Sutliff Tobacco Company Vanilla Custard Z92

This is a boy's tobacco. There's nothing wrong with that. At the same time, it's also a grandpa's tobacco, but he's a bland, boring, and somehow wholly ingratiating grandpa.

This is aromatic tobacco taken to its logical extreme. It's all aromatic, virtually no tobacco. It smells wonderful in the pouch. You almost want to keep it in the pouch and keep your pouch nearby. Smoking Sutliff Vanilla Custard doesn't produce much of an effect on the smoker. You'll barely realize that your pipe is lit. Puff, my sons. Puff to your heart's content. This won't bite your tongue. Not even if you give it a reason to.

You'll barely taste a thing, but, boy howdy, will anyone and everyone around tell you how good your pipe smells. Compliments? Yes. Any lingering taste or nicotine? No.

Not that there's anything wrong with with a tobacco like this. I'm not saying there's anything right with it, either.

Summary: everything you want from an aromatic, with a small amount of wetness as the price for enduring flavor.

Those of you who categorically hate aromatics should just skip this review; I am agnostic on aromatics, thinking that most of them are pretty bad, but open to those that are good. Paradoxically, this allows me to select the best. The skinny is that "Vanilla Custard Z92" is a good-but-goopy aromatic. That is, the rich vanilla flavor and scent, like a cream soda and Yankee Candle at the same time, endures through the entirety of the bowl, and the implements that imparted it like alcohols and sugars take a backseat to this immense, buttery, sugary, and warm vanilla flavor. It reminds me of the Sutliff "Dark Decadence" but with less rum and maple, and more pure vanilla goodness, making the room smell like fresh-baked sugar cookies. However, I would recommend not smoking this one straight; mix it 60-40 with the Burley mixture of your choice and you will end up with something tasty. I used "Cotton Boll Twist" and ended up with a blend that makes people swoon for its room note, produces a kissable beard note, and yet can keep me awake even through CSPAN. This nice roast Burley Cavendish makes for a good smoke on its own, but is a bit too goopy, so I'd cut it with something -- if you haven't tried Ohm "Natural," this is the time -- for a fantastic smoke that any aromatic fan and most non-aromatic fans can appreciate.

I like aromatics and decided to try some Vanilla Custard. Sutliff is a premium brand and the results reflect that. A very smooth smoke with few lights needed, and a true vanilla aroma and flavor. I once tried Mac Barren's Vanilla Flake and got a horrible tongue bite. This one will not bite, and is now my all day smoke. The room note is incredible. If you like a good vanilla aromatic, or are just curious, give this one a try. You won't be disappointed.

My review is based on a free pouch sample I received along with a recent tobacco order. I originally asked to have this blend added for review and described it as a coarse cavendish cut with some black. After fingering through the pouch I noticed a bit of ribbon and some partially broken flakes (very minimally on both counts). The first thing noticed upon opening the pouch was a very pleasing, but strong buttery-vanilla aroma. The use the term “buttery” first since that was very overwhelming, however, after lighting, there is no true butter-like flavor. There is a very prominent but pleasing vanilla taste throughout and a bit candy-like. It was very different from other vanillas I have smoked over the years. I would have preferred the buttery aspect that I noticed in the pouch aroma to translate more in the taste.

I suspect that due to the very strong, sweet-tasting vanilla, there was little hint of tobacco flavor. There was no bite throughout the entire smoke, and only a minimum of moisture/gurgle present while smoking. Surprisingly, with the very prominent vanilla casing, I expected more moisture along with a hot, bite-y smoke. As stated, there was none. There was some chemical taste as the bowl progressed along with an ammonia-like smell to the burning tobacco. This smell was most evident after putting the pipe down for a bit and smelling the wafting smoke. In spite of this, it was not much of a turn-off. As the bowl progressed it became a bit bitter, but without harshness to the mouth or throat. For those aromatic-exclusive smokers, you would be hard pressed to find a better vanilla. As such, easily a 3 star smoke. For those like myself, if you want more of a tobacco flavor in your smoke along with some cased aromatic flavoring, Mac Baren does it better with their Vanilla Cream and Honey Chocolate blends, as does Dan Pipe with their Milonga. That being the case, my personal rating for Vanilla Custard is 2 stars. For those who want a more natural tobacco experience, this one will not suit you and therefore I would not recommend this blend for that group. An on occasion smoke for me at best.

This has way too much humectant. My pouch was incredibly old as it’s been at my B&M tobacconist for years, and was still moist and sticky! The pouch isn’t even sealed internally so no natural substance could behave this way. I still packed a bowl and I should have known better from my opening experience. The pouch note is amazing so I had to try it. I honestly can’t taste anything besides the tinge of the PG. The bowl sizzled and crackled as I lit it! I cant even hardly smell the room note through all the chemical laden smoke. Burns hot but it doesn’t bite... I still dumped out the last half of the bowl. I will echo an earlier review and if you want vanilla done right try some Mac Baren products. What a waste of my time and money! I won’t be fooled or intrigued by another Sutliff product. Leaves the aftertaste of mothballs.

One of the first Pipe tobaccos I tried after asking the local tobacconist for a second suggestion , the smell for this is amazing if it were food you would want to eat it right away.

I actually liked this one. With aromatics, many fall short of keeping flavor once lit and puffed a bit - but Sutliff is one of those companies that produces very good aros. Vanilla Custard is everything you would think of by the name. Great tin note (although I bought this is bulk), great flavor that lingers long into the pipe smoking, and a matching room note to boot. I would say this one is a winner for those who are looking for a good vanilla blend.

A very pleasant, top-notch vanilla Cavendish blend. This may be a bit moist for many people, so allowing it to dry a bit can help. Even at that, it burns clean, with little gloopiness.

Aroma is sweet, with a noticeable eggy-vanillay-custardy aroma and flavor, without being candy-like.

Fully aromatic with little tobacco flavor. No bite. A good all-day smoke. I buy this by the pound!

Four stars??? Honestly???? I did not even have the nerve to subjugate my most inferior pipe in tasting this blend. God, can you imagine the ghosting. Fortunately I keep a supply of disposable taster pipes for blends such as this. How might II put this gently? Abhorrent, horrible, ghastly, and atrocious come to mind. If I were to fill a pipe with the most inferior Burley that I could find, then soak it in Vanilla fragrance oil, it would be very close to what this blend is like. Honestly, I think the good folks at Sutliff/Ataldis forget to read the warning on the back of the air refresher, "Not to be inhaled"