Sutliff Tobacco Company Voodoo Queen #523

Talk about being surprised!

A Co-worker of mine introduced me to Voodoo Queen. Wow! Smooth smokey latakia, peppery Perique and a Mocha flavor you can taste that really works with and compliments the tobacco. Smokey Spicy Mocha. Great mouth feel, no bite, plenty of flavor and aroma. Quality Tobacco and a very pleasant and unique smoke. Way to go Altadis!

Whenever I'm in New Orleans I always make a point to drop in on Armando Ortiz's Crescent City Cigar Shop on Orleans Ave. in the French Quarter (directly behind St. Louis Cathedral). He has a good supply of pipe tobacco as well as cigars, and you're always welcome to sit and smoke. Along with several other tobaccos I picked up I had to get a couple of ounces of Voodoo Queen.

The jar note did say (though faintly) English, but I don't think this tobacco tastes or smells English at all. I would consider it a natural aromatic. There does seem to be a light flavoring but the taste and aroma are all natural. The initial taste as I blow it out of my mouth is a mildly sweet cream, but that dissolves into a spicy sweet followed by a tanginess. I know everyone else says it's a one-note tobacco but this is what I experience when I smoke it. The sweetnesses to it are all tobacco, not something added on top. At least it tastes that way to me. The after taste reminds me of what I get after drinking strong coffee with cream and sugar. The aroma is quite nice also, but if someone is a tobacco hater they won't like it.

Beware; it IS for sipping and will bite if you try to guzzle it.

Pack it loosely and you shouldn't have any trouble keeping it lit.

The Virginias seem to carry the flavor more than the other tobaccos, though they do make their presence known, and do add to the overall positive effect I get from smoking this blend.

Some people have said that the differing review you see on Altadis blends is proof of their inconsistency. I don't think this is the case. I've found them to be quite consistent whenever I get the same blend of theirs from different sources. I think the differing reviews are an indication that different people have different tastes and life different things. You will, after all, find differing reviews on every tobacco on this site that has accumulated any number of reviews. If we all filled our bowls from the very same jar I think we'd find just as much diversity in our reactions.

It took a while for me to encounter the Voodoo Queen. I had read about it on the Altadis website and was intrigued by the description: mocha slices, latakia, and perique, in an English Blend. Hmmmm. I like aromatics, and am also a big fan of those smoky latakia blends. Toss in a bit of spicy perique and....well, I went to search for the Voodoo Queen. It wasn't easy to find. I had to eventually go to Altadis, they very nicely sent me out a sample of it, and two other favorites of mine I had mentioned to them, Count Pulaski and H.Gray R.C.A.F. They also sent along a list of tobacconists who had purchased Voodoo Queen. I found mine while on a trip to Gatlinburg. It had been renamed "Royal English" by the shop, which I found troublesome to what Altadis was trying to depict with the Voodoo Queen name and component blend.

On opening the bag one finds a ribbon cut mixture of golds, reds, and browns, some as single ribbons, others as compressed thick slices (similar to Penzance but pressed ribbons instead of flakes) which I typically break apart before loading my pipe. There are also the sooty black ribbons and flakes of latakia and perique. To my nose it is a pleasant aroma of the mocha and smokiness of the latakia which predominate the pouch. Neither overwhelms. At the match, the mixture lights easily with a fairly tight packing. Too loose and the ribbon cut won't hold a fire. The burley and virgina emerge first with a sweet nutty note, sometimes as a green tea taste. It isn't long however that the latakia begins to express itself in typical smooth smoky tones, and spicy perique awakens the Voodoo Queen herself. As one might expect from a blend so named, perique is a healthy proportion in this blend and the push-pull of the smooth latakia and the spice of the perique becomes an interesting plot twist. Add to that the coffee overtones of the mocha slices of burley and virginia tobaccoes to bring it all together and the result is a fine blend. I find myself loading it into a pipe with increasing frequency. Burns down to a gray-white ash. I haven't sensed any carryover when switching blends in the same pipe...ie, no residual. Doesn't bite , even when smoked a bit quickly (but smoke it slowly and enjoy the nuances)...don't confuse the perique spice with tongue bite. Recommended for perique freaks and those who like latakia laced English blends.

