Cornell & Diehl Black Duck

(2.88)
Richly earthy and woodsy, this blend of unsweetened brown and black Cavendish (specially cured Kentucky Burley), Latakia and Turkish Oriental leaf is a hearty full-bodied blend indeed. Certainly not an elegant smoke, it is nonetheless charming and rather complex once the initial surprise at its strength and earthiness subsides.
Notes: Reminiscent of old original Rattray's Black Mallory.

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Blended By Craig Tarler
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type English
Contents Black Cavendish, Cavendish, Kentucky, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 50g Tin
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

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

Average Rating

2.88 / 4
8

9

7

2

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 26 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 11, 2009 Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Tolerable
I was gifted a tin of this and for some reason, i have not cracked it open till now. I like Latakia Blends in the morning with my tea, so I cracked the tine and was immediately rewarded with an earthy, semi sweet, and musty aroma that is very typical of Latakia. THe toabbo is a rought cug flake and lighter colored ribbon cut mix, hitting the spectrum from very dark to medium brown in color. THe flakes are larger than the norm but still very easily loaded into my Peterson Irish Whiskey o3 bent pipe and it was the perfect moisture content. I love C and D Blends as they dont use anything but distilled water in their blends and it is very common for the moisture to be perfect right out of the tin. This blend was a two match light and then it stayed lit almost all the way to the bottom. One more match and it was a dark grey ash with little dottle.

From the first puff, I was rewarded with a very silky, creamy, smoke with no bite at all and with the Latakia being the dominant flavor but not overwhelming in any way. By silky, I mean just that, this stuff just flows right off the tongue with a great taste but not overwhelming at all. It stays a medium flavored smoke all the way down. The room note to me is heavenly but I like the campfire aroma of Latakia, but it would not get any great comments from non smokers. But the black cavendish in this blend does give it a smoothness and roundness to the smoke and adds a sweetness to the room aroma. I liked this blend so much this morning that I have smoked several more bowls of it today and it has been a great smoke each and every time. This could easily be an all day blend without it getting too much for the palette. I can easily recommend this to anybody liking English style blends but I don't go the fourth star on this as it is somewhat one dimentional, a good one but it does not have the multi layers I give a four star blend. I will however keep this around, what a great blend this would be camping and deer hunting or soing outside chores.
10 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 23, 2002 Extremely Strong None Detected Extra Full Overwhelming
This is an honest blend. It does not tout itself as elegant or refined. It certainly is neither and as far as I'm concerned, this duck can fly south for the winter and never come back!

It packs easily because it is ground into what looks like charcoal. It tastes like charcoal too! I detected a burnt, smokey taste the moment I got it lit, and the taste and smell never let up. If you smoke this blend outdoors, somebody's gonna call the fire department!

The taste lingers in your mouth and in the room for hours, so, be prepared to sleep alone.
10 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 20, 2017 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
Cornell & Diehl - Black Duck.

It's been so long since I smoked Black Mallory so I can draw no comparison. And that was the modern version, so even if I piped it yesterday it would be like a blunt pencil: pointless!

So, the fresh blend appears as a well hydrated, mid-size, fairly uniform, ribbon. The colour's mostly medium brown with a few ribbons showing some diversity by being lighter/darker shades.

The first thing that I found slightly perplexing was the strength; I'm unsure whether the 'surprise at strength' the description mentions is aimed at flavour or nicotine, but I don't find it too strong, and I consider myself to be fairly susceptible to Lady N! The taste is relatively full, and quite complex: the Latakia takes the lead for the initial part of a bowl, giving way to more of the Turkish Oriental as the burn settles. The Kentucky adds to the smokiness, but if I'm honest I don't find it too bad a taste. The Cavendish calms things down, somewhat, by keeping any astringent qualities grounded. I can't acknowledge any sweet notes, it's more of a scabrous flavour.

A negative with Black Duck is the speed, it goes quickly! And the room-note isn't exactly nice.

I'm torn between two and three stars, it's not 'bad', but neither would it make my rotation. I'll go with my gut instinct and give it two, with a view to maybe raising it in a few months.

Somewhat recommended.
Pipe Used: Peterson 150th Anniversary P'Lip
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: Three months
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 26, 2013 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Tolerable to Strong
It's an original and different Latakia blend. I don't exactly why, but I found myself smoking it again and again... Black Duck is round, with a rich natural tobacco flavor and no bite.
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 19, 2006 Strong None Detected Full Strong
Black Duck has managed to present me with something I long sought, but never expected to find: a base of Burley and a proportion of Latakia which allowed me to taste to comforting and much-beloved earthiness of the Burley with the exotic note of Latakia. I have tried many Burley blends with Latakia and all have come up short, usually because of the Latakia, which I found to totally overtake any Burley flavor that could be asserted. Somehow, someway though, Mr. Tarler has managed to do what I had become convinced was impossible. The Burley is there, moreso at the start of the bowl, but noticeable throughout and like unto Carter Hall or Edgeworth Slices; the Latakia provides a hearty, almost musty backup that would seem perfect smoking for a cool autumn, even if I did smoke all of my tin during the summer months. What?s even more interesting is how the Latakia, which I have oft' had a problem with in burning hot, is, in Black Duck, cool smoking and outright gentlemanly.

