Tobaccos BriarWorks International - Country Lawyer

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ColinK (15)	2016-07-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Tried this stuff for the first time today. Now.... perhaps....... I am a little biased because I am actually a lawyer- but this stuff is GREAT. Very strange cut when you open the jar (love that it already comes jarred) but that weird feeling quickly passes. Right off the light- a sweet taste of what you love of the cigar wrapper. This settles in, but always remains. There is a constant sweet and smoky flavor that comes through, all the way to the bottom of the bowl. The flavor stays with you for quite some time, which is something I also love about cigars. This tobacco may require a bit of drying, but it burns smoothly and evenly. I was prepared to not like this blend for sure, just seemed kind of kitschy to me. I was dead wrong. I have every intention of loading up on this stuff and having it around. Get it.

Pipe Used: William Anderson Custom

Age When Smoked: Fresh from the Jar

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

16 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2017-02-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

A fairly stout and tasty blend. The core of this consists of the earthy, nutty, woody, and smoky notes of the DFK, Orientals and Cigar Leaf. Those are surrounded by notes of hay and dark fruit with a fair amount of sweetness and spice. A wide array of flavors and nuances. Burns a little quick, but stays cool enough. A lovely smoke.

Body is mostly medium, but pushes the upper limit. Taste is medium to full. No added flavorings. Near perfect burn.

Pipe Used: MM Dagner Poker, Country Gentleman, Marcus

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3050)	2019-06-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The spicy, woody, earthy, floral, dry and sour Izmir is often the lead component, but it gets strong competition from the earthy, woody, herbal, leathery, musty, smoky, lightly sweet cigar leaf. Also in the mix for first place is the spicy, woody, earthy, floral, very nutty, dry, smoky dark fired Kentucky. There are times each varietal shows a little dominance. The grassy, citrusy, slightly dark fruity and woody Virginia ends up being mostly a condiment. The unsweetened black cavendish helps to tame rough edges, though this blend has a few of them nonetheless. The strength is medium, while the taste is a step or two past that mark. The nic-hit is closer to medium than it is to mild. Won’t bite. Burns fairly cool, and clean at slightly faster than a moderate pace. Has a deep, rich, filling, inconsistent, complex, nuanced, lightly sweet and very savory, floral flavor. Leaves little dampness in the bowl. Requires an average number of relights. The strong after taste and room note linger a little. Not an all day smoke, but some veteran smokers may consider it to be in that ball park. Three and a half stars, rounded down to three because of the taste fluctuations of the tobaccos. The wider burning surface of a pot or an author will help some with that problem.

-JimInks

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	GabrielCRT (115)	2018-02-14		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Ive been enjoying cigar-leaf blends lately. This jar is from 2016 and has developed substantially from the first few smokes. The charring light has a rich syrupy note from the black cavendish but settles down. The musty/earthy cigar leaf is present in every puff but is complemented by the floral notes of the Izmir and woody notes of the Kentucky leaf. The Virginia is sweet and earthy. Originally I found the black cavendish out of balance in this blend but after some time in the mason jar it has evened out. It helps keep the smoke cool and adds a nice brown sugar sweetness. There's some spice to this blend with cinnamon and black pepper notes popping up now and then. Better room note than most cigar-leaf blends too. This blend really grew on me and now I'm constantly chasing that exotic cigar leaf flavor!

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Slender (9)	2016-12-06		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild	Strong

I'm an English/Balkan aficionado (EMP, Exotique, etc.) who also enjoys the occasional cigar and wanted to try something completely different. However, I guess I just wasn't prepared for something this far out of left field.

Upon opening the jar, one is greeted by a big, natural tobacco scent; something like equal parts Hershey's Syrup and barbecue sauce drizzled over a pouch of Red Man. It's fairly strong and perhaps overly sweet, but still pleasant. And... holy St. Francis, what a change is here! No latakia!

