Sutliff Tobacco Company Match Victorian

I've never had the Murrays version of Elizabethan Mixture and probably never will but I'm my opinion I dont think this should have even been called a match. This is a Sutliff product, not a Dunhill. Outside of one or two blends, I dont like Sutliff.

The bag aroma started of like a artificial chocolate topping with some PG like sweetness and vinegar. No tobacco smell at all. Very consistent flavor from beginning to end that is very artificially sweet with a cheap tobacco general flavor. Cant pick up on perique hardly at all. Burns cool and clean with a small amount of bite.

It's just not good to me. Its tastes nothing like a vapor, it's not fulfilling. It's just Sutliff. Very few things from them I even like. Even things that I reviewed as highly recommended I dont even like now. The main exception is Hearth and Home Marble Kake. It tastes nothing like Sutliff. I cant even finish my sample so in the trash it went.

I had bought this back in March of this year along with the Match 965, EMP, and Nightcap. I happened to see it in my ‘cellar’ and decided this would be what I was going to have this evening. I tried some when I first bought it and even wrote some notes down but nothing different than what I am going to say. This is to me a rough cut and has a very sweet smell to the tin (jar) but not of an aromatic nature. This is a very smooth smoke and has a nice spiciness to it which may be from the Perique. I am guessing some of the components are of the red Virginia leaf but that is just an educated guess and not to be taken as gospel. It has been a long time since I have had the Elizabethan and am not even going to attempt to compare the two. I will say the more I smoked this the better it got. I used a pipe that was one of my first that I bought back in the late 90s from a guy who had a tobacco and cigar shop in Carlsbad, CA. It is a Butz Choquin Calabash 2000. This was around the time that Carl Reiner had that First Five Proposition that added an extra 50 cents tax per pack of cigarettes for the children. Anyway I am getting way off point but from what he told me and not sure if it was connected to this particular tax he had only been in business not even a year and was required to pay additional tobacco taxes on his inventory and could not afford it and decided to close the doors. Every time I smoke this pipe, I think about the fun time I had stopping by there and when I bought one of my first pipes and really sad to see this man’s dream of owning his own Cigar and Pipe store not reach fruition.

I bought this tobacco without any expectations. I was positively surprised. Upon coming to this page, I discovered that this tobacco is a version of an old Dunhil blend - which I have never tasted. Therefore, I will limit myself to reviewing some points about this tobacco without relating it to the Dunhil version.

Pure and natural tobacco, does not appear to have any casing. It has no flavoring. The flavor comes all from the tobacco leaves. I feel certain notes of lemon, sometimes a sweet orange, but it's very discreet. Sometimes I even think that there is some oriental in this mix. Virgos are sweet and smooth, most likely they are stoved virginia. The Room note is more discreet than other VaPers, being very pleasant for those who smoke. Slow, perfect burn (no tobacco left at the bottom of the bowl), requiring very few relights. The smoke flavor evolves from spicy to sweet. very pleasant. Highly recommended for VaPer and Virginia fans. Great entry-level VaPer for those who want to know this type of blend.

- Germano @pipesnuffscience

I’ll be brief here as much has already been said about this now labeled as Sutliff Victoria blend. I mostly smoke Burley blends but I do enjoy VaPers and tend to binge a bit once I get started. This is a good mellow well rounded blend. Actually I love it. What I’m smoking at the moment has been cellared for ten months now and the tobaccos are well married. It aged quite well, however, I enjoyed it new but ran out of what I kept to smoke at the beginning. I believe I bought two pounds after first tried a sample and it has turned out to be a good decision. I also bought two pounds of the Sutliff Mature Red Virginia which I believe to be an excellent VA, at least for my taste. These are great relief pitchers for when my Codger blends begin to leave me a bit flat. Give it a try; you just might love it

First impression: this smokes like an aromatic, and it's moist like one. I'm not getting any perique. Mostly I taste sweet fruitiness, I think. We'll see what later smokes are like. If the perique doesn't come through I will be disappointed.

Several bowls later: This has definitely grown on me. I can't compare it to Murray's Elizabethan Mixture, which I've never had, and I've not smoked it side by side with Peterson's (Dunhill's) version from STG. I'm still not noticing the perique, but I do like the figgy taste. I am enjoying this and could easily order some more. While it was too moist out of the bag, it dried out nicely, which tells me this is not an aromatic, as I first thought. All in all, a nice and inexpensive blend that I can see smoking, if not all day, then several times a day. Since I smoke outside, I cannot judge the room note. The nic hit is on the mild side, but it is there though much less than STG's EM.

I’m smoking this back to back with the Dunhill Elizabethan from the newer Danish maker (purchased in 2011).

This mixture is coarse cut with some whole yellow leaves in it, while the DE is ribbon-cut.

While I find that version of DE sweet, fruity, bright and Virginia-forward, this Sutliff match is full, tangy, rounded, mature, and has a more generous helping of Perique.

I can taste the fermented, spicy, "machine oil" flavor of Perique in every puff, while it was quite subdued in the DE.

This smokes cool and doesn’t bite, though it tends to tingle my tongue; Perique tends to do that to me.

