Sutliff Tobacco Company Bosphorus Cruise

I agree with Mr. Piper: if Bosphorus Cruise carried any other name but Sutliff, it would be getting ecstatic rave reviews. It’s good. This is an Oriental-forward Balkan blend, very refined and balanced but with balls. The leaf quality is excellent. It ain’t a bland English, it’s a Balkan, and while the Lat is fine and a bit sweet, those needing an intravenous Lat fix would do better elsewhere. I get the Lat and Turks equally in the tin note, which is quite fine and bracing.

It is indeed a bit reminiscent of SOTE, but for my money, better and not as strong. My tin was 3 years old, which may have added considerably to the flavor and dampened the Lat profile a bit. Whatever -- it ages well.

This is a 4-star blend even if the price was double. But even though it’s only 1.5 oz, it is Sutliff-priced. Great all-day smoke. No annoying topping. Sweetish room note is wife-approved, and few are. Cellar it, boys and girls.

This Balkan surprises me every time I smoke it, and it shouldn't because I know it is good. This is an Oriental forward blend, but the Orientals here give this great mineral taste that I haven't tasted in other Balkans. The best thing that I can compare it to is Oban Scotch, if you've had this single malt and like the mineral taste, you will love Bosphorus Cruise. The Virginias are sweet, and there are times where I would swear that this blend had Cavendish in it. I'll get these rare little pops of cotton candy flavor, and though I cannot say what the room note smells like, it seems very sweet. The Latakia is mild, but it has that great kind of burnt, bitter taste that I love, very similar to Dunhill Standard Mixture. There are two final things that really push this blend over the top for me, the price is not bad, and the nicotine is not high. This could easily be an all day smoke, and is really a great value.

I've often read reviews of English blends where the reviewer states that the tin aroma was that of a wood fire, but this is the first time and blend where I feel the statement actually applies. When I opened my tin of BC I thought that it had the aroma of a hardwood fire from later after the fire is smoldering. It just didn't seem quite right to me and I was suspicious that the wood fire odor had been "enhanced" somehow in processing. The mixture had an overall darker hue ranging from reddish brown to black and a rather even ribbon cut. The moisture level was such that you could load-up and smoke right away - so I did. The slightly acrid wood smoke odor in the tin was not really present in the smoking aroma and I was happy about that. From the initial light to the finish, it smoked in a normal and civilized medium English manner. Although a rather pleasant smoke, there was nothing that set it apart from the host of other medium Englishes that exist in a very crowded field. I've used it in micro blending and that has worked out fairly well; however, I like for my English base in a blend to have a tad more richness in the non-Latakia portion of it's base mixture - but, all in all, not a bad smoke and I can recommend it to other smokers.

A bit more Latakia and Oriental forward than Berkshire. Good components and blending, without the annoying topping. Burns smooth and cool. Once into the bowl, the Virginia sweetness comes out a bit more, helping round out the overall flavor profile. Very good blend. 3+.

At first I found the blend to be lacking flavor and punch. For the first minute of the smoke I couldn't even feel the presence of the Latakia.

After that this started to change slowly and I started picking up some of the smokiness and even a subtle leathery flavor associated with Latakia. At this point the spicy orientals also started letting their presence be known but it wasn't until I was halfway through the bowl that the big changes came. That's when all the flavors started to concentrate and develop a little complexity.

Earthy, smoky and peppery this turned out to be a satisfying smoke although, it took a while to get there. Definitely not the best in its class but a good smoke for the price.

If you see it buy it! One of the best Balkans I've ever smoked. Plain and simple. The marriage of flavors in this blend is just a treat . Bring it back Sutcliffe!!!

I read sevral reviews which stated that this blend "reminded" od another blend, I will have to state the same, but for me it was McClelland 5110 Dark English Full (one of my favorites), both of which are more on the Oriental side to me as opposed to the English. Overall I would say this is an outstanding blend (a very pleasent surprise given the price) and that the next time I go to order something along these flavor lines it will probably be this blend.

Easy to pack (trickle method), easy to light, burns well, great flavor profiles with all components contributing and none overpowering, wonderful tickle to the nose when smoke is expelled through the nostrils, and the price is great.

I love Bosphorus Cruise. It has a unique character. It was one of my first tobaccos I bought, and just recently found a tin at a cigar shop, I unhesitatingly leapt for it. This is like gold to me, I think we should all have a tobacco like that. Upon comparing it with some Frog Mortons, they are very similar in tin aroma. But upon smoking it, they don't compare at all, they are both very different. I recommend giving Bosphorus Cruise a try. It's one thing to read reviews but it's another to try it for yourself. Something that received negative reviews might turn out to be your favorite tobacco if you just try it, and vice versa. Something that received high praise might not be that good to you. So strike me a match and let's go pipes a blazin!

Wow! Bought on a whim, I liked the packaging and it had everything I like. It lights easy and has a full flavor, it holds it's flavor through the bowl. Smokes dry with a nice gray ash, liked it so much I bought six tins to age for awhile. Excellent