Sutliff Tobacco Company Match Barking Dog

The Cyprian Latakia provides a smoky, woody, earthy, mildly floral sweetness as a second lead to the earthy, nutty, woody white burley. The fairly tangy citrus, grass, bread, vegetation and sugar from the lemon Virginia is always obvious. The rum topping is mildly applied, and doesn't tone down the tobaccos much.The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is a couple of steps below medium. Won't bite or get harsh, but it does sport a rough edge at times. Burns clean and a little slow with a consistent multiplicity of flavors that don't crowd each other out. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. Has a pleasantly, lingering after taste. The room note is a little stronger. A repeatable, but not all day smoke.

The original was in different several ways: the burley wasn’t as sweet, the Virginia was more hay-like and less sweet, and the topping was fainter than the Match. For the most part, the flavors are same in both versions, but they are a little deeper in the Match than they are in the original. The cut is the same, and both burn without leaving any dottle, though the original tended to be a little harsher after the half way point, and was a little rougher, less refined smoke.

I rated the original at two stars and a half stars.

-JimInks

This blend really resonates with me. I'm a huge fan of 4 Noggins Bald Headed Teacher, and, clearly, Barking Dog is where that blend comes from, in fact, it's almost a complete knockoff. The only difference I can determine, as I smoked both of them side by side, is that BHT is more flavorful and is a different cut than the match, other than that, they are nearly identical (the match is a cube cut, whereas BHT is more of a ribbon. Both are really nice blends).

Like the other match blends I've tried before, I've not smoked the original, but, if Barking Dog was anything like the match, the pipe world is missing a classic, fortunately, there is a match (two of them apparently), and this makes me really happy.

Barking Dog match is a very good blend, I recommend it and give it a strong three stars.

Keep on Pipin'

I am not familiar with the original HOW Barking Dog but this is a very nice American "English" blend. It's got character but doesn't bite. The balance of sweet and smokey is just right. Often these sorts of blends can be "murky" tasting, but here the flavors are distinct and pleasing. If there's a topping, I can't detect it, which is fine by me. This has become my everyday smoke. If you are used to something more sophisticated you probably will find it a bit bland, but I find it very satisfying and never tire of it.

I liked Barking Dog from the old HOW. Yeah, it had some rough edges and you had to take care how you smoked it but when it hit it's groove it was pretty good. When I heard about Sutliff's Match I was dubious. I have to say, however, they managed to do a great job.

It's a nice nutty almost sweet burley forward mix with just enough VA and latakia to give it character and depth. The topping melds nicely with the underlying tobacco taste but doesn't take over. This is what I liked about the original, the topping and underlying tobacco produced a hard-to-describe flavor that I found really appealing. This match is very close to the HOW blend but is IMHO a better choice. Nice simple blend, based on an old timey recipe. If you were one who lamented the loss of the Dog you will want to try this.

This Dog doesn't Bite and who is the person who decided to stop making this in the original blend? If there ever was an OTC Blend that should prosper in today's pipe smoking world this is the one!

The label states it is made with Burley. Latakia, Virginia and flavored with Rum. But, that description is lacking in so many ways. Upon opening the bag I was greeted by a pleasant smoky aroma that has a light woody, light earthy and a almost overlooked rum that is a very pleasant smell. It seemed just a touch moist and I let it dry on the paper towel for about an hour. Perfect!

Filling the bowl with the cube cut was easy and pleasant and the tobacco was a bit hard to get going but once it started there were very, very few relights. The smoke was very thick, and creamy even while sipping. This dog doesn't bite and I don't think it could bite no matter how hard one puffed on it. Has a very pleasant room note that is like a pleasant campfire smoke, sweet smelling and very pleasing to those around.

Upon lighting I instantly was greeted by a nice smoky taste that reminded me of camping and eating food from the campfire with the pleasant smoky taste. In the background was a pleasing woody, very light nutty, lightly tangy and sweet citrus (lemon) and tangy grass that was very pleasant a very light rum with a nice sweet taste that blended well, danced well and played very well with all the other flavors. As the bowl progressed the sweetness grew a little and so did the tangy grassy taste but they did not drown out the other flavors. The aftertaste stayed pleasantly smoky like smoked ribs over the fire and it was sweet and at the same time the tangy grass taste made this a excellent experience. Puffing changed nothing and no bite is there, but sipping, oh the taste is very, very pleasing. no changes in taste, no bad ending, just a touch of moisture at the end and this burned down to a gray ash. The pleasant aftertaste lasted for about an hour after finishing.

