After cleaning out a large portion of my late father’s basement, I found many old tobacco cans and pouches he’d never thrown out. I decided it would be interesting to taste my way through the old tobaccos my dad smoked when I was a kid so I ordered a bunch of 1 and 2 ounce samples and pouches.
What follows are the notes I made to myself to keep track of the process. I have no particular qualifications at tobacco reviewing. While I have smoked a pipe for about 30 years, I only smoke a couple of times a week in summer (more during camping or fishing trips), to almost never during the cold Alaskan winters. I am mostly a cherry aromatic guy, and have experimented with adding cherry flavor to other tobaccos if they get boring to me. I don’t stray too far from what’s kept me happy for decades. I’m no expert and I’m certainly not claiming my rankings are “correct.” These are just my notes that might be of some interest to the readers here, especially since the Sutliff match blends are soon to be gone.
Also, the following thread is closed to further comments, but it is a much better summation of the Sutliff match blends than I could ever do, and well worth a re-read:
Sutliff Match Blends: This review thread took six months to complete. Of the 44 match blends I have reviewed, only Middleton’s London Dock Match was not made by the Sutliff Tobacco Company, but I included it because I had the opportunity to do so. In nearly every case, although I was already...
pipesmagazine.com
Honestly, it’s content like JimInks posted in that thread that makes this website the most informative pipe place on-line.
So, from lowest to highest, here’s my humble take…
[Regarding scores, a 1 would be awful and a 10 perfect. A 5 would be an OK all-day, plainish tobacco; I’d happily smoke it if that was what was available, but would wish for something with more pizzazz. Most of these codger blends didn’t stray too far from that.]
Borkum Riff (dad smoked regular-black, amaretto-blue, and cherry-red, the latter being the one I tried); still made in 1.5 oz pouches for $7.99. Virginia and Burley. The cherry-red pouch smell is not very cherry (more like plum or apricot), but drawing on an unlit bowl did taste of cherry. Once lit, there was little cherry smell or taste. Halfway through a bowl there is a sweetish (barely) chocolaty flavor but the smoke mostly smells like cigarette tobacco. Below average, especially for a “cherry” blend with a comparatively high price compared to less expensive bulk tobaccos. Rated a 4 out of 10.
Prince Albert; still made, hard to find in small batches. Sutliff and Cigar and Pipe have matches called “Duke Albert.” I got a sample of each. Very inexpensive. Both were virtually the same. Only OK; mild, no bite, easy to smoke but a little too much like cigarette tobacco to me. Rated a 5.
Half and Half. Still made, 1.5 oz for $4.96. Pouch note was nice with some fruit or stewed apricot flavor. Also tried it mixed with some of my jarred cherry blend. Nice smoke but not remarkable, similar to Prince/Duke Albert, but the pouch note was more aromatic. 5.2
Carter Hall has a Sutliff match in bulk for around $2.60/oz. Smoked on a family camping trip. Had a nice pouch note but smoked like a pretty standard OTC burley. About the same as Prince Albert. 5.3
Sir Walter Raleigh; still made in 1.5 oz pouch for $4.08 The pouch note had a smell of sweet fermented red wine or some dark berry/fruit. Drawing on an unlit bowl gave the same flavor. Easy smoking, cool, a bit of the same pouch note/flavor was present most of the bowl. Maybe a tad bit nicer than Carter Hall. A solid, consistent smoke but the topping flavor was not really my thing. 5.4
Troost. Sutliff has a match for $2.91/oz. at smokingpipes.com. Flavored Dutch style Cavendish. Similar to Prince Albert, though a bit nicer and sweeter to me. Occasional notes of a sweet topping, like caramel. Lots of blue-grey smoke. Cool smoking. 5.5
Kentucky Club Mixture; imported and domestic Turkish, Perique, White Burley, Carolina and Virginia Brights. I got a couple ounces of the Sutliff match and it’s very similar to the smell left in dad’s old Medico Double-Dri pipe. Not bad, but it has an aftertaste I’m not quite sure to make of. I have used it as a blend and may convert it to a cherry as it’s sweetish and not unpleasant. Probably a 5.6 rating.
Field and Stream. Sutliff has a match for $2.91/oz. at Pipesandcigars.com. Black Cavendish, Burley, Cavendish, Virginia. Smoked on family camping trip. Smelled nice, hard to describe, sweet stewed fruit pouch note. Looks like Mixture #79. Smooth and sweeter that Prince Albert, easy long lasting smoke. 5.8 Very Close to #79.
Mixture #79; still made pouch for $6.95 or less in combo deals at pipes & cigars ($2.79/oz) Burley. Looks like Field and Stream. Smells similar but with a bit of licorice topping. Smokes kinda neutral to me without obvious licorice flavor, maybe a hint. There was sweetness in the first half and a vaguely chocolaty undercurrent in the second half. Lots of smoke during a wind free walk. 6. Very close to Field & Stream.
Holiday. Sutliff has a match for $3.02/oz. Black Cavendish, Burley, Latakia, Perique, Virginia. Nicer to me than Prince Abert or Troost. Had a pleasant church incense note and was a bit sweeter than PA. Worth getting a few more ounces. 6.5
Sugar Barrel. Pipes and Cigars has a match for $2.60/oz Burley, Virginia. Coarse, chunky mixture of dark and light tobaccos. Easy smoking and (in the Grabow with the stinger) impossible to get too hot. Sweet taste and smell. After rubbing out a pinch for the top, fingers were sweet and sticky, but the tobacco seemed to burn as if it was at its perfect moisture level. Worth getting a few more ounces. 6.5
Edgeworth. Pipes and Cigars has a match for $2.60/oz. Burley. Really mellow tobacco with larger chunks of the blend in the bag. I rubbed it out a bit more and blended in some of my mildest pressed cherry blend. Smoked it while I watered the lawn – very smooth and mellow. 6.5 (may go up, I prefer more aromatic blends, but for an all-day burley, this would be hard to beat)
Velvet, still made, $5.57/pouch at smokingpipes.com or $4.04 at pipes and cigars. Sun-ripened Kentucky burley. What a nice smoke! Nice fermented/reduced red wine note to pouch which lasted over half way through the bowl. Lots of smoke throughout. It was breezy on a walk to the lake and the tobacco burned hot to the bowl touch, but cool to the mouth with no bite whatsoever, even though I puffed through the smallish Dr. Grabow Zulu in half an hour. 6.5
Bond Street. Pipes and Cigars has a match called Burbon Street for $2.60/oz. Black Cavendish, Burley, Cavendish, Kentucky, Latakia, Perique, Virginia. Pouch note was more aromatic than most of the OTC blends here. Sweet taste and smoked during a windy walk, it was a very nice aromatic that provided a surprising amount of smoke given the windy conditions. Had more “things going on” than most of the easy-going burleys. I did have trouble keeping it lit staring about halfway through. Worth getting a few more ounces. Rated a 7
Jokes and formatting issues aside, I thought this was a uniquely cool review and hat-tip to your father.
