Tobaccos Sutliff Tobacco Company - Berkshire (Sutliff Private Stock)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3019)	2013-09-07		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

A very pleasant no frills tasting mild to medium English blend. There is a light smoky, woody sweetness from the Cyprian latakia, which is the lead component in terms of taste, but not by much. The grassy, citrusy Virginia forms the base. The woody, dry, slightly buttery Orientals and lightly spicy, raisiny perique are condimental players in the game. There's a very mild topping that seems to have a slight sweet, creamy tartness. Has a mild nic-hit. Won't bite or get harsh. A well balanced product that burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a fairly consistent flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires very few relights. Has a pleasant after taste. An all day smoke. This is more of a starter English blend.

-JimInks

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2014-02-17		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Berkshire offers a tin note similar to lightly sweetened English blends like Northwoods or Frog Morton on the Town. It smokes in similar fashion to those blends as well although the quality isn’t as good as FMOTT. I find the review posted by “JimInks” to very closely match my thoughts on Berkshire. It produces a large volume of smoke; it’s mild and would make a great introduction to English blends for new pipe smokers or pipe smokers seeking to move toward English blends or blends containing Latakia. Berkshire is also a solid offering for those that prefer mild English blends. There is a manually added sweetness to Berkshire that isn’t a result of the Virginias. The Perique is there, but well in the background and I only taste it as the bowl progresses. A plus is that Berkshire is an affordable tinned tobacco. On the negative side, as each bowl progresses, the topping turns a bit south for me offering a slight chemical taste. I don’t think the chemical taste is strong enough to be off putting but it is there. I find Berkshire to be one of the better blends in the Sutliff line up.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ArmedOctopus (20)	2014-04-09		Very Mild	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

This is a good starting place for those wanting to delve into the world of English blends with Latakia. I am not a fan of Latakia, as it makes my throat feel scratchy and my tongue feel like the smoke is biting. However, this should not be offputting to those who have never tried Latakia as MANY people really enjoy it....it just isnt for me.

That being said, I know a good tobacco blend when I smoke it, and this is one of 'em. As I have an aversion to Latakia, I am just speaking to all the other elements in the blend. This is a good English. Very mild. Very VERY mild, but a solid all-day smoker. Moisture content was perfect. Lit with one match and burned to the bottom. Fantastic. Nice smokey flavor but doesnt linger too long afterwards. Overall a great tobacco.

I would recommend this tobacco to the following....

A. If you have never tried an English blend before and want to venture into these waters.

B. If you've tried an English blend but have yet to try one with Latakia. The Latakia in this is light and will serve as a good introduction.

C. If you don't like STRONG latakia but want English blends with some in it.

D. If you love English blends with latakia and dont mind a lighter serving of the peppery flavor.

If you like heavy English blends, this won't be your cup 'o tea or if you dislike Latakia, as I do, you wont care for it either. But if you just enjoy trying out a new blend and have no qualms about any of the tobacco varieties, give this one a go. You won't be disappointed.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fr_tom (393)	2014-04-04		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

This is a good mild/med English blend. The tobacco comes at a good humidity level for a tinned tobacco and it is a nicely balanced mix of sweet Virginia, smoky latakia, spicy orientals and enough perique to add a distinctive quality to the spicy/sweet. I claim there is a little topping to enhance the sweet, but I could be wrong. There is a little tart in the flavor profile that I don't think is the Virginia or the perique.

This is an enjoyable smoke, and part of the challenge with an English blend is finding the right combination of flavors for your palate. This one is probably a home run for lots of folks. For me it is a solid 3.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Weed (228)	2021-08-09		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I was aware of the existence of this blend, Berkshire by Sutliff Private Stock, from ads but never saw it in any brick and mortar in my area. It also never appeared in any of my buy-outs of fellow, or former, pipe smokers; until this year. First one tin and, then, four more tins suddenly appeared. I opened one of the tins and found a normal-looking brown-to-black mixture in a normal ribbon cut with a modest English aroma. What I thought was unusual was the relatively dry state of the blend; basically, ready to smoke. There was no trace of a humectant use and it had lost about half of it's moisture. The blend turned out to be somewhat sensitive to the chamber diameter and depth. Wider and shallower bowls smoked thinly in the top thirds but taller and narrower bowls smoked okay from top to bottom. Berkshire is a medium English and smokes in a perfectly adequate manner that I had no trouble repeating. If there is a problem with this blend, it is that it's just so middle-of-the-road. So, I can recommend Berkshire at three stars; if you can find it.

