Lack of Respect for Sutliff?

[Indygrap]

Crème brûlée is one of the first tobaccos I tried & throughly enjoyed. I was about 2 weeks in to pipe smoking & it was goopy & gurgling(my fault, not the tobacco’s) but, after some time on this forum & preparing it properly, it was probably my first good smoke. I do find most of their aros a little over the top now, for my tastes. However, their match blends are great & I still hit up the CB every so often. They might not be my favorite, but they were my first! Good smoke, that is

 

[Egg Shen]

I don’t care for them as much as I do C&D, Scandinavian, and Mac Baren, but some of their blends are pretty good. Sometimes they have a rough edge to their Englishes I’ve noticed where as others do Latakia and Orientals smoother. That’s just me though. I appreciate them for being around. We need as many blends as possible and they’re a pretty big deal as far as pipe tobacco goes. Oh, and I bet they supply a lot of the top B&Ms who actually make their own blends.

Have you tried their #5 Blend? It’s a great English IMO. Nobody really talks about it here but I find it lovely,a nod at a decent price.

 

[Briarberg]

Wise words here.

I wonder if some of the supposed stigma comes from Sutliff's oldest (am I wrong?) blend, the one that everyone and their brother loves to hate...yep, Mixture 79! When I hear "Sutliff", I think Mixture 79.

Which I quite like. For all the contempt, it's still being made, and made in the USA.

The first Sutliff manufactured blend was likely Carolina Queen (1895).

Of those still available, Heine's Blend (1912) predates Mixture 79 (1933), but 79 certainly became the flagship. There were quite a few blends that came and went between the late 19th and mid 20th century, but never apparently had much buzz around them, so Sutliff reduced to Heine's and 79 with the move to Richmond in 1953. At one point, the Mixture 79 label was probably more recognized than Sutliff as a company, so the association very well may be in tact to some extent.

Leonard Ruisinger who blended 79 actually said himself that he was satisfied with it because everyone either hated it or loved it but no one was indifferent. It was polarizing from the start! Maybe more so now with how tastes have changed.

 

[bent1]

The aromatic samplers sent to pipe clubs soured the name for non aro smokers. One sample that I found in a sample pack was Count Pulaski. It’s been a consistently good blend, my $.02.

updating via yoast

www.tobaccoreviews.com

 

[RookieGuy80]

First rule of Sutliff Club.

Don't you get 5 pound bags sent to you directly from the blending houses?

To the question, Sutliff makes like 3 pages on SP different blends. I haven't counted or payed attention to the number of Sutliff blends that SP sells. And that's not all of them either. Going further, that's just Sutliff labeled blends. With over 100 blends there going to be some that just don't ring your bell. C&D has the same issue.

I haven't been smoking a pipe very long, so take this opinion for whatever it's worth. There are lots of unicorns to chase. GH/SG, Esoterica, and McClellans are some I can name with no effort. A blending house with blends constantly in stock at reasonable prices holds no interest for unicorn hunters (publicly).

Besides, the more people hate on a blend you like, the more likely it is to be in stock. I'd like it if everyone kept bashing my favorite blends.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I love 507C Virginia Slices. It has replaced Reiner Gold for me. I have a ton jarred up. However, I just want to point out (and this is no slight to Sutliff) but I have always suspected that 507C is actually manufactured in Denmark by Mac Baren. A few have speculated about this. Anyone know for sure? Either way, it doesn't matter to me, as long as it is always available at such a great price.

I don’t know the answer to your question, but Mac Baren has owned Sutliff for the last eleven years, so it seems within the realm of possibility.

 

[hoipolloiglasgow]

Have you tried their #5 Blend? It’s a great English IMO. Nobody really talks about it here but I find it lovely,a nod at a decent price.

No, I haven’t. Are the Orientals to be missed in the blend? I do like burley in English blends.

 

[grimpeur]

The first Sutliff manufactured blend was likely Carolina Queen (1895).

Of those still available, Heine's Blend (1912) predates Mixture 79 (1933), but 79 certainly became the flagship. There were quite a few blends that came and went between the late 19th and mid 20th century, but never apparently had much buzz around them, so Sutliff reduced to Heine's and 79 with the move to Richmond in 1953. At one point, the Mixture 79 label was probably more recognized than Sutliff as a company, so the association very well may be in tact to some extent.

Leonard Ruisinger who blended 79 actually said himself that he was satisfied with it because everyone either hated it or loved it but no one was indifferent. It was polarizing from the start! Maybe more so now with how tastes have changed.

According to the history Sutliff provides, they didn't take over Heine's until 1963. I can't, at the moment, find out who blended it first.

I recall reading in The Pipesmoker's Ephemeris an old timer writing about visiting Sutliff when it was in SF, and seeing sacks and sacks of liquorice root destined to help make M79. What I wouldn't give to try the original mixture; I wonder if Sutliff still has the recipe archived somewhere?