This tobacco is dryer than most, so you won't have to take any steps to prepare it. It's not for everyone because of the liberal amount of Perique in the blend. It's is one spicy smoke. A smoky, chocolate flavor is barely present in the background gives it it's unique flavor. It's a decent smoke that pairs well with a cup of coffee. I will.order it again when this pound is finished.

Best way to describe it is a spicy mocha. More spice than mocha but on the after taste you’ll get that deep chocolate flavour. Very good blend. Don’t mistake Sutliff for being the king of aromatics ONLY, they definitely have tricks up there sleeves, THIS being one. Easy to light, burns all the way down, but can burn a little hot. Could be the nature of the slices and it’s out of the bag dryness. Not a problem though

Voodoo Queen 523 is a blend comprising Burley, Latakia, Virginia and perique leaf. I had an 8 oz bag coming in the post the other day and the moist content was just about right, if only, slightly more dry than moist. The perfect combination of all the elements seem to be quite balanced, so I can't really point out any main characters in this play. The virginia leaf is sweet and hay like, the burleys nutty and bold, the latakia spicy and woodsy and the perique citrusy and slightly peppery. The tin note is very subdued and complex, and I think I can detect a topping of some sort, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Thre is this chocolatey flavour lurking in the background, which is something that shows quite more apparently in the room-note than in your smoke. The cut is some kind of a Frankenstein mixture comprising both ribbon and broken flake tobacco, but you don't need to rub it all out to be able to smoke it. As you progress with your smoke the latakia leaf becomes more creamy and silky, but not overpowering or taking over. The presence of black spots in this blend could be explained by the addition of Cavendish, not only latakia, but I am not quite sure about it. I think this tobacco is best described as a very mild aromatic English blend.

I really enjoy this blend. The only reason I don't give it 4 stars is the viginias don't come out in the blend for me and the perique is muted.

The smoky latakia is primary to me. The burley rests on your tongue. I get the perique if I puff a little faster but at normal cadence doesn't bring it out as much as I would like. The smoky rich taste is very good. The burley adds some sweetness to the blend. Burns extremely well without much prep time (about 5 minutes or less is what I prep this).

If you like a fuller smoky taste with some burley flavor and a no nonsense burn I think the blend would be for you.

This tobacco is a wonderful way to mix it up. And perfect for hot summer nights. I personally think that I taste more perique than Latakia, so ill add a couple pinches of a blend that is heavy on the Latakia side to give it more the smokey quality I like.(I'd love to know if anyone else noticed the lack of Latakia .) T quality of the baccy changes extremely towards the last half of the bowl. It gets sweeter and more tangy!You get a coffee/tea zang with a bitter dark chocolate vibe. Very pleasant. I can't wait to enjoy this blend on a hott July night after a great dinner , with an iced glass of sweet tea. Over all really enjoyable smoke.

I started enjoying this one several years ago and still enjoy it on an occasional basis. I generally don't care much for strong English style tobacco blends - too much latakia turns me off. But I do love perique. This blend is perfect to me for those times where I feel in the mood for the style. It is a bit coarse, but working with the tobacco to get it into form is part of the ritual that makes pipe smoking fun for me. I love the aroma, but most people I've smoked it around hate it - and some have been quite "vocal" about it. I haven't had much trouble with bite, but I do notice the distinct peppery zing of perique. For me, it seems plenty complex, and I prefer to smoke it when I can focus on it more - its not something I pick up when I'm outside doing yard work, for example. There doesn't seem to be a lot of nicotine, but I prefer tobacco that way - nicotine is not why I choose to smoke.

This one will continue to be a part of my occasional tobacco's for hopefully many more years to come.