Tobaccos Sutliff Tobacco Company - Mild Burley J4

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3025)	2017-08-02		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

The earthy burleys also provide a bit of nuts, a little molasses, and a touch of cocoa and wood. The mild vanilla topping doesn’t sublimate the burleys much. It does have a slight rough edge that you may not notice unless you puff real fast. The strength is a step past the mild mark, while the taste is a slot past that level. Has a mild nic-hit, and won’t bite. The tobacco may need a light dry time. Burns slightly slow with a mostly cool, very clean consistent flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires a few relights. Has a very pleasant, lightly lingering after taste and room note. Can be an all day work and play smoke.

-JimInks

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2016-02-24		Very Mild	Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant

When I smoke an aromatic, I appreciate the flavor of Vanilla. I am also a Burley lover, but, I am also a fan of strength. So, I mixed this 80/20 with Five Brothers (A super stout shag Burley that absorbs the flavor of other blends while firing off cannon shots of nicotine). For once, I made a blend that roared!

For those of you who enjoy the flavor of Vanilla mixed with Burley but do not like strong tobaccos, I think this one will satisfy you. Good stuff!

Pipestud

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lobo (8)	2019-01-22		Mild	Medium	Mild	Pleasant

Smooth vanilla topped burley. Puffed it like a train with no signs of bite.could smoke this all day rotation. All in all a decent smoke. Better than drug store flavored tobacco

Pipe Used: Bones bent bulldog

Age When Smoked: New

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-12-28		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant

A freebie with an online tobacco order. I need to learn to Just Say No!

Ok, this wasn't bad but it qualifies as a straight and natural burley like video game addicts qualify as athletes. This is an aromatic - a light aromatic to be sure, but an aromatic all the same. And not the best representation of that genre, either. But not bad. Comes wet in the pouch and needs some drying time... which is an exercise in pointlessness anyway.

Ribbon cut with a color all over the map, the pouch nose is decidedly vanilla. As for the flavor, the vanilla is light but somehow the natural burley taste doesn't come through much, and when it does, it has an oddly sweet/sour taste. Overall, I found this extremely bland and not much good for any occasion. There are much better burleys out there, including most OTC's, and much better aromatics as well. This sort of skirts both styles without making a mark in either. Try it only if it's free, and even then give some thought to whether you want to smoke hot air with a light vanilla taste. Not bad, but hardly worth the effort.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Denevei (58)	2011-01-08		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant

I received a pouch of J4 Mild Burley along with an order from a well-known etailer and figured, “Why not.” I'm usually a bit leery of free blends, but I like burleys and felt it might be OK. It must be noted that I am not usually an aromatic smoker.

The pouch presentation is of a uniformly light-brown, relatively short-cut ribbon. As soon as I opened the pouch I was met with a somewhat strong vanilla aroma. That same aroma is obvious in the charring light, and throughout the bowl. I like vanilla; the flavor is often written off as “plain”, but it comes from orchids and, to me, is rather exotic. The tobacco is relatively moist in the pouch, and after sitting open over night it remained moist, indicating a fair amount of PG was used in processing.

Unlike a lot of aromatics, J4 seems OK both on relights and also after being DGT'd. To me this indicates two things; first, the tobacco used is relatively good stuff, and second, the vanilla flavoring is of good quality.

The smoke stays cool and even, with little change or nuance, from first light to the last puff. Several people told me that the room in which I smoke smelled like French Vanilla, and so a very pleasant room note. In all honesty, the vanilla, while obvious, is never overpowering. The taste is quite sweet, more than straight Virginias, which is unusual for a burley and so must be from the topping.

The burn of the tobacco is even and easy, and it stays lit. There isn't a lot of ghosting from the flavor. I would call this a light aromatic. J4 reminds me of Burley Light Without a Bite, in appearance and smoking flavor. As aromatics go this one is quite pleasant. I would recommend it to aromatic smokers who like vanilla, or to any smoker looking for a slightly sweeter than usual change of pace. Those seeking a light burley, but not wanting the aromatic side, will want to look elsewhere. As a non-aromatic smoker it isn't a blend I'll ever buy, but judging impartially I would have to say that J4 is a pretty nice offering, and one I wouldn't turn down if offered a bowl at a Pipe Club meeting.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-03-31		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

This tobacco is exactly what it says it is, a mild burley. And it's a pretty good mild burley. It has everything you'd expect in a burley; a mild natural sweetness, nutty flavor, real tobacco taste and aroma. And it doesn't taste like it has anything at all added (another positive for being what it says it is).

