Sutliff Tobacco Company Tabac Noir

After a disastrous first experience with ebony-colored Black Cavendishes, I was a bit hesitant to buy another one (I still have a half pouch of MacBaren 7 Seas Black sitting on my table), but I couldn't help myself. This tobacco from Sutliff was quite affordable (~70% of the price of a typical 50g can of Peterson's or Dunhill tobacco).

Opening the tin - first thing I noticed was a delicious smell of baking cookies. Very tasty tin note, at the same time very "one note" - it's sweet and "pastry" smelling, but that's it, no nuance. Not that that's a bad thing necessarily. The tobacco was damp when the tin was first opened, and it doesn't lose that dampness quickly - 1 month in the tin and it wasn't noticeably dryer.

After packing a bowl and lighting it, I was amazed at just how light and "airy" the smoke was. The smoke does tend to get hot and burn the tongue if you are extremely aggressive, but smoking normally (even at my typical quick pace) it stays cool. There is no nicotine hit to speak of, almost no aftertaste in the mouth, and overall it's very light. Reminiscent of a vape, almost - just a light taste and not much else. Very easy to retrohale, unlike some tobaccos which burn the inside of my nose - retrohaling also lets you taste much more of the sweet "cookie" tin note, so I do recommend doing it a bit just to enjoy the smell.

Due to the slightly damp tobacco, I did end up getting gurgle at the end of the smoke, but even then I never got any bitter taste on my tongue. Unlike the MacBaren 7 Seas Black, this tobacco did not leave any acrid aftertaste in my mouth.

All in all, I'm not sure if this is my cup of tea (I really do prefer smoky English blends so far), but for a very light and airy, sweet smoke, you can't go wrong with this tobacco. Just dry it out before you pack and smoke to avoid the gurgles.