Sutliff Virginia Slices

[Briar Lee]

Once upon a time, good pipe tobacco was sweet, ripe, golden, fire cured Virginia tobacco. This is the stuff that came before burley tobacco and flavorings and mass marketing.

Pressed Virginia tobacco seems to cost $3 or $4 an ounce instead of $2 an ounce, and it’s worth the extra money.

Sutliff has taken high quality golden Virginia tobacco and pressed it into slices. As you can see, storing it in a paper can out in the summer heat causes the slices to break up quickly.

This straight Virginia burns slow, cool, dry, and sweet to the bottom of the bowl. It tastes like citrus, hay, honey, and a hint of molasses. It does not bite, gurgle, or snap and pop when you smoke it.

I just ordered another half pound of it, for about $25.

This is high quality tobacco, good straight or for blending.

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[FurCoat]

I may add this to my next order.

 

[Waning Embers]

This is the stuff that came before burley tobacco and flavorings and mass marketing.

Technically flavored cavendish predates Virginias by about 200 years.?



507 is a good one. I put several pound away during one of SPC's Sutliff bulk sales.

 

[Servant King]

Just discovered about an ounce of this in a tiny Ball jar in my cellar. Totally forgot it was there, and remembered placing the order for the 1Q and the Balkan Sobranie Orig. Mix Match...threw this one in to try. Gonna have to give this stuff a try tomorrow.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

507-S Stoved Virginia | Smokingpipes.com

Composed of stoved bright Virginia, Sutliff's 507-S Stoved Virginia is perfect as an everyday smoke or blending component

www.smokingpipes.com

So what do you guys think of the Stoved Virginia?

There aren't many reviews, some say it's an extra fruity Virginia, others say it's generally more muted. I've got my fingers crossed it ends up more on the full flavored side.

It's a bit ironic that while they're commonly known for "Goopy Aromatics" Sutliff seems to be the best supplier of pure matured Virginias.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

This is the stuff that came before burley tobacco and flavorings and mass marketing.

What? Flavorings have been around for a very long time. Burley was the first and foremost pipe tobacco by far. America was built on burley, and it wasn't till just before the Civil War that Flue or fire curing became a thing.

There's just so much wrong here.

And, sure, compared to the bags of cheap stuff that you've been buying, those Sutliff slices may seem expensive, but it's the cheapest flake that I can think of.

I'm not the biggest fan of this one, as I can taste that proprietorial casing that Sutliff uses in it. Many other's can't. and that's fine. I'm just saying why I don't stock up on this one.

 

[Briar Lee]

As I understand it, “white” burley tobacco was first grown and sold (for high prices) in the middle 1860s:

—-

Burley (tobacco) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The origin of white burley tobacco was credited to George Webb and Joseph Fore in 1864, who grew it on the farm of Captain Frederick Kautz near Higginsport, Ohio, from seed from Bracken County, Kentucky. He noticed it yielded a different type of light leaf shaded from white to yellow, and cured differently. By 1866, he had harvested 20,000 pounds of burley tobacco and sold it in 1867 at the St. Louis Fair for $58 per hundred pounds. By 1883, Cincinnati had become the principal market for this tobacco, and it was grown throughout central Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. In 1880 Kentucky accounted for 36 percent of the total national tobacco production, and was first in the country, with nearly twice as much tobacco produced as by Virginia, then the second-place state.[1] Later the type became referred to as burley tobacco, which is air-cured.
——

Burley is cheap, because it grows on fertile soils well, and harvested by chopping off the entire plant, and it only needs air curing.

Burley tastes good, because the leaves soak up flavoring much better than other types. In 1907 R J Reynolds enjoyed spectacular success with Prince Albert, by using a patented process to infuse flavorings into the milder and cheaper bottom leaves of burley.

I’m smoking a bowl of PA this morning and it’s delicious. I love flavored burleys.

But as the old saying goes, you can’t say a good word about Luckies (a Virginia blend) without somebody saying you’re knocking Camels (a burley and Turkish blend).

We get to smoke either Virginias, or Burleys, or a blend of both.

Golden Virginia tobacco costs more. It likes infertile soils, is picked as it ripens, and must be fire or flue cured.

It’s the king of tobaccos, I think. Years ago when a brand like Pall Mall or Players cigarettes was all Virginia they were proud to advertise that, and they cost a little more.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The origin of white burley tobacco was credited to George Webb and Joseph Fore in 1864, who grew it on the farm of Captain Frederick Kautz near Higginsport, Ohio, from seed from Bracken County, Kentucky. He noticed it yielded a different type of light leaf shaded from white to yellow, and cured differently. By 1866, he had harvested 20,000 pounds of burley tobacco and sold it in 1867 at the St. Louis Fair for $58 per hundred pounds. By 1883, Cincinnati had become the principal market for this tobacco, and it was grown throughout central Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. In 1880 Kentucky accounted for 36 percent of the total national tobacco production, and was first in the country, with nearly twice as much tobacco produced as by Virginia, then the second-place state.[1] Later the type became referred to as burley tobacco, which is air-cured.

