Cornell & Diehl - Black Frigate pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 23 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
bence	03/06/2013	Medium	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable
A must try for the latakia lovers. Very complex baccy.
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Hart	09/15/2012	Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I'm a smoker of latakia blends mostly, and have a briar that I was never able to get a good smoke out of. Decided to try something a little sweeter to correct the problem, and I went with this due to the rum-soaked cavendish business. I chose wisely. This is the only thing that has ever tasted good in that particular pipe. The latakia I love is ever-present, and there is a beatiful nutty sweetness throughout the smoke. Amazing how the right blend can fix a dud of a pipe. Also smokes very well in a meer.
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Wiseguy1982	07/07/2012	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable
I was a little intimidated by this tobacco, a nice chunk of cake was a surprise to me. I failed to notice anywhere that this was a crumble cake. Ooops. Anyway, I broke off a nice chunk and got it all rubbed and ready to burn in my new Brigham Voyageur Rhodesian. Upon lighting I noticed that I should have broken it up a bit more than I had, there was one chuink that just kept expanding, like the blob, it was crazy. Anyway, I wasn't too sure what too expect from this, but I wasn't disappointed. I did notice that the nicotine content was relatively low, but the flavor was sky high. For some reason I wasn't getting heavy Latakia from this, which was one thing I did expect. So far, I have smoked two bowls of it. One in the Brigham and one in my Dr. Grabow Omega and I found that this seems to smoke better and has more flavor in a smaller bowl, which is probably obvious, but hell, I'm still pretty new to this.
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juvat	03/19/2012	Strong	Strong	Full	Pleasant
Black Frigate is easily in my "top 5" of favorite blends. In addition to the usual smokiness one gets from the latakia, it has a wonderfully "sharp" almost salty taste to the smoke that I can't get enough of. You can definitely pick up the rum in the tin note as well.
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ctownsen357	12/31/2011	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
This one tasted great. I like cavendish, I like latakia, I like turkish... Black Frigate, perfect. This is very sweet tasting with that big latakia smoke, earthy taste. I liked it a lot. It is definitely "rough" around the edges but a very tasty smoke and I did not get any tongue bite. This is a special occasion smoke for me. Friends around a fire type of thing.
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SMOKETSES	10/26/2010	Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
It was brought to me as a gift from my friend karg at the pipeclub.gr meeting in June 2010 and I WOULK LIKE TO THANK HIM FOR THAT... A mixture of Black Cavendish, Latakia and Turkish Oriental. A pure Navy blend a cube flake. Beautiful smoke which I would describe as American type since my favorite Latakia very noticeable. Heavy smoke with intense flavors from the beginning to the end of the bowl. It burns and leaves a fine white powder at the end. It needs little effort to start, because it does not light easily. Its scent can be rather annoying to non-smokers. Generally, it has the sweetness that I look for in the latakioriental tobaccos.
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The Black Falcon	09/09/2010	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable
Get your knife out for this one, comes in pressed flake just like they did it a hundred years ago. Cut off a piece and rub it out good, lightly pack it in one of your briers and put a match to it. Absolutely old English navy at its best. Latakia is very present in this fine blend along with a tad of unsweetened black cavendish and zesty turkish, rounding out a somewhat of a medium bodied but tangeful and delighting smoke. This reminds me of London Blend but without the campfire taste that lingers all through your tastebuds, very refined Latakia with just a tad of sweetened goodness along with a noticeable nicotine kick that makes this blend very different and surprisingly delicious. I will have to order some more of this solely as an aromatic escape route.
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Cranz Iron	08/30/2010	Medium	None detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Smoked in the right pipe this is an interesting tobacco. I tried a variety of pipes ranging from a meer, a morta and various briars. When you hit the right combination Black Frigate is a really good smoke. A Viggo Nielsen plateau briar cracked the code and brought out the fantastic sweet cavendish which was not overpowered by the latakia and the turkish played in the background. My tobacco was rather dry in the tin, but this does not detract in any way and probably enhances it as I found it not to burn hot or bite. I had no problem getting it lit or keeping it burning. Nicotine content is present but not aggressive. Good stuff! Solid three stars!
