Jim's Sutliff Private Stock Reviews

[shutterbugg]

I really only need 2 blends to suffice me, an English and an aro. I like changing off between the two because after a while of smoking one blend I tend to get used to the taste and it no longer seems to taste as interesting. I have a friend who has smoked the same blend for years and has no desire to try anything else, so I guess we're all different in that respect. Also I need an aro to smoke around non-smokers because well, most people are put off by the aroma of an English. I had high hopes Royal Yacht would be a third, completely different sort of blend, and it is, but not one I seem to be able to enjoy very much if at all. I'm really not warming up to Top Shelf that much either sad to say. I don't dislike it but I don't think I'll buy another tin. I recently got a free tin of Peterson Hyde Park and can't bring myself to try a second bowl, I found the first one that awful.
I think I may end up with Bosphorus and Bennington's #40 as my mainstays, and I like Barbados enough to keep it in the rotation. Plus I have a quantity of Nightcap that will probably last me several years at the rate I reach for it, and the same amount of Royal Yacht that might well last the rest of my life I have about 3 dozen pipes and really no desire to buy any more of them either, in fact I could get rid of half of them and not miss them. I used to be really into buying cameras and watches too, but with age I seem to have lost interest in collecting things. I wonder if there are anybody else who this happens to, or do others collect more stuff the older they get?

 

[JimInks]

Cabaret Rouge:

Molto Dulce's cousin. Sweet citrus, cherry, fig and date notes with a molasses flavor. The black cavendish adds a very mild hint of vanilla while the Virginia acts as a cooling base for the cavendish. Needs some drying time, but leave some moisture or you'll lose some of the taste. Burns a little slow and is best sipped for full enjoyment. A pleasant dessert smoke with a pleasing room note, it's also a good outdoor work smoke.

 

[weezell]

Another excellent review Jim! I watch your reviews as I trust your judgment more than any one else. Have bought pounds based on your reviews with out ever tasting them...

 

[JimInks]

Weezell, I not only thank you for your kind words, but am very appreciative for the respect and trust you have placed with me.

 

[ithelouniverse]

You hit the nail on the head with Mans Best Friend, sir. It's one of my go to tins and you describe it to a T...

I also enjoy Bourbon Street, I was curious if you had any experiences when it was abnormally hot? I didn't smoke any faster than anything else I but there are times I have to set the pipe down it gets so hot...

 

[ravkesef]

Jim, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I read many pipe reviews and I have no idea what the heck they're talking about. Often, when I compare my own experience with the review I'm left with a dazed feeling, wondering if we smoked the same tobacco. The flowery prose, the attempts to write a literary classic often leave me puzzling over whether the reviewer even smoked the tobacco at all, or simply took the blender's description and generated some folderol to impress the uninitiated and hopelessly benighted.
When I read one of your reviews, I know exactly what to expect; indeed, I can feel the smoke in my mouth, and my taste buds are fully geared up for the experience. When you review a tobacco I've already tried, I nod knowingly, and say: "Yes, that's exactly the way it was." I'm certain my sentiments are shared by many. Thanks for being such a keen observer of the scene, and for sharing your wisdom with us.

 

[JimInks]

