Sutliff Tobacco

The origins of Sutliff Tobacco Company go back to the mid-19th century. In 1849 H.W. Sutliff founded the Sutliff Tobacco Company in San Francisco, California. From the mid-19th century until the early 1900™s the company primarily operated as a retail establishment, selling cigars and pipe tobaccos. Starting in 1933, the company began manufacturing its flagship brand Mixture 79. Demand for Mixture 79 grew all through the 30™s and 40™s to where finally, in 1953, the company needed a larger manufacturing facility. At that time (as now) Richmond, Virginia was at the center of the tobacco business in the United States and most of the major tobacco companies had their production facilities located in Richmond. Most of the major leaf dealers had warehouse and distribution facilities located in the city, and the location was close to the tobacco markets in southern Virginia and North Carolina. In 1963 Sutliff Tobacco Company purchased the Heines Blend brand to complement its well-established Mixture 79 product. In 1969 Consolidated Cigar Corporation, then owned by Gulf and Western, purchased the company. With the now enormous sales resources of Consolidated Cigar behind it, the company entered into the Private Label business and Cavendish Cut style tobaccos by purchasing Greenville & Winters. Prior to this, Mixture 79 and Heines Blend had been primarily Burley Plug-Cut style pipe tobacco. Consumer tastes in pipe tobacco changed considerably in the 1970s, moving away from Burley Plug style blends to more highly flavored Cavendish cut blends. In response to this shift in consumer tastes, Consolidated Cigar entered into a licensing agreement with Old Grand Dad Bourbon and introduced a line of highly aromatic pipe tobacco. The licensing agreement expired in the early 90™s and the name Old Grand Dad was discontinued, but that same blend is marketed under our Dutch Masters Pipe Tobacco brand. In 1987 Consolidated Cigar Corporation purchased Milt Sherman Pipe Tobacco, and with that purchase, entered the highly profitable ...