Pipe Used: Charatan black sandblasted 44

Age When Smoked: unknown, but between 5 and 10 years old

Purchased From: a fellow pipe smoker

Similar Blends: Oh, probably 30 or 40 medium English blends that are out there in a very crowded field. It reminded me of the old Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium with some Perique added..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2016-06-08		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

I am absolutely over loaded with Sutliff tobaccos as our local pipe club received boxes every month of their blends for several years, which we appreciated. One of my favorites was Berkshire. It is a middle of the road English style blend that played well in a variety of pipes that I employed. A little lighter than the English fare I prefer, but still a good smoke. I wound up adding some of my own 5-Brothers Burley to the last few bowls to perk up the strength. I won't smoke this again but was not off-put by the presentation and think those who enjoy lighter English style blends would appreciate this one more than I did.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30124)	2012-10-26		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Meduim English blend - very flavorful and satisfying. One of my favorite lighter English pipe tobaccos. Plenty of Latakia, slightly sweet from the fine Virginias, spicy from the Orientals, a little bit of tanginess from the Perique. No bite whatsoever -very creamy with loads of thick smoke. Easy to light, few re-lights needed. Will keep in rotation for sure. Very good value for such a good smoking tobacco.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CraigInTheCorn (11)	2017-07-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I acquired this tin in a lot. The fellow who sold it to me said he'd gotten it at the Chicago Pipe Show as a sample from Sutliff. I'm guessing it's at least three years in the tin.

Upon opening, I was hit with funk, which I'm coming to understand is the Perique. The Latakia wasn't the dominant smell, but it's definitely there. But here's the thing... unlike most tobaccos which smell great and taste less great, these English blends with Perique smell nasty in the tin, but taste very good. The room note is even pleasant enough for a non-aromatic.

In the bowl, Berkshire was a pleasant surprise. It's the first non-aromatic Sutliff blend that I've tried. It's a fairly mild smoke. Lights easily and stayed lit. I wouldn't call the smoke creamy, but there's plenty of it. No bite, even when puffed hard. Flavors are mild, balanced, and dare I say elegant. As others have suggested, this would be a reasonable start for a smoker just being introduced to English blends.

Overall, I like this one.

Since this is almost certainly discontinued with most of the other Private Stock blends, does anyone know if this is marketed by another name in bulk?

Pipe Used: GBD Conquest Virgin 3/4 bent

Age When Smoked: Estimated at 3 years

Purchased From: Chicago Pipe Show

Similar Blends: Uhle's Blend 114.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pierre (14)	2015-02-17		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Viriginia and latakia are playing with a good balance, here. No sweetness at first, but just the slightest bit as the bowl progresses about half-way through. I noticed when the sweetness popped, so did a bit of tongue bite. Not enough to coerce me to put the bowl down, but noticeable. Altogether, a good, easy smoking english blend. I would smoke this again.

Similar Blends: Gawith's Squadron Leader.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Coda (33)	2015-01-06		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a very good blend. Full flavored, but not too rich, Berkshire is a blend that surprised me. This is a full-english blend, but not overwhelming like some full-flavored english blends can be. I find that the perique and the turkish are the stars for me. This is a great blend that will please any fan of english blends...

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CTS (138)	2014-01-09		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Very well done, complex, and smooth blend. One of their best blends, devoid of the stale vanilla/rum topping prevalent in many of their blends. All the components can be detected, with the lead interestingly transitioning back and forth. Nice spice/pepper on the retrohale. Burns steady and clean through the bowl. Highly recommended for those seeking a rich yet mild to medium English.

Pipe Used: Stanwell

Age When Smoked: Unknown; at least 3 months.

Purchased From: CI

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	bob323 (46)	2013-11-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Very satisfying...This has made my rotation as an all day English blend...Not overpowering in any department...Very interesting and a joy to smoke.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kerpap (14)	2013-10-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This tin was given to me by a tobacconist for free as a gift after a purchase. I have smoked Molto dolce before and was pretty satisfied with it. This is my first Latakia blend from SPS. I really liked it. it was an easy smoke. a bit moist out of the tin so a bit of drying was necessary. one thing I noticed was that the tin was not evenly blended. it seemed that each bowel had more or less of a particular tobacco. I shook the tin up but still had a different smoke each time which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. all in all, for the price, (at retail not free) I will buy more. give it a try if you are into Latakia/English blends.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SMOKEAHONTAS (1)	2013-07-10		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I am very new to pipe smoking (about 1 year) and mostly i go with the "bulk" jar at my local tobacco store, BUT like any true smoker i am always on the hunt for the perfect smoke. I ran acrose this blend in a sampler on "cigars international" and having never had a english mixture/blend i ordered it. I have a Tendency to smoke to fast so i almost always get tongue bite but with this blend it is little to none. when I first smoked it i did not care for the taste so i tossed it aside and went on to one of the other blends. about a week or two later i came back to it and from opening the can and letting it sit it had became smooth and the flavor while strong was nolonger over powering. with a deep draw you taste the cream small hints of spice. over all I enjoy this blend and will more than likly pick up another can down the road

"If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?" -Scott Adams

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	The Conde (17)	2013-04-12		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Unnoticeable

I am a beginner with English blends, but really enjoyed this one. The latakia was not overwhelming and the perique was just spicy enough to be noticed. I can only compare it to Dunhill 965 which is a little strong for my palate but Bershire was just right.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	porshcigar (44)	2012-10-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I love English blends, and this has become one of my favorites. The smoking quality is first rate. It lights well, burns cool, and does not need frequent relights. The taste is full and satisfying for me. The Latakia taste is good and does not overwhelm. It has never disappointed me, and I find that I can smoke this blend throughout the day in any pipe I put it in. I first tried it as a sample tin from the Chicago 2012 Show, and have been smoking it and re-ordering it ever since.

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