Cornell & Diehl Burley Flake #5

(3.33)
C&D's Burley Flake #5 is a robust, sweet blend of light and dark burleys, with zesty red and bright Virginias and just the right amount of dark-fired Kentucky.

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Blended By Cornell & Diehl
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type Burley Based
Contents Burley, Kentucky, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Flake
Packaging 50 grams tin
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium to Strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.33 / 4
8

8

2

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 18 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 17, 2018 Medium to Strong Extremely Mild Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
The light and dark burleys provide a bit of nuttiness, a fair amount of earth and wood, and a couple drops of molasses as the main components. The tangy ripe dark fruity, earthy, lightly sugary and bready red Virginia takes a lead over the very citrusy, mildly grassy bright Virginias. They are important secondary players. The woody, earthy, mildly floral, nutty dark fired Kentucky also has a little sweetness, some spice, and a dry note or two as an obvious condiment that you’ll notice in every puff. I notice a few drops of maple and something else in the mix. The strength and taste levels are medium. Both these aspects gain a little strength once past the half way mark, so I will rate them a step or so higher than medium. The nic-hit at its peak is medium. Won’t bite, but despite the sweetness, it has a rough edge at times. The flakes are moist, and you may consider drying them a little. I did not do that. Burns fairly cool, very clean, and slow. There is a little inconsistency in the overall sweet and savory flavor as some nuances rise and recede here and there. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. Has a very pleasant, lightly lingering after taste. Not an all day smoke, but it can be a repeatable one. Three and a half stars out of four.

-JimInks
21 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 08, 2018 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Tolerable to Strong
I’ll be frank and say that I do not enjoy Virginia or VA/Per blends. Therefore, I don’t review them or buy them. I also detest blends where the VAs just stand out more than, say, Latakia or the accompanying tobaccos. I need VA to just sit down and shut up for me to enjoy a blend.

Burleys on the other hand are my forte. I love when a company puts out a good Burley Flake or uses it well in English blends.

What made this blend sing for me is the way the flavors sing their own tune but find a way to harmonize.

For example, on the first light I immediately noticed the Virginia tobaccos but also tasted the Burley. I didn’t know what to think at first because the VA was there, no hiding that, but I tamped and re-lit the bowl and sat back and just enjoyed what this offered up.

The VA’s danced ever so well that it went hand in hand with the Burley which is also very well balanced as to provide enough of that earthy sweetness and nuttiness without being overbearing. Add in the fact that the dark fired Kentucky plays more of a condiment roll and what you have is a smoke that keeps your attention.

The spice that the Kentucky adds should be thought of as a good rye - it imparts a spice that doesn’t over power but doesn’t linger longer than it should but you know it’s there.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this blend is it isn’t overly strong as some C&D blends can be. I found the nicotine to be noticeable but less so than Old Dark Fired and much less than Irish Flake.

The only negatives I will give this blend are:

1. If pushed too hard this blend will turn bitter and unpleasant. It’s similar to Irish Flake in regards to this. Slow your cadence and this will correct itself.

2. The end of the bowl can get a tad one dimensional. I very much enjoyed the vast majority of my time with this tobacco but the final leg of the bowl just became a bit boring. Nothing terrible mind you, but it just seemed to lose that “wow” factor.

With that being said I don’t think it should cost it any stars because I will stock up on this and enjoy this very much in the warmer months ahead. ODF is my favorite blend like this and Burley Flake #5 came very close to beating it but will sit a close 2nd.
Pipe Used: Peterson Royal Irish, Neerup Ida
PurchasedFrom: SP
Age When Smoked: Fresh
15 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 06, 2018 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Cornell & Diehl - Burley Flake #5.

When I received an email from Smokingpipes.com announcing this as their latest addition I ordered a tin imminently. Likewise, when it arrived in the post it never made it to my cellar; received, opened, smoked.

The blend has a build that's closer to #3 and 4: actual flakes. The first in the series were broken, #1 looked like thick ribbons, but #5 is a steadfast flake. This doesn't mean a formidable hand's needed, though, they begin to crumble at the slightest touch. They're fairly dark in colour.

