I have not tried all the Sutliffs but have found a few I like well enough to keep some on hand for when I want that kind of smoke. Lighter smokes for sure, and you smoke it mainly for the topping than the tobacco itself.
There are different kinds of aros, and to me, I tend to call aros aros that are ostensibly aimed towards that distinctive flavoring added. But things with names like Candy Cane, Peppermint and the like sound more like candy than tobacco and I just do not have any interest in candied tobacco. But I've enjoyed some of the Lakelands, some of the Sutliffs and even one of the Lanes.
But if you give your palette enough time to clean/clear itself or just keep it that way, some of these softer smokes can offer a very pleasing experience. Of them all, I seem to lean towards the ones with a fruit, berry or similar essence. Then when I switch back to s more serious tobacco, the contrast seems to enhance the experience of both. But I prefer an aro that has enough complexity to the tobacco itself rather than just merely being filler to hold a flavoring on--- that gets pretty 1-dimensional / boring.
But nothing to talk about? I think not. But whereas a more serious blend develops over time, evolves, changes as it ages and is smoked, most aros are more fixed, and do not see the same change over time or as you smoke down the bowl. They are what they are and you either like them or you don't. And as they age, they generally fade or deteriorate rather than mature.
But rather than diss them, I try to find what good I can in them that I can, for they are cheap, they are available, and who knows, in a few years, they may be all you can get. And so you'll say that you bought 100's of tins of this or that? Great! But in doing so, you denied others in sharing what you like as most people don't have thousands of dollars to spend on tobacco, and in time, you'll run out anyway, you'll run out, or will never smoke it all then it will be wasted never to be enjoyed by others, and will be right back facing whatever the FDA leaves us with. Me, I'm learning to cope with most anything short of the department store stuff, make my own, and stretch the best blends further by interspersing them with other things I like. If some of these aros don't work well enough on their own, some of them can make good blending agents! Food for thought. There are no bad tobaccos, even that Mixture No. 79 was a featured "staff pick" on P&C a few months back! So somebody must like and be smoking the stuff.
It amazes me that in a threatened industry with dwindling numbers and support that so many brands or types are dissed to the point that new smokers are either discouraged from talking about them / admitting they like them, to discouraged from even trying them! The greatest thing about smoking a pipe over even cigars is the vast VARIETY of blends and flavors!