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ProfessorBrown	06/14/2010	Medium to Strong	Medium	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is another fine product from C&D. When I first opened the tin I was greeted by a sweet but rich tin aroma. I did some reasearch to find out what the sweet smell was and discovered it was from the navy cavendish. Apparently navy cavendish is soaked in rum for a period of time before final processing. Well, I find pipe tobacco is educational as well as relaxing! It was a 2oz tin I ordered, and the presentaion was a single pressed cake of tobacco. I imeadiately broke a piece off, let it air a bit, loaded it in the pipe, and smoked away. This blend is very pleasing, it is easy to smoke and has a great flavor. I would suggest anyone who enjoys heavy Latikia blends give this a try. It's quite a treat.
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Kilmarnock Piper	01/19/2010	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable
I can't taste any rum here. True, my tin is a rusty Ebay acquisition most likely from the end of the last century. The tobacco has held up in the little sealed plastic bag C&D used to use, but it's pretty dry. The Latakia stands out so much that I can't really tell what the nature of the cavendish is. Is there any burley in here? Or is it Virginia cavendish? Maybe I will have a better idea when I have smoked a few more bowls. This is to me a full yet not overwhelming English. My first samplings have left the roof of my mouth a little roasted, but I have been hitting the pipe rather hard in the last few days. It may be that when I cut down on smoking and smoke a small bowl of this-slowly, it will be more kind to me. That said, it did not torture me too much, and has a nice flavor. I get more complexity from Dunhill Durbar (new version; that's all I've tried), but when I have had time to experiment with different pipes and techniques for smoking this particular weed, I will update with any further epiphanies. Presentation is perfect: while C&D has some trouble with flakes (consistency), their crumble cakes are marvelous. I wish they would use the classic-style tins which age so well for their products-seems they could afford to given the prices they charge, because their old metal tins don't seal well and the cat-food type containers don't quite cut it as well. Oh well. I smoked the first bowl in a Marxman Jumbo, and that was a bit over the top, though this tobacco could work in a large bowl. I had more success in my little Jobey Stromboli 200, as this pipe calmed down the mouth-bite. I really sensed more of the Turkish in the Jobey as well. I still can't taste the rum, but the cavendish must be Virginia based, not burley. As the first reviewer of this blend noted back in 2002, flavors are not complex at first, but "build to a crescendo" in the last third of the bowl.
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rocket_man77	03/31/2009	Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
This is what I thought I was getting when I bought some Skiff from Samuel Gawith when I was looking for an older sibling to Squadron Leader. Not to crazy about the tin as it leaves s sharp edge with the pop top on it. Nor is it a pocket shaped tin but I've other ways to carry it. The tin scent was something like soy sauce or BBQ in there. One of the 5th taste flavors that involve complex amino acids. Felt a little dry in the tin versus what I'm used to but crumbled the cake and packet right out of the tin and after a charring light it was a little tamper now and then to the bottom of the bowl. Ash was light and little to no wattle. Some aftertaste lingering with it that I'm unaccustomed to from my regular Squadron Leader. Pipe used was meerschaum, bent. I'm a once or twice a week type pipe guy, I don't have an all day smoke. It's my treat to sit and read the weekly paper and enjoy my pipe on a weekend morning. If this is your style and you like a heavier uncased flavor give it a crack, you'll enjoy. Seems a bit much for more regular consumption, and in that case I'd stay with something lighter.
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Big bad Jon	05/28/2007	Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
This was a fun tin to open, what awaits you is a large chunk of pressed tobacco with a strangely sweet tin aroma. The tobacco lights with a fair bit of care, and did require a relight which is not a huge deal. The tobacco did start out a bit sweet which is not always the best thing with latakia. About one third of the way down the bowl after relight, it got more smoky and smooth more the way I like my tobacco. Why I will not give this unique tobacco more stars is the fact that it just was not anything special, it had good flavor but nothing that I would call great. And the whole idea of it not being for the faint of heart, is a sales gimmick. Glad I tried it but if I in the future want to try something not for the faint of heart i will stick with 1792 flake.
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haredawg	03/09/2007	Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable
I didn?t dislike this tobacco and will probably eventually smoke the whole tin, but I was expecting something more, well, refined. Opening the tin it smells like a Mars Bar thrown into a bonfire. I don?t think I?ve smoked a heavy latakia that was so sweet. It?s not really a good combination. I think this is a well made tobacco with quality components and tastes exactly how C&D intended it too, I just don?t agree with the taste. If I were to compare it to one of my regular latakia smokes, Penzance or Germains Special latakia flake, it would pale by comparison; in fact it?s not really a fair comparison as Black Frigate is closer to an aromatic. However, the price on the tin was premium, in fact spendier than either the Esoterica or the Germains. I?ll give it two stars for effort and respect for Cornell and Diehl and I won?t toss it in with the coffee grounds and eggshells, but I?m thinking it?s going to take a while to smoke it and I might cuss a bit doing it.