I've smoked a pipe for many years, yet I smoke only a few times per week. So when I do, I'm fully committed to the experience and want to get the most out of it. Unfortunately, I just can't say that I enjoyed this. To my palate the flavour is almost completely dominated by a flat, heavy, mushroom-like mustiness; earthy to the point of being muddy; organic -but in the way that molds and fungi are organic. This lends a decidedly "ancient" quality to it, as one might imagine tobaccos of the 17th or 18th centuries.

...Or, perhaps it just tastes like it spent the last 350 years in a dank cellar. It completely lacked that rich softness that I've become so desirous of as an english smoker and letting it waft through the sinuses produced a decidedly dirty impression rather than the creamy, incense-like ambrosia I've become accustomed to. In any case, as a lover of strong cigars, I didn't find it to be particularly cigar-like, save for its lingering aftertaste (which is certainly not my favourite aspect of cigar smoking anyway).

Let me stress that despite my less than glowing enthusiasm, Country Lawyer is not repugnant. But as an infrequent smoker, I just can't afford to waste time with smokes that I don't personally find outstanding. This could find use as a kind of bolt-from-the-blue palate cleanser for those looking for something really different. Some may even actually enjoy it. No doubt, I'll eventually smoke the rest of it and maybe it will even grow on me. At the very least, it won't bite you at all. Looks like it's back to latakia for me.

Pipe Used: Tsuge Kaga 904

Age When Smoked: 6 months

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blackhorse (96)	2016-09-27		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

This is unfair on my part but I wanted to get this out there...as it is based on a single bowl...so call it an "initial impression" rather than a review. This blend falls into one of my favorite genres...what I call a Turkish melange. In other words a mix of base plus condimental tobaccos, in this case VA as the base plus Turkish (likely Izmir) and Cigar Leaf. It reminds me of several John Patton blends, notably Crossroads, Oriental Dusk & Darkhorse. The VA is there in ribbon and Flake so the burn is slowed (note: very long burn with a good volume of smoke) and the flavor notes of the Turkish and Cigar Leaf play back and forth. Delightful. Slight salty flavors, a iittle sharp as opposed to round. But yes, the Cigar notes were pretty much ever present. Comes dry and burns well. Although the flavors were evident I didn't feel this was a STRONG blend in that regard. I thought the N level was medium or a bit lower. Not a blend for everyone...but for me, gangbusters. No Latakia! Loved it. Very impressed with the tobaccos used, the jar & the balanced touch. Very nice.

Pipe Used: Custom Cobra-dog.

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: 4 Noggins

Similar Blends: John Patton Oriental Dusk, Crossroads & Dark Horse..

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MikeHaggarKJ (22)	2017-10-24		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

Deep, rich, pure tobacco taste with a hefty nicotine punch. The powerful, spicy orientals are, to me, at the centre off this blend. It's like a camel on crack with some smokiness from the DFK. Naturally sweet from the VA, more earthy and bready than citrusy. The only downside this blend has can give you a rather unpleasant and dry aftertaste. If you're drinking something and puffing slowly it shouldn''t be a problem though. NOT an all-day smoke. Save this one for the evening or after a big meal with some drinks.

Taste remains full & varied throughout the bowl assuming you smoke slowly and don't relight an absurd number off times. Easier to spoil the taste that way than with most blends. If you burn it too hot it starts tasting way too much like a cigarette. Perfect moisture. Mostly burns evenly to gray dust but there's usually a few twigs in there (very few, doesn't ruin anything imo).

Highly recommended for fans off smokey and spicy blends. I have a theory that long time snus consumers like myself (or cigar smokers, but that goes without saying) will enjoy this more than most.

Pipe Used: Briars, meers, cobs, La Fortezza cedarwood,

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2019-08-26		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Although I bought one of each of the Briarworks' blends when they came out, this one stood out the most because I am kind of a country lawyer myself. I live on the edge of suburbia, but do work out in the country. That, and I am a sucker for a blend with cigar leaf. Particularly when it is used well as this one is.

