Tobaccos Sutliff Tobacco Company - Westminster (Sutliff Private Stock)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PIE-EYED-PIPER (20)	2011-07-04		Mild	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

Two tins were used for this review. Both tins were samples from 2010 and this year's Chicagoland pipe show. For this review, a Peterson Rosslare Classic 106 was used.

Both tins' moisture level were okay, and the tobaccos packed well. This being an English blend, one could hardly detect the latakia – pre-lit and lit. Neither strength nor the flavor was present in this tobacco. Finishing the entire bowl was an agonizing task in itself. On the plus side, the tobacco did burn well and you can, with great strain [at times], occasionally taste the Virginia.

This is by nowhere near the No. 5 blend. Both tins displayed the same characteristics: flavorless and no strength. At least, I can pretty much say that Sutliffe is consistent with this blend.

I am NOT RECOMMENDING this at this time.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3048)	2013-12-12		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The gold Virginia is mildly citrus sweet with a little grass, and a hint of earth and dark fruit coming from the dark Virginia. The woody, buttery sweet, slightly dry Turkish is hust above being a background player, while the Cyprian latakia adds the smokey, woody sweet flavor one would expect from that ingredient. Experienced English smokers may find the low nicotine level, and overall flavor profile a little too light for their personal taste. It's a mild English blend with no bite or harshness that burns cool and clean at a moderate pace, and is an all day smoke for those who want a dose of latakia without being overwhelmed by it.​​ Leaves little moisture in the bowl, needs few relights and has a consistent flavor. Has a pleasant after taste. You'll notice all the aspects of the tobaccos in every puff. Meant to be a Match for Dunhill London Mixture, and it's pretty close. The basic differences are that Westminster is slightly less grassy and slightly sweeter.

-JimInks

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JustinCarcerated (99)	2012-05-31		Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

Bought this thinking it was GL Pease's blend by the same name, sad to say. I was extremely excited upon tin opening as the smell was utterly amazing, like a mellower but with a nice chocolatey note. However-that's where the sensation ends, in the olfactory region. Very little flavor. I'll finish the tin, it offers some "bloom" toward bowls - end, as well as mid-level Vit N, but nothing close to the Nightcap I was looking to challenge. Don't waste your time nor money-even if you have it to burn.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2012-02-15		Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Terrible, just terrible. It does't even taste like tobacco when you light it up it leaves an aftertaste of slime its the worst tobacco i have ever had. Captain Black is the creme de la creme when compared to this. Would recommend it, and if you do, use your crappy pipe so it doesn't stink up your good one.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2012-12-03		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Picked up a well aged tin from a local cigar shop. Perfect moisture level in the tin and ready to smoke. Tin aroma was typical of a mild English blend. This is not high quality tobacco and it shows. The first third of the bowl is quite good but I find the flavor fades as the bowl progresses, particularly after a few relights. With so many other quality English blends to choose from in the same price range I cannot recommend it.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nonpareil (20)	2011-10-02		Very Mild	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

The tin aroma of this blend was quite pleasant and I looked forward to lighting up. Unfortunately, the tobacco burned quite hot and almost tasteless, except for an undertone of mildew.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Big Blue Jazzman (73)	2011-02-05		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

Received a free sample of No.5 and it was pretty good. Bought a tin of Westminster at a local B&M and thought I couldn't go wrong with a tradional English. I was wrong. Smells and tastes like dried grass to me. Burned well and smoked clean but just tasted bad. After about 6 bowls I pretty much gave up and am going to try throwing a little Black Cavendish in and see what happens. I don't want to waste whats left, spent 10 bucks for the tin.They need to go back to the drawing board with this one!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2010-11-04		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild	Tolerable

A raid on the website of a well-known tobacconist led me to buy a tin each of this blend and Sunrise Smoke. Neither were very satisfactory, but I finished the Sunrise - the tin of Westminster went into the trashcan. Harsh, unpleasant, and nothing remotely like a quality English. A slick residue on the inside of the tin makes me wonder if this tin wasn't somehow involved in the BP Gulf oil spill - it certainly tastes like a combination of petroleum and rotting seafood. Thanks for nothing, Altadis.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	guitar2mw (92)	2014-11-25		Mild	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

I love Sutliff's blends, and I figured that this one would be no exception. Boy was I wrong. I was attracted by the fact that it has oriental/Turkish in the mix, which I absolutely love. The tin note was sweet with smokey Latakia taking the lead. It packed just fine, and it was at just the right moisture right out of the tin. Upon lighting, I was immediately disappointed. The latakia disappeared, and it was really a flat-tasting smoke. Sutliff dropped the ball on this one. Since they have so many other good blends, I would be hard pressed to recommend this to anyone. John Bull has more flavor and it's cheaper.

Pipe Used: Italian Golf, Grabow Riviera, Kaywoodie

Age When Smoked: Fresh and aged 3+ months

Purchased From: Tobaccotown, Beaver, WV

Similar Blends: John Bull (very light English...John Bull is much better though).

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fr_tom (393)	2014-06-29		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This tobacco came at a good moisture level. It is a long ribbon with a few dark chopped bits. It smells of latakia, but it smells fairly mild. There is no chemical or unexpected scent to it.

Smoked, I found this to be mild and it presents as a slightly sweet Virginia base with just a little latakia. It burned cool for me, and the flavor was pretty consistent through the bowl. I know there is supposed to be some oriental tobacco in this, but I am not tasting any.

For probably the first 10 years I smoked a pipe, I was looking for a mild English blend. I smoked a Lane blend off and on called #10 Downing Street. That was not it, but it was close and could be purchased in bulk. It was an OK smoke. I suspect this Westminster was what I was actually looking for.