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BigSwede	01/02/2007	Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Full	Strong
What an interesting tobacco!! When I opened the little tin and saw a small black brick of tobacco, my first thought was: "oh-oh, what I am I gonna do with this?" Well after some playing around I loaded up one of my latakia pipes, opened several windows and put the phone within reach, in case I needed to call 911. It is always a little tough to get lit, taking several lighting and tampings. Once lit, however, the actual smoking was less dramatic than expected. It's a full, rich smoke and yet I don't feel overpowered with flavor. Even though I have moments of latakia phobia, I found this to be just mellow enough (probably the cavendish) to make it work. I can't imagine this being a daily smoke, but as an occasional change of pace, it's an enjoyable, relaxing and fun smoke. Worth a look.
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Maimonides	11/05/2006	Medium	None detected	Full	Tolerable
Edited
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CaptnDan	01/06/2006	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
I found this blend to be somewhere between Penzance and Pirate Kake. Full of smoky flavor, and as mentioned before, not for someone just crossing over from aromatics! Like others, I thought I remembered something about rum, but I re-checked, nope, no mention of it on the tin. Guess that could be why I never tasted it. There is really nothing wrong with this tobacco, it's wonderful stuff. Not an everyday smoke though. Nice in the evening. Very relaxing.
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Talonr1701	01/02/2006	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Strong
This was a good smoke, though not what I imagined. I think everyone needs to settle on an official definition of a Navy Cavendish. No rum note, no Va. (though to C&D's credit-Its not advertised...) That said- Once I put my expectations aside- Great smoke. Very smooth and creamy- Strong and commanding taste- Has that Cigar taste that can sometimes be perfect for the moment... Don't give this to someone just getting off aromatics or Drug store swill... Makes you want to raise a flag and become a Privateer....
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emmbee	11/08/2005	Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable
This has the cut and consistency of Pirate Kake, but not as luscious and nougatine. It?s a navy cavendish cake with the traditional Jamaican rum thrown in. Again, C & D uses liquor without sacrificing true tobacco taste. It?s mellower and less aggressive than Pirate Kake and not as sweet and chewy as Mississippi Mud. It?s a less memorable cross between those two laudable blends. It?s enjoyable, and I might bum a brick off a buddy now and again. Perhaps I?ll like it more after a few more tastes, though when I want a latakia overload, I?d rather turn to PK or MM. Two and a half of five stars ------------------------- november 05 update Yes, I tried it again. Yes, I like it more. It hits the back of the throat a little, probably due to the rum, but it's still a rich, latakia indulgence. It reminds me a little of Penzance, though not as smokey & oily as Germain's treatment. This needs to be tasted several times to be appreciated. It won't be part of my regular rotation, but I think I might keep a tin on hand for when I want something unusual & exotic. Three and a half of five stars
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thedstnguishdgntlmn	08/19/2005	Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Strong
This was purchased at Iwan Ries in Chicago(My favorite store)and the tin was dated 03-07-02. It had 3 years of age on it which I feel truly mellowed the flavor.This is a very unique Krumble Kake.Please do not compare it to Penzance,it is not Penzance.This has a wonderful RUM based cavendish to which Latakia and Turkish are added.The flavor is superb.A sweet Latakia! This is not FMOT either.It is not complex but rather simple and satisfying-like a cup of warm cocoa in winter.The flavor is very smooth and the 3 elements really work well together. The flavor is slightly sweet and very rich.Latakia is not dominant here,but its presence is quite known. There is nothing out there like it. The only bad point is the following-IT STINKS FROM HERE TO HIGH HOLY HEAVEN!You will not make any lady friends with this one and my lady friend loves Latkia! you are warned to keep the windows open. An excellent smoke 3.5 of 4 stars! P.S. Do not let the initial tin aroma of rum put you off. Let it breathe for 30 minutes and you will be well rewarded.
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The Keeper	06/17/2004	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable
My first experience with a crumble Kake. A smooth, sweet blend which has struck a chord with me. I've found that the larger block you manage to get going as a whole, the more even and smooth the flavors become. The rum integrates so well that it is barely noticeable...and then only an enhancement to the sweetness. While not full of varied components, the taste does have layers from musky and peppery to almost sugary as you work your way down the bowl. One particular churchwarden I have has taken a liking to this blend, and always seems to evoke a sweet-smokey ride across the white, fluffy waves!
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 23 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >