Sutliff Tobacco Company Maple Street

I fell in love with Sutliff's Maple Street the first time I tried it (about three years ago). At the time I had been dabbling in pipe smoking off and on for several years, with cigarettes (ugh!) being my regular tobacco product. I was really keen to replace my cigarette habit with the pipe, but frustrations with finding a tobacco that I really enjoyed (i.e., a daily smoke) always caused an eventual relapse to cigarettes. A good part of my frustration, I have since learned, wasn't the fault of the various tobaccos at all - it was my own lack of experience in how to properly smoke, and thus enjoy, the pipe. I wanted a quick, hassle-free and (most importantly) repeatable experience from one bowl to the next and I wasn't getting that. I blamed it on the tobacco and moved blindly from one variety to the next until, finally, I happened upon Maple Street. This tobacco changed the whole pipe smoking experience for me and I attribute that to one reason: I really enjoyed smoking it. So, I stayed with it and, eventually, learned how to get the enjoyable and repeatable experience I was looking for.

Maple Street is my favorite tobacco - period. It has everything I think a good, everyday pipe tobacco should have:

1) its base tobaccos are of a very high quality; 2) its near-perfect moisture content and short ribbon/broken flake consistency tends to load and pack easily, resisting any tendency toward an overly tight draw; 3) it lights easily and, more often than not, stays lit right to the end of the bowl; 4) the maple and rum casing is just strong enough to give it a wonderfully sweet aroma while not overpowering the natural smells and flavors of the underlying tobacco - and the casing is a taste/smell I just don't tire of (unlike those of fruit, candy, etc...) 5) it is remarkably consistent from tin to tin.

Maple Street produces a good volume of creamy, sweet, bready, nutty, toasty smoke and, of course, a wonderful room note that really does smell like natural maple and rum. I find I enjoy it most in a medium-sized bowl (briar or meerschaum, makes no difference) in a 3/4 to full-bent format which places that wonderful nutty, toasty smell of the warm smoke directly beneath my nose. I regularly get a good 35-40 minutes of non-stop smoking pleasure from a bowl of Maple Street on a single light (after 2-3 charring lights).

The only thing I think Maple Street lacks (for me, at least) is a bit more body and nicotine, so I often blend it with other Virginia/burley tobaccos (such as Carter Hall or Sail Yellow - which I also adore, by the way) in ratios of about 2 parts Maple Street to 1 part each of the others.

I can't say enough good about Sutliff's Maple Street - it's just a wonderful tobacco and I hope it stays in production in its current form for a long time to come.

This is a wonderful tobacco that is perfect for fall or winter. Unlike a lot of aromatic blends, Maple Street does not taste artificial, but instead carries a very nice natural maple flavor. This is good quality tobacco.

TIN: The tin note is exceptional. The smell of the Burley and Virginia mingles very well with the maple topping. I'd even go so far as to say it may even have a touch of vanilla. Fantastic smell. Moist but not overly so.

SMOKING: This cut of this blend lends itself to a nice and easy charring light with little or no effort to keep it burning. The sweet flavor is balanced well by the nuttiness of the burley, with the sweetness coming from both the virginias and the maple flavoring. I did notice a touch of tongue bite, but I was in a hurry and so it may have just been user error. However, it wasnt anything that lingered to the next day. The maple notes come through beautifully and mingle extremely well with the nutty burley. Imagine pancakes with maple syrup and walnuts. If that thought makes your mouth water, this is for you. Oh, and it got no complaints from the wife, so that is a big plus.

Just finished my first tin of this and I will probably get more. This is a very pleasant smoke. The room note is very nice and the 1.5 oz tin I got was not damp at all (like so many compressed tins). Packed loosely in its tin, the tobacco has a very fluffy consistency. Easy to pack, easy to light, with big, thick puffs of white smoke. Does not smoke hot at all and the flavoring is not overwhelming (like a lot of aromatics). I have heard better things about the 1.5 oz tin as opposed to the 8 oz tin, so, I will probably stick with that. Perhaps it's because the size of 1.5 oz tin is bigger than most 2 oz. tins despite having less tobacco. This is a good all day smoke and I would highly recommend it.

This was a situation that surprised me. For starters, when I opened the tin I did not like the smell. I thought I was in for an OMG this is going to be awful...I don't know, we're all different and that's why reviews are interesting to me. Having said that, I stokked a bowl and lit it. WOW! What a surprise! Nothing and I mean nothing like the smell of the tin. Delightful! And a room note that had compliments coming from strangers at the smoke shop that I frequent. This was a "you can't judge a book by its cover" lesson. Most often we are allured by the unlit scent of the tobacco only to find that it tastes like rope and the room note has us being asked to leave. Just the opposite here. I'm a 30 year smoker of pipes. This is a great started tobacco for the neophyte or a nice mild change of pace for the veteran. Enjoy!

