Sutliff Tobacco Company Match Holiday Mixture

Have never tasted the original, but I love this blend. Easy, all day smoke. Yet, complex enough to keep me interested. Of the 20+ different tobaccos I have purchased in the last 6 months, this is by far my favorite. This classic mixture delivers a wonderful collection of flavors.

Holiday, in its original form went the way of Hickory, Edgeworth, Briggs and Union Leader. Long gone, but now only replicated to best of anyone's knowledge. Several years ago, when I lived out West, Holiday Excursion was a frequent purchase. Little did I know that HE was a remake of the old coedger blend. What Sutliff has done is create a remake from the remake. There might be some confusion to which is the original tin design, or what came first. Under Larus&Brothers the label reads Holiday Pipe Mixture: Aromatic in the Pouch-Aromatic in the Pipe. The cruise ship is in side profile with sailboats in front of it. When Lane acquired the H the name changed to Holiday Excursion with the slogan: Aromatic Crowd Pleaser. The cruise ship on that label is in sillouhette and sails toward the viewer. When HE was phased out, Sutliff bought the recipe. The blend is now only available in bulk. Having never tried the original I can only access based on the remake version. Either way a good smoke. A light English that won't offend. I remember HE having a denser, more cocoa element. Here, I really notice the Virginia and Perique. The burleys, not so much. The Latakia is light. All in all a smooth, slightly sweet and light aromatic mixture which is easy on the tongue. Behaves well and doesn't bite. Definitely recommeended, especially for those who advert English types like the plague. It's a keeper and is bound to make some new friends.

I never had the original Holiday, it wasnt my type of blend back then. This is a rating on the match alone.

When I opened the bag the pleasant smell aroma of sweet smelling grass, wood, slight vanilla, raisin met me and it was good. The tobacco seemed a touch moist do I sat this out for about an hour on paper towel. The cube cut seemed to be rough and uneven in cut but smoked slowly and consistently. This is one of the few tobaccos that I have ever smoked that I believe couldn't bite even if a blowtorch was applied to the end of the pipe. The smoke was a bit heavier than medium and this lit right up and needed far less re-lights than most. The Room Note was very pleasant with marshmallow, very light vanilla and very sweet smelling. There was a very slight amount of moisture in the bowl at the end.

Upon lighting a tangy grassy and slightly bitter woody taste greeted me and lasted for about 5 sips. It wasn't unpleasant but it sure wasn't what I was expecting and I was thinking if the whole bowl is like this what a disappointment this will be. Then, the complex dancing of different flavors began. The 6th sip and it became lightly sweet with a light sugar taste and a touch of nut, a touch of spice, a touch of raisin. The 7th sip it changed again with cotton candy followed by a lightly smoky sip followed by a cotton candy sip followed by a marshmallow sip followed by a cocoa sip!!! While each of these rushed to the front of the stage for their time in the limelight the tangy grassy taste remained constant and all the other flavors danced in the background. A very light toasty flavor came in about a quarter of the way down the bowl but never took center stage as the dance continued and I was kept guessing which flavor would move forward in the light pleasant manner that besides the tangy grassy flavor seemed to be the only constant in this smoke. Each of these flavors was never strong, but light and slightly more prominent only to go back to dancing in the background. This complimented the tangy light grassy constant flavor that was ever present. This was turning out to be a very pleasant smoke and the bowl seemed to get a touch sweeter the further on the smoke went. The dance continued right to the end although the sweetness receded just a touch the last 1/4 of the bowl and the light tangy grassy flavor remained constant. This burned down to a dark gray ash. During the smoke a slightly sweet and tangy pleasant aftertaste was present and after done a shorter more sweet aftertaste was present.

This was probably one of the more surprising blends I have smoked. IT started out slow in flavor but when it kicked into gear it was hard to keep up with the dancing flavors each taking center stage for a sip only to recede back to the background as another flavor would take over. None of them ever overpowered the others, just danced in the foreground. Once in a while the tangy grassy flavor would take over for a sip and when the other flavors moved up it only seemed to accentuate them. All of this is a very light flavored dance and is pleasant. I enjoyed this immensely and as it continued would try to guess which flavor was next on center stage. If not for the first 5 sips and the constant tangy grassy flavor which was pleasant but I could do without the pure tangy sips which were few and very far between, this would be a solid 4. I love it, give it a 3.8 and it is going into my rotation.