It is easy to light, smoked to the bottom of the bowl without a relight, does increase in strength as you near the bottom of the bowl (as expected) but never really has a foul taste even to the last puff. Like most tobaccos it will bite if you force it to but you'd have to force this to bite. And it leaves a pleasant after taste.

Don't come to this tobacco looking for any flavorings or complexities. They aren't there. That's not what this is all about. It does have a pleasant tobacco aroma, but again if you're looking for an 'aromatic', this is not what you're looking for.

It's more gentle than what I usually expect from a 'codger' burley like PA or CH. In fact, this tobacco almost tastes innocent by comparison. It does not lack for flavor when compared to those tobaccos, it's just more whey faced.

If you're interested in a blending tobacco this will probably blend well with almost anything or make for a good base to start a blend with. Or if you're interested in flavoring your own tobacco this will probably take on a topping quite nicely.

There are a lot of burleys out there to be tried. This one is probably about as clean and unadulterated as you will find.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	salopst (15)	2012-06-27		Mild	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant

The only tobacco I have tried that I could not finish a bowl of. I'm not even going to offer it to someone on one of the many tobacco exchange fora-- straight to the trash for this.

Foul, just foul. I do not like aromatics, but this one smelt mildly of vanilla (a flavour I generally love), and I've been getting a kick out of burleys recently so I thought "why not?"

I am not sure what the aftertaste is, but boys! It lingers on the palate like one has sucked on an old rubber band. I dumped the remaining half bowl, and for about ten minutes I keep looking around to see if I dropped an ember on the carpet.

On leaving and re-entering my smoking room, though, the air did smell rather pleasant.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	musicman (131)	2012-04-25		Mild	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Not gonna lie here, I really did not expect much from this one. Came free as a sample in an order I placed. I thought "oh boy, they cant sell the stuff so they are giving it away". Also the name led me to believe it wasn't very good. J-4? Not even worthy of one of those silly pipe tobacco names? like brimingshire forest? or country side escapades? Whatever, I put in in a bowl and fired it up.

I have to admit it is not that bad. It is not spectacular by any means, but enjoyable. It is pretty sweet, and needs some drying time, but I couldn't help but think this was a sweeter take on the tradition american OTC burleys.

Sometimes Altadis blends get poor reviews based on prejudices. This may be one such blend. It is not bad at all. It performed better than I thought it would. this would make a nice blend to keep in the tackle box.

Recommended.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	russ (27)	2012-01-28		Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

I as some others got a sample of this with a on line purchase. Thought ok what the heck. I will give this an actual chance, and review. WELL---freakin terrible. The stuff is as flat as it gets. Burns hot, also has a nasty after taste, and for a burly it has to rank up there as one of the worst I have tried. I hate to be rude, but wow---its one of the few tobaccos I simply would just tell anyone--dump it out on the lawn. I was VERY disappointed with this stuff--even though it was free---I guess they must have to give it away as if one buys it--they never do again----------vile stuff---cheap try at burly. As was said--there is no review choice for "NO STARS"--so I say a "1". Do yourself a favor--don't waste your money on this. I can HONESTLY say that this is one of the worst tobaccos I tried, and gave an honest chance in several different pipes, and smokes--NEVER AGAIN---YUCK.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SopwithCamel (255)	2011-12-28		Mild	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable

Despite a pleasant aroma, this was a dull, sour and cheap tasting Burley.

It did not have any of the pleasant nuttiness or depth a good Burley can have.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	strongirish (249)	2011-08-07		Very Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Altadis gets dissed a lot and for some blends they deserve it but they have many good ones as well. I just smoked 2 oz of this blend this week and i have to say it's one of the best straight burleys I have ever smoked and I have smoked a lot of them. Simply put, if you like a cool burning, creamy nutty flavor that can very easily be an all day smoke, then you must try this one. In the pouch it is a mix of colors from light khaki to dark brown cut in a ribbon cut and rather thin. It smells rich and natural in the pouch and it does need to dry a little but after drying it packs very well into the pipe and smokes nice and slow and cool all the way down. It will smoke all the way down too leaving a dark gray ash and very little dottle. The room note is very pleasant, I never got one complaint from the war wagon on this one. The smoke is very creamy and nutty and goes fantastic with coffee or tea. This would be a great mixer with other tobaccos though i did not as I enjoyed it straight too much to try. I will be buying more of this blend to keep on hand and I highly recommend trying it if you are a burley fan.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr. Scott (82)	2011-02-17		Mild	Strong	Mild	Strong

Vile. Zero stars (but that is not a choice in the system).