This Barking Dog has no bite and I think it barks in joy. It is a lovable dog and is easy to love, fun to smoke and enjoyable to the end. What were they thinking when they stopped making this. Someone dropped the ball here is all I can think. This is a wonderful blend that made me go WOW! The latakia is nicely balanced with the Burley and Virginia and the Medico VFQ Bent Bulldog was the perfect pipe for this blend, which is by the way a co-favorite of mine. Move over Match Field and Stream there is a new dog in town. I cannot recommend this high enough. It doesnt have flavors dancing in and out, but has a wonderful pleasant balance that is very pleasing in taste, in room note and in aftertaste. A 4 out of 4 stars and I would give this a 5 out of 4 stars if I could. Buying more of this and it is definitely a leader in my rotation. Again I ask, who cancelled this blend and what were you thinking?

This is a coarse(chopped) cut tobacco. It's an ok tobacco but I don't think I'll ever buy it again. It just seems to lack a lot of flavor. If it was the only tobacco available, yeah I'd buy it, because like I said it's ok. I find the best way to load the pipe is to gravity feed, tamp lightly and light up. All in all, it would do in a pinch, but I'd rather spend my money elsewhere. However, if someone wants to try a light American/English, this might be a good one.

Barking Dog is a good, old American take on a latakia blend.

There's plenty of burley, latakia, and sweet topping to make this a very flavorful smoke.

I wouldn't call this a refined smoke. It has a ruggedness to it. You might say it's a blue collar latakia blend, as opposed to a white collar smoke. And I'm not disparaging blue collar workers. This is a plain and simple, straightforward smoke. Not something for the men's club crowd. This is a latakia blend for the common man. There's nothing pretentious about it.

The match Barking Dog is better than the old House of Windsor version, which had a bit of a chemical taste to it.

I like Barking Dog a lot. Sampled the match and went out and bought a pound.

I'm not a burley guy. I find burley to be bitter. But I don't get that from this mixture. It's just a good, all around, flavorful smoke. And who doesn't want that?

Barking Dog never bites. And we all know dogs are man's best friend. Highly recommended.


UPDATE: Sutliff has discontinued Match Barking Dog. I discovered this during the summer of 2023. I discovered this when it didn't show up at any online stores. A call to Sutliff confirmed the blend was no longer in their database.

However, I've subsequently discovered that Sutliff Blend RL-BD is the bulk version of the discontinued Man's Best Friend, which blend was a match for Barking Dog.

Rather odd to have 3 names for the same blend, but there it is. So Barking Dog lovers, order yourselves some RL-BD and sit back and enjoy!

This a pleasant blend of Burley, Virginia, and Latakia with a light rum topping. The Burleys are the main component and are nutty and earthy, while the Latakia adds some smokey flavor. The Virginia's add a touch of hay and citrus. No bite and a pleasant after taste. Overall it's good blend for a Burley lover who may want a little extra complexity or the added taste of Latakia without being bombarded with it. As of this writing a 16 oz bag can be bought for thirty bucks and some change, which makes it a great deal.

I had never had the original barking dog mixture. I was pleasantly surprised by this. The blend consists of cube cut burley tobaccos and Latakia tobaccos. I have always loved Burley tobacco but not necessarily always loved Latakia tobacco. When I opened this I smelled Latakia mainly. I truly loved the two tobacco’s being mixed together.

The first thing that catches my attention in the pouch note is the combination of rum and Latakia. Amazing aroma that you do not often come across in a blend. Almost Navy Flake with Latakia. Some nutty/earthy aroma as well.

This blend ships very moist, and is very sticky on the fingers. Definitely the most moisture out of all the Match blends I've sampled. Pack lightly, or you'll have issues further down the bowl.

The initial flavors of Latakia and rum really hit the spot. It's sweet, smoky, earthy and slightly nutty. The rum and Latakia play very well together. The Virginia is slightly citrusy and bright. A lot of the so called "OTC" blends with alcohol can get harsh, bitter, and ashy tasting. Not Barking Dog! This blend also remains bite free. Between this and Revelation they will be taking up a lot of space in my cellar!