This is a nice smoking blend. Made by C&D it is right at the proper moisture content (surprisingly though due to jarring mishap, more on this later). It is a typical ribbon cut/almost shag and it takes a light nicely and will stay lit to the bottom with a little bit of concentration and attention.

I took a baggie of this with me on the road often as it is one you can easily smoke whilst socializing and not worry about it torching your mouth because you got carried away puffing while not paying attention. This one won't bite and it is not so stout as to impede enjoyment of multiple bowls back to back; however, it does have a decent amount of back bone, so the multiple bowls will likely need the accompaniment of some sugary beverage. This is not a problem with me since I typically socialize with a glass of bourbon in my hand. :)

Overall I liked this blend; however, it can get boring and one note and that maybe another reason I tended to enjoy it most when I was preoccupied. What complexity it does deliver comes mostly from the interplay of the oriental and Kentucky. It is funny, but the two of them together had me thinking this also had a small amount of latakia in it, alas, my taster failed me. It did not.

Now to the mishap at which I alluded earlier. I was excited at the idea that someone had finally decided to sell tobacco in the jars that we often end up storing tobacco in anyway. This certainly saves a few steps when storing, particularly, if you are one of those real anal types that opens all your tins and immediately jars the contents (I am not one of these people btw). I was not very happy though when I opened my jar of CL only to find, not one, but two strands of tobacco between the glass and rubber seal in two different spots. This is pretty piss-poor if you ask me. I guess that I was fortunate enough to have opened this soon enough as it was not a tight seal and likely would have led to problems in the future.

This is the first Briarwork's jar I have opened, so I don't know if this is a common occurrence or not. It will not keep me from giving this blend 4 stars as I would not have rated it that high anyway. It just doesn't have the wow factor. This one resides somewhere between two and three stars. I personally would rather smoke CD Purple Cow or GLP Robusto, but I will still up this to three stars. If the jarring thing appears on any more of my jars, I will drop it to two stars as I feel that a bad seal, considering the container they chose to use, is completely unacceptable.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2082)	2018-03-21		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

BriarWorks International - Country Lawyer.

I find this to have a lot more flavour than I expect when the blend's classed as Cigar Leaf Based. The first third's ruled by the dark fired Kentucky, this part of a bowl's too potent for me; fire cured, acrid. But after the initial part the other flavours come through. The Cigar Leaf catches up the dark fired and equals it in weight. The Virginia and Orientals are lighter than the Kentucky and Cigar Leaf for the whole bowl, and the black Cavendish may as well be absent; in fact, my jar contained hardly any black. It burns to a pure white ash but can become warm and be a little fast.

Nicotine: quite strong. Room-note: I'm not a fan.

Country Lawyer? Although there's a lot of four star reviews it's not one I'd regularly pipe. Somewhat recommended:

Two stars.

