Sutliff Tobacco Company Tobacco Galleria - Blue Note

Free sample pack, and worth every penny. The pouch aroma was of a strong topping interlaced with a synthetic, chemical smell which was probably the humectants that Altadis apparently uses in large doses. The flavor picked up on this chemical sensation, and was readily apparent from beginning to end of bowl. Other than that, the tobacco was overly moist and gooey, with very little flavor but a nice room note.

I find nothing to recommend this tobacco. Perhaps without the humectants, Altadis might have something. I ended up mixing this 50/50 with Carter Hall and it toned down the concoction to the point where it was barely smokable - which was an improvement. Ultimately, I threw the whole mess in the trash. Not as bad as their Irish Creme but foul enough to warrant using as a room air freshener only.

First of all, the Blue Note that I smoke is not made by the particular tobacco company in this review, but one that I get from my local tobacco shop. They are a specialty master pipe tobacco blending shop. But the blend and component tobaccos are the same, so I will post my review here. The reason that I tried this blend was simply because of the name, believe it or not. I am a jazz musician, and I read the description of this blend being named after an old time jazz club, so I decided to give it a try, and it has become one of my favorites. I don't really understand why this blend has an average rating of only 2 stars! A lot of people say they can detect some form of chemical flavoring or preservative, but I don't get any of that at all. The room note does remind me of an old, smoky jazz club with a hint of the worn leather-topped bar stools and hardwood floors. Consequently, I get hints of leather and vanilla combined with smooth, buttery scotch and a mild sweetness, which I believe comes from the black Cavendish component. The only reason I give this blend 3 stars instead of 4 is that it does have some tongue bite if you smoke it too rapidly. However, if you smoke it slowly and thoughtfully (as I do), then the bite is all but absent. I find that this is my favorite blend for smoking during quiet contemplation about mostly anything, or after a meal such as steak and seafood. I usually smoke one bowl of this blend in the evening after dinner and before bedtime, and for me it is a great what I call "relaxation" blend/smoke. I encourage anyone who tries it to try it in that manner.

Ok , I'm not very good at describing Aromatic flavors , though I do enjoy smoking an aromatic at least once a day [ other wise I get cranky ] . Honestly , if you aren't an aromatic smoker ... don't bother with this blend cause you'll not enjoy it , as this is a high aromatic . Basically , this is a rather cool smoking blend and it will smoke dry in a normal range , though it has the capability to smoke wet , like most anything else out there , if ya spazz on it etc .. The Flavor is more like flavors .. lol .. meaning there is surely more than 1 going on . I get a Brandy / Vanilla / Chocolate / berry thing , and probably others . The flavor is at the cusp of aromatic . Any more flavoring and it would be over the top and down the hill . The aroma is full and encompassing . In a nut shell , if you were in the mood for a high aromatic , this one is about as high as you can get before taking a downturn . Aromatic fans would enjoy it as a dessert smoke or for something different

What's this tobacco like? I have absolutely no idea, as I couldn't taste any tobacco. For all I know the base for this blend could have consisted of anything, from the finest of Virginias to the sweepings from the bottom of a rabbit hutch. It was so heavily cased with flavouring that nothing of the tobacco remained. And what a flavouring! Imagine taking a tub of mixed effluents from a food essences factory. Now dribble some into the bowl of your pipe, apply a blowtorch, and in my opinion you have a pretty good approximation of the Blue Note experience. I only felt moved to review it because it's without doubt the worst stuff I've ever smoked.

The grassy, lightly citrusy Virginia forms the base of the blend. The nutty, toasty burley leads a support role. The unsweetened black cavendish adds some brown sugar. There’s a number of toppings in the mix. Not all are definable, but I notice fruit, a little vanilla, chocolate, a few pinches of cinnamon spice. and some caramel; likely some butterscotch and perhaps a few drops of whiskey, too. I detect light chemical and alcohol notes which, along with an extremely light sour/bitter hit, are distracting. The toppings greatly sublimate the tobaccos. Hardly has any nicotine. Won’t bite or get harsh. Burns kind of cool at a reasonable pace with mostly consistent flavor. Leaves too much moisture in the bowl, and requires a few more than an average number of relights as this blend burns wet. Has an unattractive after taste. Can be an all day smoke.

-JimInks

This is undoubtedly the worst aromatic I've smoked in the last 40+ years. The taste was so artificial,even metalic at times. I tryed several bowls in several pipes and could not force my self to finish any of them. On a scale of one to ten I'd have to give this blend a minus 10. In the future I'll aviod this blend like the plague.

Love it. One of my favorites. I mix it with another tobacco like half and half or prince to get more nic but have no prob smoking it on it's own. Try it. Love the smell. If this were the only tobacco I could get...no prob.

A personal favorite of mine. Blue note has it all: a wonderful room note, a subtle casing over the black cavendish that serves to accentuate the cavendish rather than overpower it. The strength is not overpowering, nor did I get tongue-bite when smoking this blend.

Tastes like the left overs in an ash try at the Blue Note Cafe. Nice room note, bad tongue bite. Do I have to give it any stars?

The Altadis company has been very kind in sending my local pipe club a box full of packages of a different blend of theirs every month. Blue Note was a recent gift and frankly, was quite a hit with many club members.

This is not at all like the Blue Note of CAO/Dan Tobacco fame. Altadis Blue Note is a lighter and less cased cut of leaf with more tobacco flavor and less of the "cotton candy" taste.

It smoked relatively cool and stayed lit well. A fine Burley/Virginia combination for the aromatic lovers among us.