A bowl lights easily, generating a decent burn, where the only fault lies with the heat: when puffed voraciously it becomes too warm. The Burley and Kentucky definitely outweigh the Virginia, but it doesn't taste like a fire-cured mess. The Burley gives a sweet, nutty, flavour and the Kentucky adds a touch of exuberance without completely dominating the flavour. The Virginia requires more identification, it can be picked out, but the calibre the other leaves have means it's a bit of an exerting task to do so. The main flavour's good, but what puts me off a little is a slightly 'dusty' top note; this detracts from the enjoyment.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: pleasant-ish.

Burley Flake #5? It's 'alright' but harbours a few negatives for much of a recommendation.

Two stars.
Pipe Used: L' Anatra
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: New
14 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
AC
Feb 02, 2018 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
I am a burley lover, and I consider C&D Burley Flake #1 (Burley, Kentucky, Perique, Virginia) my top most favored blend, followed closed by Burley Flake #4 (Burley, Kentucky, Latakia, Virginia). Yet, I do not care much for Burley Flake #2 & #3. As such, I was truly excited about the real possibility of adding a third top blend to my rotation, now a Burley, Kentucky, Virginia. In terms of the "mechanics" of the blend, the soft flakes in this one are much like the others of this real tobacco series: simply great and beautiful, packs, lights and burns well (even if a bit wet, which I enjoy), and I must also add, with a tantalizing tin note.

Having said all this, I admit being somewhat disappointed with this newest edition of the Burley Flakes' series. First, it is weaker in overall taste and Vitamin-N than its predecessors. Next, although there is a pervasive sweetness I do enjoy, it lacks "complexity" for the most part (i.e., the different phases of the burning tobacco in the bowl), even though you know absolutely you are smoking a C&D Burley Flake. I think the issue is that being a rather mild blend, it lacks oomph, especially if compared with Burley Flake #1 & #4. Hence, only two stars.

Still, a good and pleasant smoke from the best tobacco blenders in the world.

Update (15/02/2018): I have given further chances to this blend. As it dried out a bit, I have found it to be more enjoyable, albeit no change in complexity. Its strength has grown as well with the drying out, and as such, it actually deserves a notch up in this review to a "third star".
Pipe Used: Early Mincer Era Custombilt
PurchasedFrom: www.smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: new
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 04, 2018 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
Great stuff... The burleys and dark fired add that nutty bold strength. I also love the red virginias... the sour sweetness is in perfect balance with the other leaves. Nic hit is noticeable. I like this one as much, if not more than Burley Flake #4 (which has latakia). It's strong enough that I have to pace myself, and could maybe only do one bowl a day... but my what a bowl!
Pipe Used: Mark Twain Cob
PurchasedFrom: Smoking Pipes
Age When Smoked: New
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 01, 2018 Strong None Detected Full Strong
This one took me a while to really enjoy... when it arrived the tin-note was very sour and strongly of vinegar, which quite confused me! I packed a bowl nonetheless, but in the smoke the same: Vinegar all the way :-/

After letting the tobacco sit in the tin for a few days the vinegar faded remarkably in the scent, so I dared to stuff 2 flake-chunks in a cob. Sour vinegar is almost completly gone, C&D's d.f. Kentucky tends to be a bit sour for me, but that's just fine. I've puffed quite a few bowls by now and it's a "smooth strong smoke" ;-P

Now, that the vinegar is gone, it's a very solid smoke! The Kentucky is quite prensent, giving a rich smokiness to the blend, that is perfectly outbalanced by a very mellow, yet everpresent sweetness, prolly from the Virginias in here. The Burleys play silently, being the foundation, but they do harmonize well and its earthy and woodsy notes melt perfectly with the dark fired Kentucky! There's also a slight nutty and sharp edge to it all the way through the bowl, which I find quite pleasant and refreshing, opening up the rather "dark" and tart flavor profile BF#5 offers.

