Sutliff Tobacco Company Berkshire

(3.31)
A rich English mixture of latakia, Oriental, Virginia, and perique.
Notes: From the Sutliff Private Stock series.

Details

Brand Sutliff Tobacco Company
Series Sutliff Private Stock
Blended By Carl McCallister
Manufactured By Sutliff Tobacco Company
Blend Type English
Contents Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 1.5 oz tin
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

Strength
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.31 / 4
6

9

1

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 16 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 07, 2013 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.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 17, 2014 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.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 09, 2014 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.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 04, 2014 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.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 09, 2021 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
PurchasedFrom: a fellow pipe smoker
Age When Smoked: unknown, but between 5 and 10 years old
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 08, 2016 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.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 26, 2012 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.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 11, 2017 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
PurchasedFrom: Chicago Pipe Show
Age When Smoked: Estimated at 3 years
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 17, 2015 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.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 06, 2015 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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