Sutliff Tobacco Company CD Blend

Number 2 of the Sutliff batch. I found this one interesting in that as I was preparing it to smoke and later while smoking it, I wondered if this was supposed to be a "match" to HoW Country Doctor or was just inspired by that blend. The cuts are considerably different, this one being a large square-cut with wide ribbons and a few cubes tossed in, which looked cool and loaded with no problems. It did take a short while to take to the match but once it did, it burned flawlessly. The flavoring seemed different from the HoW version as well. It's been awhile since I smoked it but I recall it having more of a fruity topping, while this one seemed more of a booze topping. Heavier topping here, too - at least it seemed that way to me. In fact, the topping ruled the flavor for the first half-bowl, even when I dried it out.

In the second half of the bowl, the latakia came out a bit and mingled with the burley. I could smell the latakia in the first half but couldn't taste it above the alcohol topping. Here, the burley ruled. Never did taste the perique and couldn't tell it was in there. I actually enjoyed the flavoring reasonably well but preferred it when it tasted like more of a lightly sweetened burley blend with latakia to the rear. If this is intended to be a match blend, it doesn't fare so well, but it works pretty well on it's own. Not one I'll stock up on but it was a decent smoke that I enjoyed. The HOW version was superior but it wasn't any great shakes,either.