For lovers of dark fired leaf a wonderful treat! But also fans of the Burley Flake line will find joy in this, it's a great after-dinner smoke. Hearty, full-bodied, with that raw and untamed charme of a Kentucky blend. Bet this one pairs well with a spicy drink, such as a scotch or rum!

|| Personal rating: 3-stars | Rated for what it is: 4-stars! ||
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 11, 2020 Strong None Detected Full Tolerable to Strong
To me, this pipe blend is like an old Harley; you have to kick it to start. When I lit the #5- filled Charatan 44, I was met with an eruption of tobacco strands and a small mess. When I tamped down, the mess got bigger and spilled onto the counter top. On the relight, I got a couple of puffs in and it went out again. The second tamp was not quite as messy as the first and, on the third try, it started. The tin appearance is of a rich and ruddy medium brown interlaced with golden flecks. The tin aroma is, at one and the same time, both familiar and strange; familiar as in we all have smoked a Burley/Virginia blend and strange in the absence of a tobacco that has become so wide spread in use today - Perique. Instead, you get a dose of dark fired Kentucky and have to shake the feeling that something is wrong. I shook off that feeling right away and accepted C&D Burley Flake #5 for what it was; a strong and stout Latakia-less and Perique-less VaBur that yields a ton of pleasure. It never bit and the room note, though not a prize-winner, was really enjoyable to walk back into from another room. I feel this blend would age rather well and I intend to age some in my stash. I'm just beginning to use #5 in micro blending and, so far, that has worked-out really well. I'm amazed at how many of our reviewers rated this smoke as too light. In fact, it is a strong and in your face four star blend.
Pipe Used: Charatan black sandblasted 44
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: tinned 10/24/19
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 09, 2019 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
This comes in a mostly broken flake that was not pressed too firmly. I found it came at a good level of hydration for me, and I mostly smoked it after rubbing it out and then stuffing it in the bowl from my palm.

This was an enjoyable smoke. It is burley-forward as the name would suggest. I get a little fruit and some sweet from the Virginias and there is some spice from the Kentucky. It burns predictably and did not leave a damp heel. There is a pleasant body to the burley that I find satisfying.

This one is easy to recommend. The only drawback is the cost per ounce really in the tins. I would probably not buy this again given the price point and other options, but this tin was a gift from my daughter, and a very good one!

My wife commented favorably on the room note. I can believe this response would not be universal.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 03, 2019 Medium to Strong Extremely Mild Full Pleasant
IMO, C&D are masters of blends I call “artful codgers”, which build upon and improve their codger progenitors. And their Burley Flake #5 is yet another great example of this sort of blend. The tobaccos here are well melded, presented in the tin as broken flakes, moist in my young tin and smelling of slightly earthy, yeasty, dough-y bread with very faint dark fruit compote, some fermented zing and a muted edge, the colors ranging from medium red-ish brown to dark brown and khaki. I like to at least try most of my pipe tobacco at tin moisture, and BF5 tastes very good smoked this way, albeit it takes patience to light and it requires numerous relights to smoke it moist. In terms of pipes, after a little rest this one smokes great in the same “small” (looks tiny but it’s a #4) poker I now use exclusively for another C&D Burley, their Burley Flake #3. BF5 starts out as a “serious” VA, with country bread and dark fruit from stoved red and surprisingly deep lemon VAs that are also grassy and slightly “effervescent”, with the light and dark Burleys steadily rising to deepen and quickly take over the blend as they add more and more mixed nuts and bitter tannins to the natural VA and added sugars. The KY is spare but it certainly factors in, contributing a little smoke and that buttery quality that I so enjoy when it’s present. Aromas are savory and bitter sweet, running with the tastes, along with some wood, meadow grasses and faintly floral whiffs. Great stuff. Strength the way I smoke it builds close to strong, with full tastes. Room note is actually pleasant. Aftertaste is a lingering and even sweeter best of the smoke.

Hard to second guess other smokers, but I suppose this one is “geared” to veterans. However, the added sugars might encourage newbies to stay with it, and they might just learn to like it. I surely do. 4 stars and hats off to C&D.
Pipe Used: various briars; #4 poker preferred
PurchasedFrom: Liberty Tobacco
Age When Smoked: fresh from young tin, then rested a little
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 28, 2018 Mild to Medium Medium to Strong Medium to Full Tolerable
C&D Burley flake #5 nuttiness and some earth from the Dark Burley the Virginia's are up front with a light fruity sweetness and hay the dark fired ky adds some spice and sweetness this blend will get bitter if you smoke it to fast I went slow and had a lot of relights but with some dry time and a slow cadence this is as good as Solani age burley flake , the vitamin N is medium the blend smoked cool no bit but needs a little dry time , its a nutty earthy sweet blend with a little spice I say it's a good Smoke buy it
Pipe Used: OMS bent Dublin
PurchasedFrom: a sample
Age When Smoked: fresh
5 people found this review helpful.
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