Tobaccos Sutliff Tobacco Company - Stoved Virginia #507-S

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jacinto Cupboard (209)	2019-01-07		Very Mild	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Stoved Va is my favourite genre of tobacco. With the demise of McClelland and the now absence of those blends containing their wonderful stoved tobaccos, and the unreliability in supply of Rattray's Black Virginia and Rattray's Dark Fragrant, the tobacco apocalypse appeared to have come early for me. I have trolled thru dozens of tobaccos described as 'unflavoured Black Cavendish' or 'natural Black Virginia' and similar hoping to find a bulk, easily available dark stoved Va, all to little avail. For my efforts I now have a very large jar of mixed tobacco of varying shades of vaniila, caramel, maple and Heaven knows what else. I use it for my excursion tobacco. It isn't very nice, but it at least has the virtue of being relatively inoffensive to strangers.

So when I came across this tobacco on my Friday Buy Day, my heart leapt a little to see a bulk offering clearly marked as a Stoved Va and unflavoured. But the often disappointed part of me was cautious. I was well past 'fool me twice' on this score.

But praise be! This is what it claims to be. A straight, bulk offering of unflavoured Stoved Black Viginia. I have found my unicorn blend.

To the tobacco. Given the sort of reviews I see on Tobacco Reviews, stoved Va is not a well loved beast. I appear to be an outlier in this regard, so take this review with that in mind. Chances are YMMV.

This tobacco is loaded with dried fruit aromas: currants, candied lemon peel etc. For me it is like smoking a Christmas pudding. It has very little nicotine. Puffed at a slow pace, as I think it should be, it does not produce much smoke at all. But it is packed with interesting flavours. I find stoved Vas do not bite, and 507S is no exception. Again, YMMV. It has the odd rough edge; I doubt this has the same quality source leaf as the Rattray's product, but to be fair, it is also a fraction of the price. Loving it. Highly recommended but only for lovers of the type.

Pipe Used: Ceramic

Similar Blends: Rattray's Black Virginia.

24 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3047)	2019-06-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Once the bright Virginia leaf is stoved, it offers mildly fermented and tangy, rich, deep, dark fruit, some citrus, a lot of earth, wood, bread, and sugar, and very light lemon notes. The strength is a couple of steps past the mild level, while the taste just passes the medium mark. The nic-hit is hair more obvious than the strength threshold. No chance of bite or harshness. Burns a tad slow, very cool and clean with a sweetly consistent flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a very pleasant, lightly lingering after taste and room note. Does well in the pipe as it is, though I do recommend a smallish bowl. As a mixer - which it was designed to be - it adds depth and dimension to any blend you choose to invent.

-JimInks

23 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2081)	2019-05-29		Mild	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Sutliff Tobacco Co. - Stoved Virginia #507-S.

This review could be short: a very rich Virginia!

#507-S isn't just a ribbon, as badged. In fact, the blend's made of virtually black, very coarse pieces; a Mixture. The nose is full and fruity. I'm smoking this fresh and the moisture's refulgent; no airing was needed.

The moisture aids an easy ignition, and then, that word again: rich. The taste has all the fruit/luxury, one could expect from a top end Va. However, any citrus/sharp Va flavours are defunct; it's all about sweet, dark, fruit. Due to the coarse cut it burns slow, and medium in temperature. I get no tongue bite.

Nicotine: mild. Room-note: nice.

Stoved Virginia #507-S? Four stars:

Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Mr Brog Bulldog

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: 4noggins

17 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jorge Soler (203)	2020-07-24		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

This is a blending component, but I am surprised it seems to be so good in its own right as a standalone. There is nothing remarkable about the first quarter of your bowl, but it evolves quite nicely once you go past it. Something worth mentioning is I can't detect any casing, this tobacco feels so clean it is hard to believe is one of Sutliff's. It looks as though it had been treated in the red Cavendish way, and it is reminiscent of C&D's Autumn Evening but without the casing. The tin note is sweet and evokes the smell of sultanas and figs. It comes as wet as those towelettes they use to wipe clean a baby's bottom, but I have been able to smoke it without needing many relights. Yes, I like it, and I can see myself buying again, so 4 stars this time.

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TCody (15)	2019-07-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I use this as a substitute for McClelland's Blackwoods Flake when blending. It does the job, however, it lacks the famous barbecue sauce note. On it's own, it is a good, tangy, easy to smoke Virginia.

