Sutliff Tobacco Company Black Spice B21

I found this tobacco somewhat disappointing. I was able to pick up the spice early but it soon disappeared. As it disappeared nothing pulled through to make for a good tobacco experience. The smoke was relatively flat with nothing to thoroughly enjoy about it. It burned cool and through to the end . If your looking for something a little better in flavor and that brings through the tobacco a bit more, go with the sutcliff baklava. It is better on the spice front and in pulling through an enjoyable tobacco experience.

Revisited

Thought I'd provide an update to my original review. I let this sit for about four months and gave it another shot. In all fairness, it was a decent smoke with a nice even burn throughout. Still light on any of the noted flavors pulling through. I can't discern them. But, it is a light pleasant smoke you could knock back all day. Based on that I have adjusted my original review/rating upward a bit. This would be a good newbie tobacco for something to start out on without the worry of tongue bite. Seasoned smokers may find it a bit uninteresting.

Sutliff - Black Spice.

If you buy this don't expect a broken flake where the pieces are so big and flake-like they need a rub, the blend's made of mostly very coarse ribbons, with just a few 'clumps'. The colour's extremely dark, and moistness is A1.

For the initial part of a bowl the spices dominate the smoke; mainly cinnamon. But once that time has passed, after about a quarter bowl, the nutmeg enters: sweetly nutty, but also quite savoury. A strange addition, but pleasant nevertheless. I'm not a fan of one of the other traits, which increases in strength toward the end: floral. B21 burns steady, not requiring re-lights, but unfortunately goes quick. The temperature of the smoke's cool, and it's quite thick in build.

The room-note isn't my idea of nice, and the nicotine's mild.

The first quarter's a 3/4 star smoke, but the remainder only warrants 2 stars.

Somewhat recommended.

This is a surprise not what I expected. I do not detect any of the spice that they say has been added. Not in aroma from the pouch or in the room. The room note is ok. If you smoke this blend slow you will get a sweet taste mid bowl. Smoke it fast and it becomes harsh. Overall it is a ok smoke not sure if I will buy it again, probably not

I bought several one ounce aromatic samples from pipes and cigars to try and see what had good flavor and room note out of the thousands of aromatics out there. I thought this would be the same as Tinder Box's Black Russian which has nutmeg etc, Well this was not like that blend and was not great, it did smoke cool, didn't gurgle and had decent flavor I guess for what it is but like my fellow reviewers I did not taste spices whatsoever. Therefore two stars since in my book a blend called "Black Spice" should at least give the smoker at least a suggestion of spices.... A Ho Hum blend if there ever was one...

As I was reorganizing the filing cabinet I keep my jarred tobacco in, I found a 2 oz. jar of Sutliff Black Spice I received as a Christmas present in December 2017. When I opened the jar, it was still moist and/or goopy. I let it sit open for two days to dry out before trying it. I now know why I forgot about it. After four years, the flavors have become more muted and indistinguishable from one another. The room note is pleasant but overall, the smoke is very mild. It may have been better fresh but there is probably a reason why it got lost in my drawer.

I was hoping this might be the mysterious and fearsomely strong spicy black Cavendish sold by a local tobacconist as "Zulu" (likely renamed; not HU Tobacco's Latakia Zulu). Alas, my search goes on.

In the ziplock bag it smelt quite spicy. Smoking, the topnote is not so much spice as floral—too floral for me. Artificial cinnamon flavour, maybe? I didn't taste the nutmeg. After a relight or two, it smokes smoothly, without bite.

Overall a good tobacco with a bit more interest than an unflavoured black Cavendish; but not quite my preference. I'll probably use it for blending. Hmm...I wonder what 30% Périque would do to it....

Sutliff must have a base topping that goes into many of their aromatics (speculation here) because I can taste and smell "sutliff" if that makes any sense. This smoke is nice, but it's nothing that stands out. The taste was super subtle to the point where I could not point anything out. The room note was nice, but it was more of a general, soft cinnamon and sugar smell, nothing that stood out as a potent spice. Would probably be a excellent base for DIY blending...maybe. However, it wasn't anything special.

As a newer pipe smoker, I am mainly exploring the different blends (I favor aromatic blends, although I am dipping my toes into the non-aromatic blends now) to find what I like. Opening the bag, what I smelled was spicy tobacco, its hard to describe but it wasn't what I was expecting. I really didn't taste any flavors in this, was a bland smoke. I did not have any tounge-bite with this blend.