Cornell & Diehl Black Frigate

(3.20)
Latakia and Turkish are added to the Navy cavendish which forms the base for Blockade Runner (Virginias soaked and aged in rum) to produce a true Royal Navy blend. Pressed and sliced into an old-fashioned crumble cake. A Royal Navy blend, not for the faint of heart.

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Blended By Craig Tarler
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type Other
Contents Black Cavendish, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish
Flavoring Rum
Cut Krumble Kake
Packaging 50 grams tin, 8 ounce tin
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

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

Average Rating

3.20 / 4
24

26

8

2

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 60 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 25, 2013 Medium to Strong Mild Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Rummy and Yummy. A very tasty blend. Complex and satisfying. There aren't many blends that contain Black Cavendish that I like, but this is one of them. Must be the rum. Yum.

UPDATE: 10/30/2013 Upgrading from 3 to 4 stars. This flavor has really grown on me. So much so that it has almost become a necessity. I love this blend.
49 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 14, 2018 Medium Mild Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
The lightly smoky, rather woody, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia plays an important support role at times, and other times, almost leads the sweet, smooth rum soaked, dark fruity, earthy, light grassy, lightly citrusy Virginia cavendish. The rum Virginias lead the experience. The floral, woody, earthy, herbal, dry, sour Turkish almost reaches secondary status. The rum does tone down the tobaccos, and mutes the smokiness one usually expects from the Latakia and Turkish. The strength barely hits the medium threshold, while the taste is a step past the medium mark. The nic-hit is a little closer to medium than it is to mild. No chance of bite, and has no rough edges or harshness. I do suggest a light dry time for this blend. Being a krumble kake, it burns slow, cool, and clean with a small inconsistency in its rich, sweet and mildly savory flavor. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. Has a lingering after taste that matches the aforementioned flavors. Not an all day smoke, but the veteran smoker will repeat it more than once if fits that person’s personal preference. It tends to be a product that grows on you. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks
43 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 05, 2016 Medium Mild to Medium Full Pleasant
Cornell & Diehl - Black Frigate. One of the most satisfying smoke's I've ever had.

The tin contains one big chunk of krumble kake, slightly moist but smokeable straight away. The aroma from the tin, to me, is suggestive of a large amount of Latakia and Oriental's with very little topping. That, however, is a point that'll require smoking for verification.

The kake is easy to crumble (as you'd expect) but there's about a pipe full in a freshly opened tin that's already broken away from the kake. I just used that for my first bowl; first of many!

I knew this was one for me the moment I took my first puff; the smoke met with the aroma's suggestion of taste perfectly; there seems to be only a small amount of rum, and a tiny amount of Black Cavendish. The majority of the flavour is taken up by the Orientals and Latakia. The Latakia isn't really smoky, it's quite woody and earthy. I get none of the 'harshness' that I often get from Latakia; it has a great smoothness to it.

As I said, the rum seems to have been added lightly. That doesn't mean it goes by unnoticed, I can easily identify it but it's not over the top with gloop or too alcoholic. Mild to medium would seem fair, but to become medium necessitates quite big puffs.

The nicotine sits at dead on medium. I get along with this quantity perfectly.

Black Frigate is a definite four star blend:

Highly recommended.
Pipe Used: Savinelli Fuoco 320 KS
PurchasedFrom: Gauntleys
Age When Smoked: New
35 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 29, 2002 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
Despite its name, this is not an overwhelming Latakia blend. Rather than a smoky Latakia flavor, you will receive a Navy Cavandish taste that makes its presence known early on. This blend exhibits signs of being a krumble cake as you withdraw it from the tin, but the chunks are larger than most of the same genre tobaccos.

Black Frigate has a huge range of flavors and it is easy to see why this one remains a favorite and big seller in the C&D line-up after all these years.
33 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 07, 2014 Medium to Strong Mild Very Full Tolerable
Is there really this much going on there? Yes, yes and yes!

