Sutliff Tobacco Company Light English #302

The Cyprian latakia is lightly smokey, woody sweet. The Turkish is woody, buttery sweet with a light sour note in a support role. The light Virginia is grassy with a fair amount of citrus, and forms the base for the other components. There is a very light complimentary topping, which I suspect is sweet rum, and it smooths out the blend. The nic-hit is mild. Won’t bite, and has no harsh spots, unless you puff it like a cigarette as some previous reviewers obviously have. Burns a little fast, but it’s fairly cool to the tongue with a rather smooth, very consistent flavor. Requires few relights, and leaves virtually no dampness in the bowl. Has a pleasant sweet after taste and room note. An easy going, fairly gentle English that was designed to be light for the novice, and a break from heavier blends in this genre for the experienced smoker. Three stars for English blends in the mild section of the genre.

-JimInks

Sutliff Tobacco Co. - Light English #302.

As you can see from the picture here the ribbons are quite coarse. The pouch note implies a light, sweet, topping. The moisture's spot on.

I must admit it's a little light an English compared to my normal kind of morning smoke, but it's still quality leaf. If you fancy a blend with Latakia, but want to 'dial it down a notch' from the likes of Sam' G' Balkan Flake then this should suit. This is easy smoking: the Lat's smoky and cool, the Oriental/Turkish gives the smoke creaminess, and the Virginia freshens it, all with a mild touch of molasses-sweetness; this topping strengthens toward the end, and develops more of an alcoholic feel. The burn's medium in pace and I get no bite.

Nicotine: just above mild. Room-note: quite nice.

Sutliff #302? I won't award it four stars but I'll certainly give it three:

Recommended.

Well, the name of the blend is certainly right on.

This one gave me a little nip on the tip of my tongue. My puffer puffed too hard trying to find some flavor and my waggle got in the way searching for the same thing.

Moisture content was perfect. The ribbon cut was short enough to make packing easy. The room note didn't send the dog scurrying from the room (but the wife did leave saying something about having to do some chores outside.)

Oh well.....

This is not a bad blend really, it's just very mild and not heavy like a lot of English blends. It comes not too wet and it lights and stays lit well. I think it could use a little more body, but would be a good one for someone looking to learn how to smoke an English and Latakia. While it will not be a regular for me, I don't find it that bad either. I mixed with some burley and it smoked better kind of like Walnut. As I don't like a heavy Latakia, I find it to be better than the reviews here. Not a matter of graduating to the "big boys", it is a matter of personal tastes.

This tobacco is the reason why I try different tobaccos, even when they are not always rated highly. I'm an English fan, and there are times where I don't want a "knock down, drag out" English, and this fits the bill. The aroma from the bag is very pleasant, and for my smoking profile, it's just the right moisture. Easily lit and the initial puffs are nice and easy, no bite with a natural sweetness. Not an overbearing room note like some English blends, and it burns continually without a lot of work. It's definitely an all day smoke and if you're new to pipes and want to venture to English blends I recommend it highly. If you're an experienced piper and just want a nice, mild and smooth English, this is it!

This is a very good mild English for first thing in the morning with a mug of Liptons tea. 302 has a light topping that does not get in the way of tobacco flavour. It's like a milder version of EMP match, also from Sutliff. The smoky Latakia is obvious in every puff but does not come close to overpowering the other tobaccos.

Interesting that other reviewers mention a touch of tongue-bite. Although I'm susceptible to my tongue getting nipped, I had no such problem with this blend. Must be a body chemistry thing. Mild & light on nicotine [which suits my needs]

Highly recommended for those who like a mild tasty morning tobacco. Would also be a gentle intro for beginners & those delving into English blends for the first time.

Very pleasant enjoyable stuff. 3.5 stars for what it is.

- Legion

This is one of the many, many blends Sutliff got when it took over Altadis's line of pipe tobaccos. It is billed as a mild English tobacco, and it succeeds at what it says it wants to be - a MILD English. It's not a Balkan or any sort of overpoweringly heavy blend. Here's how the company website describes it (to differentiate it from any description your local tobacconist may use).

African, Turkish, and Virginia tobaccos with Latakia added wherein the Latakia does not overwhelm the blend. The smoothest Latakia blend ever to be presented to the pipe smoker. Great for those just discovering English mixtures.

I do not fall into the category of those just discovering English mixtures, and this is maybe my second favorite in the category, my favorite being RC-272 - one of the Red Lion (I dunno why it's not RL) blends that Altadis and now Sutliff now owns and manufactures. A good light English, like this one, is generally what I prefer for an all-day smoke, although I occasionally switch that up.

I prefer this as a change of pace and slightly different taste to my regular blend when I still want to stay within the light English category. The blend tastes somewhat sweet as I smoke it, and it can get a bit wet, depending on which pipe I use. Plan to use a cleaner or four. Someone else mentioned detecting a maple aroma. I detect something sweet-ish in the blend's tin (er bag) note, but I don't think maple. Maybe it is, though. Georgetown Tobacco uses this for Councilman and says the African from Malawi gives the blend its sweet note and mellows out the Latakia.

If you like a light English, you will probably like this one. If you are looking for something heavier that gets most of its flavor from the Latakia, this blend isn't for you.

Revised 6/15/17

I'm eating my words, but I don't think I'll be smoking this one again. After having liked it for a long time, I started noticing that it bit my tongue. I tried it in a different pipe with similar results, so alas, I am reducing my rating to two stars.

This is my "break from the other stuff" tobacco.

It has a sweet and woody aroma that matches its very very mild flavor. It also smells a little bit like fresh sawdust. I enjoy the smell of fresh sawdust. My wife likes it when I smoke this one.

I only seem to detect latakia (if there is, indeed, any) after I've re-lit a bowl I've let sit for an afternoon.

There are better blends, but this one is nice to keep around.

*UPDATE

With this blend, I've had a difficult time pinpointing the flavor that keeps me coming back to it. I have finally figured it out: there is a sort of maple note that I really enjoy in this tobacco. For me, this has since turned into a wonderful morning smoke.

I ordered a sample pack with this blend as one of the blends. I packed it and it wasn't too wet at all, it was the perfect moisture content. Of course, you can never guarantee perfectness with a bulk blend. I found that it lit very easily and that is kept lit very easily as well. The two things I weren't a fan off were that although it was the perfect moisture content when it arrived, it got dry quickly. I usually store my tobacco in mason jars and I didn't store this in one so I'm sure that had a lot to do with it. The other thing that I didn't like was that it burned very quickly, very very quickly. With my standard pipe it takes me an hour usually to smoke a bowl, yet it took me only 20 minutes to smoke a bowl of this. Great Blend overall, my first english and I love it.

I like this well enough, but then again I am often happy puffing away on very simple blends. It doesn't light my fire, not quite simple enough to use as a mixer and not quite complex enough to hold my interest. Still it is very smokeable compared to some of the Altadis blends.