 

[Snook]

I haven't noticed much, if any, bashing... but I'm with you in that some of my favorite blends are from Sutliff. They do have quite a few offerings; I would imagine that those who aren't fans have tried some less-than-stellar blends from them. Not all of them can be winners.

 

[Chasing Embers]

the more people hate on a blend you like, the more likely it is to be in stock

Or being discontinued.

 

[lraisch]

I don't doubt that some of the blends I like are either made by or use leaf sourced from Sutliff.

However, the first Sutliff labeled tin I ever tried tasted so strongly of mildew that I threw it away after three or four puffs.

No doubt an exception, but it left me very unwilling to try any more.

 

[Briarberg]

According to the history Sutliff provides, they didn't take over Heine's until 1963. I can't, at the moment, find out who blended it first.

I recall reading in The Pipesmoker's Ephemeris an old timer writing about visiting Sutliff when it was in SF, and seeing sacks and sacks of liquorice root destined to help make M79. What I wouldn't give to try the original mixture; I wonder if Sutliff still has the recipe archived somewhere?

Yeah, that confused me as well, but it's a mistake. Henry Sutliff registered Heine's Blend in 1928. There was another company called Heine's Tobacco Co., which was a Sutliff subsidiary. Most early tins and ads mention San Fran and Massillon. Like this one from 1940—

It sems it was made in Ohio at a point, some tins from the pre-Richmond era reference the Ohio factory. Sutliff dissolved the Ohio entity with the move to Richmond, so maybe it was something they set up to manufacture for whatever reason—some savvy business maneuvering.

 

[huntertrw]

Ah, Heine's Blend! This is among my favorite Sutliff tobaccos. Here is the text of my review (dated July 7, 2011) as it appears on the tobaccoreviews.com Website:

Heine's Blend has been on my tobacco radar for years, but is one that I did not try until today. Now I am sorry that I waited so long.

This blend is described above as having a "cube cut" and so I expected to see something akin to Cornell & Diehl's Crooner (No. 104) when I opened the sturdy 14 oz. plastic container. Instead, I was greeted by a mostly dark, gently fragrant, chunky tobacco that has more of what I would describe as a "rough cut."

It was moist, but did not leave my fingers sticky when I pinched some between them. Its aroma in the container seemed almost subtle, really noticeable only when I placed my nose a few inches above it. To me the smell was reminiscent of Fig Newton cookies.

Like most aromatic tobaccos this one would benefit from some drying, as initially I had a hard time keeping it lit after loading my pipe (a small briar billard that I use for testing new tobaccos) directly from the container. However, having said that, I was pleased by the fact that there was no "gurgle" in my initial bowl. Further, a pipe-cleaner applied after I dumped the dark gray ash (with almost no dottle) showed a surprisingly small amount of tar.

The smoke was blue-white and creamy, and try as I might I could not induce this blend to bite. Its taste was lightly sweet and pleasant, and left no coating on my tongue. The room note was comforting: slightly spicy, warm, and inviting.

This is a very pleasant easy-to-smoke blend that helped me to recall why I became a pipe-smoker in the first place, and I recommend it.

 

[AJL67]

It's cool to bash what everyone else likes. Rebel without a clue bros.

 

[huntertrw]

Rebel without a clue bros.

 

[FurCoat]

Or being discontinued.

You got that right. Watch City Slices comes to mind and I may be mistaken, but I think Cult is no more.

 

[vosBghos]

Their base leaf is in practically everything chances are high Suttliff haters are smoking it daily. How many suppliers do people think there are anyway in a niche market like this one?

 

[romaso]

I love 507C Virginia Slices. It has replaced Reiner Gold for me. I have a ton jarred up. However, I just want to point out (and this is no slight to Sutliff) but I have always suspected that 507C is actually manufactured in Denmark by Mac Baren. A few have speculated about this. Anyone know for sure? Either way, it doesn't matter to me, as long as it is always available at such a great price.

The 5 lb bricks say 'Made in Denmark' on them.
Probably made by Mac Baren, since they own Sutliff (though STG also has a manufacturing plant in Assens, Denmark)

 

[SRider]

I enjoy several Sutliff blend. I will say though I don’t care for a lot of their heavily topped aeros. (crème brulee, Barbados Plantation) Maybe it’s just that style of aero in general that I can’t stand. I can’t really taste anything they smell great but, that’s it if I want a sweet pipe I normally just go for some Captain Black.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Their base leaf is in practically everything chances are high Suttliff haters are smoking it daily. How many suppliers do people think there are anyway in a niche market like this one?

We had a guy rage quit the forum a few years ago when he found out P&C blends were Sutliff.