Had a bowl of Sutliff Burley Delight #212 which was my first time with a burley and it was fantastic!
This stuff has a very noticeable sweetness without being cloying or over the top. The smoke itself seemed light in weight yet still had a richness to it. There was also a noticeable dry tanginess component which worked well with the sweetness. Something like hay with a grapefruit tang but with zero bitterness. The chocolate came across as more of a cocoa powder with vanilla flavor.
I started this bowl with the remainder of a bottle of Negra Modelo which was a nice pairing but quickly switched to a bottle of 2017 Gouden Carolus Cuvée van de Keizer Blauw which was just an unbelievable combination! I don't know if the rich maltiness of the beer and its candy sugars enhanced he tobacco or if it was the other way around but it was stunning to say the least. I swear there were a few moments where light shone down from above and angelic singing was heard. :
:
Okay maybe it was the beer that really made the blend shine but if you get the chance I highly recommend giving it a try.
I did notice that this blend seemed to "expand" in the bowl and needed to be tamped more than the wet and sticky aromatics I'm used to. I'm not sure if this is how burley burns compared to other blends or that I'm just more used to gooey blends. I also managed to smoke it down to ash without any dottle. Normally I have a bit of dottle with the aromatics which is another contrast between the types I guess. I'm not sure if this is due to the moisture content of aromatics or not. It also seemed to smoke faster but this may just have been me puffing to much while trying to figure things out.
Once I kind of figured it out I could keep it lit much better. I'm definitely looking forward to trying this one again. Next time I think I'll pack a little more in the bowl vs how I normally do it with aromatics. Do burleys age well or should I not bother? Is this what burleys are like in general or just this blend?
This stuff has a very noticeable sweetness without being cloying or over the top. The smoke itself seemed light in weight yet still had a richness to it. There was also a noticeable dry tanginess component which worked well with the sweetness. Something like hay with a grapefruit tang but with zero bitterness. The chocolate came across as more of a cocoa powder with vanilla flavor.
I started this bowl with the remainder of a bottle of Negra Modelo which was a nice pairing but quickly switched to a bottle of 2017 Gouden Carolus Cuvée van de Keizer Blauw which was just an unbelievable combination! I don't know if the rich maltiness of the beer and its candy sugars enhanced he tobacco or if it was the other way around but it was stunning to say the least. I swear there were a few moments where light shone down from above and angelic singing was heard. :
:Okay maybe it was the beer that really made the blend shine but if you get the chance I highly recommend giving it a try.
I did notice that this blend seemed to "expand" in the bowl and needed to be tamped more than the wet and sticky aromatics I'm used to. I'm not sure if this is how burley burns compared to other blends or that I'm just more used to gooey blends. I also managed to smoke it down to ash without any dottle. Normally I have a bit of dottle with the aromatics which is another contrast between the types I guess. I'm not sure if this is due to the moisture content of aromatics or not. It also seemed to smoke faster but this may just have been me puffing to much while trying to figure things out.
Once I kind of figured it out I could keep it lit much better. I'm definitely looking forward to trying this one again. Next time I think I'll pack a little more in the bowl vs how I normally do it with aromatics. Do burleys age well or should I not bother? Is this what burleys are like in general or just this blend?
