Sutliff Tobacco Company Westminster

Another freebie with a tobacco order. At least this one was closer to what I ordered than most of the freebies they send. And since I can't stop people from sending these Sutliff blends to me, the best I can do is get over my insane desire to try everything, and simply toss these in the trash. On the other hand, this one at least has something to recommend it, albeit not much. I should also state up front that even though it galls me that Sutliff uses the same name as GLP for a blend that's supposed to approximate Dunhill London Mixture (GLP's blend purports to the same heights), I don't much care for Pease's version, either. So hopefully that kept the bias to a minimum.

The taste of this bordered on flat but occasionally an interesting flavor would shine through. It seems to me that this might have been envisioned as a starter English for newbies to the genre. In spite of Sutliff's "Perfect for lovers of X", this tastes nothing like London Mixture. It doesn't taste much like anything. Some latakia and an occasional waft of what seems to be substandard virginia. Closer to flat, IMHO. Reminded me quite a bit of Dunhill Standard Mild... just sort of warm smoke without much backbone, rather than London Mixture, which has a fair amount of depth and a lot more flavor. This blend earns 1.5 stars from me, rounded up to 2 because it has a bit more going for it than blends I award a single star. Even so, there are many, many, many blends better suited to the beginning English smoker than this one, at least IMHO. Try it if you want to dip your big toe into latakia without getting it too wet.