Sutliff Tobacco Company Count Pulaski

Review is based on one ounce that I received as part of a blind test. The cut and bag aroma made me immediately think it was a C&D blend. I never did guess this one correctly.

This tasted like a budget blend, or rather, more like your prototypical bulk "pipeshop" blend. From there I guessed it was some cheap Lane's product. Wrong again. The virginias in this one seemed pretty cheesy and tasted substandard. The burleys seemed fine and the latakia was light. This is an American English with an aromatic twist. Nice idea, not so good execution. The rum and licorice taste was prominent for awhile and then those cheap-n-cheerful virginias took over. The blend started out not too bad but descended into bland territory, but with a bitter, chemical flavor. This seemed to be a middle-of-the-road affair that might be useful when you're busy and just want something to smoke. Then again, there are other, better blends for that purpose in my rotation.

I was not surprised to learn this was an Altadis offering, as I've not had much success with them. I'm not sure to whom I'd recommend this tobacco but apparently some folks like it, so it's most assuredly for them. But definitely not me.

While I'd give this blend an A for effort, I'd only give it a C minus for execution. There are just too many other blends out there that rely less on humectants, and use a higher quality leaf in the same price range to make this a viable choice for me.

Sutliff Tobacco Co. - Count Pulaski.

A strange one this, nicely blended tobaccos, yet the toppings are just enough to divest and remove the pleasure; to me!

The unlit blend includes some very coarse, leafy, pieces. It smells of a rum, anisette, flavoured English. My pouch had perfect moistness.

Upon my first puffs the anisette and rum were evident. However, I get a bitter, alcoholic, sharpness from the rum, not a sweet, fragrant, rummy character. The caustic anisette completes the 'harshness', thusly, subconrading the tobaccos and lowering the rating. The tobaccos taste decent; it isn't a Lat-Bomb, but more of a Latakia seasoned VaBur. I don't find the burn a problem, I rarely need to tamp/maintain it. Tongue bite doesn't happen.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not good.

Count Pulaski? Because the tobaccos are nicely blended they rescue it, a little. Two stars:

Somewhat recommended.

Sorry fellas, I'm new to English blends and Latakia... Initially, I was put off by the pungent aroma of, dare I say, damp wood fire. The aroma, for me, was near my limits of acceptability. I let it breath a little and tackled it in the morning.

I had a single bowl and found it to be a surprisingly pleasant smoke. Considering the intensity, before smoking, I found it to have a mild to medium flavor. I caught notes of very light anise and rum, leather, and mild camp fire. All in all, I thought it was an interesting and mild experience, different than expected. I would have to recommend at least a few bowls to get used to it. Worst case, it was a novel experience.

This tastes like a budget English blend. Not great, but not terrible either. I'm glad I didn't spend a lot on it.

The tobacco is rather difficult to pack. The cut is coarse, and is in all sorts of shapes and sizes (small twigs sometimes). It is very wet, and I had to dry mine overnight to smoke it without frequent relights. It also burns very hot, which is unfortunate because that kills what little flavor is in the tobacco.

The flavors of burley, cheap virginias, and latakia all come through. It took me a while to put a finger on it, but there is definitely anise in it. I think this is the main flavor that really killed the blend for me. The overall aroma is tolerable, as it doesn't have nearly as much latakia as most other English blends.

If you can get an ounce of this at your local shop, I'd say go for it because it's worth trying. I won't be smoking it again though.

A decent enough mixture that has some similarities to Peterson's Old Dublin, but of a much lower quality grade. This stuff (as I have purchased it) is quite moist and benefits from a fairly long dry out period. Slight bite if puffed fast, but a decent flavor all in all. I like the anise flavored tobaccos so that is on the plus column for this tobacco. For the price it is alright if you have the time and wherewithall to dry it out, but there are many better tobaccos out there. Best smoked slowly in a bent filter pipe in my opinion.

I think that if this was blended with less PG and a little more virginia it would be a great blend. Kudos to the guy who blends a bit of perique with this. I tried a bowl with a pinch of MacBarens Virginia #1 in it and it lightened the flavor and rrounded out the "light ends" nicely, but quite frankly with so many other blends out there I don't know if this one is worth the time and effort to customize.

Try a properly dried-out ounce before purchasing in bulk...

Repeat after me: Burly shag, burly plug, burly cube. This blend has the nice nutty chocolaty flavor of burly with a background of latakia and a light topping. If you do not like burly you will not appreciate this blend.

Since there is no oriental component other than latakia (no drama, basma, smyrna) the rum and anise were added to flavor the burly. The burly also adds strength.

If you want more or less latakia or other orientals or perique look at the other Altadis English blends (my personal favorite is English Oriental).

The pouch aroma is most definitely rum and latakia, smokey, pleasant but not overpowering. The anise is there but blends very smoothly.

Smoke is medium, of medium body and quite voluminous, moist and has fine flavor. Latakia is deftly applied and not overpowering. Smooth with little nose or mouth tingle. Bite less. Excellent medium flavor. But it will burn hot if pushed.

Aftertaste is slight peppery from the Latakia and mild but distinct bitter tobacco flavor. If it seems ashy clean your pipe, and try not to tamp as most burly tobacco will seem ashy if tamped to often.

I agree with Elkabong. This is a flat-tasting, hot-smoking tobacco that has a remarkably good room note.

This tobacco has serious bite even after drying for a few days. It burns hot no matter how slowly it's smoked. None for me thanks.