Sutliff Charlemagne

I finally broke open a tin from the P&C goodie bag this year, which included three tins of Sutliff lesser known blends. So first up was the Charlemagne and the tin note was light and the fresh hay aroma was quickly confirmed by the appearance. The Burley was prevalent and some strands of colorful Virginia were easily spotted, what was sparse was the lack of Cavendish. I took this as a good sign that this wouldn’t be another blend over powered by an aromatic topping. The ribbon cut was moister than most, and actually took over an hour to dry enough for a proper packing. Checking the aroma on the drying plate before filling the bowl was actually much richer, sweeter and more pleasant then when opened.
Char light was fairly uneventful given the Cavendish, I expected a powerful puff. A bit musty from the hay tones of the burley. True light brought on the full flavor and this is a burly straight off the bat. The Virginia is barely noticeable other than it’s cooling, and hard to decide if the flavor past the hay and slight nuttiness is just the Cavendish. Passing the half-way point the flavor has remained constant and the sweetness of the Virginia and Cavendish holding on well, especially as it rolls through the nose.
Burning well and not too hot for a ribbon cut there was no bite. There were no relights and just a few tamps. Drying this down a while is defiantly a good ideal, and paid off with this blend. By the end of the bowl the Burley was all that remained. For a ribbon this was an unexpected long smoke which I would credit to the leaf quality, that quality the saving grace. The remainder stayed mild and a little nutty to the end. finishing up with a white and gray ash.
The tin should have read, Burley with a small amount of Virginia and a hint of Cavendish. This is really just an OTC sweet Burley with better quality tobacco.

Well it was better than expected. I’m not a big fan of burley, and I feared the Cavendish would over power it and just turn into a B&M throw together blend. But Sutllif does make a good product. I was happy to see the small amount of Cavendish and some Virginia. I did smoke a bowl only leaving it out a half hour and it defiantly needs a good hour or two to dry out. It was a little too wet and I wanted to get another bowl in before I had to leave, you should give any tobacco a few tries. This left is wet and ruined the last third of the bowl. Like I said this is a good tobacco, properly dried, if you’re a burley fan I would recommend it. If you fall more to the Virginia and Cavendish side of tobacco, there just isn’t enough in there to hold up to the burley.
So if you like burley give it a try, it’s defiantly made with quality tobacco and the Virginia and Cavendish are minor notes, adding a little sweet to a good burley.

Yeah cynyr that's next on the goodie bag try. I have way to many samples of things to smoke to open another tin. The Bosphorius Cruise is in the trade stack, just from the reviews there's too much Latakia for me.
Last night I cut up a flake of Old Dark Fired that was sent me, and got a vit N smack down, lols. So I would agree on mild, it's not bland.