Sutliff Tobacco Company Match 20

I've never tried the Dunhill blend, but one of my absolute favorites is Squadron Leader, and this stuff is a really close match for that one, imho.

It's been several years since I last smoked some of Dunhill's 965, so to compare the two I'll have to depend on a no-doubt fallible memory. I've read that the sense of smell, and the memory of smells, is the most accurate of our memory sensations and I must say that I remember Dunhill's version of this as being richer and fuller though there is a family resemblance. Dunhill, if I remember correctly, pushed the latakia until is was almost, but not quite, too much. Altadis, evidently being on the safe side, does not push it quite to the limit.

Altadis' version does have a similar creaminess to is and does have the underlying sweetness that Dunhill's had. But this tobacco seems somehow thinner than Dunhill's; an honest attempt to come up with something similar but never quite willing to push the envelope enough.

It is however, a pretty good tasting English blend. Altadis makes several pretty good English blends and this is one of them. I've tried 3 of their other attempts to replicate Dunhill English blends and they seem rather timid, like this one does. They are all quite good, and if any one of them was the only English I could ever get I'd gladly smoke them. But Altadis makes better English blends of their own, much better.

May, 2010. This boend grows on me. The more I smoke it the more I like it. Try it with coffee and chickory if you havea chance. It's like they are made fof one another. This probably won't be my go-to smoke becauseit does require a person's attention to fully enjoy it. but I will be keeping some of this around for times when I can devote my full attention to it.

Opening the humidor I was greeted by a pleasant smoky, earthy, woody aroma with a light brown sugar background.

Lighting easily this blend burned cool and at a slower pace and smoked into a white ash leaving a some slight moisture in the bowl. This required no re-lights even though I sipped slowly. This doesnt bite and there are no rough notes even if puffed hard. This blend left a long lasting sweet and tangy with a slightly smoky aftertaste. The taste was very consistent during the smoke.

When lit the lead was a light creamy brown sugar sweetness and light tangy citrus followed closely by a sweet smoky flavor, with a pleasant earthy, light woody, grassy favors that blended together pleasantly and wonderful.

This is a excellent blend that I thoroughly enjoyed. A favorite that will move into my rotation. 4 stars!

3rdguy

I think this is a pretty good match overall! If you enjoy 965 I highly recommend trying it. The Latakia really shows as you pour it out on your plate, it is definitely not over the top in the smoke. The orientals really came through for me. Seemed perfect moisture wise however it has required frequent relights (which does not concern me much personally).

A very enjoyable smoke.

I bought 4 of the Match Dunhill’s more out of curiosity than anything else. Disclaimer, (tongue in cheek) I am not a Master Blender nor a professional tobacco taster. With that being said I found the tin note to be similar to 965 but the tobacco cut was coarser. I did find that it smoked and and tasted similar to 965. Note the key word is similar which I have used three times already. I do not except any match blend to taste exactly like that being copied. The match tastes a little sweeter and several other reviewers have noticed the same thing. I like it and it is not a bad blend. Maybe like some others have said they should have blended it with unflavored Cavendish. To wrap this one up is it like, similar, (fourth time to use adjective) to 965, yes, would I buy it again, yes.

Bag note is quite similar to the real thing, woody, leathery and a little musty, though somewhat subdued.

Looks and packs like 965, though it may appear less aged.

Smoking confirms the similarity. It has what Dunhill's original has, but slightly less of everything, and the tobacco seems a little less "settled in", and thus a tiny bit less harmonious and homogenous. But this is minor nitpicking, Sutliff has made a copy that gives you 90 per cent of the real thing, at a really low bulk price.

Just enough Latakia to make things interesting, but the oriental tobaccos are the main players here, sweet and sour and nutty. The Cavendish evens things out and adds mouthfeel, but it remains a slightly lighter and "thinner" smoke than 965. Perhaps less nicotine too.

There is some sweetening in here that may be a bit more prominent than in the original, but some storing will probably make this less noticeable. All in all a very good tobacco. Clearly a three star blend, as the original is.

Not a match by any stretch of the imagination. Not horrible, but this tobacco feels like a cheap OTC blend. For starters, it contains a fair amount of sweetened cavendish as opposed to unsweetened cavendish, which is present in the original 965 only in small quantities. Secondly, the latakia is barely present and I cannot detect any orientals, not that they are not there. Thanks good I only bought 2oz to sample it.

The original was a tobacco you could smoke in the morning,noon, and night and never get tired of it. It was, in my humble opinion, a very adictive blend that just had you coming back for more. This match blend is very close but doesn't seem as nutty as the original. Also, the match blend is a larger cut of tobacco. The match is very good.

I have moved my review to the proper tobacco, as what I smoked was most definitely NOT the "real deal". Please forgive my earlier naivete:

"I bought this (bulk) at a shop in town when I was craving a smoke after my first anniversary dinner. As I didn't bring a pipe with me, I also picked up a MM cob to pack. I was very excited about finding/trying this classic blend, since it's becoming more and more difficult to find.

This was somewhat early in my re-introduction to pipe smoking, and I was unprepared for the nicotine rush which followed. It nearly knocked me down, had me wobbling weak-kneed down Main Street, and when we got home, was put in the back drawer for a while. When I found the courage to come back to it, I tried blending it with other varieties, to help tame the beast. I find it adds a nice smokiness to a bowl, with a rich earthy/nutty flavor.

It slowly grew more palatable with time, but I would only recommed this for those who crave a big nicotine hit, and enjoy a full-bodied smoke."

As you can see, even this replica is a powerful, full-flavored English. Since this was written, I've grown a bit in my tastes for tobacco, and my tolerance to Vitamin N, both of which would change my reactions to, but not necessarily my review of, this blend.

TonyC