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	romaso (45)	2021-01-22		Mild	Strong	Mild	Tolerable

This is described as a vanilla flavored burley. I got a touch of vanilla for the first puff or so, and then the licorice obliterated it. Also, the underlying burley is very bland. Why do they describe it as vanilla flavored when its dominated by licorice?

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LV9 (85)	2019-12-25		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Light vanilla taste with decent chocolate notes, my sample was freebie that I received included in an order about 5 years ago, I left it on my shed and forgot about it and guess what is still wet, proceed it to pack it on a cherrywood Ropp and here are my findings, smokes okay decent aromatic not great it bites like hell if you push it, almost no nicotine to speak of, so here is the thing in my opinion this is not worth the time when you can still get Prince Albert or Carter Hall.

Pipe Used: Ropp cherrywood

Age When Smoked: 5 years

Purchased From: Gift from smoking pipes

Similar Blends: Boswell Pipes & Tobacco - Boswell's Premium Burley.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Earl Grey (34)	2012-04-14		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

It is moist right out of the pouch, so I would recommend some drying time. It's great on it's own or as a blender. Cool smoke, nice nutty flavor. Also has a slight hint of vanilla. It only took one light after the char and burned down to ash.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum cob, hardwood, Italian Briar.

Age When Smoked: Fresh out of bulk ziplock bag.

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DakotaPeacePipe (33)	2011-07-22		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

The name for me was misleading, Mild Burley had me expecting just that, but in reality this blend is a mild vanilla aromatic. However, it is a very good mild vanilla aromatic, did not for this vigorous puffer bite in the least. The vanilla flavor is there from start to finish but does not overwhelm and the PG seemed to be applied in moderation, at least for Altadis. I will seek this out when I have a hankering for good vanilla aromatic.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fountainhead (17)	2011-02-14		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

My "thoughtless" smoke. It has a nice one-dimensional neutral sort of nutty taste, a decent nicotine hit, and it burns nicely. No harshness or risk of tongue bite whatsoever. I would not even classify this as an "aromatic", although some may, only because it is very pure and high quality with hardly any casing at all. The only slight downside is that it builds up moisture rather quickly. The best way to describe this blend would be to say that this is what pipe smokers should turn to if they want the licentious qualities of a cigarette.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-02-09		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Wet in the package, but dried nicely. Smoked the whole way to the bottom in one light. Pretty good flavor. I was getting a slight taste of figs in this-- Not my particular favorite, but it wasn't really overwhelming and was still an enjoyable smoke. I'd recommend it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-01-16		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I hate drugstore aromatics like Capt Black and the likes thereof. When I gave up trying to enejoy my first briar with CB I went to Carterhall and said. Now thats kinda nice.

I too received this as a free sample pouch and gave it a serious tasting while fishing. You know a better way?

I enjoyed this very much. Yeah you're going to have to dry it out over night. But believe me its worth the wait.

Its remains damp in the morning but thats OK really. It keeps the toby burning nice and slow and very cool. So no worries about tongue bite if the taste gets you puffing a lil more than you normally do. Its a very friendly smoke indeed.

I have a bit of a time describing the flavor of this. So read the other posts. Mild vanilla might be a word to throw in here though.

This will be a blend you will find in my home from now on. Its worth having in bulk because the price if cheaper than many of the crap drugstore brands like Capt Black.

Definately a nice smoke if you're into tasty light aromatics.

If it wasn't for the dampness of this blend I'd say this would be a very good toby for new pipe smokers. But maybe a good second step though.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-01-13		Extremely Mild	Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant

I too received this neat little blend as a gift from an etailer and decided to give it a run.

