Sutliff Tobacco Company Medium English #502

Looking at the description, I was expecting an "American English" with a burley base. The burley provides some body and gives a slightly full and mellow quality to the sweet in the Virginia. It does not present as burley forward.

For me, this might be very close to the "all-day" English. The latakia is smoky and not so much that you get palate fatigue after three bowls. The perique contributes to the sweet and provides some spice, but it is a light touch. The Orientals provide a little sour that may be working in concert with the burley.

I suspect there is a very mild sweet topping, because it is sweeter than I would expect from the sum of the parts. It is nowhere close to crossover territory, and it is possible it is not enhanced this way.

This is a very competent and pleasant smoke. It does not have a lot of "wow" and is not likely to bowl you over. Sometimes a smoke of this sort is just what you want. It is an easy smoke and was not fussy about drying or staying lit.

This one is easy to recommend. I would suggest this to anyone looking for a good basic English. It is affordable and a great combination of flavors in a mild to medium package.

A medium English with the smokey woody Cyprian latakia taking the lead. The Virginia is a grassy, mildly sweet back up to the lightly nutty, lightly molasses sweet burleys, while the perique provides a very minor spice note. There’s also a buttery, sour woodsy, mustiness from the Smyrna which is obvious in nearly every puff. The sweetness in the mixture is less than I’ve indicated as there’s some dryness to the smoke. The nic-hit is mild. Won't bite or get harsh. Burns at a moderate pace, cool, clean and rather smooth with a consistent flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires few relights. Has a very pleasant after taste, and the room note won't chase people away. It has enough complexity to keep your interest and enough strength to satisfy your craving for blends in this genre.

-JimInks

This is a very tasty American/English, with a light perique presence in every puff. I like this very much. The latakia is in the background, with the turkish and perique the dominant players. The burley is there for coolness. It burns easily to the bottom of the bowl, with a little more heat the last third. The taste is consistent throughout and very satisfying. An excellent blend in all respects. Priced at only $14 per half pound, I consider this a wonderful value. There is a slight casing, which adds a touch of sweetness that lasts to the bottom of the bowl. It needs a little drying before smoking. But well worth the time.

Update: This blend is loaded with humectants and needs more then a little drying. Maybe two or three days. Well worth the time. It's still a 4 star blend. The burning quailities and taste are wonderful. The turkish and virginia predominate, with the perique adding a wonderful light spice. The taste is consistant throughout each bowl. Perfect from morning till night. You may wish to add a little extra perique. I suggest 2%, if you like a little more spice. If you don't like blends that leave a heavy aftertaste on the tongue, you'll love this. No bite either.

Update: I was initially over- enthusiastic about this blend. My rating has been lowered to 3 stars.

Sutliff Tobacco Co. - Medium English #502.

I reviewed Sutliff's #302 Light English a few weeks ago, and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd post on #502 today.

The description says 'rich, flavourful, but not overwhelming', and that would make a perfect review. It has the nuances of a good English without knocking my teeth out with Latakia. The Lat' creates the strongest flavour, but is given a decent support from the others. The Virginia and Orientals form almost a 'bread and butter' backing; bready Va and buttery Orientals. The Burley is notable but I find the least flavour comes from the Perique; only a touch of sharpness. I'll mark none for flavouring as the only flavours I get I would expect to come from the tobaccos. It burns evenly, and is medium temperature.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: quite nice.

#502? Because this arrives loosely pouched from bulk it doesn't give as classy a first impression as, say, a Davidoff tin. But it wouldn't be out of place in the most expensive packaging. Highly recommended:

Four stars.

QUICK REVIEW: SUTLIFF MEDIUM ENGLISH 502

So, I’m in the midst of a new mission. The local buy-em discount tobacco shop stopped carrying my treasured Super Value English Mixture. A perfect cheapo to start the day while I wake and my palate warms-up for the real stuff. In pursuit, I bought a bunch of different English blends looking for a viable substitute. Rather than doing a formal review on each, I thought would just post the summary scorings for your amusement and fyi.

This one happens to be Sutliff’s Medium English No. 502, not a bad alternative bottom-line. The constituents within the recipe are identical to the SV pouched variety made by Sutliff and sold by STG. This 502 one is a little tastier and more robust, a plus!

Key points 2.7 measure scoring but I give it a 2.9 subjective ranking for personal appeal, meaning it will pass the threshold of re-purchase.

Medium strength/intensity – blending quality is good

Base: Burley (sugary wood/nuttiness) & Virginia (tang, sweet citrusy grass)

Forward taste: Latakia (smoky, incensed, leathery, sweet-wood)

Mid-band: Turkish (primarily herbaceous, floral, and musty),

Accenting: Perique (somewhat passive but notable. pungent, light pepper, musty funk)

Slightly sweet, nuanced quite well with the assorted varietals

Very consistent in flavor, moves to darker nature towards the end

Cool, even, dry burn

Low nicotine effect

Sourness is gentle as a combination of the Burley, Turkish, & VA

Reasonable complex recipe, well-rounded/balanced, movement of flavor is consistent

Nice break-in English for newbie, all-day smoke as it’s mellow and savory

Smoke is dense and meaty. Room fragrance is lighter for an English but seasoned well and supported by the range of native influences

Cost is affordable

At first light I taste the sweetness of the Red Virginia followed by the smokey Latakia. Then comes the spiciness of Perique, nutty Burley and sour Orential/Turkish. This is a perfectly balance blend. Nothing over powering the other. Easily an all day smoke for an English lover. I smoked this for a week and couldn't write anything down because every time I stuck the match I was lost in deep through. It was that easy to enjoy.

This blend came to me as a sample while attending the recent 2018 Chicago Pipe Show. I received seven blends for $5 at the MacBaren/Sutliff booth, all for a taste of MacBaren's new Burley Flake. I'll be reviewing all of these "freebee's" here.

502 reminded me of a cross between Beck's Ol Limey Bastard and Frog Morton. This, of course means I like it. With McClelland gone, 502 would make an excellent replacement for the Frog. Medium says it all, not too weak, not too strong. Smoked well, no relights, no dottle.

Recommended.

Keep on piping!

I picked up a couple ounces of this blend on a tobacconist's recommendation when I was exploring some English blends. Nice aroma pre-light, very good flavor and burn. No tongue bite to speak of, and although it was stored with heavy humectants (not sure if the tobacconist added it, or if it was manufactured that way), it seems to burn nice and cool, and does not produce gurgling if smoked sufficiently slowly.

Great tobacco, I use this tobacco as a sure thing smoke. I know it will have flavor, be an easy smoke, and also not bite too hard. I do find it bites a little when being lit but after its fine. Great tobacco. I tried breath smoking for the first time with this tobacco which is supposed to make the tobacco taste better and it did. You can look up breath smoking on google. This is a great tobacco.

I’m partial to English blends and this one has everything you would expect from one.There’s plenty of Latakia without being a Latakia bomb and the Oriental/ Turkish rounds out a quality Virginia tobacco with a surprise hint of Perique to give this blend the spiciness that I would expect from an English.
This tobacco burns cool and clean and leaves little moisture in the bowl. It stays lit well and the various tobaccos stay distinct for the entire bowl.
There’s plenty of flavor and nicotine to keep a veteran smoker interested, but not overwhelming for a smoker that wants to explore this type of blend. This is an all day smoke for me as my tobacconist offers this in bulk so it’s very affordable, and I will return for it again.