However, white burley is like just 1 of thousands of burley varietals. What do you think people were smoking before 1839, when Stephen Slade discovered flue curing? I probably shouldn't leave this dangling like a question, because you will post something inane about a family member that has no relevance to anything.

Burley is cheap, because it grows on fertile soils well, and harvested by chopping off the entire plant, and it only needs air curing.

Air curing and then it has to sweat out for a few years in a barn before it is palatable, whereas in commercial flue curing, where it is all digitally manipulated, Virginias can be brought to market a lot faster. It is the base of cigarette tobaccos. We used to bury crops sometimes, to make room in the barn.

I’m smoking a bowl of PA this morning and it’s delicious. I love flavored burleys.

Good for you!! I'm not a fan of PA. But, I love burleys. I love Virginias too.

But as the old saying goes, you can’t say a good word about Luckies (a Virginia blend) without somebody saying you’re knocking Camels (a burley and Turkish blend).

Camels are a Turkish and Virginia blend, with probably a smidge of burley. But, burley isn't listed. Are you sure you have smoked Camels?

We get to smoke either Virginias, or Burleys, or a blend of both.

There are a ton of other varietals. Maryland is the one that takes the sauce well. Then there are many, many Orientals, perique anyways

Golden Virginia tobacco costs more. It likes infertile soils, is picked as it ripens, and must be fire or flue cured.

You've said this on other threads, and it just isn't true.

It’s the king of tobaccos, I think. Years ago when a brand like Pall Mall or Players cigarettes was all Virginia they were proud to advertise that, and they cost a little more.

I'm not sure who bestowed the royal title for tobaccos. but, you are win the prize for bullshit, ha ha.
Just go look at whole leaf prices. But, of course you will post a response to me about some dead Uncle Josephine Ozark rail road guy that is supposed to have passed down some secret knowledge about how no one really knows this, and it is top secret, but because a parrot lives for 100 years, and a rabbit just lives a few years, that you are right and everyone else is wrong, sooo... ha ha... I'll beat you to it.

 

[Briar Lee]

I didn’t know the difference between burley, Virginia, oriental, and Maryland tobaccos growing up.

I was in college before somebody looked down their nose at me, for smoking “drug store burleys”.

A half mile South of Bug Tussle, with the nearest post office being Dunnegan, we weren’t exposed much to the types of different tobaccos.

It was reading labels on Player’s Medium Navy Cut and the inserts in Sherman’s Cigarettellos in college I discovered that if a cigarette had all Virginia tobacco, they were proud of that.

Today I have more pipes and tobacco than I ever dreamed I would back then.

My assistants love the smell of my Super Value Peach, likely mostly flavored burleys, with some Virginia that makes it look rich and expensive as I pack it.

They prefer the aroma of the cheap stuff, and it’s all good tobacco, by me.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

It was reading labels on Player’s Medium Navy Cut and the inserts in Sherman’s Cigarettellos in college I discovered that if a cigarette had all Virginia tobacco, they were proud of that.

Most cigarettes do have mostly Virginias, as it can be more easily absorbed into the lungs. But, some don't. I remember some advertising to be toasted burleys, like Lucky Strikes, with... "It's toasted."

I was in college before somebody looked down their nose at me, for smoking “drug store burleys”.

Yeh, many still do. I am not a fan of most OTCs, but I will smoke a Sir Walter Raleigh from time to time. I just am not a fan of the flavorings or the PG added to them.

My assistants love the smell of my Super Value Peach, likely mostly flavored burleys, with some Virginia that makes it look rich and expensive as I pack it.

I think that most associate those fruit flavorings with old gentlemen. I know I do, from smelling the old men at the Malls when I was a kid, setting by the Tinderboxes, smoking their aromatics.

In my book, it is totally ok to be Virginia snob. Be as snobbish as you want. I love the camaraderie of busting balls over Virginias being the best. But, it's a whole other ballgame to assume that they are better because the cost more. Or, to demean another tobacco because it's cheap, which isn't true. Virginias do require a "poorer" soil type, by comparison. It was first grown in sandy Virginia regions, but I'm not sure how that figures. But, burleys eat up time in the barn, and that translates into dollars also.

Also... most Virginias are picked whole stalk now also. They are cured in these small refrigerator looking appliances that are all stacked into these open framed butler type buildings. Just a few days, and zap, they're done.

I'm glad that you are enjoying yourself.

 

[Briar Lee]

I have so much tobacco now, I wonder if I’ll ever smoke it all. Thank the Lord for propylene glycol, or I’d not stand a chance of ever taking that last puff, because the cheap stuff would all go bad.

All commercial tobacco is a manufactured product, artfully made to sell at a profit. The more it costs to buy, the higher grade of leaf the maker uses.

