Sutliff Tobacco Company Match Revelation

Update 06/11/15

Okay. I bit the bullet and tried another batch of this blend. The new batch was, indeed, more flavorful and enjoyable than the one I had previously.

The burley and virginia shine through more in this batch, as do the latakia and perique. Overall, it is a quite tasty blend. I am moving the rating up to recommended.

------Original Review------

Wow.

Upon opening the bag I expected at least a whiff of the fruit/plum topping that's supposed to be on this tobacco. i smelled nothing but a mild leafy smell. Shrugging, I loaded a MM Legend with the blend and fired 'er up. Not much happened. i got a bit of burley and some hay-like flavor from the virginia. Not much else--no latakia, no perique.

I looked in the bag and then at some pictures of the mixture on the web. It looked like it was supposed to but there was no there there.

I have since tried other cobs and a variety of briars, but the results have always been the same--essentially, nothing.

I have probably gotten a bad batch, but my experience with this bag doesn't encourage me to order more to find out. When I want a blend of this ilk I'll stick with Holiday Match, which has essentially the same ingredients, substituting black cavendish for the kentucky. At least with Holiday I can get a hint of latakia and perique and enjoy the cocoa background from the burley.

Not recommended.

Pouch aroma of typical OTC burley. It's bright and fruity, with a slight alcohol note. If you inhale deeply, you can catch a slight hint of the musty Perique. I don't detect the Latakia in the pre-lit aroma.

This blend isn't what I expected whatsoever. I perceived this to be just another burley laden, flat, airy blend. When sipped, this is a flavorful, complex, very nuanced blend with notes of dark fruit, sweet cocoa, natural tobacco and some delicate spice. The Latakia is not noticeable to me in the pre-lit aroma, the room note or the palate. Burns clean and cool down to a light gray ash. I never did get to smoke the original, but the match is definitely one of my top tobaccos!

I really liked this. Caught me by surprise because reading the ingredients I passed on this for several years. Get an ounce just for something different on hot days this summer and boy was I surprised. There is a lot going on. All the tobaccos are well balanced and work in harmony. Mild nicotine but lots of flavor. Truely a all day smoke. Other review will tell about taste and strength. Will be getting more for a daily summertime rotation.

My second "Match" review is Revelation. An aromatic. I generally don't like aro's, but this one's not too bad. Like the Edgeworth Match, they don't make'em like this anymore. I wasn't really noticing the different tobacco's weaving in and out as much as I'd like, and the topping tasted like peach (which wasn't a bad thing). One thing I really enjoyed with this blend was snorking it—that was actually very delightful. This tobacco also worked real well in my Country Gent (I used a different, that is a new Gent from the one I used with Edgeworth, which, I noticed, ghosted my other pipe—smokers take note on that observation).

Overall, for an aromatic, this blend is as good as anything new that's being marketed today. For me, this will make a good gear changer. I'll give this a weak three stars (I liked the Edgeworth Match better). Recommended.

Happy Piping!

This has a very light contribution of Latakia, but there the similarity to the HOW version of Revelation ends. In fact, I find Altadis's own Count Pulaski closer to the HOW Revelation version of a light "American-English" style (albeit with a mild topping of anise) than this "Revelation Match". Like Revelation, CP has a base of cube Burley, with some darker broken flake Virginia and a slight touch of Latakia. "Revelation Match" on the other hand is primarily coarse cut light and medium brown leaf and I don't detect any "fruit/citrus" tones as advertised. I can't say how close it is to the original Phillip Morris Revelation since I don't recall ever having that old classic but it is certainly nothing like the Revelation I know (of which I still have a few tins).

In comparison to most Altadis blends my sample had little casing or PG and the tobacco arrived loose and fairly dry, somewhat like a C&D blend. I thought that looked promising at first. However, the smoke is on the harsh side and can even bite occasionally which the HOW version of Revelation never did. As light, almost-English-style tobacco goes, this is not a terrible blend, but it is certainly not a Revelation match.

Spicy. Maybe its perique and kentucky or maybe the virginias are a bit harsh. Dont detect any flavor but there is a fruity aroma. Burns well. A spicy burley blend. Meh.

I gave this a try cuz my dad used to smoke Revelation. No bite or gurgle. Smoky, campfire like room note. Fairly dry and easy to keep lit. I didn't detect any fruit flavor.

I recently purchased a pound of this blend after already smoked a considerable amount.In the pound size I found excessive moisture and viginia overload. After drying out for a while proved a good smoke when smoked slowly.Having a preference for heavily latakia laden oriental blends I find this is a good break if you call it from heavier blends.I love the general appearence of this blend with its large chunk and cube cut pieces with ribbon also.The topping is not a major player but is in the background.Great all day,work smoke as well.I primarily smoke a briar have not tried in cob.Lots of burley,virginas,dark fired,with some perique.Put some away really improves taste and character.

Sutliff Tobacco Co. - Match Revelation.

The mixture has a very intriguing appearance, there's all manner of shape, size, and colour of leaf. The moisture's slightly too high, but nothing detrimental to an immediate smoke.

The Virginia leads the flavour, giving a sharpness which works quite well with the toppings. At first I couldn't identify the Perique, but after just below a quarter bowl it becomes a definite taste. The Burley doesn't really fluctuate in weight throughout a bowl, being unexciting, and a little dull, but present nevertheless. The toppings require very little work to notice, with a flavour of zesty lemons/citrus. The ratings on here for flavour cover a broad spectrum, but to me it's above medium. The burn's good, and I get no bite.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: pleasant to tolerable.

Match Revelation? Not my thing. One star:

Not recommended.