The tin note is deceptive. Sweet yet still possessing that real English tang. It's a very comforting warm kind of smell. It breaks nicely and is easy enough to load in a large bowl pipe. I found the blend amazingly complex. The taste almost seems to tweak a bit with each tamp. It has a nutty and creamy base but takes on more. I can't really describe it well enough. But whatever it is I absolutely love it. I will be ordering this in a serious quantity. I'd love to age a bundle of this stuff and be assured I'll have plenty for the long haul. If you like a very outside the box smoking experience please give this a try.
Pipe Used: Peterson Meerschaum 106 P-Lip
PurchasedFrom: Allegheny Smokeworks
Age When Smoked: 3 years
25 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 17, 2017 Strong Medium to Strong Very Full Very Strong
Not much to add.Mr Tarler created a tobacco for the ages! Old woman HATES the smell.This confirms that I,m going to keep her out of the garage for the forseable future. I can,t stop smoking this blend!
Pipe Used: Brigham 2005 pipe of the year
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes
Age When Smoked: fresh
18 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 21, 2015 Medium to Strong Medium to Strong Medium Tolerable to Strong
I really am impressed, and really enjoy this blend! I had no clue what to think when i popped that tin. I got a whiff of burnt wood with some sweetness, what i imagined smelt like if smoke could catch fire, and 3 week old socks. I had no clue what to think. When i lit it, i was greeted with this really enjoyable sweet aroma with quite a bit of leathery tanginess. I was really really impressed. Flavor stayed the same throughout the bowl, which i really liked. But every here and there, a little bit of vitamin N says hi! Nothing major, but it can get strong if pushed/puffed to hard. I still cant detect or notice any rum in there. Maybe thats why its a tad sweet? I dont really know what else to say about this tobacco. Its really good. But easily forgetable. Which is kinda rad, because ill be deciding what to smoke and this guy is hiding way in the back, and ill realize i forgot i had this for over a year just sitting there. Time does this blend some good. I forgot about this for almost 3yrs, due to buying and trying new stuff. And noticed every flavor profile has just balanced out and gets along with each other. Grab a tin or 2 for yourself.....you wont be upset, especially if you let one sit for a few years.
Pipe Used: Ben Wade poker
Age When Smoked: Fresh from the tin/5yrs
14 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 14, 2016 Medium Mild to Medium Medium Tolerable to Strong
Upon receiving this tin, I opened it up straight away. Tin Note is delicious, sweet, rummy, leathery and smoky. I thought if it smokes as well as it smells, then I'm in for a real treat. Charring light, I tasted the rum and smokiness of the latakia, plus a hint of some sweetness. Further down, the rum and the sweetness stayed with me until the last 1/4 of the bowl and then the smokiness prevailed. It smoked nice and smooth throughout the first 3/4, the rum was very light, but definitely present. It also had a nutty creaminess to it that was very nice. The nic hit was about medium, right where I like it to be and the bowl seemed to get stronger towards the bottom. This was a beautiful smoke. I will continue to smoke this blend in probably in a few different pipes, just to see how it behaves. This blend definitely makes it into my regular rotation. Overall this was a great smoke, I'm a fan!
Pipe Used: Big Ben Olympic 542 Bent Ball
PurchasedFrom: P&C
Age When Smoked: Just received
11 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 31, 2017 Medium Mild Medium to Full Tolerable
Sweet through and through, with a palpable rum flavor that imbues the entire pipeful. The rum adds plenty of nuance as well as a powerful musty aroma that easily matches the heady scent of the Latakia. The spicy Turkish creates a layer complexity that arrives once the bowl gets going. The Virginia Cavendish is mild and adds support to the overall gentle sweetness of the smoke. The taste of Black Frigate is substantial, and the smoke it produces is smooth, full in body and fairly pungent to the senses. Mid to end bowl flavors are sturdy and rich and are pretty much on par with any of Cornell & Diehl’s bigger English mixtures. Unique and well crafted.
10 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 22, 2018 Medium Very Mild Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Gentleman Zombie's description is very aptly expressed: "Rummy and Yummy!". In the tin, whose design I find very well done, a 2oz brick of fine tobacco awaits you. The tin note is rummy, fruity and sweet. But also smoky and spicy - really intriguing! The Kake consists of lively colored tobaccos, ranging from bright to reddish and brown to pitch-black. The amount of Latakia is moderate and doesn't dominate the smoke too much.

Easy handling, and after a short drying period the tobacco burns excellently.

From the first puff on there's rummy, spicy and smoky aroma dominating the smoking experience. The rum has a mildly and natural alcoholic taste to it, without being obtrusive. It has this slight fruit and hot spices tenor to it. I'm not the biggest fan of Cavendish, but this 'Navy Cavendish' is very appealing and feels like its made with natural components and no artificial flavors. I don't drink alcoholic drinks, but it pairs so darn well with tobacco! The Latakia offers its signature smokiness, as well as some woodsy and leathery and butter-creamy notes. The Orientals have a pleasantly dry, sharp edge to it and add a charming ethereal component to the smoke that pairs excellently with the other components.

A very balanced and well-thought-out blend. It just works! From the intriguing tin design, over the well crafted Kake to the excellent flavors...Black Frigate truly is a special treat for both the lover of Navy-styled tobaccos and Latakia blends. Using real rum instead of artificial flavorings makes for a natural blend. This isn't a Lat-Bomb, it's in perfect harmony and each component gets its share of the cake.. or shall I say KAKE?! 😉

**Update:** This is becoming one of my most favorite blends... can't get enough of it! I just wish C&D blends were easier obtainable in Europe and Germany...I can't put this down, I'll order more asap! **Update2:** My 2nd tin also went empty in record-time...just super-love this tobacco, one of the best, if not THE best blend for my personal taste, this is superb!
Pipe Used: Clays, Cobs, Briars, Morta, Meerschaum
8 people found this review helpful.
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