Cornell & Diehl Back Porch

The Virginias are earthy some some dark fruit, a little citrus and grass as the main components. The perique plays a small, but important role in the mix with plum and pepper notes that balances out the other flavors. Has a mild nic-hit. Won't bite or get harsh. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a mostly consistent flavor. Needs hardly any relights, and leaves little dampness in the bowl. Has a pleasant after taste and room note. An all day smoke.

-JimInks

Very similar to Briar Fox blend from Cornell & Diehl. Same virginias, but more perique. I cannot taste the burley. Spicy, full smoke, not so strong and still quite tasteful. Overall very good choice for VaPer lovers. But the fourth star is lost because the tobacco is too dry. Which is another "feature" of Briar Fox too. I mean, there has to be a mid-way between briarfox/backporch and the stuff from Samuel Gawith (absolutely wet!!). Dunhill found it. Cornell and SG not, yet.

EDIT 2-12-2016

Three and a half years since I first reviewed this blend and I have grown immensely in pipe smoking knowledge from this green review of this blend. Shortly after I reviewed this blend, I purchased an 8 ounce can of this from C&D. I kind of miss those days of calling them up at the warehouse and ordering tobacco. I suppose the new arrangement with Smoking pipes is more convenient, but it is less special.

In these three and a half years I have tried several VaBurPers and they have become my preferred tobacco choice overall. When I first tried this I waffled on giving it four stars. I am glad that I did not. I think it is fine at the three stars that I gave it. I just have too many in the Four star range that are more special than this blend. There are actually quite a few in the three star range that are as well.

One thing I like about this blend is that it gives you a good amount of those quality C&D burleys without overwhelming you with them as Burley Flake 3 does as an extreme example. Also the perique percentage is spot on with the spice, but also stops short of overwhelming ala Old Joe Krantz. The Virginia's of course make up for the lower percentage of both and perhaps dilute the other two with a light sweetness.

I say light as the Virginias are pretty earthy and do not give off any citrus notes that I can pick up. As my own tastes have evolved, I have tended to favor the more hay like citrus Virginias and perhaps that is why I presently put so many blends above this one.

Overall, I still recommend this one for what it is and I did enjoy smoking this 8 ounces, but doubt that I will buy more. Thus, I am not changing the three star rating, but I did up the taste to medium to full as I have found this to be fuller than I originally considered it.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 7-11-2012

My first VaBurPer purchased at a my favorite B&M in the Metro Detroit Area (JR Cigar in Southfield.) I really like this and had to restrain myself from giving a fourth star as I don't feel qualified enough yet to give that high of a rating. Besides I have been giving too many of them out anyway.

Has a nice nic hit as do all the C&D blends I smoke. As American English seems to be my favorite, C&D is also my favorite as, in my limited experience, noone does this better.

As to room note, I go by only one reference as my brother told me it smells great. He is a cigar smoker so take that with that in mind. The taste is wonderful and does not remind me of any VaPers I have ever smoked. Certainly not Dorcester (my current favorite in that Genre.)

When I frirst bought this, I thought it a very unique blend of ingredients, but reading several of the reviews I find there are many different varieties in this genre. I really need to explore more. My next stop will be Old Joe Krantz and probably Haunted Bookshop. I may come back with a fourth star yet, but it will take a while.

This is another one of the tins I bought from a guy at our 2014 NASPC show out of a duffle bag he presented me stuffed full of tins - I regret not buying everything he had in there, as his prices were quite descent. Yes, I agree with those reviewers who say that this tobacco is most closely related to C&D's Briar Fox, but a little stronger. I enjoyed smoking this blend straight out of the tin and found it to be a little more complex in flavor than other VaPer/Vaperbur's I have tried. What really struck me was that it smoked like and reminded me of the base tobacco in many, many English blends I have smoked over the years-minus the Latakia. Eventually I mixed Back Porch with the strongest English blend I had open at the time, Dunhill London Mixture, in a 60/40 strength. Boom! I instantly had a quite smokeable medium English blend that, although needing some refinement, was descent. All in all, I feel positive about this blend and have been using it successfully in micro blending - four stars.

