Sutliff Tobacco Company Sutliff 1849

I purchased this on a lark after reading the description on line. A vaper from sutliff? And anniversary blend at that? I thought this would be interesting and I wasn't disappointed. The tin arrived at just about the right moisture level for my tastes so I loaded up a bowl and fired it up. I was immediately assaulted by the Perique spice with little if any of the VA sweetness present. However after a few puffs of what I can only describe as raw pepper extract things settled down a bit and this turned into a well behaved bled. This was my experience with e every bowl of this blend. An initial sensory assault of spice that faded quickly to a well rounded balance of sweet and sour with a under current of spice. All that being said this is a middle of the road blend an there are better offerings out there such as C&Ds Bayou Morning. I can't say that I won't buy this again but it won't be first on my list when a good vaper is the order of the day.

This is without question the best Sutliff offering I have come across to date, and has significantly altered my opinion of the company. This is a nice VapPer! I won't say great tobacco, but it is a very good, well-proportioned blend solidly worthy of 3 stars. With time I may go higher, but right now I have a proven roster of 4 star VaPers in my rotation, and this one has not brought the artillery to unseat those favorites.

Tin note is a pleasant mixture of raisin bread with underlying sour note typical of this style. Perfect moisture right out of the tin. I've never needed to dry this before smoking, and it has never failed to produce a dry, bite-free smoke...bonus points in my book. Taste is mildly, deliciously sweet with a balanced dark note and nasal pinch brought by the perique. Occasionally I catch whiffs of something like salted caramel. Flavor profile is about what I would expect of this sort of blend, but the reason it didn't make the 4 star cut straight away is that the flavors of both the VAs and perique come off as rather subdued. Meaning there are loads of thick, creamy smoke, but a disproportionate amount of flavor in that substance. I think with some age this may alleviate the issue, and it's too bad this one isn't in bulk availability.

All in all, a worthy offering for fans of darker VaPers. Don't let the Sutliff name keep you from trying this...they've done a terrific job with this blend.

This is a review of an almost 2 years old tin.

Sniffing the tin, I get mostly citrus, floral. No spice or anything harsh. It actually smells very smooth and calm.

Things pick up in the smoke itself. The red and bright Virginias seem to be very balanced. You get both good amount of citrus and grass, as well as the bolder wine, dark fruit, and good amount of tang. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between the red Virginia and the Perique - both provide some body and pepper spice. But the Perique is definitely noticeable, especially in the spice that comes in with the retro-hale, although I wouldn't have thought that it's 25% of the blend, as claimed in another review.

The floral notes that I got from the tin don't come from any added topping, but most likely from Sutliff's wine-like red Virginia, minus the strong vinegar that I get in Cringle Flake and 515 RC-1. Similar notes can be found in other Sutliff blends, as well as some of the tobaccos blended by Russ Ouellette, such as Anniversary Kake, Louisiana Red, and Fire Storm. All and all, while some of the ingredients are different, Sutliff's 1849 are in the same family as those too in terms of body, strength, and notes.

The citrus, wine, and spice all come out a bit more around halfway, but they do it in unison, without impacting the overall strength, but rather as a combined flavor.

Moisture level is decent, but I enjoy it with some drying time, maybe about 30 minutes. Packs and smokes easy, minimal relights, no tongue bite, an all-day smoke.

Medium in body, mild-medium in strength.

There are plenty of Virginia-Perique blends out there and many in the same "family" as 1849. Therefore, it has a tough competition. It is an excellent blend, but it doesn't stand out. Therefore, I will probably opt for a similar bulk blend, such as Hearth & Home Anniversary Kake over this, simply for the price and convenience of deciding the size. But if we go by the flavor, this one gets four stars.

This is a perique bomb and I love that about it. This is loaded with figgy and peppery flavour. It leans towards medium on the nic hit, and is a smooth all day smoke. It's an uncomplicated blend that showcases the taste of perique without being too harsh or unforgiving on the tongue. I keep a few tins in my cellar of this guilty pleasure.

EDIT: This tobacco has grown on me so much I rated it 3/4 originally because it's uncomplicated compared to other Va/Pers, but that's exactly what is amazing about it. You can just smell the reek of fermented perique when you open the tin. It stinks like aged cheese. There is something really satisfying about this smoke that most other Va/Pers don't offer and that's due to the heavy dose of perique that overpowers nearly everything else in the blend. It's packed chocked-full with flavour.

4/4 - delicious.

Like other reviewers, I was intrigued by this mixture's description on the tin - two cuts of Perique? On opening I found a reddish-yellow uniform mixture of medium cut but not many of the darker strands of Perique that I expected. It smelled somewhat hay-like with very little depth in the tin aroma and not at all like other VaPer blends I have smoked. This concerned me and I had visions of this being a lite smoke. I was right. 1849 smokes like a cigarette tobacco and, in fact, brought back memories from the early days of my teenage smoking. Then it hit me. This blend smoked with the aroma of Old Golds; you know, the old style unfiltered short ones we used to buy from the machine in the lobby of the local YMCA when we were 15! Now, every now and then, I would get a whiff of that more solid toasted tobacco flavor of old(gold) but it was fleeting. I rolled some into a cigarette and puffed it and, yep, it was a cigarette all right. Unfortunately, the Perique in the blend made me break out in a sweat on my forehead, so I ditched it and won't be doing that again. As a pipe tobacco it comes up really short and I agree with reviewer TallPuffO'Burley 2015-02-25 that I can give it two stars because there's nothing actually repulsive about it.

A nice VaPer, one that could be an all day blend and one that would do well with age.

It's a quality leaf that burns nicely and is at an ideal moisture level. Burns a bit fast, so you have to sip on it a bit more to keep the heat down.

Flavor wise for me it starts off with the more hay/grass flavors from the VAs with the Perique in the background not so noticeable. The second half of the bowl the sweet citrus and fruity VA flavors come out and a bit of the plum and pepper from the Perique come out as well.

It's not an outstanding complex VaPer, but it is a very enjoyable smoke.

If you like VaPers give this one a try!