Pipe Used: Davorin Devovic Morta

Age When Smoked: Stamped 08.18.17

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	moniker (220)	2018-12-21		Mild	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Here’s an underappreciated gem that I am pleased to share! Nestled in its re-sealable Mason jar(!), Briar Works’ Country Lawyer is composed of short, slight ribbons ranging from golden tan to mid and darker red-ish browns, to very dark brown, with some black chunks. Jar note is woodsy, slightly musty and sweet, dusty oats with damped cigar notes way over faint meadow grasses, with ethereal peach. This blend arrives ready for smoking. I pack it firmly, and it lights and burns down without a fuss. Whatever pipe I choose, the ghosts of Latakia or strong KY are anathema to CL, and the best prep for a bowl of Country Lawyer is a bowl of Country Lawyer. So far, this blend has been a changeling. It’s always good, but each bowl has differed somewhat from those before. Generally speaking, the soft-(for KY)-but-dominant KY comes off like Burley, melding with the Orientals and the Perique, and the smoke smells like fragrant woody incense over rye blend bread, with soft, light, savory and cigar spices. Tastes parallel the scents and add nutty, bitter (Burley/KY) and sour (Perique and black Cav) over any VA sugar. The Orientals add savory spices and their own brand of “woody”. While I quite like the balance this blend strikes, I suspect that those who dislike Burley or bitterness will not care for it. As for the Cavendish, I’m thinking it softens this blend somewhat and ties it together loosely, smoothing the smoke, while the flue cured VAs stabilize and “center” the blend without demanding my attention, and the aftertaste, if nothing else, is proof that VA sugar was there all along. Strength is just over mild. Tastes are just over medium. Room note is OK. Aftertaste is a terrific best of the smoke, and it gets sweeter and sweeter as it lingers on and on. To my senses, although all the varietals in Country Lawyer factor in the final product, it’s more about Burley/KY and Orientals than it is about cigar leaf, and the Cav, the Perique and the VAs play their parts but hang back. All in all, it’s a fairly complex and sophisticated blend that is none the less easy and relaxing to smoke. Beginners proceed with caution and determination. 4 stars.

Pipe Used: conditioned briars

Age When Smoked: from jar to 1 month rest

Purchased From: Cup o' Joes

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pipercavse (5)	2016-07-10		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

As I seem to lean toward full flavor blends, this one got my attention. Nice real honest tobacco taste! It is strong but not over powering,at least for me. If you are sensitive to stronger blends, you might want to approach this one carefully at first. Also if you don't care for cigar leaf in your pipe best avoid this one. The second you open the can the first thing you smell is the cigar leaf. As I also love cigars, that is a good thing. This line of pipe tobacco is actually put out by C&D. I like the fact that it already comes in a mason jar and comes generously filled to capacity. I don't think one more shred of leaf could be fit in. This is a winner in my book. Thank you Briar Works (C&D) for producing this fine blend!

Pipe Used: Sav unfinished

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Good cigars.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrAcula (62)	2020-11-29		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

Presentation: I LOVE this packaging. It comes in a 57g (2oz) canning jar -- no need to jar this tobacco! The label is very antiquelike, but that only adds to the charm. It has a drawing of a cigar laying on a leaf.

Cut: Chunky ribbon cut, perfect moisture out of the jar.

Tin note: Smells smoky, chocolatey, and slightly fruity after smelling and thinking about it, but at first whiff I just smelled a cigar.

Tasting notes: Upon drawing it is smoky with just the slightest tinge of sweetness. The finish is earthy and woody. Very cigarlike and also very smooth. Although when I smoked this fresh about a year ago (and a few times in between then and now) I remember it having more sweetness (a fruity red virginia kind) than I am currently detecting.

Mechanics: Many smokes cause saliva when smoking, but this one dries out my mouth. Not a concern for me in the least though, I just have a water on hand while smoking.

Extra Remarks: A very good blend. If you want some cigar leaf in your pipe, this is absolutely a blend worth trying. For me, this a blend I enjoy every time I smoke it and it is a great "once in a while" blend to mix into the rotation. 3 stars.

Pipe Used: Bent Apple Meer

Age When Smoked: 1 year

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MrKovacs (6)	2019-05-10		Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

It is what it is. A cigar flavored pipe tobacco. Does it taste like a cigar? To some extent. It’s not a cigar either. The cigar leaf gives some pepperyness (a’la maduro) but not overpowering. Jar note is sweet, almost Raisin like. It’s listed as an aromatic and there might be topping but I can’t detect what (maybe a hair molasses?) It’s an earthy flavor with hefty cedar notes. Not too overpowering or punchy. Maybe the smoke is a little cigarette like. It’s a great slow smoke, the flavors open up well if you pay close attention. The base tobaccos settle well on top of each other, creating a well-balanced flavor. No description of the base tobaccos, I do detect unsweetened cavendish, burley, maybe aged virginia. Smoked in a broken in pipe and a barely used one, about the same. No bite unless you smoke it too hard, little bite sometimes on re-lights. Strength is around MB Scottish mixture but more spice and less lingering sweetness. Nicotine can fool you as it can creep up on you 2/3 through the bowl, even in a smaller pipe. It’s lack of overpowering sweetness made it one of my top favorites.

