Sutliff Tobacco Company Academy

This is a vanilla black cavendish with some condimental latakia and enough burly to give it a little depth. The label says the latakia is spicy, but I found it to be mildly "smokey" as I would expect.

It is an unusual blend for me to smoke, and I am not sure how I feel about the black cavendish/latakia combo for my palate. The burley is a little more evident in the last half of the bowl, and I liked it more as the bowl progressed. I like it more than Captain Black, and it does not have the slightly musty taste black cavendish does for me sometimes. It has a fairly pleasant room note.

If you like a vanilla black cavendish and want to try a variation on the theme, you should try this. The latakia is a light touch.

Academy is a typical sweet aromatic with a vanilla note along with another flavor I can’t quite put my finger on. The tin scent is sweet and has somewhat of a chemical scent. It’s wet so sufficient dry time is needed. The Latakia offers just a touch of added flavor. I enjoy an occasional aromatic and this one is kind of middle of the road. Adding a small amount of Latakia doesn’t make this an aromatic English blend and those seeking such should look elsewhere. Nor do I think it is a good introduction to Latakia to those seeking to explore the flavors of Latakia. There are much better aromatic blends like Silliam’s Black for a full on aromatic, Latakia experience. Or a blend like Britt’s Balkan from 4 Noggins that has an aromatic component, but leans more toward the English side of things. Both would better serve those seeking to “cross over.” Judged as a pure aromatic, it’s not bad and at its price point, even better. But in the end, even as a straight aromatic, there are far better ones out there with less of an artificial flavor.

A very generic vanilla cavendish with just hints of burley and latakia. If you happen to enjoy vanilla cavendish tobacco (and many do), this would be a good one to try (I likely would have loved this 30-35 years ago). These days, it's too sweet for my taste and slightly bitey. Although smoked without any drying, I didn't get any gurgle or leftover dottle, so I would say it's a good example of general type. If that slight bite hadn't been in every bowl, I would have given three stars.

If you want to see what happens when a little bit of latakia is introduced to mildly aromatic blend, then this is a good place to start. I have purchased two tins over time. Since I do like a lot of English/Latakia blends (SG Commonwealth, SG Squadron Leader, Ashton Artisan's blend and several others are among my favorite tobaccos) I would recommend this for a novice who wants to get into latakia blends. I currently have twelve latakia blends in tins, one in bulk and three that I made myself in stock. So, understand that I am reviewing this from the standpoint of someone who really likes blends that include latakia.

I would give this blend only one star if Sutliff tobacco tins were not so inexpensive. I must admit that I do not like the majority of Sutliff blends. My friends and I use "sutliffy" as an adjective to describe blends that have too much PG, leave a weird topping/casing flavor on the palate, and bite the tongue if not sipped in a baby-like fashion. This one is not quite as bad as the others. I have actually come up with a mixture of 50/50 Academy/Molto Dulce (another Sutliff product) that is interesting from time to time.

This one would get 3 stars from me if the PG was taken down a bit and the review was only for novice smokers or people who I felt should give latakia blends a try. I hate to say it this way, but I must be honest: This is fairly good for a Sutliff blend... and I will leave it at that.

I bought this blend a long time ago. And it vanished into the mystery pile of tobaccos which didn't appeal to me at the time of purchase. I found it once again, and decided to give it another go. Now I find that it is no longer in production. So I'm currently smoking the last 2/3rds of the tin. Still not my cup of tea, but overall it's pretty good. A medium bodied blend. Strong when first lit up, then tames down to a pleasant smoke. Just enough latakia to make it interesting, but not over powering. I think this would be a tad better with a bit more sweetness. Still others might like this. Too bad it's no longer available...