Pipe Used: Variety of pipes dedicated to Virginia.

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Don't remember.

Similar Blends: Dunhill Dark Flake, McClelland's dark flakes..

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tpatriarche (43)	2020-09-19		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This was a very pleasant surprise. The last black stoved Virginia I had (from E A Carey UK) had been cooked to the point where it had scarcely any flavour left. By contrast, as soon as I opened the pouch of this one, I was struck not just by the expected earthiness, but by warm fruit aromas, blackcurrant say, with a hint of citrus. It smelt almost like a black Cavendish (I tasted it to make sure there was no mistake).

The smoke is rich, sharp & tangy, but with little tongue bite. Fairly mild by my standards. Sometimes takes a few relights, but not much above average; does better if packed a little loose. No gumminess as it smokes down. Altogether a pleasant smoke. It also blends well with some Burley I have on hand.

I had just about given up on stoved Virigina, but this tobacco changed my mind. A solid 3 stars.

Pipe Used: Carey Magic Inch

Age When Smoked: Fresh bulk

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Antonius Blok (192)	2021-01-07		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A cooked black virginia, with a thick cut and where the predominant flavors are fruity, acidic and especially burnt caramel, similar to the one that is stuck to the bottom of a saucepan that has been used to caramelize sugar. Stays on smoothly and doesn't sting your tongue. Leave a pleasant and tolerable note in the room.

In my particular case it has turned out to be quite an original tobacco, since in my short experience as a pipe smoker I had never tried anything like it. It seems that it is a tobacco made mainly to mix, which I have not tried yet, having only smoked it without mixing with other ingredients.

Despite being rich and recognizing its virtues, it is not one of the Virginias that I liked the most, perhaps because that predominant flavor of caramelized sugar in the long run tires me a bit. For this reason I recommend smoking it in small capacity pipes.

However, I will continue to smoke it to see how it evolves in me.

I can imagine some reviewers trying to mimic some McClelland mixes by adding Stoved Virginia 507-S, as it similarly reproduces the now-defunct brand's toasted virginias. If someone get it and wants to do a service to humanity (pipe-smoking humanity), let them leave their recipe as soon as possible. It will be gratifying ...

Age When Smoked: Young

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Adam T Valleau (21)	2019-12-02		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Wow! This blend is just great! I love it. The stoving really brings out the sweetness. It is like carmelizing an onion or garlic clove. The pouch note is understated, but a slightly charred aroma is noticeable. The smoke is rich, thick and tastes of ... stewed fruit with a touch of charred grassiness. Burns easily and slowly. Fantastic! Get some!

Pipe Used: MM Country Gentleman, Al Pascia Curvy 03

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ScienceSmoker (60)	2021-01-17		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Whenever I buy tobacco, I always end up getting a few ounces of this stuff. It's one of my favorites. Not only is it great on it's own, but it's an excellent addition to lots of blends, adding complexity and a rich sweetness. It can give a sort of "aged smoothness" to blends too. It's also a major part of one of my favorite home blends: my "Black Balkan", which is basically just bright Virginia, Latakia, Smyra, and Sutliff's Stoved Virginia, with a few little tweaks.

This Stoved Virginia has a great smell, like rich fruit pastries. It actually smells a bit like fig newtons... which makes sense, since bright Virginia has that fruit sweetness, and when it's stoved, it brings out a pastry-like smell. The smoke is perfect too... it burns slow and very cool with zero bite. I don't know what else to say about this one, it's just a super enjoyable, highly versatile smoke.

Pipe Used: Nob Hill

Age When Smoked: fresh

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WorkingClassChap (197)	2021-09-14		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Bought for mixing but smoked it as is.

Smoking now:

The bag note reminds me of sweet sun tea. There’s a bit of fermented hay (tea leaves) very slight tang (lemon) and lots of sweet sugar (the sugar in your tea). It smells heavenly. Has a cooked sugar smell like maple. The leaves are HUGE. This isn’t ready rubbed tobacco these are the biggest leaves I’ve ever seen in pipe tobacco. Obviously this is meant for mixing. However it packed and lite just fine. Comes rather dry, or in my opinion the perfect moisture. This is a mixing tobacco.