I got a tin of this in the mail. It was a free sample and I did not remember requesting a sample from the blender. So I am thinking it was a gift from a fellow pipe smoker. What a gift it was! I opened the tin and Wow! it smelled of maple not overpowering but really nice. I did not know how it would burn as when I opened the tin the tobacco was moist but not wet but wetter than most. Packed great, A faulse light and then a light and a couple tamps and the tobacco stays a light to the end of the bowl. the room note is of sweet maple and really nice to. My wife loved the room note and said I should buy more. sadly I enjoyed it so much the tin did not last long. No worries I plan on this being in my tobacco seller all the time. great smoke and in my veiw a most try for every one who smokes a pipe.

Who would have ever thought that Altadis could ever offer a blend that can be compared with the quality of Boswell's, Rich's, Uhle's, or Pipeworks & Wilke. This stuff is fantastic! When I recieved it in the mail the package was labled Altadis and I was apprehensive when I opened it (but hey, it was free). When I saw the can I really liked the looks of it. When I saw the name of the tobacco (Maple Street), I thought it was ironic that I had just ordered some Maple Steamer from Rich's a few moments earlier. When I opened the can I was pleasantly surprised by the aroma of the tobacco but was reluctant to fire it up after all the other disasterous blends I had tried from Altadis. Stuffed a Jobey pipe with it and put the flame too it, set back and waited. WOW - I LOVE THIS STUFF!!! I blowed throught the whole can and was quickly ordering some more. THIS IS AS GOOD AS - AND BETTER THAN MOST AROMATICS ON THE MARKET!!! Just enough of everything and not too much of anything. None of the chemical undertones of all their other blends.

YOU BETTER GET YA SOME

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HAPPY JACK HAS A GREAT DESCRIPTION OF THIS BLEND!

I have to say I have smoked several of the 1.5 oz. tins and a couple of the 8 oz. tins. For some odd reason the 1.5 oz. tins have a much more distict flavor and aroma. I will probably continue to go with the 1.5 tins because for what ever reason they are that much better. The downside is the price is so much cheaper per ounce in the 8 oz. tins.

I also received a tin of this tobacco free in the mail.

The tin is huge for it's weight. Unlike every other tin I've every seen, the tobacco inside isn't packed tight. Upon openning, you will notice the almost over-powering aroma of the topping. To me, it smelt like a very strong drink of eggnog. The moisture level in the tin was almost ideal for smoking.

The tobacco packed well. The curly cut was consistent, without woody bits or chunks. It took and extra charring light, but once the tobacco was well lit, it stayed lit throughout. The bowl remained cool, until I started to puff away, purposefully trying to heat it up. It eventually did, but cooled back down when I let up on the puffing. Through the entire (large) bowl I only used one pipe cleaner.

The room note is very nice, almost bordering on potpouri. It reminded me of Peterson's Sunset Breeze, just a little lighter. The amount of white puffy smoke was astounding. This tobacco likes to put out the clouds! But the really nice thing about this tobacco was that the topping doesn't smother the flavor. To be honest, I tasted almost none of the flavoring. Instead, I tasted mostly the burley, being remarkable in it's resemblance to Prince Albert.

This is a smooth tobacco that burns cool and (mostly) dry. I would Highly (4 stars) recommend this for beginners as it is very forgiving, with no bad habits. For experienced smokers I'd say it's more like 2.75 stars.

Edit: The sides of the tin are aluminum cover cardboard, so I would recommend against buying tins that have sat on the shelf for a long time. Also I would recommend against cellaring in unopenned tins. Instead transfer the tobacco immediately to a mason jar or bailing jar.

Update 11/30/2009: The tin is gone, smoked up with a friend of mine. Move it up to 3.50 stars for experienced smokers. We each have and 8oz tin on order, and it will probably go into my main rotation. It's just Yummy with no pretensions. Also, it's fabulous in a cob when you are out Trout fishin'.

I got a tin of Maple Leaf after reading on Puff.com about a sampler giveaway from Sutliffe Tobacco Company. Upon opening the tin, the smell was exceptional with hints of sweet maple and dark rum. The color was an even almond color throughout the fine cut ribbons and the moisture content was just right. It was loosely packed within the tin, perhaps more so than I normally prefer. However it has fast become a staple of my rotation though I would advise that you let it cure a few days as it seems to burn a bit saturated. The smoke was very cool, almost not bite to the blend. Four stars and perhaps one of the best rum flavored smokes I've enjoyed.

O yea, SPOT ON. If you like aromatics, this is a must. The tin aroma was just as sweet as your first kiss. Moist enougth to hold the casing, yet dry enough so you get a wonderfull tobacco. The tin was filled and the cut was superb. I just got a Nording 5, and I pondered on what I was going to smoke, let me tell you I took a beautifull pipe and filled it with an aromatic!!!, thats a NO NO,. Well it was worth the try. I got such a great full smoke, a great aroma, an easy light,great smoking, roll, sip,inhale, blow big smoke rings, there was a little gergle in the middle, but I let her sit for a minut or 2, and I had only one relight, this is very different, not your average aromatic, I will be keeping this on hand, and plenty of it. 5 stars in my book, I got a lot of virgina outa this, add the blend and you have one heck of a smoke, a great goodnit smoke.