Sutliff Tobacco Company Tobacco Galleria - Night Cap

I wasn't expecting much out of this. I knew from the pouch text that it wasn't a copy of Dunhill's mixture (which I have yet to try), but for $4 I said "it's at least good for spreading in the compost bin, if nothing else." Well, all that skepticism changed when I got through a bowl of this.

The pouch is a gold plastic/thick Mylar and the tobacco isn't sealed in. You might want to jar this one if you're not planning to smoke it all in a hurry. The pouch aroma is distinctly Cavendish, with the black and gold ribbon having a sort of berry liquor smell. Not so strong as to be like artificial perfume, but a gentle aroma. The ribbons were not too dry and packed very well. I loaded three charges into a generic bent I use for testing new aromatics and gave it a light. After a quick tamp and relight, I settled into what can best be described as a state of wonderment that a cheap tobacco was actually really, really good!

First Third: The tobacco flavor is light, very mellow, actually. The berry essence comes through, with a little of the cordial taste in the mouth. The smoke wasn't wet and the bowl didn't burn too hot, even with repeated puffing. NO throat bite or tongue pepper was detected. Very nice!

Second Third: The berry flavor intensifies here, but a distinct nutty flavor of the tobacco starts to come through and meld with the cordial taste. It's not overpowering and doesn't taste like sucking on cotton candy. Still cool and no mouth burn. Lots of creamy smoke, here.

Last Third: This was the best part and had a lot of the nuttiness enhanced by what I guess was the residual liquid from the casing vaporizing. Strong berry flavor with great tobacco taste, but still no problem for the tongue.

Ash analysis: Burned clean in the bowl with a fine, powdery dottle. No residue detected in the bowl, BUT the 8mm charcoal filter I used had the first third saturated with liquid. So this DOES have a tendency to release some liquid, so Denicool crystals, Nording Keystones or even a charcoal filter are recommended. If you don't use any of these, then you'll want to run a pipe cleaner through after your smoke. But it doesn't foul the pipe walls.

Room Note: Extremely pleasant, with a strong berry scent and a lovely tobacco aroma. Passers by stopped to compliment me on the smoke and it seems like it's a hit with people of all ages.

I really like this tobacco, even though it's just a simple aromatic. There's no complexity in the flavor, but it's SO likeable that I can't help but want to smoke it all the time. I will definitely return to that store and get a few pouches to jar and cellar.

DEFINITE RECOMMEND