Cornell & Diehl Kelly's Coin

Fun With C&D Samples, Vol II, #5

Final chapter in Vol II - Vol III forthcoming, probably around the first of 2011.

Are you looking for a tobacco that fits the description above of a mild smoke? This isn't it! How C&D can characterize this as mild is a mystery. But are you looking for the perfect blending tobacco - something to add to an aromatic to make it taste more like tobacco, perhaps? This is it! I found this to be a cross between a slower burning Five Brothers and C&D's Big-N-Burley without the latakia.

I smoked 4 bowls of this straight and found it full flavored and tasty but a little strong for me. But added to things like Lane's 1Q, McClellands Best of Show, and other aromatics revealed the shortcomings of those blends... the lack of true honest tobacco flavor. Yes, they are soft and sweet but adding 10-20% of Kelly's Coin transformed them into very good blends while not detracting too much from the "aromatic experience". I also mixed this with other, lighter burleys with excellent results. A little dab into a light latakia fare elevated both blends! And adding a healthy dose of non-descript Turkish tobacco was a fun smoke.

I've never found a better blending tobacco that wasn't named perique. I use this like perique - as a spice... and it certainly does spice things up! I have no idea why this tobacco is so strong as opposed to other burleys I've smoked, but as an amateur blender (read: I ain't no Tarler or Runowski by a long shot!), this is fun and enjoyable stuff. No blending table is complete without a lot of Kelly's Coin!

The cut on this is mostly short narrow ribbons. There are a few chunky bits and a pieces of fish food. It is all tan or brown. The pouch note is slightly sweet and earthy. It came at an excellent level of moisture for me.

For me anyway, I think the strength has been overrated by my fellow reviewers. It is in the medium to strong range - tending to medium really. The taste is a delightful. It is nutty with a hint of earth. It is slightly sweet but does not have any topping I can detect. The smoking experience was very good. It burned cool and did not get harsh or bitter at the end of the bowl. There is a slight tickle in the nose when snorked. I found this very good and well suited to my tastes. It was an easy smoke and was easy to sip.

I could see myself smoking a lot of this, and I think anyone who likes Pegasus would enjoy this as a change of pace. The greatest drawback to this blend is that it seems to be available only in the 2 oz. tin, and the price per ounce is too high.

If you like burley, I really recommend this. It is a great smoke!

Despite the description at Smoking Pipes, there is no black cavendish in this blend. It’s a nutty, very woody, earthy, lightly sweet with a slight floral note; mostly burley. It also sports a light semois-ish flavor. The grassy, tart and tangy citrus from the bright Virginia is in the background. The strength and taste are just short of being strong. The nic-hit is a hair shy of the center of medium to strong. Won’t bite, but can border on and/or hit a harsh note or two if pushed. Burns clean, but a little warm if puffed beyond a slow cadence. The tobacco does burns a tad fast. The flavor is consistent from start to finish. Leaves virtually no dampness in the bowl, and requires few relights. Has a lingering after taste and room note. Not an all day smoke. Also makes a good mixer.

-JimInks

A wide cut Burley that does not bite at all. It does get a little bitter toward the bottom of the bowl and the strength is quite laid back for a Burley. Not a lot of flavor, but you certainly get the nutty flavor most Burley tobacco delivers.

Pipestud

'Provides a mild smoke?' There is nothing at all mild about Kelly's Coin. There are many cheap cigars in this world and Cornell & Diehl's No.005 tastes like they took a bunch of them, ground them up, and called it pipe tobacco. This dry, chunky Burley is harsh, hot, bland, and smells very, very bad. Not bad in that Latakia or Perique way which, as we all know, is actually good, but bad in the burning carpet or cat kind of way. This is the only tobacco that my long suffering wife has ever ordered me out of the house for smoking. She was right to do so.

How it is that Cornell & Diehl could have so many very fine Burley blends and still feel justified in selling this stuff is beyond me.

Hacking and wheezing pseudo-regards,

A. Morley Jaques

I have been doing a fair sampling of burley recently. Kelly's Coin had a single, unflattering, but interesting review. While I had the good folks at C&D on the phone placing an order, I asked for a sample of Kelly's Coin and what they could tell me about it.

It is apparently intended to be used in blending. Oh, it's quite smokable. But as the other reviewer said, it's strong. I have a 7/8 inch bowl fired up and it's telling me that yes, it's quite strong. But I wanted the maximum effect. Nice flavor. Good solid tobacco taste. A bit of sweetness from the leaf. Plain, yet a hint of a fire cured flavor. Not unlike that of the strong ropes. With just a nice bit of moisture, it smokes very cool and leaves a fine gray, powdery ash.

