Sutliff Tobacco Company Creme Brulee #701

Crème Brulee has got to be the aromatic lover's crème de la creme. It is very sweet & mild with a very attractive room note. I don't smoke many aromatics but read the description & bought a small one ounce sample to try. It is almost black as midnight in the pouch & the aroma is just awesome. Imagine a chef in the kitchen cooking up one of the finest & tastiest custard pies with a crunchy, buttery, glazed caramelized topping. It tastes & smells exactly like, well... Crème Brulee. You almost have to bake this in the oven for a while to get it dry enough to stoke your pipe bowl. It is the stickiest, moistest tobacco I've ever touched & can be used as a potpourri anywhere in the home or your vehicle. You'll need a wet paper towel after digging into the pouch to get the honey/sugary sticky stuff off your fingers.

Rather than baking mine in the oven, I just dried it over the stove top in a small pan, stirring occasionally until some of it turned a dark brown color and until a little dryer to the touch. Grabbed a handful and started gravity feeding my bowl & occasionally tamping until filled to the proper smoking level. I noticed some sizzling during the charring light & during the first few puffs. It develops a very good burn rate & is not the least bit harsh. It burns cool & requires a relight or two to get you started & doesn't create much condensation. From the pouch aroma one can expect the same flavor in this slow smoking blend & can be puffed on all day without discomfort.

The room note seems to add to the flavor nuance... whereas taste & smell combine to create a flavor. About halfway through the bowl you start getting a slight tobacco taste. If you like aromatic tobaccos with a mild taste & a heavy, delightful flavor, you can't go wrong with Crème Brulee. A burst of flavor & enticing aroma with every puff and it won't bite unless your pipe catches on fire. It leaves a buttery, sweet vanilla, caramel like, lingering flavor on the palate for a while after the smoke session. Based solely on the merits of an aromatic blend, it gets a high rating from this piper. I love an aromatic on occasion but prefer at least a medium strength but for those who prefer a milder option... this is one you might certainly enjoy.

Sutliff Creme Brulee has a jar note that is more honey forward to me with vanilla in the background. The taste flips this and it is more creamy vanilla forward with a little honey and caramel trailing behind. This is cased heavy enough that the tobacco flavors are muted and the sweet elements dominate the smoke. A nice change of pace for an after dinner smoke. However, this is very moist. I don't recommend drying it as the casing will lighten and I did not enjoy the tobacco taste which may mean it is less than A grade. In any case, lighting will cause it to hiss as whatever this stuff is cased and topped with boils off. It will leave the rim sticky and it takes a little time to clean off if you allow the tobacco to touch it. I also get a little prickly sensation on the tongue. It is not bite, it will go away after a couple of hours but it does mean that it cannot be an all day smoke for me. It does smoke wet so keep a pipe cleaner handy.

***Update 2020-11-30*** I have smoked 8 oz of this over the past year, I have to say it is rather growing on me. I have found that if I pack this a little lighter than I would normally pack my bowl it smokes better overall. Keeping it slow and steady seems to help with that prickly sensation with the tongue as well. I am adding the fourth star. This is a outstanding aromatic blend.

Well this has got to be my favorite aromatic to date. What a great taste and pleasant room note. I tend to be an English blend smoker but I certainly have a few aromatics in my rotation and this bad boy is right at the top of my rotation. Really flavorful smoke that burns cool and stays lit well. Bite is mostly non exsistent. This gets better as it drys out but right from the bag is yummy.

THIS IS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES - I AM SMOKING A BOWL RIGHT NOW. MY WIFE LOVES THE ROOM NOTE AS DO IT. THE TASTE IS EXCELLENT! I HAVE A CLOSE FRIEND - BILL WHO LOVES IT AS WELL - HE IS GETTING TWO POUNDS FOR CHRISTMAS - I ALWAYS BUY 5 LBS AT A TIME - SO I HAVE 3 LBS FOR ME TO ADD TO MY STASH OF 5 LBS. I WOULD GIVE CREME BRULEE A 7 ON A 5 STAR SCALE.

I AM SHOCKED WHEN I SEE ANYONE RATING THIS BELOW A 4 STAR RATING - IT IS BEYOND EXCELLENT!!!!

