart and tangy citrus, bread, grass, sugar, some floralness, mild sour lemon, a little spice, hay, and a touch of acidity. The red Virginia offers a lot of tangy dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, some tart citrus, sugar, mild vegetation, grass, floralness, a pinch or two of spice, and light vinegar note. The stoved Virginia produces a lot of moderately stewed, tangy dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, some sugar, tangy citrus, floralness, light grass, and spice. There are no toppings and the casings appear to minimal. The bright Va. and red Va. just reach the medium mark in strength, nicotine and taste. Those particular aspects in the stoved Va. are a step past that. There’s no chance of bite or harshness no matter how you blend it. There are a few small rough notes with the bright having the most, and the stoved sporting the least. In any version you may blend, it burns cool, clean, and tad slow. The after taste is always pleasant, and generally short lived although the stoved will insure it lasts a little longer if you use more of it than the other Va.s. The quality of the room note will fluctuate, but it basically ranges between pleasant and pleasant to tolerable. Never has more than light dampness in the bowl. It will always require some relights unless it give it a lot of dry time. As is my custom, I did not dry it for review nor did I see a need for it. Your mileage may vary on this point. Can be an all day smoke under most circumstances. An amusing four star number of blending experiences.

-JimInks

Sutliff States Of Virginia- Three cakes of bright red and stoved Virginias. I like blends of different types of Virginias so I just crumbled them all and mixed them together real good . Moisture is just about right to smoke right away . No bite whatsoever. A very fruity blend . Lots of nuance and not grassy or hay like at all . The bottom of the bowl is usually the best . It changes a lot during the smoke which I enjoy . It has exceeded my expectations. Highly recommend. 4

If you have ever wanted to play around mixing up different varieties of Virginia’s the States of Virginia is for you…even if you haven’t!!! Inside the tin are three separate crumble cakes, one of red, one of bright and one of stoved. You can easily crumble the cakes and blend them anyway you like, or you can smoke them separately. I smoked the straight stoved first and found it a pleasant smoke with some sweetness, deep dark fruit with some tang, raisins, plums, a touch of black currant with some earthy truffle notes. Next I smoked the red which brought out it’s typical flavor profile of even more dark fruit tang, bread, sugar, some spice and a bit of vinegar, overall a nice red in and of itself. The bright Virginia has some nice age to it has that lemony bright tart flavor brights are known for, along with a bit of bread, sugar, hay, some spice and a bit of a flowery note.

So with those as a palate I tried a basic blend to just see what one possible blend you can make tasted like. I mixed as close to I could manage by eye 1/3 of each and throughly mixed them, though I didn’t have time to let them mingle, the result was a pleasant blend. With some decent complexity and an overall good mouth feel. There isn’t any added flavors that I can tell and all three seem minimally processed. The stoved is the strongest of the lot in strength, nicotine being past medium on all three but not far past. The other two varieties are basically just about medium on all three counts. No matter the mix it burns cool and relatively dry, I did dry mine for about an hour after rubbing out. I got no bite even when I pushed them a bit and I sometimes will from Virginia’s especially brights. After tastes is pleasant and not overly lasting, same with the room note being pleasant to tolerable depending on the blending.

I’m not a huge straight Virginia smoker but the blend I mixed up as well as the stoved and red straight I could smoke all day. Overall it’s a pleasant experiment in blending all in one tin!!! 4 out of four stars for me overall.

Dave da Dragon

Tin note of cooked vegetation, hay and a tangy sour note. Tobacco is three different Krumble Kakes, each a different color, the 1st a marbled yellowish brown and tan; the 2nd a marbled muted brown and light brown; and the 3rd a marbled reddish dark brown and black. Moisture content is good. Few pipe smokers will want to dry it a bit. Kakes break apart and rub out easily. All three burns slow with a few extra relights. Yellow (1st a marbled yellowish brown and tan) The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and very consistent, with notes of lemon grass, sugar, floral, sweet herbal hay, earthy, bread, dry spices, orange peel/zest, mild fermented vegetation, sour acidic/spicy, a tart and tangy mild citrus and woody background note, and a peppery retro. Three stars. Red (2nd a marbled muted brown and light brown) The strength is medium and nic is mild to medium. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and very consistent, with notes of sweet spices, sugar, bread, grass, earthy floral, tart and tangy citrus and dark fruit, savory, wood, slight acidic/spicy, bitter orange peel, a tangy fermented and dry hay background note, and a peppery retro. Four stars. Stoved (3rd a marbled reddish dark brown and black): The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and very consistent, with notes of tart dark fruit, toast, sugar, earth, spices, lemon grass, bitter orange peel, dry herbal spiciness, fermented sour, floral, woody, a zesty citrus and rich sweet savory background note, and a very peppery retro. Four stars. Room note is tolerable for all three, and aftertaste is good to great.