Alas, the formatting gods hate me. I went to the extraordinary pain of writing a review sans apostrophe, only to have the dreaded blackbox characters point out my egregious oversights of using...em dashes! 8O Can we get a smiley for banging one's head against a wall?
So here it is, also posted on luxurytobaccoreviews.com, my review of Sterling's Sweet Briar.
Brand: Sterling Tobacco Co.
Blend: Sweet Briar
Blender: Jack Peterson
Type: Aromatic
Country: United States
Cut: Coarse
Cure: Air cured
Tobaccos: Burley
Strength: Mild
Room Note: Mild, pleasant
Tin Size: Bulk by the ounce
Tin Age:less than 6 months
Tin Description: Aromatic; Our number one selling aromatic. Mild and sweet flavor with an aroma ladies love. Your pipe stays sweet with this wonderful blend of high grade tobaccos.
It is easy to see why this would be the number one seller for Sterling—it is a sweet, cool smoke, not challenging, and produces a delightful room note that ladies really do love.
Tin: A mild blend in every respect, the aroma upon opening the bag is sweet and…well, briary. Certainly vanilla is among the aromas, and perhaps a Frangelico liqueur as well, though nothing specific enough to classify the scent. There is a nuttiness that is distinguishably not burley in the mottled blonde, orange and milk chocolate-hued flakes of quality leaf.
Char: Packing easily and lighting effortlessly, a charring light is really all that is necessary to start—and finish—a bowl. The sweet aroma immediately fills the air upon ignition.
Top: True to the pouch aroma, the taste develops mildly into a slightly sweet, definitely nutty smoothness. The casing is so mild as to not hamper any of the fine tobacco taste at all.
Mid: No hidden complexities or nuances to wring out of this one, it stays consistent and pleasant throughout. Vanilla, hazlenut, and clover honey, perhaps even a faint citrus note, and at odd times in certain conditions a heathery ghost flit through the palate. Though listed as a pure burley, it would not be surprising to discover that there is a pinch of red Virginia in here as well.
Finish: Rarely taking more than two or three lights throughout a bowl with no real thought given to it is a pleasure, as is the cloud of refreshing smoke it produces. Mild in the nicotine as well, and leaving very little residue in the bowl, this makes a great all-day smoke as well as a great breaking-in smoke, or for clearing out ghosts and cobwebs.
Room Note: This really does appeal to all who smell it, with its indefinable, fleeting sweetness and nutty character.
Overall: A very clean, high quality leaf blend with a very mild casing and nothing else makes this a wonderful go-to tobacco. For these reasons it also lends itself well to blending with other tobaccos, often releasing the inner sweetness and otherwise hidden notes in a different tobacco. If purchased in quantity store hermetically and portion it out, as it has only the mildest mold inhibitor, if any.
RATING: 3.75
Attractively mild, attractively priced, and flexible in regard to pipe and pairings.
Hand-blended in the USA, a worthy cottage business to support.
RECOMMENDED
So here it is, also posted on luxurytobaccoreviews.com, my review of Sterling's Sweet Briar.
Brand: Sterling Tobacco Co.
Blend: Sweet Briar
Blender: Jack Peterson
Type: Aromatic
Country: United States
Cut: Coarse
Cure: Air cured
Tobaccos: Burley
Strength: Mild
Room Note: Mild, pleasant
Tin Size: Bulk by the ounce
Tin Age:less than 6 months
Tin Description: Aromatic; Our number one selling aromatic. Mild and sweet flavor with an aroma ladies love. Your pipe stays sweet with this wonderful blend of high grade tobaccos.
It is easy to see why this would be the number one seller for Sterling—it is a sweet, cool smoke, not challenging, and produces a delightful room note that ladies really do love.
Tin: A mild blend in every respect, the aroma upon opening the bag is sweet and…well, briary. Certainly vanilla is among the aromas, and perhaps a Frangelico liqueur as well, though nothing specific enough to classify the scent. There is a nuttiness that is distinguishably not burley in the mottled blonde, orange and milk chocolate-hued flakes of quality leaf.
Char: Packing easily and lighting effortlessly, a charring light is really all that is necessary to start—and finish—a bowl. The sweet aroma immediately fills the air upon ignition.
Top: True to the pouch aroma, the taste develops mildly into a slightly sweet, definitely nutty smoothness. The casing is so mild as to not hamper any of the fine tobacco taste at all.
Mid: No hidden complexities or nuances to wring out of this one, it stays consistent and pleasant throughout. Vanilla, hazlenut, and clover honey, perhaps even a faint citrus note, and at odd times in certain conditions a heathery ghost flit through the palate. Though listed as a pure burley, it would not be surprising to discover that there is a pinch of red Virginia in here as well.
Finish: Rarely taking more than two or three lights throughout a bowl with no real thought given to it is a pleasure, as is the cloud of refreshing smoke it produces. Mild in the nicotine as well, and leaving very little residue in the bowl, this makes a great all-day smoke as well as a great breaking-in smoke, or for clearing out ghosts and cobwebs.
Room Note: This really does appeal to all who smell it, with its indefinable, fleeting sweetness and nutty character.
Overall: A very clean, high quality leaf blend with a very mild casing and nothing else makes this a wonderful go-to tobacco. For these reasons it also lends itself well to blending with other tobaccos, often releasing the inner sweetness and otherwise hidden notes in a different tobacco. If purchased in quantity store hermetically and portion it out, as it has only the mildest mold inhibitor, if any.
RATING: 3.75
Attractively mild, attractively priced, and flexible in regard to pipe and pairings.
Hand-blended in the USA, a worthy cottage business to support.
RECOMMENDED