Sutliff Tobacco Company Golden Age

I guess I'm not much of a Perique fan or Elizabethan fan. I tried this four or five times then added it to my stock of "in case were attacked by zombies locked in basement" stash. It will stay there

This is a pleasant smoke all around, with some excellent qualities, yet I feel it's lacking in some respects. As a result this gets 2 stars but is of somewhat higher quality than that and is penalized more by what I wish it was rather than what it is on its own merits. Ultimately flavor and strength are just not quite sufficient to earn an unqualified recommendation from me.

The tin is the American style pop top, which for this blend has maintained both the flavor, aroma, and moisture in an open tin without issue for over a year. Is this an indication of chemical additives? If so, it is skillfully done and not evidenced in the taste. The age of exploration style tin art of an early misshapen New World map soundly illustrates the blend name. The ugly bronze colored plastic cap and terrible stylized S coat of arms logo common to Sutliff just looks cheap to me though. The tobacco itself is inviting, a fairly fine ribbon. Visually I pick out about four tobaccos, golden, red, and likely natural brown Cavendish Viriginias and coarser dark Perique. The smell is muted, and reminds me mostly of Worcestershire sauce, comprised of tangy spiced feremented fruit vinegar.

This blend burns quite well. My latest sampling took a single match, and burned just about all the way down. No bite was detected even under some accelerated puffing and the ash was very very fine with a slick feel. The taste is nice, middle of the road Va. It is mostly buttery with the barest traces of acidity. This is mildly sweet, and more evident in the aroma than the taste. The contribution of the Perique is weak. Had I smoked this blindly I would have identified the condiment tobaccos in the mixture as Orientals, as it shares a flavor profile with McClelland's Smyrna, somewhat earthy with a subtle tanginess and maybe hints of cumin or other Middle Eastern spices. It's interesting to me too that other reviewers often discussed this blend as a light English rather than a VaPer, which indicates to me that others have perceived a lack of Perique and a Turkish tilt more characteristic of English mixtures, even if not so written. The Perique tastes I think about, stewed plums and figs or woody pepper, which are found in the tin note, are disguised in the taste. I rate both strength and flavor mild so I tend to puff this a little harder than usual, but it doesn't seem to generate much moisture and no bite. Unfortunately, despite being pleasant tasting and smoking, I am just not satisfied at the end of the bowl and for me that nicotine induced feeling of bodily and mental relaxation after a fine smoke isn't quite reached. It's this reason rather than any specific dislike that I've been working on the same tin for over a year.

I think two specific tweaks could elevate this smoke considerably. An addition of burley would help bring the strength up and probably deepen the flavors without much change to flavor characteristics. A tad more Perique would also be welcome. I think this milder smoke would probably be better for a morning bowl rather than winding down at night. Lastly, I would recommend it morenhighly to newer pipers than the general population as a foray into VaPers.

Not a bad tobacco by any means, yet still a tad mild. Tin note is lovely, bright va's, perique, and unprocessed cocoa. I think the perique is what stands out here, even though I would have expected the va's to be front and center. This is not a jab at the blender, as I like perique, and I think it helped make this a cohesive blend with non-competing flavors. The va's, as I noted, were not very strong but they were smooth and ever so citrusy. Paired with the raw funk of the perique and I think they did a fine job at a good balance. Mellowing out the background was the cavendish, while the orientals and burleys wandered off. Couldn't catch those, but didn't seem to miss them. Bowl got hot and waxy near the end, which is strange, I must say, but altogether a decent tobacco. It works, but it needs something bold and flavorful, read that as tobacco and not casing/topping.

7-Pleasure, satisfaction; 9-Top note, slip stream aroma, sipping the embers; 8-Delivery, balance, flavor profile; 9-Blend composition, quality; 8-Pack, relight, room note. As my real first perique I enjoyed the mild peppery presence. On a tight pack got mild N note. For me I prefer over the much stronger Elizebethan (which is of course a quality blend). This is a wonderful Vapers, as advertised, just not for me. 2 1/2 Stars for now.

While very light on the Perique, this is a pleasant enough, slightly sweet smoke. For me, though, it just smokes a bit too much on the hot side to earn three stars, but I generally agree with Virginialover's review.