My sample came, as a few other recent blends, just a bit moist. They have been working on that. Something to do with humidity in winter. An hour on a sheet of paper brought it to a very suitable moisture level.

This was just perfect for my needs. Something I have been looking for. I now have a perfect blending tobacco to "kick it up a notch"! Those milder blends that I have trouble smoking because they are simply too light in strength and flavor can now be made wonderful with the simple addition of a small amount of Kelly's Coin. No worries that it will take the blend over with an odd taste. Just good tobacco flavor.

Yes, I will be getting a lot more of Kelly's Coin.

Enjoy!

Carlos

Ok, so I'm going to be that guy that'll have to say: There ARE other tobaccos than Burleys in this blend! My tin at least (dated 01/15/19) contains at least some speckles of black cavendish. There are, albeit very little, also some very bright ribbons that tease me to believe there might be a few ribbons of Virginia in it as well. Maybe it didn't contain those tobaccos before or for a while... my tin does! Maybe they reacted to the reviews pointing out there was just burley in the tins? Who knows..

Anyhoo...as Pegasus is my favorite smoke I was teased to buy a tin, as the description read very similar to that of Pegasus. Opening the nice looking tin I'm greeted by scent similar to that of Pegasus, but it also has some intriguing floralness, a distinct vegetative quality to it. Less sweet as Pegasus as well.

Perfectly conditioned a bowl is easily packed, lighted and kept alight. Due to it being rather dry (which I like) this is best to be smoked rather slow, or sipped if you will. If you're smoking too fast, it'll get harsh, this is for the relaxed kind of smoke(r).

If sipped and savored this can be a very pleasing smoke in my book. It is nutty, but not the sweet kind of nuttiness, but rather tart. Think walnuts. There's some sweetness present to round off potential edges, it just works! I think the b. cavendish helps smoothing out the burley(s), just as in the Pegasus blend! There's also a interesting floral/vegetative quality to the smoke, which adds depth to the rather monochromatic smoke.

It's strong, but not overly so, and somewhere between Pegasus und Burley Flake #2 strength-wise. Burley-lovers won't have problems, if you're sensitive to nicotine, try smoking a small bowl - which I also do, albeit not being too sensitive to nic.! A small bowl satisfies me enough, full-bodied, stout smoke, with a nice toasty undertone to the smoke. I like it!

3 1/2 stars so far and I'll update when the tin is finished.

Kelly's Coin has a tin note that is very earthy, vegetative, slightly nutty and sweet. My tin does have some short flakes of what looks like black cav to me in it. It is just a smattering of flakes but they are there and I think this rounds the tobacco out and keeps any rough edges away while smoking it. The smoke itself is rather simple. I get the normal nuttiness found in burley, it is toasty, woodsy, very earthy and has a slight vegetative flavor that comes and goes. There is a sweetness here that seems more than just burley should deliver but it is not really a sweet smoke this might come from the cav. that I noted above and I do get some brown sugar notes which I associate with black cav as well. The body of the smoke is med to strong nice thick and does tickle the nose on the retrohale, which places the nic at the med to strong level as well. The room note is not great and a little strong overall. This does make a great mixer and will be used like that for the most part for me although it does make for a nice fairly quick smoke on its own. Since this just comes in 2 oz tins the price per pound is nearly $87.00 and as such it gets nudged out of normal rotations since for the price I can pick up others that I prefer over this one and I would not really call this a cheap mixer at the price point either. Still a good smoke and recommended. An easy 3 stars.

I'm reviewing a tin from 2017. I agree that there might be something besides burley hiding in there. Dark flakes unless they are dark fired of some sort.

Tin note is earthy and nutty. Moisture was perfect from open. Its a ribbon CD cut so it is ready to pack and burn. From the name I sort of expected.. well a coin?

Like most burley blends, I really felt the nicotine in this one but it burns really great in my radiator pipes that I smoke most of my ribbon cuts in.

Flavor was nutty, no real sweetness. I can see the comparisons to the Semois blends which I love except for being more moist. Same one-note, easy smoke. No tongue bite, but it def will burn hot if pushed. No real moisture left over and in the Radiators at least it is a cool smoke.

If you enjoy burley forward blends, you'll like this one.

Mainly Burley with a bit of Virginia and a wee tad of Cavendish. Pretty well sums it up. The tin note does give the hint of Virginia but aside from a faint sweetness from the Cavendish the taste is 99% Burley. That suits me right down to the ground. Not harsh or overwhelming in taste, the nicotine level is ample and quite satisfying for me. Consistent smoke throughout the bowl. I can see this in my daily rotation and plan to buy more to cellar. If you like Burley this is a must try. This can also be mixed with other blends to provide some body. Solid four for this former Burley grower.