What surprised me was that there were so damned many other things in this blend as well. For the life of me, I could detect no characteristics of Cavendish or Oriental or anything else but the pleasing combination of Burley and Latakia. This may well be because the tin I smoked was rather old and a bit on the dry and powdery side. All the same, this tobacco is highly recommended.

Regards,

A. Morley Jaques
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 21, 2014 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Very Pleasant
Ribbon cut of about 60% black and 40% various lighter browns. Very deep and rich tin aroma of latakia front and center.

Creamy and smooth, this is not. A clone for Black Mallory, this is not. Where BM is luxurious and silky, this is rough and boisterous. The BM I'm used to is from the 1980's, so perhaps C&D was basing it on an earlier iteration. I don't know but this bears little resemblance to the BM I know... and I cracked an aged tin of it to be sure, plus compared this to the more recent Black Mallory in my rotation. Not much alike, either the aged tin of Black Duck or the new tin.

I found it interesting that the 2013 tin and the 2000 tin exhibited little differences, except that the newer tin was somewhat more moist. Both were latakia forward but not lat bombs. I didn't exactly taste the Kentucky but that could have accounted for the less refined characteristic. The orientals were in a supportive role but were reasonably tasty while the Cavendish did its best to smooth things out. I shudder to think what this would have been like without the Cav. My overall impression is that this is an also-ran in a crowded field, and nowhere near as creamy and lush as the Rattrays. Not recommended as a replacement for Black Mallory, but might be something to try as a standalone. Not terribly interesting to me, however.
Pipe Used: meerschaum and morta
Age When Smoked: 14 years and 1 year
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 26, 2008 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
This isn't the blend you take to a formal affair and smoke in your best Dunhill dress pipe, rather one you put in a falcon or comparable garage pipe, and go take a walk in the woods with. This blend will never make you any friends, the room note is too strong. The blend does have a lot of complexity and will make for a good companion is solidarity. The blend is a replica of the old Black Mallory and does seem to do a good job in imitation. The Turkish element is wonderful and spicy and the Latakia is cool. I only wish that it did not get a bit one dimensional twards the bottom of the bowl. I am not sure if it is a lack of flavor or whether my brain is overloaded. Overall this is one fine blend. Not perfect but darn close.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 02, 2016 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
The flavor profile is dominated by a mildly sour woody note. Along with that is a light smokiness and a very mild spice. There is only a hint of sweetness. I find it to be a bit bland and boring as there is basically no evolution as the bowl progresses. Not my cup of tea, but also not something I would toss in the trash. It fits into the "I'll play with it and try to make it better" category.

Medium in body and taste. No added flavoring detected. Burns very well.
Pipe Used: Moonshine Stoker, MM Marcus, MM Dwarf
PurchasedFrom: pipesandcigars.com
Age When Smoked: fresh
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 11, 2015 Medium to Strong Medium Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
I have about 50 tins of this blend. I enjoy the flavor and it is spot on for a warm autumn evening. I smoke this weekly maybe once the air cools starting in September. I open a new tin. Pack my pipe and the jar the leftovers. Always a hit at pipe club. I smoke this in a GBD. It packs easy and I tend to drop a lot into my pipe. Lights well if left to breath out for about an hour. Solid ash with no relight needed. Lasts for me in an average size pipe for about an hour. I admit there are times I smoke this back to back. I keep 4 pipes just for this in my rotation.
Pipe Used: GBD
PurchasedFrom: WASH. DC
Age When Smoked: Tin - 2 years plus
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 04, 2011 Medium None Detected Full Tolerable to Strong
First let me say that my tin that Im reviewing is from 2001. I must say that I realy enjoy this blend. If you go by the tin description you would think that this is an everything including the kitchen sink kind of blend. While there are many ingredients in this blend they are blended masterfuly and it is quite a complex blend. The flavors are big and bold and change throughout the bowl. The latakia comes on strong in the beginning and about midway through the bowl the orientals come on strong. There is alot of variance of flavors through out the bowl and I never get bored while smoking it even in my very large pipes. This blend is not very picky as far as pipe shape and size is concerned and taste very good in all of them. The burn is cool and smooth and does not bite a bit for me. I highly recommend this for those that enjoy complex and bold latakia / oriental blends!
4 people found this review helpful.
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