My first review. Please be kind!
My rusty High School Latin tells me that 'Molto Dolce' means 'very sweet' or 'exceptionally calm' - and this is an apt description of this fine tobacco.
I received a 1.5 oz tin of Sutliff Private Stock Molto Dolce from Altadis as part of their free sample program. My thanks to them. Opening the tin unleashed a heavenly smell that I can only describe as 'German Chocolate Cake' - caramel, vanilla, and coconut, with a little whiff of whiskey. I can give the tin note four stars.
MD is ribbon cut, in very long, narrow ribbons. It looks wet, and feels slightly wet. (More on this later.) Flakes of cavendish are mixed in.
I smoked the first bowl right out of the can in a freshly cleaned 1964 Brewster straight apple. I did not employ any special packing technique, just stuffed it in 'til it "felt right". The draw gave me a taste of that same great aroma. A false light made the tobacco spring up like trod grass. Tamped it down and lit 'er up.
Great clouds of milky white smoke billowed, and continued thru the entire bowl. Molto Dolce makes more smoke than a brushfire, and people stood on tip-toes to sniff it. Four co-workers, half of them non-smokers, confirmed that the room note is a winner. Four stars.
And let me just say, Molto Dolce tastes good. It tastes like cake, like caramel, like vanilla. About halfway thru the bowl, I caught a taste of walnuts, or maybe pecans, from the burley. It burned down to a dark ash with a few blackened dottles - I rarely get to finish a bowl at work. There was zero gurgle and no tongue bite. I did get a little wetness thru the pipe toward the bottom, tasted like sugar water. After emptying the pipe, there was some moisture around the draw hole.
This is without a doubt the best-tasting tobacco in my (admittedly limited) experience. How about a second bowl?
This time, I left MD out on a paper towel under a desk lamp, and it was hard to work with that scent right under my nose! After three hours, there were yellow spots on the paper where it soaked up the casing. This tobacco is wet, but doesn't stain the fingers or clump. The aroma will remain on the hands until washed off.
The second bowl was smoked in a nearly new, clean Missouri Meerschaum Diplomat corncob. There was a difference in the taste, not better or worse, just subtly different. This smoke was much dryer, which I attribute to drying as well as the different smoking characteristics of the cob. Still cool, still clouds of tasty smoke, still no burn. I did draw on this bowl a little harder, but no ugliness reared it's head.
Overall, Molto Dolce is a superior smoke. Everything about it is good, and nothing disappoints. I give it the highest possible score, the best possible recommendation, and I will definitely be laying in a supply. A full four stars, no reservations.
My rusty High School Latin tells me that 'Molto Dolce' means 'very sweet' or 'exceptionally calm' - and this is an apt description of this fine tobacco.
I received a 1.5 oz tin of Sutliff Private Stock Molto Dolce from Altadis as part of their free sample program. My thanks to them. Opening the tin unleashed a heavenly smell that I can only describe as 'German Chocolate Cake' - caramel, vanilla, and coconut, with a little whiff of whiskey. I can give the tin note four stars.
MD is ribbon cut, in very long, narrow ribbons. It looks wet, and feels slightly wet. (More on this later.) Flakes of cavendish are mixed in.
I smoked the first bowl right out of the can in a freshly cleaned 1964 Brewster straight apple. I did not employ any special packing technique, just stuffed it in 'til it "felt right". The draw gave me a taste of that same great aroma. A false light made the tobacco spring up like trod grass. Tamped it down and lit 'er up.
Great clouds of milky white smoke billowed, and continued thru the entire bowl. Molto Dolce makes more smoke than a brushfire, and people stood on tip-toes to sniff it. Four co-workers, half of them non-smokers, confirmed that the room note is a winner. Four stars.
And let me just say, Molto Dolce tastes good. It tastes like cake, like caramel, like vanilla. About halfway thru the bowl, I caught a taste of walnuts, or maybe pecans, from the burley. It burned down to a dark ash with a few blackened dottles - I rarely get to finish a bowl at work. There was zero gurgle and no tongue bite. I did get a little wetness thru the pipe toward the bottom, tasted like sugar water. After emptying the pipe, there was some moisture around the draw hole.
This is without a doubt the best-tasting tobacco in my (admittedly limited) experience. How about a second bowl?
This time, I left MD out on a paper towel under a desk lamp, and it was hard to work with that scent right under my nose! After three hours, there were yellow spots on the paper where it soaked up the casing. This tobacco is wet, but doesn't stain the fingers or clump. The aroma will remain on the hands until washed off.
The second bowl was smoked in a nearly new, clean Missouri Meerschaum Diplomat corncob. There was a difference in the taste, not better or worse, just subtly different. This smoke was much dryer, which I attribute to drying as well as the different smoking characteristics of the cob. Still cool, still clouds of tasty smoke, still no burn. I did draw on this bowl a little harder, but no ugliness reared it's head.
Overall, Molto Dolce is a superior smoke. Everything about it is good, and nothing disappoints. I give it the highest possible score, the best possible recommendation, and I will definitely be laying in a supply. A full four stars, no reservations.
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