The taste. Now I’ve smoked many a pure Virginia flake… I’ve even stoved my own flakes. This has a pretty easy going and mellow body. The typical harshness of Virginia is toned way down by the stoving process. There’s dark hay flavors, slight fermented bread dough, dark sugar sweetness. It’s pure Virginia tobacco cooked down for pure smoking enjoyment. Retrohale does give you a mild Virginia sting but is worth it for the grassy hay and citrus notes. Slightly spicy aftertaste.

This reminds me of sun tea, in that it’s a no bullshit all natural sweetened tobacco. Would smoke this again by it self and will have fun mixing it. For what it’s intended job is I give it 4 stars. Can’t wait to see what this does over time.

Pipe Used: Two Peterson Systems

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DeathMetal.org (231)	2021-08-30		Very Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant

Summary: a mild, flavorful sweet Virginia roasted to perfection.

Almost nothing in nature proves as convenient as an apple, which we just pick off the tree and enjoy. For most foodstuffs, we have to breed them selectively, choosing the high producers and making more of them instead of directly manipulating genes, then ferment them, press them, dice them, age them, and cook them. The same proves true of tobacco: probably from the same young stock red Virginia as their other blends, "507-S" goes through a roasting process that drives out most of the acid and ammonia, leaving behind an easy-smoking blend with a faint hint of maple and fruit, probably from whatever cased the blend before roasting. Although wet, it burns easily, and delivers a natural caramel flavor all the way to the bottom of the bowl. You could smoke this one straight all-day and not be dissatisfied, but if you mix it 60-40 with Burley and then add in your favorite aromatic as a third of the mix, you will end up with a lighter aromatic that loses none of its flavor. I would not use this in English blends without adding some bright and brown Virginias, but it might make a near-perfect vaper if you tossed in some bright Virginia and a little white Burley.

Similar Blends: Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. - Dark Virgina Cavendish Unscented, Rattray - Dark Fragrant.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	doc pipes (110)	2021-08-01		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

With all of the comparisons to McClelland Virginias, I had to try this. I was a huge fan of Butera Dark Stoved and was hoping to find something in that ballpark. Spoiler, it is nothing like dark stoved. To readers who remember the beavis and butthead couch fishing episode, there is one phrase that sums up the pouch aroma: Prune box air. It is a course, wide cut ribbon that can paradoxically be rubbed out. This led to one annoying feature I have noted in other sutliff made products, a sort of tobacco dust/flour that coats the leaf. It is weird and surprisingly doesn’t work well as kindling. The fairly dry leaf is mainly charcoal black with errant stripes of dark brown leaf. This is one of those tobaccos that is “all in the snork.” It is mild to a fault, and I often perceived more flavor in the sidestream than the smoke itself. On the upside there are some nice charred/roasted marshmallow notes. These are followed by some hints of marginally sweet earthy autumn leaves towards the end of the bowl.

This is not a bad tobacco, just a bit weak in many respects per my taste. All of that being said, if I could talk to myself as a new pipe smoker, I would push myself past all of the traditional starter aromatics that so many potential smokers have likely been driven away by, and towards something like this. It is mild, gentle on the tongue, natural tasting.

This may be the perfect first tobacco to give a new smoker.

Age When Smoked: Fresh bulk

Purchased From: SP

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Big Blue Jazzman (73)	2021-03-31		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Wanted to attempt a reasonable copy of Mc 5110. Asked the man Russ if he could give me some pointers and he did. Blended an equal amount of this stoved black and Ps Latakia. Added about 10% blending Turkish. It was a reasonably good match for my taste. Of couse its not McClelland but we have to take what we can get anymore! Happy blending!

Pipe Used: Ascorti

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smoking pipes

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Knightsmoker (218)	2021-12-14		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Sutliff Stoved VA 507-S has a jar note that is rich and deep with sweetness, some dark fruit notes and a little earthy. In the pipe, there is a fermented and tangy dark fruit note that move toward tart at times, it is very earthy with a note or two of wood, a slight yest/bread note and at times subtle note of lemon peal that comes and goes. It does take several false lights before it gets going but after it takes light it burns with just a few relights. The nic is at the middle of the mild to med range but the flavor is med full end, something that at least for me is not often said. It will not bite and the room note for me is very nice but wins no awards with the wife. The flavors do not develop toward the bottom as I expected what I get in the initial few puffs is all that is there so don't push this as it will get bitter. I prefer this in a medium sized bowl if smoking it straight. When mixed it adds depth and that dark fruity note that goes with just about anything. My 4 oz sample was very chunky and it is better if placed in a blender and briefly cut down a little when adding it to another blend. This is an easy 4 stars.