Sutliff Holiday Mixture- Surprising. What is funny is that the name is supposed to invoke a holiday beach vibe but it comes across as a wintery blend that you would smoke in the midst of the Christmas season, near a fire, with a hot drink. Notes of marshmallow are obvious to me. Latakia stays in the background. Molasses notes from the burley. I pick up chocolate and vanilla notes as well. This blend reminds me of a latte. The Virginas are light and fruity and the canvendish probably is the culprit for the marshmallow note. It isn’t a full blown Aromatic. Smokes quite cool. Requires little relights. A very easy smoke and is an excellent choice for new smokers. I didnt expect to find an aromatic/ semi-aromatic blend that I desired to keep around. Alas, I did. 7.5/10

Well firstly let me say that I've never smoked the original mixture this is supposed to be recreating. That being said, this stuff taken on it's own merits is actually really good. I picked this up because smokingpipes was out of my normal selections. I wasn't sure what to expect and at first didn't know what to make of this blend. The bag note (purchased in bulk) is sweet and reminiscent of molasses but there is a smoky under current from the small amount of latakia present. This is what I call a hybrid blend in that it spans several genres of tobacco blends. The description on the web says it's Va's, burly, latakia, and perique. Generally it's been my experience that this type of blend and I don't mix well for some reason. However in this case I have to say I actually like this stuff. The only way I can describe it is that it's like a good mild BBQ sauce, tho that's not quite right. It's mildly sweet, smokey, and has a little spice. Like most blends it dose change charistics as you progess thru the bowl, the first part is sweet from the topping (whatever it is that Sutliff uses on this stuff), and the rest of it is pretty much what you'd expeect from a standard Burly VA blend, with smoky notes from the latakia pooping up every once in a while. The Perique is there, but it's easily lost among the other flavors. All that being said this isn't a blend that's a flavor bomb, the differnet flavors are all there, but they're mild and you have to suss them out. All in all this is a plesant mild smoke that has a lot to offer both new pipe newbs and veterans alike. Highly recommended!

Of all the American English blends I've tried I like this one the best.The tobaccos all play very well together and there is just enough flavoring added to get your mouth watering. It is that good. Burns slowly due to the cube cut. Never had the original but Sutliff has a masterpiece here as far as I'm concerned.

I love everything about this blend. The cut takes some getting used to as it is quite large and awkward similar to a rough crushed plug. It can be a pest to get steaming at times but once lit the flavor is very unique and satisfying to me and it seems to last longer than most blends as far as pipefulls are concerned. Pouch aroma reminds me more of an english than an aromatic, if you go by the description on the tin "The Aromatic Crowd Pleaser" aromatic smokers may be fooled. The only added flavourings i detect is that of the condiment tobaccos(perique and latakia) Good consistent taste from top to bottom and can easily be an all day puff as it has not bite whatsoever. I bought this solely for tin art and the good price which does not always pay off. This time I got a winner.

Just like most of these Match tobaccos that contain Latakia, it isn't done for anything but a slight condimental addition. As a matter of fact, out of my 2oz pouch, I think I spotted maybe a dozen chunks of black Latakia.

Pouch aroma is that of nutty burley, and a nice cocoa aroma. I do not smell any smokiness from the Latakia nor any sour/mustiness from the Perique.

Large chunks are a majority here, but they rub out very easily and pack without struggle.

This blend speaks to me. If fills the voids between my usual heavy English/Balkans and my sweet tooth aromatics.

Although I couldn't detect the Latakia and Perique in the pouch note, it comes through just enough in the smoke. Sweet, nutty, slight smokiness and a touch of sour. This blend is perfectly balanced and offers enough complexity to never get boring. Can burn a bit uneven if the large chunks aren't rubbed out prior to packing. Perfect moisture on arrival, ready for immediate smoking. Burns down to a dark gray ash, and never hints at biting.

I used to dog on Sutliff quite a bit, especially their aromatics. While I still do not enjoy any of their goopy PG soaked aros like Molto Dolce, this is an amazing blend.

I was a fan of the original Holiday mixture so I had to try Sutliff Holiday. It's been probably twenty years since I last smoked any (Lane version I'm sure) so I was looking forward to firing some up. Lo and behold, it taste exactly as I remembered! I was thrilled! Toasty, somewhat nutty, yeast like flavor I so loved. I detected the very light dark fruit flavor found in the original mixture. I believe the Sutliff is actually a bit better than Lanes. All in all a very pleasant smoke and a trip down memory lane for me.