J4 would be what I consider a tolerable aromatic [I've move further into VA's and English blends]. The casing is light and the aroma is pleasing to the Mrs. I like the smell of the smoke when I draw through my nostrils. However, for me it is bland and has that bitter aftertaste I associate with Burleys (which reminds me why I've decided to get away from aromatics)

I would recommend this to aromatic smokers who want a more cleaner tasting tobacco. It's good enough that I will not be discarding it but I would not deliberately go out and purchase any for myself.

2011.01.20

Okay, as others have suggested, I let the pouch air out for a good 24 hours and must say that the bitterness has somewhat dissipated. The tobacco is much more sweeter and smells somewhat caramel-like. Because the bitterness has gone, I'm upping this to three stars instead of two!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TK Pipe (101)	2010-12-09		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Mild Burley… Not knowing what to expect from a blend called “mild burly” and being a sucker for most burleys blends, I figured why-not, and ordered some. Receiving my order, I was anxious to give it a try, so I fired up a bowl. The first thought to enter my mind was “this stuff is substantial” no hidden nuances here, just burley, I like it. A welcome replacement for the troublesome "Cube". I must admit, I'm really not sure where the line is drawn between an aromatic or a non aromatic, so I will call it neither. It seems to have a very faint vanilla aroma of some sort, which for me seems natural, so call it what you like. I believe many will love this stuff, straight up or as a dynamite blender. Overall, easy to light, stays lit and most important to me, it tolerates my outdoor puffing rate, without bite or harshness. For it's genre, 3 stars. My personal rating 2/5

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (453)	2022-12-31		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Jar note of bitter dry dark chocolate, sweet cream, and mild tart fruit. Tobacco is very moist, brown and dark brown, and mostly a medium ribbon with a bit of small course cut mixed in. Drying out is needed. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is very mild, with notes of vanilla, flavoring wains near the middle. Taste is mild to medium and mostly consistent, with notes of bitter wood, brown sugar, bread, mild cocoa, dry earth, a mildly sweet nut background note, and a peppery retro. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is good.

Pipe Used: Wally Frank Limited White Bar Sandblast 128

Age When Smoked: 4 years

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dave A (22)	2022-07-07		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant

Like others note, I received this as a gift with an online order. I stuck it away and forgot about it until a few days ago. Was surprised when I opened it, after ten years it was still moist. Since it is ten years old this is the Altidas version of J4. I understand the Sutliff version is no different. Since it has been in a baggie for ten years does make me wonder what was done to it since it is still so moist. It did still have a mild woody and vanilla smell somewhat similar to a drug store tobacco. Easy to pack and light, it burned well. Mild taste of cocoa and vanilla is gone early in the bowl, then you are left with the typical burley flavor which is not a bad thing to be left with. Not complicated and not much different than the typical over the counter smoke but better quality. If you like the typical over the counter smokes you will love this. It can easily be an all day smoke. You will also smell like someone's grandpa but in a good way.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Aurelia

Age When Smoked: 10 years

Purchased From: gift with order

Similar Blends: An upscale version of Prince Albert.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Max1a (38)	2011-02-09		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant

I too got a packet of this in a recent etail order. My first impressions were, "Oh No, another PG and chemical soaked burley!" I let it air out on a paper plate overnight and gave it a fair start in the morning on a clean palate.

Upon examination it seems to be high quality burley with little or no lumber floating around in it. Pouch odor is the familiar chemical toppings with a background note of tobacco. Upon lighting, the tobacco taste is very masked by the addition of a vanilla-like topping. It lights easy, stays lit pretty well and doesn't seem to gurgle or gunk up your pipe. It did leave a heavy, oily residue on the rim that I don't experence with other tobaccos I enjoy. Conclusions, It was free! Really, it was not BAD! It just was not what I would call GOOD. Smokable, more so than Capt.Black or Borkum Riff, but still too artificial tasting for me.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Arkie (129)	2011-01-24		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild	Pleasant

UPDATE I am beginning to suspect Altadis put some glycol in this baccy so I'm lowering my rating of it down to only "somewhat recommneded".

I received a pouch of this stuff as a free sample along with an order from an e-shop. It is surprisingly mild for a burley and it smokes cool & dry. It has quality leaf in it and it doesn't bite. It is similar to some of the "house blends" from most local tobacco shops. Recommended.

Nobody has rated this review yet.