Age When Smoked: 11 months

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	hrhf (38)	2021-02-27		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Edit: 19 July, 2021 I’m revisiting this review to knock off a couple of stars. Since this review, I’ve experienced a lot of great tobacco. This isn’t one of those. Two stars.

Original review: 27 February, 2021 I’m two months into pipe smoking, after an absence of maybe eight years. Of course, my previous foray was relatively short. But it was long enough for me to have already gone through the familiar route of aromatics to English to Virginia blends.

So when I came back, I already knew what I like, but only in a in-the-ballpark sense. I initially focused on VaPers, but maybe half a dozen blends in, I realized I’m not especially fond of perique, other than very lightly.

So straight Virginias it is. And, at this point, I decided it was probably a good idea to spend a little time getting to know the different variations of Virginia out there.

And, after reading a LOT of reviews on here of a lot of different tobaccos, I decided to buy some fairly significant quantities of Sutliff’s 515-RC, their red Virginia, and this, its stoved counterpart.

I’ve got to say, in both cases, I’m in love.

But let’s focus on this stoved stuff. I’m not the type of smoker who can detect a whole lot of minute tasting notes. But with this, I detect a little tang. But not nearly as much as the red. It’s barely there, comparatively.

This stuff, I would primarily call this sweet.

But it’s so much more than that. It smokes nice and cool. And I’m not quite sure exactly what I’m describing, but there’s a softness of sorts in the smoke in my mouth. It’s just a luxurious, decadent kind of smoke.

And once I get past the halfway point in a bowl, that slight tanginess all but disappears, and I experience a superb sweetness reminiscent of Samuel Gawith’s Full Virginia Flake but — dare I? — better.

I’m still learning my way around this stuff, so this review will almost certainly be updated.

But at this point, I love it alone. I love it mixed with the aforementioned Red Virginia and the lightest sprinkle of granulated perique. That, my friend, beats almost all the various VaPers I’ve sampled over the last couple of months.

At this point, I’m going to stop singing its praises, because I want it to be in stock the next time I order. And that’s going to be soon, because I want to put some away, because it’s likely to be like silk made out of sugar with a little age.

At the moment, I’m definitely a Sutliff bulk man. And I haven’t even mentioned Virginia Slices yet.

Pipe Used: Various briars

Age When Smoked: Fresh/new stock

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (562)	2023-04-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Jar note of toast, mild tart fruit and peaty vegetation. Tobacco is a mostly fat ribbon cut of mostly black and a little dark brown. Moisture content is great. Burns slow with a few extra relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and very consistent, with notes of mildly sour dark fruit, spices, floral, sugar, savory, rich, zesty, wood, earth, mild fermented vinegary, mildly bitter orange peel, bready, mildly acidic, sweet hay, a tart and tangy citrus background note, and a peppery retro. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is great.

Pipe Used: Peterson Bard Rusticated 221 Fishtail

Age When Smoked: 4 years

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Badbrude (17)	2023-04-25		Very Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

By itself there's not much there but as a blending agent, to slow down the burn and provide some sweet basis, it does the job. I've been trying to find something that balances with Daughters & Ryan Ramback Turkish,which burns to quick and is characteristically sour, and this stoved VA is perfect. 50/50.

I like the big chunks, they balance out the small ribbon cut of the turkish.

Purchased From: Pipes And cigars

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Quiggifur (99)	2023-02-21		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

I don't love the cut, big sort of torn chunks of leaf. Jar notes are very nice, fruity, mainly raisin I think. In the smoke I get more raisin and maybe some tart apple, mild to moderate sweetness. Ridiculously mild, it's been rare to find a tobacco which doesn't produce a heavy cough if I try to inhale a little bit of smoke, but this one doesn't. Mild on the nicotine and flavor, maybe a little too mild for my tastes by itself. Probably be two stars if it were a blend aspiring to be more than it is, but for what it is, I'm comfortable with three.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	b7q (54)	2023-01-12		Very Mild	None Detected	Very Mild	Pleasant

I finally found the perfect blender. It was too bland for me to pump alone, like pumping air, with an aroma similar to dates.

Since I'm keen to buy a lot of samplers and now have a lot of helpless things on my hands, the 507S emboldened me to finish those mixtures.

Pipe Used: Briar&Meerschaum&Corn&Clay

Age When Smoked: new

Nobody has rated this review yet.