Sutliff Tobacco Company Country Estate

The plum, fruit, and vanilla toppings are mildly applied. I also sense a slight date note. The Virginia is downplayed by the toppings, adding a very light hay/grassiness, and a slight citrus note.The black cavendish has sugar and mild vanilla. Has little nicotine. Won't bite or get harsh. A mild to medium blend that burns cool, smooth and clean at a moderate pace with a fairly sweet, consistent flavor. Needs few relights, and leaves little dampness in the bowl. It tastes just like it smells, and fills the room with a pleasant aroma. An all day smoke.

-JimInks

A very lightly topped Black Cavendish. Not much from the "Sweet Virginias". The plum in the topping is very light and fades in and out, mostly out. The vanilla is light, but always evident. It's almost like smoking a straight BC. I give it 2 stars because it does have some use as a blending component.

Mild in body. Very mild in flavoring. Mild to medium in flavor. Burns well.

This is an good blend I can recommend. It presents as a mild black cavendish blend with a subtle vanilla note. There is enough Virginia to give it some depth and perhaps contribute a little to sweet in the profile. The sweet is not bright or tangy, but it is pleasant and present. The room note is friendly.

This is a mild blend and an easy smoke. I smoked three bowls of it in the office today while doing some work.

Country Estate is the fourth of six Sutliff Private Stock tins I had on my show tables that, unlike most others, would not sell. I'm opening them now to gain an understanding of why. This blend is different from the first three. They were dark, damp and overly saturated with artificial odorants and the tobacco was stuck to the bottoms of the tins. Country Estate opened with a slight pop that indicated some off-gassing had taken place and you see a blend that is about half black and half brown with a shining clean tin bottom. This looked promising to me and I gave it the sniff test. What I first got was a sweet citrusy aroma that I couldn't identify. It is postulated that the aroma here is Vanilla and Plum. Airing a sample out reduced the citrus aroma to more of a fruit and sweet flavor. Further airing out confirmed that a fruit aroma had emerged that might, just be, plum. This aroma was noticeable in the smoke and lasted about half way down the bowl. Yes, there is a black cavendish in the blend, but the addition of the medium brown Virginias makes for a descent smoke. That sets it apart from the first three blends; they were very dark to all black in color. Blending with Country Estate was a positive experience and I feel that the boat was missed on this one by past buyers - three stars.

Smoked this in a large bent Rhodesian. The chamber is wide but not overly deep.

Right out of the tin I can light this tobacco and it burns well. I also tried drying it and it helped the light but didn't change the flavor.

The Cavendish is up front on this blend. A nice sweet taste mixed well with the Virginia sweetness. The room note was pleasant with a sweet vanilla hint. This is a much better option than a lane 1M or other vanilla heavy aros. It doesn't take as much drying, burns better and there is very little moisture at the bottom of the bowl when done.

This tobacco was gifted to me and I must say that I was nicely surprised, as I usually favour bigger English blends.I smoke Sutliffe's Country Estate in a Peterson Prince Churchwarden.It is a good match with its smaller bowl and length to dampen the slight bite from the Virginia.

The tin and room notes are strikingly similar, handsomely aromatic and very inviting.Generally, lot of Cavendish blends lack the depth and defintion that I am after.Not the case here-this one has it! I suspect that it comes from the blended Virginia, which also provides the fine centre palate,broad coating richness and pins down in the back as well.

This blend smokes well but will require a little drying first and overall, I recommend it. It keeps my interest and is sensibly done as Cavendish blends go, so I plan to keep it in my rotation.