Right now I’ve got a Lee Three Star clenched in my break room full of my own blend of about 1/3 twenty year old Prince Albert and 1/3 Sutliff Black Cavendish and 1/3 C&D Virginia ribbon cut. It wasn’t as good, until I added a handful of the Virginia. I hope the cavendish takes over the room note.

A devoted pipe smoker should have, and enjoy, a wide range of blends.

But of evening, or in a car all by yourself, nothing is quite so indulgent as rich, golden Virginia, with a little perique added if you prefer.

Sadly, a lot of the world’s supply of golden Virginia now comes from the exploitation of Zimbabwean farmers and their families.

Redirect Notice

But if there wasn’t a demand for golden Virginia tobaccos, they’d have no cash crop at all.

It’s all above my pay grade, to change it.

 

[woodsroad]

"The more it costs to buy, the higher grade of leaf the maker uses"

While inexpensive pipe tobacco blends are undoubtedly made with low-grade tobacco, the inverse is not necessarily true. Higher priced blends often just have better marketing behind them.

 

[Waning Embers]

A devoted pipe smoker should have, and enjoy, a wide range of blends.

Says who? Many of your posts in this thread sound like parody or misinformation.

 

[Servant King]

Says who? Many of your posts in this thread sound like parody or misinformation.

Or to get us as riled up as possible...

 

[woodsroad]

He speaks with self-appointed authority.
Who are you to question?

 

[Briar Lee]

I began like a lot of pipe smokers, with Half and Half, PA, SWR, Velvet and other “drug store blends”. This was before, you saw bags of value priced tobaccos in the stores, about fifty years ago.

Half and Half may have half Virginia (bright leaf) but the rest are flavored burleys, and delicious.

But they get little respect from wizened old pipe smokers, who call them “codger burleys”.

Above those are the luxury OTC blends like Captain Black, Borkum Riff, and Amphora. Read those and they brag about having Virginia tobacco in them.

When you go above those, there’s really only higher end burley based aromatics and lots of blends with Virginia, Virginia and Perique, and anything with Latakia in it gets labeled as English.

I bought some cubed burley once. It was good, but kind of bland without flavorings. I keep around a pouch or two of Five Brothers, which is burley with a stout nicotine kick.

Golden Virginia tobaccos have, their own distinctive taste, usually compared to hay, citrus. or fruits. They are sweet, yet might bite your tongue.

One thing about selections like Virginia Slices, is that it’s advertised as straight golden Virginia.

If you don’t like Virginia (which is hard to imagine) you can easily avoid it.

 

[hauntedmyst]

Back in the early days, my great, great Uncle RJ (yes bob, that RJ!) was looking for something to keep his tobacco fresh. The North Carolina heat just withers tobacco like a geriatric stripper withers wood at a gentleman's club. This was in the days before PG. After attending his friends funeral, he wondered why is friend still looks so good after 9 days of his death, so he asked the mortician. Bingo! From then on, he put formaldehyde in his cigarettes because it kept it fresh and "It tasted like graham crackers!" They didn't have testing back then for dangerous chemicals but it does explain why so many smokers corpses look so good.

 

[telescopes]

Riled up or not, Br'er Lee makes for some mighty fine reading. Personally, I don't believe anything anyone writes on this here forum. Myself included. I read it for some infotainment, knowing that sometimes, I find some clues to something that might actually be helpful. I look those up in secondary sources.

To my knowledge, no one here runs peer reviewed commentaries and most posts are just that... posts.

So.... Br'er Rabbit's opinions are just as relevant and in many cases just as factual as those that say he is wrong. To be honest, I prefer his story telling over the facts of the matter anyway. Facts are just boring. I should know, I am from Missouri myself, even though I live in California and wouldn't go back to Missouri if you paid me 50 cents.

It's best just to disagree and decide for yourself if'n you wanta smoke a three star Lee or a Kaywoodie Thorn.

Personally, and I have no research to back this up, I'll take the Kaywoodie.

But there you have it.

 

[woodsroad]

Some of us still believe that words matter, and that a person is only as good as their word.
Now, if those words make you laugh, all the better.

 

[telescopes]

Some of us still believe that words matter, and that a person is only as good as their word.
Now, if those words make you laugh, all the better.

I agree words matter. But then again, I spent 37 years concerned about linguistics and word usage. That said, people are fundamentally flawed and the words that spew out from them spew out from fundamentally flawed beings... so, I take most things with a grain of salt.

BUT.... WHAT DOES MATTER... are the patterns that emanate from a persons behaviors. THAT you can take to the bank.

A person can misspeak all of the time about their beliefs and their actions, but if their behaviors are that of a saint and the consequences of their actions on others are a blessing, then they are almost by definition a saint.

Story tellers are no different. They tell stories. They are actors...empty of almost everything you might be able to hang a hat on and call real... wait.... wait... hmmm, or is that lawyers? I get confused. It's almost like they are the same thing.