Sutliff Tobacco Company Balkan Luxury Blend 957

A medium English with a smokey, woody, barely sweet Cyprian latakia that is nicely contrasted by the sweet, very light vanilla flavor of the black cavendish. The Orientals and perique are complimentary ingredients, offering mild spice note, some woody dryness, and slight butter and raisins. The Virginia is a little grassy, slightly citrusy. While the latakia is the lead component, it does allow the other tobaccos to have their say. The sweet and smokey taste translates well in regard to the room note. Full tasting enough to get your English fix, it can almost be an all day smoke, too. Though it isn't an exact match, it's in the ball park. Has a mild nic-hit. Won't bite or get harsh. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a rather consistent flavor. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and needs an average number of relights.

There are differences between the BLB 957 and the original. The original has a deeper latakia flavor, and was a shade spicier with just a little less sweetness. The Match lacks the unflavored “soda” note of the original. The Virginia in the original was slightly more obvious.

-JimInks

Number 3 on the Sutliff hit parade - 3 to go. I appreciate everyone involved in getting these blends to me! This one taught me a bit about my own personal tastes. As for the blend itself, it was mostly dark with some brown thrown in, ribbon cut and a heady smell of latakia with spicy orientals riding shotguy. Came wetter than I like, and my first bowl gave me the customary bitter steam that I get from over-moist tobaccos. Drying this out gave me the best results... but not too dry!

This struck me as one of the least spicy-tasting Balkans ever. Whereas I prefer my Balkans to be oriental-forward, this one was latakia-forward. Like its namesake Sobranie 759... and that's why "back in the day" I preferred the original White, although I didn't really know why at the time. This one also had a touch of black cavendish that provided some sweetness, although I didn't taste a specific flavor, such as vanilla. This all amounted to a sweeter and less spicy Balkan blend that will appeal to latakia fans looking for their usual smokiness but also wanting some extra sweetness. Finally, this blend liked a few of my pipes and didn't like a few others. In the right pipe, it was a good blend that I enjoyed smoking. It won't make my rotation but it's worth a try. I doubt that this will replace Sobranie 759 for most fans of it, but it's a worthy blend on it's own.

This blend works better than you might expect. When you see there is going to be some vanilla black cavendish in a balkan with perique, it sounds like an odd combo.

The black cavendish is a very light touch, and the aromatic complements the orientals very well. Tin note is all latakia to me, but smoking is a well-balanced set of flavors. Smoking is oriental forward with a constant latakia bass note. The black cavendish supports the sweet Virginias. The perique is hard for me to identify in the flavor profile. There is a little pepper at the end of the bowl.

If you like balkans, and want to try something just a little different, this is worth getting. I like it.

What a sleeper!

I am astonished this does not get more attention. The black Cavendish gives this something that a lot of English blends lack, just a touch of sweet that really lifts the whole thing and gives it its character.

What a smoke. Easy to store, pack, light, tamp, draw, the whole thing was start to finish a pleasure.

Not off the charts in terms of wow like some other English I like, but a real find and for the price there is not a single mark against it.

Keep it up Sutliff, you serve us well.

This is a pure pleasure to retro-hale. The Black Cav makes it very smooth and creamy. I get the Latakia and Orientals leading and pretty close to being balanced. Next I get the Black Cav, but I can't pick up the vanilla that others mention. Lastly, I can barely taste the Virginias with no sign of the Perique. There is a nice spicy note to which it may be a contributor. Not very sweet, but sweet enough. It's not often that I find a Balkan that is this gentle on my nose. That gentleness earns it the fourth star.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in flavor. Burns well straight from the tin.

I have to admit that I didn't expect a whole lot when I bought this. It's only the second Sutliff blend I've tried, and I smoke a lot of Balkans. I tend to mostly review the blends I can give four stars to, probably because I hate giving poor ratings to blends when a lot of my reason for not liking them may be specific to me and my pallet. But to give a comparison, I USUALLY enjoy smoking this Balkan over the many of the others in my cellar (I probably have around 10 now). I'm not saying this is the highest quality tobacco of the options, or the best necessarily, but something has to be said for the blend your taste buds want you to pick up, after time and habits have formed. To me, this blend is perhaps on the quality level of Peter Stokkebye Balkan Supreme, and they are close to each other, however perhaps its the cavendish, or the specific turkish leaf, or the perique (which I don't feel I can even detect in this blend), but I prefer this blend usually. A wonderful experience with good coffee with cream-- excellent, rich, tasty (but nothing way out of the ordinary if I were to give a criticism-- just everything you can hope a good Balkan would be).

Smooth Scottish blend for me. Sweet to a small degree with a grassy citrus note, has a good campfire aroma as well. Very satisfying smoke with a good price point as well. Sutliff mixtures are usually spot on for me and this is no exception. Packs well and burns clean with no moisture and very little dottle. An all day smoke with mild nicotine and good flavor. As has been noted the room note may not be for the non smoker but for the lover of the leaf it is pleasant indeed. Smoked this one at various ages, from new to 6 months plus. Did not notice any large improvement nor degradation from new to older. Solid 3, won't knock your socks off but it is a good smoke nonetheless.

I didn't expect to like this, having had many harsh/biting tobaccos from Sutliff. But it showed up in my tobacco club box today. This stuff is good. Soft, gentle, almost elegant. I think the Cavendish technically makes this a Scottish blend, as H&H Sunjammer & MM965 (Dunhill) are Scottish & have a touch. Soft gentle smoke with an almost buttery edge, giving way toward the end of the bowl to a slightly deceptive peppery perique. I have loads of English/Balkan/Scottish tobacco, but I need to get more of THIS.

(I am a newer and irregular pipe smoker. My reviews are subject to my preferences and tastes and pipe smoking habits) This came loosely tinned as nice light and dark brown ribbon with a good dose of black mixed amongst. Smells like almost every other English/Balkan I've ever smelled. Smokey and like dried aged charcuterie. Mennonite sausage. This lights easily and required no drying. Mild to medium, smooth flavour that was campfire and incense like. Smoke felt cool and dry, not very thick. Sometimes I would notice a taste of spices (cinnamon or clove, not intensely so). A real hidden gem, it seems to me. I would recommend this to smokers not familiar with english/balkan blends wanting to start dabbling. A good place to start, for sure.

This is another great Sutliff blend. I love smoking this blend. I got a sample tin at the Columbus Show in August 2012, and have ordered many more tins because this is a blend that I want to smoke on a regular basis. It lights well, smokes well, and burns all the way to the end of the bowl. I find the taste to be very satisfying, deep and rich through the entire bowl.