ithelouniverse: I haven't posted a review of Bourbon Street as of yet, but I did try it about ten years ago. In all honesty, I was not crazy about it, though I didn't hate it. I thought it burned hot much of the time, as did most of House of Windsor's blends. As I recall, there was a bit of black and gold cavendish along with burley and Virginia. The first three components often tend to burn hot if you puff more than moderately. If you were smoking the same pipe when you had the different experiences, it may be that some bowls contained more cavendish than others, indicating that the blend was not well mixed. It probably was, as I suspect of most of HOW products, a quality control issue. Sutliff's French Quarter may be more to your liking, as it was based on Bourbon Street, though frankly, it wasn't my personal favorite of the Private Stock blends.
I hope my comments about Bourbon Street don't offend you. I know some people have said the quality of HOW mixtures varied from tin to tin. One tin would be very good, another not so much. I've been told the late production blends were of lower quality, and that may have been what I smoked. If you have the good stuff, that makes me a little envious.
Glad you liked smoking Man's Best Friend. I enjoyed that one, too.
ravkesef: Thank you for the kind words. I try to be concise in my writing whether it's for professional work or for fun, e.g., tobacco reviews. I like to get to the point. Mickey Spillane once told me that he felt it was a mistake to over write scenes. "Nobody cares if Mike Hammer is standing in front of an oak door or what the handle looks like. The reader wants to know what happens when he goes inside." I explain my experience, and with a few exceptions, let the reader decide whether they agree or not, or if it sounds like something that person wants to try. As you know, taste is always subjective, so one person's opinion can easily vary from another's.

 

[conlejm]

Jim: thanks so much for these reviews. I learn much from them and they inspire me to try blends that I would otherwise never consider. Conversely, before I try a new blend I always search this forum to see if you (or anyone else) has reviewed the brand. And of course - as I post what I am smoking for the day - I look forward to seeing what you are smoking in what seems to be an endless supply of exotic pipes.
I received some Sutliffe Great Outdoors yesterday unexpectedly; it was in the box along with a Peterson Rusticated XXL Bent House Pipe I won on eBay. I thought it was an excellent mild and mildly aromatic smoke , the wife loves the room note, and I look forward to my next bowl of it.
Thanks again!

 

[ithelouniverse]

Jim: I apologize! I was referring to French Quarter! For some reason my brain wasn't working when I posted that... I'm a dunce!

 

[JimInks]

Well, ithelouniverse, I did guess correctly that you'd like French Quarter. My crystal ball works after all!! :D

 

[settersbrace]

Jim,
I have my go to pipes, my go to tobaccos, and now thanks to you, my GO TO tabcco reviewer! I agree completely with what ravkesef stated with his opinion on the BS some reviewers inject into what they are describing. I consider your reviews as refreshingly honest and concise. I purchased and smoked all of the retro reintroductions that HOW put out there many years ago and only Barking Dog leaves me with any fond memories. What I am curious about with the Sutliff blends, particularly the English ones is the mention of burley and toppings. Being what I consider a lover of true English and Balkan blends with the current Dunhill and Pease offerings is how pronounced are these deviations and does it depart from what I've come to expect from the aforementioned tobaccos? My only other question and or suggestion regarding your reviews is the cut of these blends? Are they cube cut like the HOW blends were or are there some ribbon cut in there? Thanks for your wonderful reviews.

 

[JimInks]

settersbrace: there's a variety of Sutliff English blends. All are ribbon cut, and a couple have some small thin cut flake ingredients mixed in. Sunrise Smoke, for example, has a little lemon Va. that fits the latter. Since you prefer straight English, I would suggest Blend #5 (the most popular of their English blends), Luxury Balkan Blend 957, which is a recreation of Balkan Sobranie 759, and Westminster, which is a mild to medium, slightly creamier version of Dunhill London Blend. These do not have burley. I hope I answered your question.
Thank you for the kind words about my reviews.

 

[settersbrace]

<p>I'll be placing an order so as to try out those recommendations. You did in fact answer my questions and at the same time motivated me to give Sutliff a try! I'll be watching for more of your reviews as well.

 

[JimInks]

Thank you. I'll be curious to see what you think of the tobaccos when you try them.

 

[pipejunky]

I have to agree the #5 is one unique blend and a pleasant smooth smoke. On the sweet side Molto Dolche does it for me too. I'm finding Barbados Plantation in a large saxaphone meer quite satisfying. Charlemagne started out good but I'm having mixed feeling on that one. Maple Street, this one i did not care for.

 

[yabo71]

Enjoying a Bowl of Sutliff Private Stock Blend No. 5
Love this blend.A great English blend with solid cavendish that I find very pleasing.