Craig Tarler blends his tobaccos to order, and ships them as soon as they are blended. As a result they have not aged and the flavors are not yet melded. I advise allowing his tobaccos to age for at least a few months before smoking them so that the full flavor is allowed to come together. Back Porch is a mixture of three Virginia and Virginia/perique blends sold by Cornell & Diehl. Because C&D adds no water or humectant to their tobaccos, some may find this tobacco to be slightly on the dry side, but for my tastes the moisture level is very good. The blend is primarily a Virginia, with a bit of perique. The pouch aroma of Back Porch is heavenly; I could enjoy it as a room deodorizer. The tobacco lights easily and fully. The initial flavor of the tobacco is somewhat mild, but the nuances and subtleties come through quickly – usually after just a few puffs. For my way of smoking, the flavor remains pretty consistent through about 4/5 of the bowl and then strengthens slightly. The natural sweetness of the Virginia comes through from start to finish, while the perique, more of a condiment than a complete flavoring, provides nice hints of pepper and spice. Back Porch is a very pleasant tobacco once aged a little bit. I smoke it daily.

I opened the tin and the smell was, if memory serves, like that of Esoterica Dorchester, a tobacco I turned around and bought 3 more tins of after I tried it. Back Porch, however, did not smoke like Dorchester. I was going to give it 2 stars because it seemed to smoke a bit hot and with an unbalance of flavors at first. It really mellowed out halfway through the bowl, however, so I think this is a tobacco one needs to treat carefully. Best when sipped. It turned out to have a nice complexity and some really great burning qualities-no relights required. My tin is from 2003, and the tobacco was still slightly moist, but I did not dry it out any further before smoking. It nevertheless smoked down to a fine ash. Back Porch will not bite when smoked too fast, but doing so does not produce the best taste. I will experiment with it in different pipes, and maybe with drying it out some more, but think I would have to say that this is a good one.

1-09-10 My experiments have ended until I buy another tin, and I just might, especially if I can get an aged one. Nice on its own, and especially nice for blending. I would never go up to four stars. nor detract from three. Recommended.

Hmm, I really wanted to like this..after all it is the YPSC blend.. No question, an all quality tobacco with great burning characteristics and a nice medium strength. But it doesn't do it for me. When I finish a bowl, I immediately search for a nice VA flake to get square with myself. So is life...

This blend reminds me a little of Dunhills Elizabeth mix. If you like the dunhill blend. Give this a try. Its not an exact match, but there are similar elements. I may get more sometime.

There is much to like about this blend:

Easy to pack. Excellent burning characteristics (lighting, clean, pure ash, cool, dry). Huge volumes of smoke with little drawing effort. Purity of ingredients and rounded flavor (lightly sweet with a touch of a cigar note; and that perique-something; no casing or top dressing). Fair to middling quantity of perique (what I was looking for).

This reminds me a little bit of Bayou Morning Flake, just less sweet and easier on the perique component. A solid morning to evening smoke when you are not in the mood to tangle with VA heat, and your looking for less perique than many of the more popular VA/perique blends. It is perhaps a bit grassy.

Haunted Bookshop and Old Joe Kranz have taken the place BP held in my rotation. I like this better than Telegraph Hill (similar in weight, though different styles).

Two stars without prejudice.

This is a great sleeper blend.....Got it on a whim from a local J&R, and glad I am!!!!! This is one of the best burley blends out there. Easily on par with Three Friars & Haunted bookshop. Contrary to whats written here, This is a Virginia, Burley and Perique blend. I would say that from start to finish the three players here all play in an equal way. Never bitter, but a spicey, sweet and nutty blend that satisfies. Very surprised this blend doesn't have more reviews. The smoke doesn't jump up and smack your face. Its a calm, contemplative smoke that is comfortable in most any bowl, and could be smoked from Opera to lawn work and be at home in either. If your a fan of VaPerBurs and like Three Friars, HB, Old Joe...You owe it to yourself to try this.