Pipe Used: BC bent sitter, Dr Grabow Bent, Ehrlich bent apple

Age When Smoked: 2 1/2 years old

Purchased From: Local B&M store

Similar Blends: MB Scottish mixture.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2019-01-02		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Strong

(June 2020 - Update) I found a 2017 jar in my cellar and opened it as the temperatures got warmer. The blend is even more enjoyable than I remembered in 2018/2019. The main thing I get that distinguishes it is a musty/earthy note which is always there but doesn't overwhelm. It's never going to be my all-day blend, but I found it pairs great with a Guinness. The only thing that keeps it from 4 stars is that I feel the components compete instead of complimenting each other. I've tried tossing the tobacco in the jar to mix it better and it helps slightly. -----------------------------

Another blend which I didn't like when I first tried it, but now really seem to enjoy much more as my tastes have developed.

When I first smoked it, the dark fired and cigar leaf were the things that turned me off, now I find them nice compliments to the other components. Not an everyday blend for me, it does hit a spot when I want it.

Pipe Used: various

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: Smitty's Cigar Lounge

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DT (2)	2020-06-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I really like this one. It packs well. Lights easily and I rarely have to relight. I don't recall ever having any bite from it. Not that the flavor is like real maple syrup but it does have that quality. A little bit of sweetness with a richer flavor. Just a real nice tobacco flavor from start to finish.

If the cigar leaf turns you off from this blend try C&D Or L'yom (Daylight).

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr. Dunhill 23 (39)	2019-12-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

If you like Cigar leaf then you will like this one. It's got a nice tin note but you can definitely smell the cigar leaf. The smoking was a bit one dimensional and if it wasn't for the DFK, I think I would have passed this one on because the cigar leaf negates the Orientals. It's got a decent nic hit and is more of an outdoor smoke when it comes to room note.

It's decent but not very complex. I can see smoking this in a pipe when your buddies are smoking their cigars. 3 Stars.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pappy1975 (13)	2019-07-23		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

I don’t have much to add to the other highly recommended reviews, except to say this blend is second to none with regard to cigar leaf blends. It does burn a little fast despite being at a perfect moisture level right out of the jar it comes in. May be a bit strong for an all day smoke, but I keep loving it more and more with every smoke, and it is repeatable. The flavor and aroma are both just fine in my opinion. The Kentucky in there gives the retrohale a touch of spice. The N strength is satisfying, if you care about that. It’s vying with my other faves for the top position. Every time I think my cellar is deep enough and I try to get out of the tobacco buying game they keep pulling me back in!

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: A year old.

Purchased From: The Humidor, Murfreesboro, TN

Similar Blends: D&R Sigaro and Sigaretta, but though those are great blends, this is superior..

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Knightsmoker (218)	2018-05-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

The DFK starts in the lead. It is woodsy, earthy, slightly spicy with just a hint of sweetness. The cigar leaf has a mildly sweet, smokey nuance that mainly stays in the background at the start. It does move forward as the bowl progresses as does the Turkish, which has notes of dry earthiness, some floral and herbal notes, a little musty at times with a slight hint of spice here and there. The VA's are more of a supporting role, I get a little grassy note and a hint of citrus along with a slight earthy and bready grain notes. The black cav. has that characteristic brown sugar note and to be honest, this is were I think the blend lost greatness. In fact after considering a Maduro leaf might be better suited to match the black cav. Any way, that note aside the black cav is used sparingly but seems to underscore the entire profile for me. Sipped slowly it stays in the background but if you push this a little it will take over and move to the front of the flavors. That said this is still a very good blend and I am glad that I picked up a jar of it.

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Nobody has rated this review yet.