It also has a stronger nicotine presence than the DE.

It is complex and spicy, and the VA leaf is more subdued in this one.

I’m not sure this blend is for me, but lovers of strong Perique will certainly like this blend.

A disappointing blend considering all the great reviews. Having never smoked the Murray’s version, I can’t make comparisons, but I can say that it is quite lackluster.

When I first received the blend, it had such a weird smell to it. I received 8oz in a bag from 4noggins. When I opened the box up, I smelled what seemed to be Autumn Evening, which was odd considering there wasn’t a single aromatic blend in my order. Upon opening the bag of this tobacco, there was a strong cavendish and maple aroma coming from it, along with some vinegar, grass, citrus, and perique in the background. This blend was clearly where that maple smell was coming from. This struck me as strange considering this is supposed to be a simple VA/Per. I smoked a bowl to make sure this was in fact what I ordered. What I got was a flavorless, harsh smoke. It was one of the few bowls of tobacco I’ve had that I actually consider “bad”. It would have been a one star on this site if I had reviewed it then. After dumping the bowl, I went inside and put the rest in a mason jar.

Flash forward 7 months to now. Opening the jar, I get a strong whiff of vinegar, some earthiness, citrus, spice, and, unfortunately, still some of that cavendish and maple smell, though reduced from when it was fresh. Normally, these smells (besides the maple cavendish) would indicate a good tasting VAPer, but that wasn’t really the case.

Upon lighting, the first few puffs are kinda harsh. Not as harsh as the fresh bowl I smoked, but definitely not smooth. Hot air, ash, and spice. Once it settles down, I start getting some (keyword here is SOME) flavor. Overall, the profile is tart, grassy, bittersweet, woodsy, with a slight spice, and yes, some of that weird maple cavendish flavor in the background still, especially on the retrohale. However, the overall flavor is extremely low. Those flavors I described are wisps, ghosts, specters. They don’t last but for a split second, and they’re very muted. While not “bad” like that fresh bowl I had, this isn’t exactly good either. The nicotine strength is pretty low from what I can tell. One positive I’ll say is that it packs well and stays lit.

I love the modern Elizabethan. It’s my favorite VA/Per, and the one I come back to time and time again no matter how many other VA/Pers I try. If this match is how the Murray’s version tasted (which I don’t think is the case if my suspicions are correct), I’m happy STG picked up the manufacturing. This doesn’t even taste like a VA/Per. So, I think I may purchase some more of this in the near future. I think I got a bad batch, or possibly a different blend. Could it be something with the way 4noggins had it stored? Could I have gotten some type of new recipe for this match? The more I smoke it and the more I read reviews, the more I think it’s possible that this isn’t the correct blend or a bad batch. Like I said, it’s not “bad”, which is what I’ll reserve 1-star ratings for. The 7 months in the jar did improve it some, though the flavor is minuscule, so maybe another 7 months will improve it further. I really do want to purchase 2oz of this again, maybe from a different site just to rule that out, and review it. I’m about 80% sure what I received isn’t representative of what it’s supposed to be. I’m giving it 2 stars.

UPDATE 12/23/22 Well, I ordered 2 more ounces of this blend. Very interesting. It’s like all the good qualities of the original batch I got minus the bad. It actually tastes like a VAPer! No more of that maple aroma. I’m guessing my original batch was accidentally mixed with some type of aromatic or possibly stored among aromatics which eventually tainted the flavor. Whatever the case, if this is a true representation of the Elizabethan Match, it is a solid VAPer. Still not as good as the modern Elizabethan which, in my opinion, is a bit more tart, bready, and spicy and a bit less sweet, and not as good as other favorite VAPers of mine, but it is solid. Considering the bulk price of the match, it would be worth if you smoke a lot of VAPers or if you want to cellar a few pounds of it. I’m upgrading it to 3 stars.

UPDATE 4/3/24 I’m not really enjoying this blend. It doesn’t necessarily have a bad flavor, but it lacks something. I thought aging it some would make it better, but it seems to have made it worse. There’s just not much flavor at all. It tastes like hot, grassy air most of the time. I do use it as a mixer occasionally, but I almost definitely won’t be buying this again. Two stars.

Ah...A lemon cello vinaigrette kind of smoke. Citrusy, tart, sweet and slightly peppery. Smooth and easy on the pallet. Straight and forward yet unique vapor. I don't smoke much of this blend but it calls to me every now and then. Quality tobacco and makes me think of old world.

I have not yet sampled the current Peterson version of Elizabethan Mixture, nor Murray's, but I feel this tobacco is best judged on its own merits, rather than comparatively. Tin (bag) note is of raisins, very pleasant. Charring light brought forward the perique, whereas the true light brought the virginias into play. It's bready, slightly sweet, slightly sour and tangy, and ever so slightly peppery on the retrohale. No bite, and smokes cool. Personally I found this combination to be simple but delicious, as I'm quite partial to this standard fare for VAPers. Perfect for a sunny afternoon. The price point, as well, is unbeatable, and I'll be ordering plenty more to jar up quite soon. I'm in agreement with many of the reviewers here that this is a great four star blend.