I AM UPDATING THIS FOR 2023 - I STILL BUY 5 LBS AT A TIME - AND HAVE HAD NUMBER PIPE SMOKING FRIENDS TRY IT AND THEY ARE IMMEDIATELY SOLD! THEIR WIVES LOVE THE ROOM NOTE!! I DO ENJOY OTHER PIPE TOBACCO - FROM LANE 1-Q - SEVERAL OTHER SUTLIFF BLENDS - PETER STOKKEBYE BULLEYE - PROPER ENGLISH - OPTIMUM - AND THEN BALKAN SOBRANIE ON A LIMITED BASIS. MY FAV REMAINDS CREME BRULEE

i purchased a few ounces of this at a local smoke shop after hearing (and smelling) good things from a friend while smoking one day.

like other reviewers, my initial thought when opening the bag was "wow, this smells amazing" and "no way this is going to stay lit." but as well, to my surprise, it lit fairly easily and i must say that i enjoy the crackling and popping as it burned the way the sap on a red fir log does in a camp fire.

a little bit of gurgling some time within the first 5-10 minutes of the bowl, but as i decently paced myself, that soon stopped as it had a chance to dry a bit.

although it wasn't really needed, as i was still getting plenty of smoke, i re-lit a couple times throughout and it burned cool and evenly almost all the way to the bottom of the bowl, giving me mouthfuls of thick, creamy smoke with every draw and leaving me with fine, greyish-white ash and just a tiny pinch of dottle in the bottom.

the same rich aroma and savor from beginning to end. no shift in flavor or complexity to it, just sweet, simple goodness.

simply put, if you are an aromatic lover (like me) then no doubt this should be in your regular rotation and right up there with your favorites. enjoy it best right after a chicken dinner in the early evening with a white russian.

Cream Broulee is a sweet dessert tobacco that doesn't taste much like tobacco but does taste very good. My initial impression was that it had to be too wet to light, but I tried it anyway before attempting to dry it. To my pleasant surprise it lit on the second light and stayed lit until it was time for it to go out. I say 'time for it to go out' because just as I tasted the first hint of sour, nearing the bottom of the bowl, it went out. What was left were a few black pieces of charcoal that didn't need to be smoked. Don't use this for getting cake in the bottom of a new pipe for that reason. However, after having smoked a half dozen bowls of Cream Broulee it has never once gurgled in any pipe I've smoked it in. Never left any wet goop at the bottom of the bowl (just dry charcoal), and leaves every pipe I've smoked it in almost as dry as when I lit it. This came a a huge surprise to me considering how moist the tobacco was in the pouch. But, as I said, it's best to sip it.

It probably would have bitten had I forced it, but it never needed hard puffing to stay lit and, by gently sipping, it never bit at all. Pack this loosely! If you pack it tightly it will give you a hard time staying lit and, in trying to keep it lit you'll probably find it biting.

The aroma is delightful. The taste id great, not overwhelming but a very nicely sweet dessert. So long as you pack it loosely and stop smoking it when it tell you to it won't give you a bit of trouble. All in all a very pleasant smoking experience for you and those around you. If I were restricted to just one aromatic this just might be it. I'm certainly going to make a point of always keeping plenty on hand.

Some of the most horrible things you could say about a particular blend is that it is too wet, gooey, sloppy, and just downright dirty. All these things are true of this blend. Want to break-in your new pipe in a hurry, just smoke a couple of bowls of this stuff. Get some of the gook from the wet pipe on your fingers and have fun washing it off. The most amazing thing of all is that a blend like this could still be mild - but it is! So do I recommend it? Hell yes and highly. Listen, if you are an aromatic smoker, you have been looking for this blend your entire life. Does it taste like tobacco? No, but neither does a New York Strip Steak and I love those also. This blend is absolutely delicious and I can not believe that anyone could complain about the aroma. I know you guys complain about your wives and girlfriends who won't allow you to smoke in the same house that you are making the mortgage payments on, give her a whiff of this. For over 40 years I have tolerated the condescension of the "real" pipe smoker, you know, the guys who smoke that English stuff that smells like burnt leaves. I have gotten over defending my choice of blends. I like aromatics -period! If you do too, this stuff will knock you out.

Ahhh, Altadis #701 Creme Brulee, This is my ALL TIME FAVORITE blend! I remember when I first tried it. I thought; "Wow, this is really wet. Wow, this smells really sweet, I bet it wont stay lit, I bet it smokes hot." WRONG. It stays lit well, despite how wet it is! It smokes cool, despite how sweet it is! It is DELICIOUS! Yeah that's right, I love sweet aromatics! You old dudes can hate all you want, This blend is AWESOME! It smokes a little wet but who cares? The flavor, sweetness, and coolness is WELL worth it. The chicks dig the room note, even the female tabacco sales staff call it a Panty Dropper. The crackling sound when lit is music to my ears. Many "flavored" so called "sweet tasting" aromatics have let me down, but not this one! I must say, this blend is what keeps me smoking a pipe, otherwise, I fear I may lose interest in this gentle art. BE ADVISED; This is a BULK blend that is often re-named by some tobacco shops. Be sure to ask for Altadis # 701 Creme Brulee, or ask the tobacconist to translate the shop name.

Got one of these as a sample pack and was very pleased with the taste,quality and texture and burn. I prefer to smoke this personally in my Peterson or Wellington (system pipe),it helps trap a lot of the moisture this tobacco may have. I smoke this a few times a day in a large shop I work at,and have had no complaints of the room note,I get asked what blend is that you smoke and I tell them,even the Mrs.likes it's smell.