This gets a solid 3 from me. It is a pleasant smoke, although it is not especially complex. I recommend it if you are looking for a light English blend.

The description suggests it is like London Mixture, and London Mixture has more depth and complexity. If you try this expecting a close substitute, you will be disapointed.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2014-01-08		Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable

Another freebie with a tobacco order. At least this one was closer to what I ordered than most of the freebies they send. And since I can't stop people from sending these Sutliff blends to me, the best I can do is get over my insane desire to try everything, and simply toss these in the trash. On the other hand, this one at least has something to recommend it, albeit not much. I should also state up front that even though it galls me that Sutliff uses the same name as GLP for a blend that's supposed to approximate Dunhill London Mixture (GLP's blend purports to the same heights), I don't much care for Pease's version, either. So hopefully that kept the bias to a minimum.

The taste of this bordered on flat but occasionally an interesting flavor would shine through. It seems to me that this might have been envisioned as a starter English for newbies to the genre. In spite of Sutliff's "Perfect for lovers of X", this tastes nothing like London Mixture. It doesn't taste much like anything. Some latakia and an occasional waft of what seems to be substandard virginia. Closer to flat, IMHO. Reminded me quite a bit of Dunhill Standard Mild... just sort of warm smoke without much backbone, rather than London Mixture, which has a fair amount of depth and a lot more flavor. This blend earns 1.5 stars from me, rounded up to 2 because it has a bit more going for it than blends I award a single star. Even so, there are many, many, many blends better suited to the beginning English smoker than this one, at least IMHO. Try it if you want to dip your big toe into latakia without getting it too wet.

Pipe Used: meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Fresh

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DavidP (25)	2012-08-15		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

Overall a mild but pleasant smoke. Stuffs and puffs well enough and it arrived with a good moisture level.

The flavor is comprised of woody, spicy orientals over a light sweetness. This likely isn't interesting enough for a "prime time" smoke but would be OK for when you're busy doing something else.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2012-07-03		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I prefer strong tobaccos- but I received this as a free sample- and although this is a mild tobacco, it can be surprisingly refreshing. It has the taste characteristics of a true English. It's base does not appear to be of the highest quality, but that base stays largely hidden by the other tobacco flavors, and can add a little contrast to those other flavors, which I think is what accounts for it's refreshing quality.

It can heat up a lot if you smoke at all fast, as I do- and it will bite. Burns quite quickly. I dunno- I wouldn't buy this one...but I'll smoke what I have till it's gone, on those rare occassions when I want a light smoke.

If you're new to English blends, and want something with true English flavor, yet that isn't too heavy or strong...this would work for you. Oh, and it doesn't seem to have any nicotine. (Me? I like a LOT of nic!)

In summary, I think it's a good example of a middle-of-the-road English.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dixcreek (184)	2015-05-08		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

Upon first opening the tin I noticed a similar note of that from "5" blend by Sutliff. although similar, just not as strong. Packed well in the pipe, good char light, taste and aroma. Not to heavy of a smoke like some English types. Relight was good and it burned well throughout the bowl. The Latakia is there just not the main player, the note of Turkish is there but not an overwhelming player either. I believe it is a Virginia forward blend with the other tobaccos playing small supporting roles. With this being said it is still a pleasing smoke and can be enjoyed all day if one chooses to do so. I will score this one a solid 3, and will cellar a tin to see what characters appear after a few months.

Pipe Used: Kaywoodie Canadian

Age When Smoked: New Tin

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

Similar Blends: Dunhill London Mixture.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Coda (33)	2015-01-06		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I had been wanting to try this blend for a while now. I am a big fan of Dunhill's London Mixture, and was very curious as to how similar Westminster is to London Mixture. What makes this blend stand out among other english blends is its turkish component. Just like London Mixture, the turkish is the star of this blend. Burns cool and relatively clean, this blend is pretty simple to smoke. Not too terribly rich, I think this blend would be a bit much as an all-day smoker. Compared to London Mixture, this blend is a bit lacking. It is missing that "Dunhill essence" that has brought smokers back to their blends. That said, Westminster is a great blend...

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ArmedOctopus (20)	2014-04-07		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Very, very, very, enjoyable English blend.

I've tried countless blends in the short time I've been smoking. I've tried everything from the newer Frog Morton line to the old classics like Squadron Leader and everything in between. This is a nice English. It isn't heavy or NIC-laden but it is a very enjoyable, relaxing smoke.

Moisture level was perfect, which I have come to expect from Sutliff blends (with the obvious exception of Molto Dolce). This is a tobacco that you light and burn all the way down with one match. Perfect.

The flavor is very nice. Not overwhelming but balanced. One of my favorite English blends is their very own Blend no 5. Probably not a true English in the strictest sense of the word, but I like it very much. This blend is very similar. I would consider this a light or entry level English, but a great blend nonetheless. No tongue bite whatesoever. Light to medium smokiness with not much aftertaste. Personally, when I'm done smoking, I want to be done and not have it linger in my mouth for hours.

This is a really good tobacco. Probably not enough to satisfy the tobacco snobs out there, but I would say I enjoyed it as much as the Frog Morton line, and at a much lower sticker point. Recommended.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CTS (138)	2014-01-10		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Latakia forward, but not overwhelming, sweetness contributed by the Virginia. Nice spice on the retrohale. Burns cool and clean. Very mild initially, but strength ramps up a bit through the bowl. 2+ stars.

Pipe Used: MM

Age When Smoked: Undated; bought 3 months ago

Purchased From: CI

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2012-09-16		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Like all of the Sutliffe blends, I like it. Maybe a little mild for my taste, but smokes very well. I do and will continue to enjoy this brand and blend.

Nobody has rated this review yet.