Yes, touch it and then smell your hand. You will pick up on a subtle ammonia that is a reaction the tobacco is having with the vinegar. It wasn’t formed in there, it was added to non fermented tobacco. It’s like differences you will smell and taste between MD2020 and a fine Pinot Grigio.
Thank you!
I did indeed. IIRC, you named it "Sunflower Cat". A jar would be well appreciated.?
A great reason not to buy any. I have around a half pound of it and obviously wish I had bought more. However, back to the Sutliff. I would be absolutely shocked to find out that the recent ammonia smell is the byproduct of a natural process and not an application made to the tobacco. Also, does it not seem odd that this smell did not pop up until McClelland left the scene?
Yes, ammonia forms in different situations that triggers nitrogen. The turning of chlorophyll in leaf that has had an incomplete cure is the most common in tobaccos, especially flu cured which is a rushed curing process. Usually it has off gassed, but in some it hasn't had the chance. I think cigar leaf color curing is also very prone, which is very similar to how reds are formed.
www.holts.com
Are you kidding? People complained about it for years and gave McClelland fans all kinds of grief for liking it. McClelland got more praise after they disappeared than they did when in full production. Being a longtime fan I squirreled away quite a bit of their tobacco, and always find present praise of 5100 amusing. It was a multi purpose blender.
Haha it’s not going to shock me because I am not arguing that it doesn’t happen. I worked in a cigar shop in college and am familiar with receiving batches of ammonia smelling cigars. Again, I am saying that what is going with some of the recent Sutliff product is not natural but applied.Well then, prepare to be shocked, and read some research papers on the fermentation of tobacco. Or just the fermentation of tobacco in general.
The Process of Fermenting Tobacco
Have you ever smoked a cigar and tasted a sourness that overwhelmed the usual complexity of the smoke and great flavor you enjoy? That’s probably ammonia. Not good. Ammonia occurs naturally in tobacco, and before the leaves are ready to be aged and later rolled into cigars, the ammonia needs to...
This is what I've been saying. McClellands never had an ammonia smell, because it was fermented into an acetic acid. But, just to spray a freshly flu cured tobacco with vinegar creates other reactions, other off-putting smells and flavors, very unlike what McClellands had made. This is why people smell ammonia in Sutliff's version, by my best estimation.
I think he meant ammonia, not the catsup smell. I may be wrong, if so, then I am confused.
I was referring to the smell popping up in Sutliff blends. To the best of my knowledge it was not there until McClelland went away. Sutliff seeing a void in the market tried to fill it. I suppose I should have been more clear.Are you kidding? People complained about it for years and gave McClelland fans all kinds of grief for liking it. McClelland got more praise after they disappeared than they did when in full production. Being a longtime fan I squirreled away quite a bit of their tobacco, and always find present praise of 5100 amusing. It was a multi purpose blender.
That's exactly what they did. They posted a list of their blends that were McClelland "matches" almost immediately after McClelland closed.
Yeh, I think that too. I was excited when they first released it with that name eluding to Red Cake (RC) in the title. I just wish they had of at least tried to ferment the tobacco. But, Sutliff is a blending house. They buy already processed tobacco from manufacturers, and mix them. They do very good at what they do. But, McClellands did a lot of processing that manufacturers do, eliminating the middle man in many ways. They had farmers who worked for them supply the special leaf from the bottoms of the plant like they needed. They are two different companies doing different things.
